Casual Articles - Business

Keeping Abreast Of Your Domain ...Updates and Keeping Up With It All
Another major complaint that most business owners have is all the reading they need to do to keep abreast of what is happening in their business area. Again time management and organization can be a tremendous help. Be sure to put your reading times in your daily schedule. Schedule a half hour in the morning to read at least one article in a magazine. While having lunch, read updates or small bulletins. Make a folder in your e-mail program and organize the articles and newsletters you wish to read and then schedule time specifically to peruse these articles and newsletters in the evening and on the weekend. You don't need large blocks of time, half hour, forty-five minutes will do. However, if you schedule your reading on a daily and/or weekly basis you will be better able to manage it all, and in the long run have more time to yourself. I know you are saying, how do I find the time. Well remember t

ts for success. They must sense that the traditional view of a corporation, as a "body corpus", is flawed.

The model I am proposing has an additional component: the machine. To put it in the context of NASCAR, you have the driver's attitude/ knowledge (Intellectual), the driver's physical skill/experience (Physiological) and the vehicle itself (Machine). To win at NASCAR, the driver must possess confidence in her abilities and strategy, she must have mastery of her vehicle and the vehicle must be perfectly tuned to the course.

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greates

The Benefits of Using Dilution Control Systems
The cleaning chemicals your janitorial company uses every day come in various forms: ready-to-use, concentrated, and dilution control systems. Cleaning companies are using dilution control systems more and more every day. They see the value in having a system that not only mixes what they need for a specific job or building, but also mixes the chemical in the right dilution every time. This "proper mixing" not only saves money, but helps to ensure better cleaning results as the chemicals are always mixed correctly.Dilution control systems have improved over the past few years and are now compact, easy to install and use, and some even have special features so you can easily fill buckets or auto scrubbers with whatever chemical you are mixing.Most people think that if a little chemical works, than more will do the job quicker and better. However, using too strong of a solution can damage surfaces, while too weak of a solution

This thought was triggered by an article in the February 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review entitled "Breakthrough Ideas for 2005". The article has a brief synopsis of 20 breakthrough ideas for 2005. One of those was subtitled "Seek Validity Not Reliability" and was written by Roger L. Martin, the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and director of the AIC Institute for Corporate Citizenship.

Reliability versus Validity

In the above referenced article, the thrust was a challenge to corporations to balance the need for process-driven reliability with a quest for validity. Here is a key paragraph from the article, "Six Sigma, CRM, Sarbanes-Oxley, and most other corporate systems have one thing in common: They are reliability-oriented processes. They are intended to produce identical or consistent results under all circumstances, often by analyzing objective data from the past. For instance, a perfectly reliable poll would be able to produce the same result from ten random samples of voters. By contrast, a perfectly valid poll would be able to predict an election's winner." The article continues to illuminate the negative consequences of highly structured processes: loss of creativity/innovation. Here is a table from the article to add more clarity.

While the HBR article illustrates the negative impact of rigidly applied business processes, it does not provide a model to gauge the degree of structure to be applied for a specific business process. The purpose of this article is to provide such a model.

The NASCAR Perspective

Throughout my business education and career, I have tried to liken businesses and business processes to biological systems, thinking of organizations as organisms. Each organism has its own intellectual and physiological functions. This is the traditional model.

With this model, however, I have struggled with the questions of how much process to apply and to what functions? Instinctively, I understand that business processes are critical to success, regardless of the organization's maturity. They ensure efficiency and consistency. Unfortunately, the quest for reliable results through the application of highly structured business processes has a tendency to quash innovative thought.

I submit that "Excellent Companies" have evolved methods for balancing these competing, but essential components for success. They must sense that the traditional view of a corporation, as a "body corpus", is flawed.

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greatest

Does Your Brochure Pass the Test - Or is It Headed for the Trash? Part One
The decision on whether or not someone will read your brochure is usually decided in the first 5 seconds they look at it. What kind of message are you communicating in that five seconds? Will you make a favorable impression with your prospect? Will you move your prospect closer to the sale?There are really only two key elements that will determine how well your brochure is received by prospects. These two elements will ultimately make the difference in your brochure being a tool that makes you money, or just something else that costs you money.What are those two all-important elements: 1. the Image or look 2. the MessageThis is part 1 in a two-part article. In part 1 we will discuss what you need to ask for from your printer to make sure that your brochure looks top notch.Here are 5 things you should keep in mind when you are evaluating your layout and your printer.1. Choose Offset Printing. Offset p

Here is a key paragraph from the article, "Six Sigma, CRM, Sarbanes-Oxley, and most other corporate systems have one thing in common: They are reliability-oriented processes. They are intended to produce identical or consistent results under all circumstances, often by analyzing objective data from the past. For instance, a perfectly reliable poll would be able to produce the same result from ten random samples of voters. By contrast, a perfectly valid poll would be able to predict an election's winner." The article continues to illuminate the negative consequences of highly structured processes: loss of creativity/innovation. Here is a table from the article to add more clarity.

The NASCAR Perspective

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greates

Five Hot Ways To Create Customer Loyalty
First, analyze your company carefully. You must think about every aspect of your organization from the customer's perspective. What do you do well? What are your areas of weakness? Are there things that you can offer customers that you may have never considered?Remember to think of everything from the customer's point of view, and you will have an entirely new insight into your company, thereby increasing your customer's ability to stay loyal to you.Second, show individual care for each customer who walks in your door. From the ability to greet them by name to just being around if there is a problem, forming a relationship with a customer is likely to make them loyal to you instead of the business down the street.Other ways to show individual care for customers include holiday cards and gifts, ensuring that problem-resolution situations go smoothly and primarily in the customer's favor, and providing excellent customer ser

a table from the article to add more clarity.

The NASCAR Perspective

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greates

Education Is The Key To Effective Referral Marketing
One of the few complaints I hear from small business owners when it comes to generating business or leads by way of referral is that too many of the referrals they are offered aren't a fit for the business. The referrals are either unqualified, don't need the firm's offerings, can't afford the product or just don't fit the typical profile of an ideal client for the receiving firm.If this is your referral reality, then you know that chasing leads that don't fit your target client can be a grand waste of everyone's time and energy. The primary reason for this affliction though is that most small business owners and independent professionals don't take the time to educate their referral sources.The typical referral request may go something like, "Know anybody that needs what we do?" "Okay, I know lots of people, here you go. Have at it!"The solution to this is really quite simple. I've created a tool I call the Perfect Introd

rganism has its own intellectual and physiological functions. This is the traditional model.

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greates

Private Labeled Bottled Water for the Hospitality and Lodging Industry
The Hospitality and Lodging Industry in the United States is booming with strong growth in overall revenues and average price per room. Notwithstanding external factors such as international terrorism and the rapid rise in fuel costs, most industry forecasts predict continued growth in revenue.Recent studies show however, that the industry suffers from a considerable loss in revenue and profits because of ineffective differentiation of service offerings and branding. This trend is recent because historically hotel customers have demonstrated brand loyalty.Private label drinking water has been proven to be a powerful, cost effective method of promoting quality brand images and differentiating service offerings.Opportunity LostThe Hospitality and Lodging Industry plays a major role in the U.S. economy with business travelers alone accounting for $40 to $50 billion in annual revenue. A recent study however, by a recog

ts for success. They must sense that the traditional view of a corporation, as a "body corpus", is flawed.

Intellectual

Developing the confidence to win is the most challenging as it has the greatest number of variables. How does the driver feel today? Is she confident? How are her relationships? Does she have any dependencies? What does she fear? Does she buy into the strategy?

Physiological

Mastery of her vehicle is a function of training, practice, coordination and endurance. She has to be familiar with the course, with the performance characteristics of her vehicle, with the track conditions. She has to be capable of executing the strategy on the track.

Machine

Finally, if she has the right mental state and the physical prowess to achieve the strategic objectives - her car must meet the minimum acceptable performance specifications in order for her to execute the strategy successfully.

The Process Matrix The purpose of this exercise is to identify which of the three aforementioned process areas require focus or review based on the maturity of your company and the respective industry. In the traditional model, the operational (Machine) and coordinating (Physiological) processes were treated similarly with maximum structure. The new model allows for a more moderate structuring of those processes that serve to coordinate the organization. This allows for human involvement. It is the freedom to alter intellectual and physiological business processes to accommodate exceptions that produces robust strategies, intimacy with customers, design excellence, creativity, jobs with meaning, corporate social responsibility and ultimately successful companies. Here is an illustration of the process matrix.

Type I Company (new company in new industry)

This company should focus on the Physiological and Machine processes. The industry is new, so the idea was freshly conceived. Now is the time to focus on execution. However, the intellectual processes (e.g. SWOT analysis, Short Term Strategy, Long Term Strategy, etc.) should be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that you are on course.

Type II Company (new company in mature industry)

This company should focus on the Intellectual and Physiological processes. The industry, and therefore the "Machine", has been around. The operational characteristics of this industry are widely known and perfected. Your competitive advantage will come from thinking differently and refining your company's coordination (how you control the machine).

Type III Company (mature company in new industry)

This c

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Screening Resumes is vital to the recruiting & hiring process. Training Applicant Screeners and Recruiters does influence the success of the Recruiting Cycle and is an important aspect in the hiring of the most qualified applicants.

Unexpectedly loosing your job can be a very traumatic and distressing experience at the best of times. If you are over 40 and can't find the job you deserve, you will need great inner strength and self belief to come out on top.

Although email has received a lot of bad press, there’s still no better or cheaper way to communicate. Ask your customers for their preference, would they rather receive updates, newsletters and discounts via regular mail or email?

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