Management Information

Narcissism in the Boardroom

The perpetrators of the recent spate of financial frauds in the USA acted with callous disregard for both their employees and shareholders - not to mention other stakeholders. Psychologists have often remote-diagnosed them as "malignant, pathological narcissists".

Getting Your Employees Attention Back to Work

It is 9:00 am on a Monday morning. Do you know where your employees' attention is? Is it on work?Picture this.

Disaster Prevention Tips For Hiring A New Manager

It happens over and over in businesses every day.Within large companies, people are promoted to management positions to reward them for performance as individual contributors.

Five Tips for Analyzing an Income Statement

In today's article, we'll be looking at the income statement, which is the most deceptively simple of the major financial statements. I say simple because it's just a list of all the revenue, minus all the expenses, to calculate what's left over in profit.

What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like It's Never Going To Work

Here's a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner.

Its All About The Customers, Baby

If you want to ensure a steady stream of customers in your business, you must always remember why you're in business in the first place.Sure you want to earn a decent income for yourself, but you also want to provide a useful service don't you?That second reason should take precedence over the first.

Diversity in the Workplace

As you look around your office, is everyone just like you? Probably not. The demographics of the American workforce have changed dramatically over the last 50 years.

Its a Training Issue!

There's a common phrase used by Organizational Development and Human Resource professionals, when identifying kinks in the growth of an organization or company - "It's a training issue." The same phrase can be applied to almost any group of human beings that are working together to achieve a common goal.

Managers Who Spend PR $$ Wisely

If you are a department, division or subsidiary manager, your budget is a precious possession whether you work for a business, a non-profit or an association. So why stand by while your public relations team spends too much time and treasure on tactics like press releases, column mentions and brochures? Especially when you could be using an aggressive PR blueprint to persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your success?The good news is, that aggressive blueprint shines the PR spotlight directly on those outside groups of people who have a large say in how successful you're going to be - namely, on your key external target audiences.

Choosing the Right Corporate Training

According to a Gallup Poll, 80 percent of employees said the availability of company-sponsored training programs was a factor in deciding whether to accept a new job or stick with a current one. And yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the average number of hours of formal training per employee per year is only 10.

Change or Die! To Change Your Organization, Hire a Business Coach

It is a common business axiom - change or die. As a small or mid-sized business owner or a manager, there will be times you will need to make changes in your organization but may not be sure how to go about it.

Print Buying Consultant

Ten Money Saving Tips for Print ManagersDespite their stated desire to realize savings from streamlining the various components associated with the print buying process, it's been my experience over the years, that many print managers neglect to do some of the easy things that can add up to significant cost savings annually. We all know these things, but we don't always do them.

A Renewed View of the Modern Business Culture

Life can sometimes be unexciting if not refreshed by the will to create according to one's own conscience and freedom. Often, the power of passion fuses into unexciting or appealing activities.

3 Tests To Hire The Best

Question: What's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to have profitable, productive, and honest employees?Answer: Hire profitable, productive, honest people!Unfortunately, managers often hire underachievers or losers. Fortunately, pre-employment tests give managers a simple-to-use, quick, customizable way to hire the best.

How To Rebuild Trust

Here are some quick thoughts on ways to turn things around.Determine the real reasons why trust has diminished.

Challenge of ERP Implementation: Q and A with Rick Maurer

Question: ERPs seem like a good idea, so why is return on investment so low?Answer: Resistance often kills many of these new systems. Even though the promise of what an ERP can do is high, the planners often fail to look at how the users are likely to view this "improvement.

Business Opportunity - Leverage Your Employees!

As a business asset, they don't sit well on the P&L statement. They aren't valuable like a piece of machinery, or an office block.

Getting Software Developed for Your Business

At some point, your business is going to need to have some software development. Maybe your business is small, but existing software doesn't fit your needs.

Lets Make Training More Interesting!

Many HR managers believe that by sending their workers to participate in external training programs, they have fulfilled their responsibilities. This is not the best situation.

A Corporate Facelift With Sound Bytes

If Baby Boomers can get botox and tummy tucks, then why don't companies receive facelifts to improve their image as well? The telephone is the lifeblood of any business. Use it respectfully.

Sweet Parting Of Ways

Why settle for bad feelings when your employee leaves the firm? Human resource managers can help to sweeten the occasion during the exit interview, and get valuable information to help the company in the new knowledge age.More often than not, human resource (HR) managers place more importance on job interviews than on exit interviews.

Do the People in Your Organisation Dress For Success?

What really amazes me, with all the personal and professional development seminars people attend, from executives in corporate world, business owners and employees alike, very little investment has been made into the way they look ..

Downsizing in Organisations - The Real Truth

I've met and worked with many people in all sectors of the business world and found that the majority of managers and team leaders are spending too much of their time on basic administrative tasks. Tasks for which they have had no training in.

Organisation Tips For The Mobile Executive

Despite the fact that everyone sighs "How glamorous!", the life of the business traveller can actually be hell! Fighting international datelines, jetlag, airline food, hotel pillows filled with rocks, and the constant packing can turn an efficient, organised corporate commando into a bumbling mess.The situation can be similar for those whose car has to occasionally transform into a mobile office.

Crisis Management Tips

The term crisis management has different connotations. In this article, I will try to provide pointers that can be used in most situations:Is It A Crisis In The First Place?:This question is important to ask, as there are many situations that go wrong because the right person to handle it is not around.

How Your Business Can Pick A Software Developer

Eventually, your business is going to need to have some software development. Your business is unique - you can't rely on a huge, faceless corporation to handle your unique needs with a shrinkwrapped, mass produced, production-line solution.

Weaknesses of Wishing

When you're starting a business, you might wish for a lot of things, like having more than enough customers or not having to do marketing. But wishing is weak willed, having no momentum behind it.

Why Free Agent Thinking Is Good For Your Company

It's no secret! Day after day the news is riddled with companies who are moving operations to other countries or completely closing their doors. Those who remain must transform themselves to lean, mean, businesses with a constant eye on reducing costs.

How to Help Your Company Become a World Class Company

Most people think real change in an organization occurs as a result of top-level leadership. This isn't always the case.

Dont Wait for Tax Time to Look at the Bottom Line

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.

To Outsource or Not to Outsource

In these days of restricted head count and tight budgets, the question of whether to outsource or hire in-house staff is more critical than ever. The technical publications function, however vital, is undergoing more scrutiny and also facing greater challenges than ever before.

Why Businesses Fail - And What You Can Do About It!

Have you unintentionally set your business up for failure?No one sets out to fail! Most business owners read all thestatistics (maybe more than once) before they open theirdoors. Many know the reasons why businesses fail.

Inspiring Loyalty and Contentment in Your Workforce

One of the first things I look at when I take over a new department or division is the attitudes of the managers and /or supervisors.I ask myself the following questions;Do they inspire loyalty in their staff?If not, why not?If they do, how do they do it?The workforce of any company is normally the lifeblood of the business, the oil that lubricates the machinery.

5 Steps to Identify Core Processes

Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week, we raised the question: how do you know where to begin? How can you identify a gap in one of your company's core processes?The answer: follow the money trail?But how do you follow the money trail, and what will that mean for your business? To answer this, let's look at five steps to identify your core processes and any needs for change.Step 1: Define Your Business ModelThe following question might sound very basic, but you should first ask yourself: what business am I in? You'll ask this because you want to follow the money trail: to identify how exactly you earn revenue and from where that revenue comes.

Use Noncompete Agreements To Protect Your Business

Q: One of my former employees has launched an online business very similar to mine and is contacting my clients and trying to steal their business from me. Do I have any legal recourse against him?-- Brad J.

Internal Prisons: The Thief of Productivity and Quality in our Workforce

As a professional speaker, one of my biggest challenges is to grab the attention of my audience within the first few minutes of the presentation- grab them by the throat if you will. I do this by coming out in a suite and tie, following an introduction in which I have been described as a recent college graduate who earned both of his degrees with a 4.

Developing Your Management Style

One thing a lot of us don't do in sales is take time out to analyse things.How are we doing it?Why are we doing it?Can we do it better?Taking time out to assess your management style is one of the most fundemental tasks a person can do.

On The Job Training is Something You Can't Afford to Skip

Trained employees are more productive employees; there's no doubt about that. Whether you're your only employee or whether you've got a growing staff, put OJT (on the job training) at the top of your To-Do list.

Supplier Sees 53% Reduction in Out-of-Spec Orders Case Study

The goal of perfection is a challenge. It is often viewed as an expensive process requiring large investments.

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Coworker and Caretaker

This article relates to the Coworkers competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of a coworker whose performance consistently facilitated effective cooperation, collaboration, and communication between the employees within one organization.

Re-Discovery Procedures for Building Effective Management Systems: Phase V

Now we turn the corner to our final phase: Re-Discovery.Last year marked the 200th anniversary of the expedition of Lewis & Clark, and much has been written about their remarkable journey up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific.

Efficiency Around The Office

Nearly every office, be it commercial or home-based, may have areas of inefficiency that can be improved upon. We are not talking sales figures or profit margins or budgets, but inefficient waste and resource management.

5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement

Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesWhat if your sales increased from $100,000 to $110,000 per day and your profit increased from $10,000 to $11,000 - did you improve by 10%? The answer might shock you..

Three Business Lessons From The US Postal Service

There was a buzz in the air recently about the US Postal Service. Seems as though they were running into a budget deficit in the billions.

Performance Reviews That Actually Improve Performance

Employee performance reviews are one of the most dreaded tasks by most managers. It is hard to win here - you can never say enough good things, and one word of criticism is generally the only thing they will remember.

To Meet or Not to Meet - What are the Questions?

Meetings can be a total waste of time or a powerful and productive communication tool that solve problems, stimulate ideas, promote team spirit and generate action. The results lie totally in how they are run.

3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change

As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape, a huge question arises: What must a leader do to make sure change produces highly profitable results?To find out, I uncovered exactly what executives did who planned and implemented organizational change that produced $10-million - $1-billion in profit improvement.I discovered that highly profitable organizational change requires three key ingredients.

Learning To Let Go

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit (which clearly you have!), you probably have a tendency toward being a control freak. I know the feeling well -- "No one can do it as well as me, so I'll just do it all!" While this may seem to be more efficient than trying to bring someone else in to help out, it's actually more time-consuming in the long run.

Taking Care of Middle Manager Bounce Off

How many times have the management consultants been 'in' and after leaving, have left little or no trace of their passing?Despite massive investment there is no discernable performance improvement, the retention figures still look as if we are running a call centre and our safety record is second to everyone.Why is it that what seemed a logical and progressive implementation model failed to have any lasting impact on our business?Could it have anything to do with 'Middle Manager Bounce Off'?'Middle Manager Bounce Off' is a little understood phenomenon that appears most frequently in the wake of a management initiative or a consultant driven implementation.

Demise of the Lone Ranger Manager: A Lesson in Management Communication Style

When executives see themselves as solely responsible for the overall success of their enterprise, subordinates can hardly be blamed for acting according to predictions.Let's look at a familiar scene in classical American - if I may use the word - mythology.

The Key to Successful Performance Objectives

Have you ever tried to drive somewhere without proper directions? This almost always turns out to be a frustrating experience. Sure, if you stop and ask enough people you may eventually reach your target destination, but think of all the wasted energy, time, and resources needed to accomplish your goal.