Searching for New Profit Ideas in Your Company? Look No Further than the Services Department!
by Jim Sakaguchi
If you're a maker of hardware or other products with profit margins getting squeezed by the competition, you may want to consider developing new revenue streams from your services department. You may be surprised to learn there are several ways to turn service offerings into a competitive advantage and create new profits for your company.

Eight Strategies for Achieving SMART Goals
by Merlyn Sanchez
Are you tired of setting goals and not achieving them? Learn the eight strategies for setting and achieving "SMART" Goals.

We're Going Lean, Where's the Payoff?
by Rick Pay
Lean manufacturing, Lean operations, Lean administration, Lean accounting. It seems that everywhere you turn, Lean is permeating American industry. Yet, a mere 2% of the companies have fully achieved their objectives and only an additional 24% reported they have had significant results. Why are more than 60% of the companies implementing Lean not making the progress they would like to see?

Beyond the “Balanced” Scorecard: How an “Un-Balanced” View of Performance Could Dramatically Increase Your Ability to Execute
by Dr. Dan Roller
If you are thinking about “ordering” a Balanced Scorecard, think again, or rather, think first of your organization’s specific needs around strategy execution.  Once these needs are clear, ask what type of scorecard will best help you address these needs and best facilitate the effective execution of your organization’s vision, mission, and strategy.

Culture KOs Strategy ... Again
by Ed Horrell
I often write about the importance of corporate culture and how it affects a business.  I found a great example of a company that had a clear culture, lost it for a while and brought it back with a vengeance.  If you've ever doubted the impact of culture, read on. You'll like this story.

Ma Bell Uses Fuzzy Math
by Ed Horrell
I challenge you to read your next corporate telephone bill with any comfort that you are getting what you paid for. Then remember that there is a company watching out for you.

Hunting Gorillas in the Corridors
by Peter de Jager
The ugliest 600lb purple polka dotted Gorilla in most organizations is “the pervasive unwillingness to confront problems.” Recognize THAT specific Gorilla and all the other ones will go away.

Improve Your Time Management Skills by Limiting Distractions and Eliminating Excuses
by Denise Landers
Once you deal with the top ten distractions and eliminate the top six excuses you can improve your time management skills, increase your productivity, lower your daily stress, and gain control.

Do Your People Let You Down? - Unintelligent Dressing
by Peter Landau
The subconscious mind is an amazing machine, it takes in information all the time and computes it and most of the time one is unaware it’s happening. What you wear can improve your chances of success.

Watch Out For the Red Zone of Pricing Strategy
by Dr. Reed K. Holden
This year, we'll be hearing about more price wars then ever. To ensure your company doesn't fall into the Red Zone, relentlessly monitor your competitors, provide leadership guidance and do the necessary advanced planning.

Time Management Systems Help Us Soar!
by Denise Landers
On a recent airplane flight, I thought of all the systems that are in place to get us from one destination to another as efficiently as possible. Set up the systems that will help you soar!

Lean Six Sigma for Enterprise Resource Planning: Four Principles for Chief Executives
by Forrest W. Breyfogle III
Chief executives of businesses large and small are using Lean Six Sigma to improve their organizations' performance. Too often, however, they are viewing the methodology through myopic lenses.

Designing Deals for Lasting Value
by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius
Negotiation involves the art and science of drawing up deals that create lasting value. Deal design is an essential part of 3D Negotiation™ that is often overlooked.

Time Management Training: Organize Your Time With The Building Blocks of Productivity
by Denise Landers
Why spend extra hours in the evenings on work that you could have fit into the day with the right construction of your schedule?

Lean PIZZA - Applying Lean Principles to Small Businesses
by Dan Stoelb
No, this isn't a story on how to make a pizza that has fewer calories or is fat-free. Rather, it is a story of how even a small "ma and pa" shop can apply lean manufacturing concepts and tools and see a significant improvement in their bottom-line results.

Want Higher Profits? Choose Your Customers Wisely
by Lynn Daniel
Keeping your company clearly focused on profitable customers and opportunities will help ensure that your company is profitable, no matter how the economy fares.

What's Propping Up Your Leadership?
by Sam Allman
Is your leadership upheld by being liked? Being respected? Both? Finessing these two contraries is one of the most difficult challenges in leadership.

Getting Things Done: The ABCs of Time Management by Edwin C. Bliss
summarized by Cam Howey
Bliss' book was first published in 1976, and was updated in 1993. His ABCs are 'right on' and provide ways to better manage our precious time. By using the tools in this book, they will help improve performance and get the right things done.

How CEO's Can Use Axiology to Improve the Bottom Line Part I
by Mitch Axelrod and John Beaton
In today's fast-paced business world, CEO's are trying to keep up with change and adapt to the global marketplace, constantly searching the horizon for an edge over the competition. One thing they overlook is very close to home.

How CEO's Can Use Axiology to Improve the Bottom Line Part 2
by Mitch Axelrod and John Beaton
In our first article we explained the little known science of Axiology and the Value Profile. In this article we continue on to discover additional and deeper critical distinctions the Value Profile provides.

The Most Neglected Ingredient in Business Growth
by Sam Allman
A business short on capital can borrow money, and one in a poor location can move. But a business short on leadership has little chance of survival.

Creating Powerful Management "Synergy" Via Executive Compensation
by A. Lee Westervelt
Crafting an effective executive compensation program is complex - part art, part science. It requires a careful and thoughtful understanding of the business, of the executives running the business, and of the goals the two have together.

The Game Plan – the Difference Between Small Business Success and Failure
by Jan B. King
A business plan gets you in the game. A game plan keeps you in the game. A business plan is a sales brochure and a game plan is an instruction manual. A game plan is about tactics.

Cut Waste with Lean Teams
by Lewis E. Frees, Ph. D.
Lean teams assume that the work is continuing 24/7, whether people are spread down the hall, across town or around the world. In addition to expecting effective interactive skills and processes, lean teams use a combination of process redesign and technology.

Realizing Your Best and Highest Use: Your Key to Success as a Company, Executive or Consultant
by Andy Birol
If a company, executive or consultant can uncover their best and highest use, there is a much higher chance they will be successful, achieve their objectives, and have fun.

Why "Free Agent Thinking" is Good for Your Company
by Lora J. Adrianse
Do your employees a favor. Encourage free agent thinking. As a company, yes, you'll have to work harder to keep the talent you want to keep. And yes, you'll probably lose some.

ISO 9002 or ISO Stupid?
by Andy Birol
How can you take the best from ISO to drive your costs down and your quality up without risking your future of innovation, customer value, and profitability? Here are a few key steps.

Getting Back to Behavioral Core Competencies
by Dick Olenych
As companies take an introspective look, they are realizing that behavioral core competencies are crucial in obtaining success in business and in life - Competencies Really Matter!

Survey Strategies and Solutions
by Shirley Frazier
Many firms prepare surveys with the help of outside consultants, but this isn’t always the best option. If you’re ready to go this alone, here are five points to steer your company toward developing an insightful survey.

The Five P's of a Profitable Business - Purpose, Position, Promotion, Performance, and Phun
by Sid Smith
Having a profitable business is like a flowing river. If you try to force it uphill it won't get very far. Allow it to flow in its natural direction, and it will eventually get to its goal, even if that means meandering across a long valley or pushing its way through a rocky gorge.

Don’t Strategize, Empathize
by Irene Etzkorn
“Who designs these things?” We’ve all asked the question. Usually, it’s as we’re struggling with impenetrable packaging or trying in vain to turn off the mysteriously blaring burglar alarm.

The Solopreneur Bill of Rights
by Veronika Noize and Jack Rubinger
The Solopreneur (one-person business such as a consultant) is a breed within a breed. After years of working on our own, we’ve generated an important set of rights that all solopreneurs can recognize and appreciate.

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe ... Isn't There a Better Way to Pick a Consultant?
by Victoria A. Hoevemeyer
Organizations spend billions of dollars for impractical or incomplete data, ineffective or inappropriate interventions, and poorly thought-out or implemented recommendations. This article can help you select a qualified consultant.

What is a SWOT?
by Skip Corsini
Successful companies constantly review their current business strategies to make sure they are working and effective. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do so is through a situational, or SWOT, analysis. It is a powerful tool in creating and maintaining the necessary and all-important strategic conversation within a company.

Saving Money Everywhere: Uncovering Waste's Hiding Places
by David A. Goldsmith & Lorrie Goldsmith
Corporate waste is more prevalent than most people realize. The good news is that once you know where to look, preventing waste and pocketing profits is an easy task.

Uncover and Eliminate the Hidden Costs NOW!
by Lora J. Adrianse
Now is the time to take a closer look, to find, uncover and eliminate the "hidden costs". The hidden costs are far less obvious to the major decision makers, and may be most obvious to the people who are closest to getting the work done.

On Being Proactive
by Preston G. Smith
"Proactive" is a contemporary buzzword. But like many buzzwords, this one is far easier to recite than it is to apply.

Increase Your Human Capital ROI with an Alumni Network
by Christina Morfeld
As the concept of "lifetime employment" becomes obsolete, many organizations are finding that they have more former employees than current ones. They are also beginning to recognize the bottom-line benefits of cultivating ongoing relationships with their "alumni."

Sales Best Practice - The Ten Fundamentals
by Richard Ilsley
It is hard to find an organisation that is not using the term 'Best Practice' somewhere within its sales operation. It seems that no matter where you go, someone is talking about it and everyone wants it. But what is it and how do we know when we have it?

Business Dashboard
by Gary Lockwood
When you are driving down the road, a quick glance at your car's dashboard gives you a lot of information. In an instant, you know how fast you're going, how much fuel you have remaining and whether the engine is overheating. What are you looking at as you're driving your company? How easily (and quickly) can you get crucial information on all your key performance indicators?

The New Accountability: Part 2
by Brian Ward
Using the balanced scorecard to align accountabilities for results.

Corporate Firefighting with the Fire Triangle
by Michael L. Perla
The fire triangle is one conceptual tool for the organizational problem solver's toolbox. Like most models or tools, it is simplified and inherently iterative, yet it provides a focus for understanding different problem elements and how they interact.

A "Cyber" Staffing Solution for Small Businesses
by Christina Morfeld
Consultants, entrepreneurs, and other independent professionals often find themselves performing a juggling act. Fortunately, advancements in technology have spawned a new industry, called "Virtual Assistance," that provides SOHOs with the relief that they need.

"Problem Employee"
by Lee A. Plutino
A "problem employee." What is that? We've all heard the term at one time or another. How and what a company communicates, directly or indirectly, affects how the employee interprets his relationship to the company.

Sustain the Gain of Change
by Greg Brue
You don't make the investment in Six Sigma and take the time to train people, to select projects, and then to drill down to your costs of poor quality once. Six Sigma is ongoing; it's a constant, "living" methodology that needs to continue as long as your business does.

The Breakfast of Champions - How Organizational Self-Assessments Can Put You on the Road to Success
by Brian Ward
It has been said that 'feedback is the breakfast of champions.' With a comprehensive Objective Self-Assessment, it becomes the full meal deal!

Demystifying Value Added
by Derek F. Martin
Despite its widespread acceptance, few people can actually define value added in a way that enables them to apply it. Take the time to understand the components of value added so that you can employ it in your own activities.

Managing Risk in a Start-Up Through Trust and Foresight
by Stacey van Hooven
The new economy created rapid growth and sudden wealth for many young companies, a great deal of which we all know now has dissipated. Many failed start-ups might have better managed their risk with an extra touch of integrity and a carefully considered risk plan.

Cutting Costs Without Losing Your Shirt - A Strategic Approach to Cost Reduction
by Derek F. Martin
The five-step SCR methodology primes your organization to enact value creating and sustainable cost savings.

Quality Improvement: A Front Line View
by Judy Worrell
In spite of the broad recognition and adaptation to quality improvement, there continues to be a challenge within organizations to fully integrate this newer approach with the work of front line staff. This article identifies some of the factors that contribute to these barriers, and suggests some proven strategies for overcoming them.

Risking to Win – How to Improve Performance by Taking Risks
by Jim McCormick
Consistent top performers are talented and persistent risk-takers, and it is possible to improve a person's risk-taking ability and thereby their performance.

The Independent Business Professional Thrives!
by Rick Sidorowicz
Individuals and organizations share a common challenge of adapting quickly to new and unique circumstances and re-inventing how they can create and deliver real value to their customers.

The CEO Challenge - Put Yourself to the Test
by Bill Fisher
Quality pictures of understanding make it easier for everyone to do better work. Put yourself to the test.

Win Win Conflict Resolution - High Powered Energy Transformation!
by Rick Sidorowicz
How we ‘hold’ conflict and how we ‘handle’ it can re-energize our spirits and strengthen individuals’ alignment to a common purpose.

The Focus is on Performance!
by Rick Sidorowicz
The set of skills, attributes and attitudes of the independent business professional are precisely those needed by individuals and organizations alike to respond effectively.

The Critical, The Few, The Vital, But Not Necessarily The Only
by H. Peter Schiller
Exploring the 80/20 rule. Our gut instinct tells us to stick with the few, the simple, the vital. What is the 80/20 rule? How does it work? Does it always work?

Performance Improvement - A Classic Checklist
by Rick Sidorowicz
"Improving Performance" by Rummler and Brache remains a classic reference for organization design, process re-engineering, and performance improvement.

Faster Cycle Times - Just Do It!
by Rick Sidorowicz
What hurts? Where are the gaps? Make decisions in real time! Get ‘stuff’ done fast! The ‘doing’ makes the difference.

Faster Cycle Times - Streamlining Basics
by Rick Sidorowicz
Assess value from the customer’s point of view, eliminate bureaucracy, simplify and accelerate action, and get closer to the customer - for superior performance.

Deming’s 14 Points
by Rick Sidorowicz
A refresher on the basics of quality - the key issues as prescribed by the master - W. Edwards Deming.

Characteristics of the 'Best in Class'
by Rick Sidorowicz
Fast Cycle Time - try this quick and dirty quiz to see how your firm measures up to the best?

The Independent Business Professional
by Rick Sidorowicz
What is really wanted and needed? Independent contractors have a different point of view!

Related Topics: Leading Change | Customer Service | Project Management

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