To understand Business Acumen, it's extremely important for all the employees of an organization to ask themselves certain vital questions that have traditionally been left to the managers. This is critical for connecting them with the company, making them understand the workings of the organization and also analyzing their role in the greater scheme of things.
In short, the employees need to be able to see the big picture and to do so, they need to know the answers to −
Whether production costs have gone up and if they have, then what are the most plausible reasons for the raised prices?
Whether there were any price-changes from the company's end, and if there were changes, how did they impact the profit margin of the company?
Whether our competitors are performing better than us, and if they are, then what are the areas they are leading us in?
Whether there has been any change noticed in the customers' requirements and behavior, or in the latest buying trends?
Whether there have been any recent sales trends that have caught the customers' attention because of word-of-mouth publicity?
Whether any increase in the production costs of the company will impact the staff financially and employment-wise?
Whether greater production-volume can be achieved through same productioncost, and whether the output can be maximized with available resources?
Whether raising prices of products/services will impact sales numbers and influence customers' buying decisions?
When questions become more specific and focus on a specific point, the answers follow suit and become precise too. However, many current organizations have to deal with various issues because they don't ask themselves these questions hard enough, nor do they ask their employees to think on these lines.