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Monthly Archives: May 2011
Rip van i-Winkle
Just imagine Rip going to sleep in 1991. His world was made up of pyramid shaped organisations organised geographically, and most likely he worked for one person in the same location. Rip got his news in the paper the next … Continue reading
Posted in Change
Tagged Change, climate change, managing yourself, Personal Rant, Social Media
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Strategy is making difficult choices.
Strategy is all about making choices about where available resources will be allocated, considering both the benefits and risks of alternatives in the context of opportunity cost. In this country we have reserves of natural gas tied up in seams … Continue reading
Ban retrospectivity!
Why does the government set out to create conflict? Is it to distract attention? The current “debate” on cigarette packaging is a silly nonsense, a politically inspired furphy. Obviously it is in the community’s interest to reduce smoking rates, smoking … Continue reading
4 Drivers of culture
Culture is most often defined by repeating Michael Porters assertion that “culture is the way we do things round here”. However, this leaves the question of what drives the way things are done. From my observations over many years, there … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership
Tagged change management, communication, Leadership, performance assessment
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Thoughts on e-tail
Retailers have spent 50 years offering a wide range of options to scratch any shopping itch. They have trained consumers to expect, indeed demand, a wide range, but given their walls are not elastic, is it any wonder that that … Continue reading
Posted in Change, Customers, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Tagged Change, communication, customer, Marketing, retailer, Sales, supply chain
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“Five S” misused
The lean tool, 5s, is often a starting point for lean implementation. It makes sense, as on the surface, it is relatively easy, “straighten, sweep, set, standardise, and sustain”, but it is this last bit that catches people out. A … Continue reading
Something old is new again.
It is a bit ironic to think that in the midst of the information revolution that is surrounding us, that we are in some ways reverting to the ways of pre-agricultural humans. Bit of a stretch? Just think, pre-agricultural humans … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance management, Collaboration, Management
Tagged Alliance management, collaboration, lean
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Small business is wary of social media
They are.. Just look around at what they are doing. I wish I had written this post.
Microsoft’s challenges with Skype
It will be worth watching the way Microsoft goes about leveraging their $8.5 Billion (should have paid Aussie dollars?) purchase of Skype, there will be a swarm of lessons to be learnt: Integration of a “free” service into a product/profit … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Customers, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Tagged communication, customer, Management, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
2 Comments
Lean and 6 sigma revisited
In a recent conversation I again found myself between two smart blokes, one who was a black belt 6 sigma consultant who believed the problems of the world could be fixed by some aggressive, numerical focus on process improvement, and … Continue reading
The process of developing solutions
We humans like to do things in a consistent manner, each time we do something, it is comfortable to do it the way we did it before. This is great if the way we have done it delivers the optimal … Continue reading
Posted in Lean, Operations, Strategy
Tagged lean, Management, Operations, performance assessment
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Thinking about cloud computing?
Last week I attended a seminar run by http://www.Salesforce.com a very impressive dissertation on the capabilities they and their partners can bring to bear on the CRM challenges faced by all businesses. Obviously, the objective is to sign you up, … Continue reading
Re-inventing management
This video of Gary Hamel discussing the evolution of management is seriously worth watching.
Blind-flying.
I have been surprised a couple of times recently when I realised that two B2B businesses I was working with really had no idea how their ultimate customers used the products they bought from us. In both cases the products were … Continue reading
Posted in Collaboration, Leadership, Management, Marketing
Tagged communication, customer, Management, Marketing
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Budget blathering whilst manufacturing dies. June 13 update!
Amidst all the blathering following the federal budget Tuesday night I have not seen one comment, political or otherwise that points out the crisis in manufacturing, particularly food industry related manufacturing. Sure, lots of puff about how hard it is … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Personal Rant, Small business
Tagged Management, Operations, Personal Rant, Politics, SME
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How to “outcompete” Apple and Google.
Pretty big aspiration, to outcompete the two businesses that have consistently demonstrated the power of innovation as the core competitive tool over the past 10 years, and have reaped the rewards by creating and redefining markets and then taking all the … Continue reading
Posted in Customers, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Tagged collaboration, communication, customer, Social Media, Strategy
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Marketing transparency
Branding and brand marketing has always been about finding customers for a product, a “build it and they will come” approach. But life, and the world has changed from just 20 years ago. I remember the day I saw my … Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Change, Marketing, Social Media
Tagged Branding, Change, customer, Marketing, Social Media
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Which is the chicken, and which is the egg?
Does the technology that enables stuff to be done come before the creativity to figure out what to do with it, or does the creativity drive the innovation in technology. Who really knows, and it probably does not really matter, … Continue reading
“Wartime/peacetime” leadership skills
Most of us tacitly understand that winning leadership styles differ depending on circumstances, that the bloke who was great at starting a business, and getting it running is not necessarily the one to lead it into maturity. Most commentators … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Management
Tagged Leadership, Management, performance assessment
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Technology driven or customer driven
The technical solutions emerging are fantastic, but how often do you see the technology get in the way of genuine interaction with a customer?. Like any tool, the tech-tools of the 21st century are only as good as their users, … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Customers, Marketing, Small business, Social Media
Tagged communication, customer, Marketing, Social Media
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StrategyAudit 