Plotting the Course - Expectations and Core Business Issues

Life Cycle Management (LCM) always has to be integrated into the existing business structures. Thereby relating to expectations and existing core business issues. Common business issues are definitely not LCM issues, but core business issues like competitiveness, profit-making, corporate reputation, etc. are highly related to LCM. Information on the latter form the basis for linking traditional economic aspects with LCM to show that these two, often seen as conflicting, in most cases are mutually enforcing one another.

Background information on the company's status quo can therefore be seen as a prerequisite to successfully inform and decide on main focus areas and prepare the ground for motivation to implement Life Cycle Management.

It is crucial to have a sense of the areas where LCM can contribute to the core business issues. For that, companies need to assess their status quo and in time grasp the knowledge gap they have in terms of Life Cycle Management tools in order to be motivated for further learning.