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Publications from our valued partners (brief writings)
 
 

 

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Publications from the themanager.org-team
 

When to develop strategic measures
Dagmar Recklies

Strategic measures serve to realize strategic objectives on corporate level or business unit level. More precisely: with which frequency and on which occasions should they be developed. This article describes how it should be done, how it should not be done, and what could be done between these two extremes
 

Two ideas for improving strategic planning 
Oliver Recklies
his article has the objective to analyze and to discuss one selected problem and barrier related to the strategic planning process; those problems and barriers for a sound strategic planning process have been indentified in both the academic and the business literature.
 
Practice of strategic planning in German retail banks
by Oliver Recklies
This paper analyses the practice of strategic planning of two major player groups within retail banking business in Germany. Both types of banks face a set of burdens to organise their strategic planning processes. To discuss strategic planning approaches within these organizations the author uses a three step framework of (1) strategic analysis, (2) strategy finding and (3) strategy assessment. Key factors influencing the planning processes will be identified. For each element of the framework the author discusses tools and methods which are employed by bank managers to overcome existing barriers. For strategy assessment two benchmarking approaches are analysed. The author argues that approaches of these banks give an example how small organisations might address the issues of strategic planning.
 
Sense and Nonsense of Early Indicators
By Dagmar Recklies
Early indicators are very popular in the business world. People normally like them because they see a lot of advantages. However, I am reluctant to rely on early indicators too much. There are some problems that are not easily solved. After a discussion of the advantages and problems in the use of early indicators for business decisions I propose a system for practical use in businesses.
 
Thoughts on the Lifecycle of Corporations
By Dagmar Recklies 
Experience shows that the time span of successful corporate activity is not endless in most cases. Of course, there are many corporations with a history of 50 years and longer. Nevertheless, the number of companies – no matter what size – that have been existing for 100 years or even longer is much smaller. This article looks at some reasons why older companies are more inclined to failure then younger ones.
 
Practical Advice for Strategic Planning Meetings
By Dagmar Recklies
Strategic planning meetings are a very controversial thing. They have a bit of a reputation to be just another fancy management trend. Nevertheless, good preparation and follow up can improve chances that the strategy meeting becomes a success which everybody is willing to repeat after a year or two. I was involved in the organization of several strategy meetings for two completely different firms. Here is some practical advice that builds on this experience.
 
Internal Communication of Change
By Dagmar Recklies
There is no doubt that the reasons, the content and the objective of a change initiative have to be understood by all affected employees. Experience shows that in particular those more complex initiatives tend to face enormous difficulties reach everybody in the company. This paper will discuss one specific reason for failure of effective change communication. The hypotheses is that change is communicated by the wrong people.
 
What Makes a Good Change Agent?
by Dagmar Recklies
In the light of the many problems and risks associated with change projects, the change agent has a very important function. The change agent’s or change leader’s capabilities have a major impact on success or failure of the project, and on the extent of potential unwanted side-effects.  The following article describes required capabilities of good change agents.

 

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Globalization
by Dagmar Recklies
Today, globalization is a major driver that has impact on nearly every business. The internationalization of markets for sales and purchasing at least indirectly influences every business.
This article discusses why globalization influences SMEs and what special challenges SMEs face when planning to do business globally.

 

What Makes a Good Business Plan?
by Dagmar Recklies
Whether in start-up, expansion or turnaround-situations – every business needs to write a business plan sooner or later. In the authors experience not all businesses realize that a business plan is more than the description of a company’s business model, products and services. Thus, this article will discuss functions and content of a good business plan.

 

Managing Change - Definition and Phases in Change Processes
by Oliver Recklies
Managing change is a challenging task. If you ask employees what they think about change, you will normally find that most people have negative attitudes and perceptions towards change.
This article attempts to provide an introduction into change management. It defines what change is and describes seven phases of change processes.

 

Problems in Managing Change
by Oliver Recklies
The process of change has impact on the whole organization and on all individuals working there. Successful change requires the participation and acceptance of everyone in the the organization. That makes change management a challenging task.
This article provides a systematic overview on potential barriers to change and gives some advice on how to make change successful.

 

Beyond Porter - A Critique of the Critique of Porter
by Dagmar Recklies
The writings of the American management-guru and Harvard-Professor Michael E-Porter are considered to be among the most influential of their subject – and among the most critiqued ones. Porter had a lasting influence on strategic management with his books about competitive advantages on industry level and on global level, which were written in the eighties. Porter’s ideas became more and more subject of critique under the impression of the developing Internet economy during the last decade. Critics point out that economic conditions have changed fundamentally since that time.
This article discusses Larry Downes' critique of Porter and explains why Porters thoughts are not obsolete.

 

Strategy in Turbulent Times
by Dagmar Recklies
Management theory and practice widely accept today that businesses operate in a more and more complex, dynamic, less predictable environment. This new situation requires managers to develop new ways of thinking and acting. Basing on the weaknesses of traditional strategic planning, this article discusses new approaches in management. They direct companies towards more flexibility and more strategic innovativeness; but they do not present ready-to-use solutions though. Rather they are intended to provide ideas for new thinking and acting as a starting point to give all processes in the organization a new strategic direction.

 

Mergers and Corporate Culture
by Oliver Recklies
It is widely recognized that cultural differences between the partners of a merger are one of the most common reasons for failure in mergers. This may happen during pre-merger negotiations or during post-merger integration. Despite all Due Diligence, the two partners of a merger fail to form a new successful unit that is able to exploit all synergies. The development of a new, shared culture is a critical factor for merger success. It is possible to manage this process in a structured way.
This article gives a brief introduction into the concept of corporate culture and explains, why it is so important in mergers

 

Vision as Key Factor in Merger Processes
by Oliver Recklies
The post-merger integration process is a difficult and complex task. It comes along with long lists of activities and tasks that have to be fulfilled within a short time and partly with incomplete information (e.g. formation of new teams and departments). There are many opportunities to exploit and many decisions to take. However, as long as there is no vision for the new organization that is well known to everybody, there is no use in investing too much effort in all these issues. The vision for the new organization has to come first.

 

Managing Growth - Phases of Growth
by Oliver Recklies
This article discusses the statement: It is possible to speed up corporate growth – but not infinitely. Today start-up, tomorrow at the stock exchange – this is impossible for some practical reasons. The question is, however, how fast an organization can develop from start-up with a team of five to a business with 50+ people.
For this discussion, Greiners model of Five Phases of Growth is introduced.

 

Managing Growth II - Barriers and Preconditions
by Oliver Recklies
This article discusses what actually growth is. It is more than increasing revenues or number of staff. Than it analyses the barriers to and preconditions for successful and sustainable corporate growth.

 

Stakeholder Management
by Dagmar Recklies
Today, all players in business face the interest and the impact of different people and groupings. Especially larger corporations have to care not only for the needs of their direct owners, but also of various other groups, like employees, public interest groups like environmental organizations, strategic partners, journalists or public monitoring bodies. Therefore, all businesses operate within a complex system of interests and influences. Management has to assess and evaluate these external forces - called stakeholders - in order to adjust them with corporate objectives.
This article explains the concept of stakeholder management and how to identify stakeholders and to assess their impact.

 

Small Business - Size as a Chance or Handicap?
by Dagmar Recklies
The sector of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) is an important factor in most economies. SMEs have a good reputation for their ability to innovate and for their close customer relationships. Smaller businesses, however, have some disadvantages that make it difficult for them to compete with the large players in their industry. This article analyses the advantages and disadvantages that result from the smaller size of an organization.

 

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Publications from our valued partners (more detailed papers)

Strategic Hedge Fund Planning
by Attorney Hannah M. Terhune, JD, LLM (Taxation)
The purpose of this article is to highlight key U.S. hedge fund development and planning issues of interest to hedge fund sponsors worldwide.
 
In Tough Times, ‘Hyper-Creatives’ Provide Creative Advantage
by Jerry W. Thomas
Jerry’s article is about the use of “hyper-creatives’’ -- those rare, everyday people who have an uncanny ability to dream up successful products and services.
“Hyper-creatives,’’ Jerry writes, “are people in the target market who are exceptionally creative in coming up with new product ideas. These individuals can generate many more new product ideas than the average person, and the quality of their ideas far exceeds the output of their noncreative neighbors. This ability is called ‘idea-centric creativity.’ Hyper-creatives are particularly valuable now because it is quite common for companies to cut or defer new product development when the economy is weak.’’
 
Business Book:
Transformation Management - Towards the Integral Enterprise

Ronnie Lessem, University of Buckingham, Uk and Alexander Schieffer, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland  
with sample chapter
 
Business Book:
The Rise and Fall of Management. A Brief History of Practice, Theory and Context

Gordon Pearson, Keele University, UK 
with sample chapter
 
Glossary of terms used in competitive intelligence and knowledge management  
By Vernon Prior
A glossary with several hundreds of terms from the field of competitive intelligence and knowledge management in the widest sense
 
The strategy accelerator - Strategies for sustainable competitive advantage
By Alfred Griffioen
This article investigates how a company can make a profit in the current market. It proposes a directive framework based on market relevancy and whether the company has a unique product. Based on these parameters, a company should either consolidate its position, aim to excel more and more in its products, effectively combine products or ally with another company to differentiate or profile itself more.
 
The Differentiation Challenge
By Jean-Claude Saade
On any given morning, if we open a newspaper in Dubai, Beirut or any other city in the region it will be full of advertisements, messages and offers. At 10:00 am, let us try to remember the ads we have seen a couple of hours ago. We might remember something, only sometimes, but most of the time we cannot. We are facing the terrifying lack of differentiation that is inundating the market. Is the lack of differentiation an Agency challenge or a Client challenge?
 
Every blue ocean will eventually turn red;
Create an unfair advantage instead

By Dr. Dan Herman
Once your Blue Ocean Strategy works, sooner or later someone will copy or even improve your already successful model, and your ocean will become red again. The critical question is: what can be done which is immune from imitations? Apparently the principle is simple. Introducing the Unfair Advantage.

Accompanying papers:
- Test Yourself: Are You An MBA Clone?
- 10 "De-clone Yourself" Tips for MBA clones
 

The Family-Owned Business
There are three major pitfalls to avoid when operating a family-run business.

Michael J. Conway, JD, and Stephen J. Baumgartner, MSc(Econ)
While there is entertainment value to the drama and intrigue which surround the Earnhardt, Wrigley, Murdoch, and Walton family-owned businesses, their highly publicized trials and tribulations can also provide real life lessons for family-owned businesses that operate well out of the limelight.
 
Benefits of International Portfolio Diversification
Findings indicate that co-movements among the U.S., Germany, and Japan markets are significant.

Burhan F. Yavas, PhD
It is well known that stock market investing is risky. Both practitioners and theoreticians recommend holding a well-diversified portfolio to reduce risk. While mutual funds offer a quick and relatively inexpensive way to diversify, the purpose of this article is to address the issue of risk reduction through international diversification.
 
Strategic Leadership
Part 1: Applying Lessons Learned from Research about Strategic Leadership Development

Robert M. Fulmer, PhD, and Jared L. Bleak, EdD
Leadership has never been an easy proposition. Throughout history observers have wondered if there were enough capable leaders to manage the challenges facing all types of organizations. Today, business and governmental organizations face something of a "perfect storm" of problems that have profound implications for current and future leaders.
 
Managing Organizational Knowledge
Insights offered from the Southern California aerospace industry for managing knowledge assets.

Mark Chun, PhD, Mike Williams, PhD, and Nelson Granados, PhD
Through knowledge management, organizations identify and leverage their collective knowledge to compete, including the creation, storage/retrieval, transfer, and application of knowledge. Increasingly, firms in many industries are taking advantage of advanced technologies such as database tools and web-based applications to effectively manage knowledge.
 
The Trader Joe’s Experience -  The impact of corporate culture on business strategy.
Mark Mallinger, PhD, and Gerry Rossy, PhD
The success of Trader Joe’s (TJ) markets is the result of a unique business model that has built a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between organizational culture and business strategy that has propelled TJ to extraordinary success.
 

Aligning Business with a Value Statement
Conversation with Dacor Executives:
Michael Joseph, CEO,   Stephen Joseph, Director, Interactive and Direct Marketing,   Mauricio Roca, Director, Business Development,   Tony Zavala, Executive Vice President, COO
 

Electronic Spreadsheets: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.
Rick Hesse, DSc, Chair and Professor of Decision Sciences
On the 25th anniversary of the development of electronic spreadsheets, the good news is that spreadsheets have had a positive impact on the way businesses operate behind the scenes—from finance and accounting to operations and marketing and human resources—and they save time. The bad news is that training is woefully inadequate and haphazard. The ugly news is that spreadsheets are full of errors, with a majority of firms using them in some way for financial reporting that falls under the Sarbanes Oxley act.  ... more
 
Can Finance Really Become a Strategic Partner to the Business?
By Anand Sanwal
Much has been written about how finance organizations can become strategic partners with the businesses they support. While purported experts point to a variety of frameworks, scorecards and key performance indicators, etc. as the keys to bridging the gap between finance and business, these trite 'solutions' have done little to make finance the strategic business partner it seeks to be.   ...more
 
A Gala Tribute to Global Copycats
By Naseem Javed
Over the decade, the art of copying and stealing other people's content and ideas has settled comfortably in the mainstream across the globe. What formerly would constitute an act of piracy is now a commonplace, everyday occurrence. Isn't it time to give these 'borrowers' a tribute, host a gala dinner and hand out awards?  ... more
 
Coordination of supply chain with revenue sharing contract in a fuzzy environment: Investigation and analysis
By Xuping Li and Jinsheng He
The coordination of a decentralized supply chain can be achieved by adopting supply chain contracts. This paper investigates how a decentralized supply chain can be coordinated by a revenue sharing contract, in which the supplier offers the retailer a lower wholesale price in return for a percentage of the retailer’s revenue.  ...more

 

The SME Revolution starts in Dubai and GCC
By Naseem Javed
The Western economies realized decades ago that small and medium enterprises are really the main drivers of the economy. While big businesses are necessary to preserve and maintain structure within the economy, surely they have considerable problems of their own. Mega corporations of the earlier era have increasingly lost their edge to smaller, nimbler organizations, which have spouted all over the Western landscape. The Middle East is now a new turning point for SME’s to begin a grassroots revolution.

 

The R(E)volution of Lean
by Jerry Kilpatrick & Robert Osborne
Lean Manufacturing as a management tool has taken the manufacturing industry by storm, and companies around the globe have adopted Lean methods in many forms and by many names. ...more

 

The Surprising Secret of Successful Differentiation
By Dan Herman, PhD
A successful differentiation is not imitated by your competitors, even though it brings you unmistakable success with consumers. It seems impossible? Not quite so. I am about to reveal to you the unexpectedly simple and wonderful secret of successful differentiation: you must think beyond the core benefits of your product category. Think: Off-Core Differentiation.

 

The Balanced Scorecard & Performance Improvement: Using the balanced scorecard to combine viewpoints of company success   
By David Chaudron, PhD   
No manager can ignore the bottom line – the key indicator of what has happened (i.e., a “lagging indicator”). But you need a “balanced scorecard” to measure not just how you’ve been doing, but also how well you are doing (“current indicators”) and can expect to do in the future (“leading indicators”). Then you’ll have clear picture of reality.

 

The What’s Next? Process For Developing Your Strategy
By Dr. Dan Herman
The old customary procedure of strategy development has a pure and sound logic. It has been designed in order to answer the question: What is it that we should do in order to achieve our goals?
What is the alternative to the old brick road to strategy? Dan proposes that we move from wish-oriented management to opportunity-oriented management. He hereby offers a new process leading to successful strategizing

 

The Strategy IS the Brand Or: How Can You Create Your Very Own Monopoly?  
Dr. Dan Herman
So, what really is a strategy? By definition, a strategy is the way by which you are planning to obtain your goals. In a competitive environment, your goal is that the consumer will prefer you to your competition. That is why the strategy is, in fact, the way by which you plan to achieve an advantage over your rivals – in the eyes of your consumers. Almost always, preference can be achieved only by differentiation, by either doing something other than what your competitors are doing or by doing things in a markedly dissimilar manner.

 

Re-Conforming the Supply Chain From Supplier to Customer: Before the Software
by Gerald Najarian
Now that Supply Chain Management has entered the consciousness of manufacturing managers, we are experiencing the inevitable rush to apply a software solution to implementation of a fully integrated chain of activities from the top to the bottom of the materials flow. But supply chain management is much more than software. It is the adoption of an over arching approach to the management of the modern manufacturing (or distribution) enterprise. Much like MRP or JIT, supply chain management requires a commitment to doing business in a new and more enlightened paradigm. This article appeared in Midrange Enterprise Magazine.

 

The Pull System Mystery Explained: Drum, Buffer & Rope With A Computer
By Gerald Najarian
Going forward by moving backward is how one author described a pull system. Others use the analogies of drums, buffers and rope to explain how to "pull" production through a manufacturing shop. This pull sequence system is known as a Kanban system in Japan and in The Toyota Automobile Corporation where it was developed and refined.

 

Flow Manufacturing is the Essential Component in Your Supply Chain Strategy
Gerald Najarian, The Remington Group, LLC
Supply Chain Management is to the twenty first century manufacturing enterprise as MRP was to the factory of the 1970s; the overriding framework that points the business toward the customer. The customer of the MRP and post MRP era could put up with the fixed (and mostly long) lead times, inflexible product structures and, the high cost of batch/subassembly/final assembly manufacturing and inventory management of that time. Not so the customer of the Supply Chain Management era. As we begin the Supply Chain Management era with the market’s demand for flexibility, velocity and, minimal waste (not necessarily no waste), we now focus on this new overriding framework that is under-girded by ERP and empowered by modern Flow Manufacturing. This article appeared in APICS The Performance Advantage magazine.
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Publications from our valued partners (brief writings)

Strategic Planning: How to Create Marketplace Strategies That Actually Gets Results
By Scott Glatstein
Research shows very few companies actually know how to create an effective strategic plan AND successfully implement it in the marketplace. Is your company one of them?
 
Expanding Your Business Internationally: 8 Points To Consider Before Going Global
By Robert Kendzior
 
Business Growth Tips: A Roadmap to Business Growth & A Prosperous Future
By Bill Gilbert 
 
Business Strategy Execution: 4 Reasons Why Your Company’s Strategy Isn’t Working
By Scott Glatstein
Articulating a good strategy is only the beginning. It’s the strategy’s execution that determines whether an organization can turn good intentions into profits.
 

Business & Purchasing: Buy Smart and Avoid Excess Inventory in Your Warehouse
By Dan Kaplan 
Many companies are surprised when they find excess inventory of fast moving items during a physical inventory.
 

Competitive Intelligence: How To Track Your Competitors & Uncover Their Not So Hidden Secrets
By Srikanth Chari
In business, you always need to know what your competitors are doing. To survive you must perform competitive intelligence activities and monitor the broader market for new developments that could affect your company, your products and brands, suppliers, and distributors.
 

Technology eases the inevitable last mile in the supply chain 
Colleen Rose, Group IT director, The Smollan Group
 
Out of stock, out of mind, out of business
By Chris Olivier, CEO, The Smollan Group
 
Outsourcing Sales
By Asim Khan
Many companies make the decision to outsource sales in order to reduce operating costs and focus internal resources on developing the company’s product or service.
pdf-file (93 KB)
Phenomenological Perspectives on Change
by Daniel Burger
Although the age-old Empirical-Analytical Model with its focus on measurement is still very much dominant in most contemporary organisations, an increasing number of theorists and practitioners are recognising the importance of the individual experience in management and change processes. Given that this 'individual experience' has been a central focus of the Phenomenological Movement since its inception, this paper argues that an understanding and application of phenomenological principles may have much utility in organisational change efforts, especially considering the key role of the individual in achieving change.
pdf-file (255 KB)
A Humanistic/Existential Approach to Strategy
by Daniel Burger
An increasing body of evidence is indicating the importance of utilising people as a competitive advantage, yet many contemporary organisations are still persisting in their use of conventional approaches to strategy. However, criticisms against these approaches include that they ignore human factors, thereby suggesting that they may be fundamentally insufficient to reach a people-based competitive advantage.
pdf-file (251 KB)
Gameplaying in Corporate
By Steve Banhegyi
Ever hear talk in the workplace about someone or other being engaged in "playing games"? Well, maybe that someone is smarter than we think because using a game analogy to think about almost everything you do has the potential to make life a lot more rewarding, interesting and fun.
Risk Inclination - How Do You Compare to Others
By Jim McCormick  
Ever wonder how risk inclined you are? And how you compare to others?
When Consulting Projects Go Sideways
By Michael W. McLaughlin
The problems that plague consulting projects are often avoidable, at least in hindsight. Before a project, consultants should think of all the potential problems and assess how they might impact the project. A low impact event may slow the schedule slightly, while a high impact one could mean project cancellation. Usually, project teams resist this kind of thinking; they prefer not to focus on the negative aspects of a project, especially during the euphoric outset. Like it or not, the beginning is the best time to get the potential pitfalls out in the open.
Deciding To Go International (pdf-file)
by Asim Khan
There are many benefits to marketing a company’s products or services overseas, but the decision to go international must be made carefully. Cultural and language barriers, political issues and variations in religious beliefs, societal norms, and business negotiation styles impact how business should be conducted with international counterparts. Two steps can prepare an organization for an overseas effort.

Lean Operations and Six Sigma Series
From Tefen Operations Management Consulting

- The first article gives an overview on Characteristics/Attributes of a Lean Operation. (pdf-file)

- The second article some guidelines for a successful implementation of lean tools and techniques in life science industry: Applying Lean Tools and Techniques in Pharmaceutical Environments. (pdf-file)

- The third article is about Taking On Six Sigma Programs. It offers guidelines for in-house and outsourcing decisions. (pdf-file)

- The forth article is a case study about Using the Six-Sigma Methodology to Improve Wafer Fab Productivity (pdf-file)

 

How discretionary spending effects a business valuation
By Byron M. Lund  
Discretionary spending is spending that must be done for the long term profitability of a company, but may be postponed from the current period(s).
Spreadsheet errors could cause actuaries to misjudge risk and rate policies incorrectly 
By Adrian Miric
Cash to Cash Cycle Series 
By Chris Anderson
What Would You do with $1,000,000?
What do you and your business need that you have been putting off because you don't have the money today? $1,000,000 certainly would fill those needs. But where do you find 1 Million just lying around your business right now? Well, you probably have $250,000 in each of four areas in your everyday business, and you don't even realize it.
And so let's look at four places in your business where we will find $250,000 each and see how you can find it:
Part 1: Inventory - $250,000.00 
Part 2: Accounts Receivable - $250,000.00 
Part 3: Sales - $250,000.00
Part 4: Accounts Payable - $250,000.00 
Part 5: How-to Procedures - $1,000,000.00

Dysfunctional Functions 
By Vaidyanathan Nateshan
One of the most important issues that has been troubling Boardrooms and HR managers takes its roots in the functional division of an organisation. The classic division of organisations as functions has created walls or “silos” under which, people thrive, specialise and aspire for growth, resulting in frustration on not being able to grow beyond a point.

Nine Pitfalls of Organizational Change 
By David Chaudron, PhD   
The Wall St. Journal has many times reported on the struggling efforts of companies trying to effectively change their organization. With such national focus on the needs of organizations to respond to today’s volatile climate, why all the failure?  
Based on our experience, there are several significant causes to an organization's change efforts to stumble or stagnate. You can use this information to avoid these pitfalls, or recover from them if you have fallen in.
Put success into succession planning
By Bryan Hattingh    
Succession planning, as it is constituted today, is a hotly debated but generally ignored practice in corporations and businesses.
RFID: “Ready For Industry Deployment” or “Rosy Fantasy In Disguise”?
by Wally Klatch   
Judging by the amount of ink, either real or virtual, that has been used to write about RFID you would think it is the most widespread, the most useful, the most all-curing logistics remedy that can be found – the business-technology version of patent medicine. One carnival barker after another proclaims its many wondrous benefits wrapped in snappy high-tech verbiage.
Questions every CEO should be asking his managers
By Ian Widdop   
Do you know what is really driving your business? Ask your sales managers, says Growth Partners director Ian Widdop. This article lists 20 questions that reflect issues that emerge regularly in sales-oriented companies, and especially those involved in business-to-business commerce.
Embrace CPM, and escape Excel hell 
By Gavin Halse   
Corporate performance management (CPM) has existed in some form or other since companies first started making things, and is therefore not a new concept for manufacturers. Increasing competitive and regulatory pressures are resulting in an increase in formal CPM acceptance.   However, the concept only now appears to be getting requisite attention from the IT community. Does the relatively slow uptake of CPM by IT mean that IT professionals are simply slow to understand how manufacturing companies are run, or are there more fundamental factors involved?
Unstructured data offers a vast store of untapped BI value
By Garth Wittles   
Traditional business intelligence (BI) vendors tend to agree that clean data is essential to analysis and reporting. But GARTH WITTLES, district manager for Verity in South Africa, believes organisations are losing a huge amount of information if they rigidly apply this approach to data gathering and analysis. Typically 20% of an organisation's data is structured, which means that it can be used in BI data analysis. The remaining 80% is usually cast aside and is not factored into the analysis and reporting that business executives find so crucial to making decisions.
MANAGEMENT QUALITY AND LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS 
By Härje Franzén   
”Management Quality” or Quality of Management is a concept that describes an organization’s capacity to exercise high management quality.
How to deal with the 4 types of M&A activity
By Bryan Hattingh
BRYAN HATTINGH, CEO of leadership solutions group Cycan, says there are various types of mergers and acquisitions and that companies would do well to consider the principles behind each before signing on the dotted line.

The Intelligent Strategist
Change Designs Magazine featuring this article
- The concept of intelligence. How it has broadened to include IQ (rational intelligence), EQ (emotional intelligence) and SQ (spiritual intelligence.) 
- The powerful strategist. 
- The seven deadly traps of strategy. 
- The role of the powerful strategist. 
- The mind of a strategist. (when to do strategy, what is a powerful strategy.) 
- The heart of a strategist. (power and politics). 
- The soul of a strategist. (how to inspire others.)
pdf-file - 396 KB
The Change Leader - Trail Blazer or Tour Guide?
Change Designs Magazine featuring this article
- The change guide from hell. 
- The change guide of choice. 
- Characteristics of a trail blazer vs. a tour guide. 
- The difference between paradigm busting changes that result in new industries, vs. changes that have been implemented before in other companies and other industries. 
- The four gifts of a change guide: Intellect, compassion, inspiration and wisdom. 
- The itinerary of a change guide. 
pdf-file - 397 KB
Serve your Service with a Pinch of Fun
By Atanu Adhikari
Two biggest problems in today’s business are to motivate workers and consumers. Routine type of work environment and consumer environment resulting into both employee as well as customer turnover. Making routine employees and customers experience fun can turnaround organization’s performance. It can act as important differentiator in creating an edge over the competitors.
html-file - 40 KB
Running A Productive Project Meeting
by Tim Kress
Well-run project meetings are essential to project success. Poor meeting facilitation will not only damage the project, but the project manager's reputation as well. This article provides a roadmap to productive meetings.
html-file - 13 KB
Small Business: Don't Wait For Tax Time To Look At The Bottom Line
By C.J. Hayden
A curious thing happens to entrepreneurs in the spring of every year. They wake up one day and realize they had better figure out how much money they made last year so they can pay their taxes. But wait, shouldn't a business owner already KNOW how much money he or she made last year, last quarter, or last month?
html-file - 12 KB
Management Quality - The Role of the Middle Managers
Middle managers who fill this role address all critical success factors pertaining to management quality. They are role models who interpret and represent the established management policy and make it alive to their reporting managers and their staff. They are key persons in communicating and tracking different kinds of goals and in making information flow up and down.
html-file - 14 KB
Changing Information to Knowledge
By Deepak Pareek
The information universe is transforming. The technological developments of the closing decades of the last century have created an ever-expanding universe of information, from pure content creation to the endless statistics created by every individual’s interaction with the new technological environment.  This growth in the ability to create and distribute information, and the facility to monitor its use, offers enormous cultural, educational and financial benefits for those who know how to harness it and can present information in usable form hence extract Knowledge. However, the same growth has led to an inevitable dilution in both the quality and the applicability of that information to any particular individual unable to utilize knowledge of information.
html-file - 25 KB
What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like It’s Never Going To Work
by Frank Schmidt
Here’s a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner. By “timely” the researchers mean without loss of quality or being over budget. They go on to say the average project runs approximately 200 percent late, roughly 200 percent over budget, and contains only 2/3 of the original functionality. Failure is the norm in the IT industry. But why? And more importantly, how do we fix it?
There must be a way to dissect the problem, and create a solution to the diagnosis of “doomed failure.” Trust me, there is!
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Circling the Pyramid - Building Lasting Commitment to Change
by Edmond Mellina
In any change initiative, the overarching objective is to drive the lasting adoption of new behaviours and attitudes within the organization. The challenge can be framed through a series of questions: What is the best strategy to build commitment to the change? How do you monitor the level of allegiance? What is the difference between mere compliance and full internalization? In this article, we present a model we have developed to help address these issues. Although simple in its form and application, it has proven effective in a multitude of change situations.
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The Neglected Firm (Every manager must manage two firms)
Brief description of the book by by Jorge A. Vasconcellos e Sá
Every manager must manage simultaneously two firms: the present one and the future one. The first is managed through the functional departments: marketing; finance; etc. The second is managed through the most recent area of management: planning. And the area about which we know less: what constitutes simultaneously a risk and a great opportunity.
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find this book at amazon.com
Handling Challenging Situations with a Customer-Focused Mindset
By Terence R. Traut
Most Customer Service Professionals deal with many challenging customer situations. The ultimate goal in these challenging situations is to provide a win-win solution.  We want our customer to leave the interaction feeling listened to, well taken care of, and valued.  A customer-focused mindset will have a tremendous impact on accomplishing these goals.  Along with customer focus, an invaluable tool for dealing with challenging situations is the Five-Step Process.
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Project Closure – The Phantom Phase
By Shaun H. Ajani
In projects that do not respect an exacting stance for proper methodology, the Project Closure Phase is neglected. This is even the case in huge corporations with proper Project Management methodologies. It is indeed the Phantom Phase that lingers on for a while, and when nobody steps up and takes responsibility for its execution, it effervesces into nothingness, abandoning some important aspects of the project, such as Weighted Critical Measurements (WCM), Issues, Reviews, and Client Permissions.
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Management Quality and "the good work-place"
by Harje Franzén
The good work-place is a concept that has been brought into new focus, through positive actions like the "Great Place to Work" Institute and certificate, but also through many negative reports of poor working conditions. Burn-out, high turnover of staff and unequal opportunities represent part of the content of many articles and reports. How can improved Management Quality contribute towards better places to work? The answer may seem self-evident, but let us dig deeper into this question.
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The Art of Succession Planning 
by Paul Shearstone  
Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur.
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The Laws and Ethics…. Who’s Kidding Who?
By Paul Shearstone
Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist wherein he wrote his studies found one percent of all human beings would never lie, cheat or steal. One percent would always lie, cheat or steal and given the right set of circumstances, the rest of us would likely lie, cheat and/or steal.  I mention this to highlight the fact that, if we can buyoff on this one principle – sobering though it may be – we have then, a benchmark from whichto begin to at least try to understand the denigration of ethics that lead to outcomes like Enron and WorldCom
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Change, Employee Performance, and Blended Performance Solutions
by Terence R. Traut
Blended performance solutions combine strategic performance support, information access, communication, and training to achieve the most effective performance gains in the most efficient manner. In this article, the author identifies the features of blended performance solution components.
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Effective Networking for Professional Success
Book Summary by Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla
We are all “self-employed” now. Today there is absolutely no job security. We are living in an age  of corporate downsizing, and freelance consultants, or self-employed  workers are growing by the day. Networking is one skill you need to  practice to get ahead and survive these uncertain times.
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The Role of the Change Master - From Change Agent to 'Change Master'
By Ruth Tearle
A change agent may be a full time organisational development professional, a leader of a division or a middle manager charged with the responsibility of bringing about a change in his/her area. Anyone involved in helping a team achieve something new becomes an agent of change. Depending on the type of change he/she is tasked with, a change agent may perform any of the roles discussed in this article.  
However a change master, is able to perform all of these roles.
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Benchmarking and Improving Management Quality
by Harje Franzén
By defining Management Quality as an organizational concept and applying established Quality methodology to the area of management, a great potential for improvement becomes apparent. This improvement translates directly to business results or other major objectives. A model of Management Quality has been developed, and used in practice to benchmark management quality in more than ten Scandinavian and international organizations. The results clearly show that even the leading edge companies can take great steps forward, by using a structural approach to management quality and by learning from best practices of others.
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How to Negotiate Successfully
By Karl Heinz Lorenz
Whether in sales, in consulting, in staff dialogue or when meeting business partners - the ability to manage negotiations and conversations effectively determines your business success. Along with methodical aspects, a sound knowledge of human nature and the ability to develop a feel for the person you are talking to are fundamental.
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Status: 28. Mai 2015