What are Critical Success Factors?
A product, a company or an army is a combination of many elements. Sometimes the improvement of just one of these elements can create dramatic change in performance. In business these elements are called Critical Success Factors (CSF’s). Often such a factor remains hidden for a long time but once discovered, can considerably improve the attractiveness of a product or service and can cause a turning point in even a mature market. In the army the notion of CSF is not actually used. However, when we study certain historical battles, following the CSF principles, we find some clear examples of CSF’s such as the introduction of the stirrup by the Goths. It goes without saying that the ability to recognize one’s own Critical Success Factors and those of the competition is of strategic importance. The combination of the CSF’s and the utilization of the weak points of the competition are the basis of many a successful strategy. But what precisely are CSF’s? Is it possible to get hold of these
