Center of Excellence (CoE) Group
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A Center of Excellence (CoE) Group is a sub-organization that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and/or training for a focus area.
- Context:
- It can typically provide Focus Area Leadership through strategic direction setting.
- It can typically develop Best Practice for focus area implementation.
- It can typically perform Focus Area Research to advance organizational capability.
- It can typically deliver Focus Area Training to build organizational competency.
- It can typically standardize Focus Area Methodology across business units.
- It can typically coordinate Focus Area Resource for maximum effectiveness.
- It can typically establish Focus Area Standard for organizational consistency.
- It can typically measure Focus Area Performance through standardized metrics.
- It can typically promote Focus Area Innovation through cross-functional collaboration.
- It can typically enhance Focus Area Governance through policy development.
- ...
- It can often serve as Knowledge Repository for focus area expertise.
- It can often provide Advisory Service to business units and project teams.
- It can often facilitate Community Building around the focus area.
- It can often drive Organizational Change related to the focus area.
- It can often build Strategic Partnership with external organizations.
- It can often incubate Emerging Capability for future organizational needs.
- It can often resolve Complex Focus Area Problem through specialized expertise.
- It can often advocate for Focus Area Investment with executive leadership.
- ...
- It can range from being a Skills-based CoE Group to being a Repository-based CoE Group, depending on its primary function.
- It can range from being a Centralized CoE Group to being a Federated CoE Group, depending on its organizational structure.
- It can range from being a Strategic CoE Group to being a Tactical CoE Group, depending on its operational scope.
- It can range from being a Permanent CoE Group to being a Temporary CoE Group, depending on its intended lifespan.
- Skills-based CoE Groups typically focus on active consulting and direct implementation support.
- Repository-based CoE Groups primarily serve as knowledge sources and asset curators.
- Centralized CoE Groups operate as single organizational units with consistent methodology.
- Federated CoE Groups function as distributed networks with coordinated approaches.
- ...
- It can collaborate with Business Unit for focus area implementation.
- It can partner with Executive Team for strategic alignment.
- It can coordinate with Project Management Office for initiative delivery.
- It can work with Human Resources for capability development.
- It can engage with External Partner for knowledge exchange.
- It can support Change Management Team for focus area adoption.
- ...
- Examples:
- CoE Group Types, such as:
- Technology CoE Groups, such as:
- Business Process CoE Groups, such as:
- Industry-Specific CoE Groups, such as:
- CoE Group Structures, such as:
- CoE Group Formation Approaches, such as:
- Organic CoE Group developed through internal capability growth.
- Acquisition-based CoE Group formed through external expertise integration.
- Partnership CoE Group created through multi-organization collaboration.
- ...
- CoE Group Types, such as:
- Counter-Examples:
- Community of Practice, which facilitates informal knowledge sharing without formal governance responsibility.
- Project Team, which focuses on specific deliverable rather than ongoing organizational capability.
- Support Department, which provides operational service instead of strategic capability development.
- Research Department, which emphasizes pure research over practical implementation.
- Training Department, which delivers general skill development rather than specialized focus area expertise.
- See: Organizational Structure, Knowledge Management, Competency Development, Business Process Management, Continuous Improvement, Organizational Innovation.
References
2019
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/center_of_excellence Retrieved:2019-9-26.
- A center of excellence (COE) is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and/or training for a focus area.
Due to its broad usage and vague legal precedent, a "center of excellence" in one context may have completely different characteristics from another. The focus area might be a technology (e.g. Java), a business concept (e.g. BPM), a skill (e.g. negotiation) or a broad area of study (e.g. women's health). A center of excellence may also be aimed at revitalizing stalled initiatives. The term may also refer to a network of institutions collaborating with each other to pursue excellence in a particular area. (e.g. the Rochester Area Colleges Center for Excellence in Math and Science).
- A center of excellence (COE) is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and/or training for a focus area.
2019b
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/center_of_excellence#Organizations Retrieved:2019-9-26.
- Within an organization, a center of excellence may refer to a group of people, a department or a shared facility. It may also be known as a competency center or a capability center. Stephen Jenner and Craig Kilford, in Management of Portfolios, mention COE as a coordinating function which ensures that change initiatives are delivered consistently and well, through standard processes and competent staff. In technology companies, the center of excellence concept is often associated with new software tools, technologies or associated business concepts such as Service-oriented architecture or business intelligence.
The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats is a response to hybrid warfare.
- Within an organization, a center of excellence may refer to a group of people, a department or a shared facility. It may also be known as a competency center or a capability center. Stephen Jenner and Craig Kilford, in Management of Portfolios, mention COE as a coordinating function which ensures that change initiatives are delivered consistently and well, through standard processes and competent staff. In technology companies, the center of excellence concept is often associated with new software tools, technologies or associated business concepts such as Service-oriented architecture or business intelligence.
2018
- https://zinnov.com/what-is-center-of-excellence-coe-and-why-should-organizations-set-it-up/
- QUOTE: ... A Center of Excellence (CoE) is a body in an organization that works across business units (BUs) or product lines within a BU and has a leading-edge knowledge and competency in that area. It is comprised of highly-skilled individuals and experts, who disseminate knowledge in an organization and share best practices. The literal meaning of a Center of Excellence is – ‘A place where the highest standards are maintained.’ ...
... Setting up a CoE similarly needs a clarity of purpose and a roadmap. CoEs are typically established in one of the following two scenarios:
- When there is a need to develop expertise and standards in an area/component used by multiple products and solutions in the organization. The CoE, in this case, owns this competency. It defines the roadmap, standards, and the architecture for that module. Teams across the organization use the module/component in their products or solutions.
- When there is a need for a new skill in the organization that must be developed organically through an incubation CoE. This CoE is then responsible to develop this competency through hiring, trainings, and partnerships that can be leveraged across the organization.
- QUOTE: ... A Center of Excellence (CoE) is a body in an organization that works across business units (BUs) or product lines within a BU and has a leading-edge knowledge and competency in that area. It is comprised of highly-skilled individuals and experts, who disseminate knowledge in an organization and share best practices. The literal meaning of a Center of Excellence is – ‘A place where the highest standards are maintained.’ ...
2016
- The Software Engineering Institute of the Carnegie Mellon University
- QUOTE: ... A premier organization providing an exceptional product or service in an assigned sphere of expertise and within a specific field of technology, business, or government, consistent with the unique requirements and capabilities of the CoE organization. …
2017
- https://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/competency-center
- QUOTE: An organizational structure used to coordinate IT skills with an enterprise. Competency centers provide expertise for project or program support, acting both as repositories of knowledge and resource pools for multiple business areas. Skills-based competency centers, the most common type in an information services organization, are used for application development, software language skills, data management, Internet development and network design. Within the enterprise, it is increasingly common to find competency centers (or shared services) for travel, finance and human resources. Repository-based competencies act exclusively as sources of information.