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DocumentationCore concepts & architecture

NORA — Core Concepts & Architecture

This page explains the five foundational concepts of the platform: Strategy, Portfolio, Projects, Value Levers, and Benefit Formulas & Variables. Together they create a closed-loop, strategy-to-execution system.

Showing 5 of 5 sections.

Definition

A Strategy is the organization’s long-term direction. It defines why the company exists, where it wants to go, and how it plans to get there.

In Nora, the Strategy is owned at the organization level and acts as the reference point for all project evaluations.

Components of a Strategy

1. Mission

A concise statement of purpose — why the organization exists.

2. Vision

A future-oriented statement — where the organization intends to be within 3–5+ years.

3. Time Horizon

Defines the years covered by the strategy (e.g., 2026–2028).

4. Strategic Pillars

High-level themes or focus areas (typically 3–5).

  • Digital Transformation
  • Customer Experience
  • Operational Excellence
  • Growth & Market Expansion

5. Strategic Objectives

Measurable objectives under each pillar. Each objective may include:

  • Title
  • Description
  • KPI (metric, baseline, target)
  • Target date
  • Priority

6. Constraints / Guardrails

Non-negotiable boundaries that shape decisions:

  • No net headcount increase
  • Capex under $2M per year
  • Maintain margin ≥ 12%

Role in the Platform

  • Defines what matters for the organization.
  • Projects are evaluated against the strategy (manually and via AI).
  • The Portfolio dashboard aggregates all projects against the strategic objectives.

Definition

The Portfolio represents all the active, planned, or proposed projects within an organization.

It answers the question:

“As a whole, how well do our investments support our strategy and generate value?”

Portfolio Views in Nora

1. Coverage of Strategic Objectives

For each objective, leaders can see:

  • # of projects aligned
  • Total expected benefits
  • Timeline of impact
  • AI alignment score distribution

2. Gaps & Overlaps

Examples:

  • Objective “Automation” has 0 projects → gap.
  • Objective “CX” has 14 overlapping initiatives → too crowded.

3. Value Comparison Across the Portfolio

Using standardized calculations from benefit formulas:

  • Total NPV
  • ROI
  • Payback period
  • Annual benefit curve

4. Prioritization Based on Constraints

Using guardrails defined at the strategy level:

  • Budget
  • Headcount
  • Risk appetite

Role in the Platform

The Portfolio is the connective tissue between strategy and projects.

  • A single view of all investments.
  • Confidence that projects support long-term direction.
  • A way to compare and prioritize objectively.

Definition

A Project is any initiative, investment, or idea being assessed or executed.

Projects are evaluated through a structured, standardized workflow:

  1. Define scope
  2. Identify which value levers apply
  3. Enter baseline + target variables
  4. Automatically generate benefits (NPV, ROI, etc.) using formulas
  5. Align with strategy (manual + AI evaluation)
  6. Compare to other initiatives in the portfolio

Project Fields

1. Basic Info

  • Title
  • Description
  • Business owner
  • Time horizon (start–end years)

2. Costs

  • Implementation costs
  • Licensing
  • Capex vs Opex breakdown
  • One-time vs recurring

3. Value Levers (core of the engine)

Each project is powered by one or more value levers.

4. Benefit Calculations

Benefits (e.g., NPV, ROI, payback) are automatically computed based on standardized formulas & variables.

5. Strategic Alignment

  • Assigned pillars & objectives
  • AI alignment score
  • Alignment narrative

6. Outputs

  • Project summary
  • Financial results
  • Annual benefit timeline
  • Sensitivity insights

Role in the Platform

Projects are standardized so their value can be compared consistently, reducing bias and subjectivity in decision-making.

Definition

A Value Lever is a standardized mechanism through which a project creates measurable business impact.

Every project must use one or more pre-defined levers to compute benefits consistently, using the shared formulas & variables.

Categories of Value Levers

A. Revenue Growth Levers

  • Increase leads
  • Improve conversion rate
  • Raise ARPU
  • Reduce churn

B. Cost Efficiency Levers

  • Reduce processing time
  • Reduce error rate
  • Reduce unit cost
  • Automate repetitive tasks

C. Human Capital Levers

  • Time savings for staff
  • Reduce attrition
  • Training ROI
  • Productivity improvements

D. Capital Efficiency Levers

  • Reduce inventory carrying cost
  • Optimize asset utilization

E. Risk & Resilience Levers

  • Reduce probability of system downtime
  • Reduce fraud losses
  • Compliance risk mitigation

Why Levers Matter

  • Enforce consistency across projects.
  • Guide users to think in terms of business impact.
  • Enable AI-driven suggestions.
  • Make benefit calculations auditable.
  • Allow cross-project comparisons in the portfolio.

Definition

Each value lever comes with a standardized mathematical formula that translates baseline & target variables into annual benefits.

This creates:

  • Traceable assumptions
  • Consistent calculations
  • Reproducible NPV/ROI scores
  • Full transparency for CFOs & PMOs

Formula Structure

1. Variables

  • Baseline values
  • Target values
  • Unit (e.g., $ per unit, hours per task, lead volume, etc.)

2. Improvement Variables

Often expressed as:

  • % improvement
  • Absolute improvement
  • Productivity gain
  • Volume change

3. The Formula

Examples of deterministic equations:

Operational efficiency:
Annual Benefit = (Baseline Volume × Baseline Time per Task
                 − Target Volume × Target Time per Task)
               × Labor Cost
Revenue impact:
Annual Revenue Impact =
  (Leads × Conversion Rate × ARPU_target)
− (Leads × Conversion Rate × ARPU_baseline)
Risk reduction:
Annual Risk Reduction =
  (Probability_baseline − Probability_target)
× Impact_per_event

4. Time Horizon Table

For each year:

  • Base year
  • Year 1–5 improvement ramp-up
  • Recurring or decaying benefits

5. Derived Metrics

Automatically computed for each project:

  • NPV
  • ROI
  • Payback period
  • Annual benefit timeline

Why This Matters

  • Standardization across all teams and projects.
  • Clear justification of benefits.
  • Automated scenario analysis.
  • Transparency during approvals.
  • Auditable financial logic — the backbone of the platform.

How the 5 concepts fit together

ORGANIZATION └── STRATEGY ├── Pillars ├── Objectives └── Constraints PORTFOLIO └── All Projects ├── Linked to strategy ├── Evaluated with value levers ├── Producing standardized benefits └── Contributing to portfolio analytics PROJECT └── Uses Value Levers └── Uses Formulas & Variables

When users evaluate a project:

  1. They define the initiative.
  2. They pick applicable levers.
  3. They fill baseline & target variables.
  4. Nora calculates the benefits using shared formulas & variables.
  5. Nora evaluates strategic alignment.
  6. Nora shows the portfolio impact so leaders can prioritize.

This creates a closed-loop, strategy-to-execution system that connects vision, investments, and measurable value.