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Managing through a business lifecycle
On 12, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
During the startup phase of a new business, it’s almost impossible for employees not to feel a feverish sense of excitement. A “crazy” idea becomes the germ of an organization. The company experiences growth, the business develops, demand exceeds capacity, and the company begins to expand and develop accordingly. But then success invites competition, growth slows, maturity sets in—and if you’re not careful, apathy occurs and the company is on its way out. Turnarounds, such as that experienced by IBM under Lou Gerstner, are possible, but it’s a much better bet to avoid the crash in the first place. Leadership coach Albert Vicere writes that “long-lasting organizations stay vital by resisting decay. As they mature, …
Quick adaption key to survival
On 12, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
A company must be able to continually adapt its business model—sometimes several times a year—because of the changing dynamics of the modern Internet-based business world, according to Douglas Reed, managing director for Internet service provider DataPro. Reed contends, “The ability to recognize market needs and then combine these elements to generate profits, is the key success factor. This is called entrepreneurship and, without entrepreneurs it has been said that even the most endowed economy would not deliver desired results. Entrepreneurship is all about profit generation.” Noting that many large corporations use their Web sites more as electronic brochures than as dynamic business tools, Reed cites Dell Computer as one of the few technology companies that …
Solutions flow from mind-mapping program
On 12, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
There’s a rumor afoot that using Microsoft PowerPoint during a meeting lowers the IQ of all present by about 20 points. Whether you fall for that or not, there’s at least anecdotal evidence that using the ubiquitous “PP”—while fine for making presentations—is ineffective and costly as a decision-making tool. Tech columnist David Coursey offers an inexpensive, useful group decision-making tool, the MindManager X5, which counters the “lazy thinking” common to many business presentations and allows complex information to be presented more gracefully. MindManager is based on a technique called “mind mapping,” which depicts a visual flow of ideas radiating from a single key idea. All the ideas can then have branches, which can have branches—and …
Looking outside for empowerment inside
On 04, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Some companies are finding that best practices don’t always start at home. A valuable resource for redefining operations can be found in The Baldridge National Quality Program, says Rob Marchalonis, general manager of Pennsylvania firm Stoner, which makes specialized cleaners and car-care products. According to Marchalonis, Baldridge doesn’t prescribe how to run a business but rather gives a framework of checks and balances that enables organizations to develop their own best practices. Stoner streamlined the Baldridge business excellence model to focus on three key components: leadership, strategy and process. “One of our top beliefs under the leadership category is the concept of leadership at all levels. That means that we don’t want to have a …
Birth of the iPod
On 04, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Tony Fadell had an idea. In fact, he was convinced it was such a good idea that he quit his job designing handheld computing devices at Philips to shop it around. Fadell’s idea—to take an MP3 player and build a Napster-type music sale service to complement it—was turned down by several companies until Apple Computer saw the future in Fadell’s idea. Familiar with PortalPlayer’s prototype MP3 designs, including one about the size of a cigarette pack, Fadell brought the company on board to develop what would become the iPod. “When Apple came to the table, we dropped all our other customers,” says Ben Knauss, former senior manager at PortalPlayer. Critical to the iPod’s success was …
Advocate, inquire, repeat
On 04, Aug 2004 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Innovations, improvements, insights into why your company isn’t moving forward as fast as you’d like are likely sitting at the reception desk or toiling away in middle management—grumbling to themselves or to each other about faults they could fix, flaws they could cure, gaps they could fill—if only someone would listen to them. But, you say, “I AM listening.” I’ve instituted an open environment in which employees are free to discuss anything, criticize processes, offer ideas.’ Trouble is, say principals in the Center for Organizational Fitness, people don’t believe that management, particularly the CEO, will actually listen and act on their comments. The organizational professionals offer tips for convincing employees that you’re serious. Among them: …
Kaizen: Discovering the customer’s unspoken need
On 04, Aug 2004 | In ROI marketing, Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Value innovation refers to developing new product ideas based on the true desires of your customer—even if those desires are still unknown to them.But how do we discover what people want, before they know it themselves? Focus groups, polls and surveys are the traditional means. But no consumer could have asked for a Polaroid camera in 1940—it was beyond most people’s imagination. A new strategy is both simple and familiar to lean organizations: Kaizen investigative teams. Cross-functional teams (not minimum-wage pollsters) visit customer sites, watch the interaction between customer and product, and listen for unique insights. If a team is made up of representatives from operations, engineering, sales, customer service and a complete outsider or …
