Organizational Articles

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Wednesday, 27th December 2006 @ 10:55 AM

Companies do fall sick and die; However, there are panaceas that can turn a critically ill organisation around into a healthy one. Proper treatment is necessary as the remedies can sometimes be worse than the disease. PRINCIPLE 1: TO TREAT THE SYMPTOMS, KNOW YOUR COMPETITORS AND CUSTOMERS. TO ELIMINATE THE ROOT CAUSE, KNOW THE MARKET Sun Tzu, the strategist in The Art of War said: "If you know yourself and the enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." Thoug... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Wednesday, 27th December 2006 @ 9:34 AM

Most diseases including cancer and heart problems are easier to cure if detected early. Similarly, most sick companies can be turned around if the problems are discovered early. Sick companies need to be placed urgently into the intensive care units as the normal treatment regime is ineffective. Unfortunately, owing to denial, ego or pure ignorance, many sick companies do not seek help till it is very late. Troubled businesses usually try to conceal their problems from others for obvious ... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Wednesday, 27th December 2006 @ 9:31 AM

Talent management functions hires the good personnel and fires the bad ones. This functions like the kidney in our body. The two kidneys are the vital organs in the body amongst other functions cleanse the blood of toxins and keep it chemically balanced. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines and process the blood to filter out the wastes and extra water. Similarly a good talent management system will hire the good personnel, retain them and remove the bad ones. Good m... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Friday, 22nd December 2006 @ 4:34 PM

A sick person down with flu may manifest early symptoms of cough, runny nose, fever and body aches. Likewise, there are usually ample warning signs for a company. Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice, and thus carrying out corporate restructuring without knowing the ailments is disastrous. The key is early diagnosis as it increases the chances of curing most diseases. Principle 1: An annual health check is fundamental Many companies have annual medical examinations and hea... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Thursday, 21st December 2006 @ 4:12 PM

Someone said that feedback is the breakfast of a champion. However, in today's turbulent marketplace, surviving on breakfast alone is insufficient. You need three meals a day to keep the doctor away. In the corporate dietary system, you need vision for breakfast, feedback for lunch and action for dinner. Vision is a clear and precise mental portrait of a preferred future. Feedback is the return of a portion of the output to the input. Action is to the take a decision and execute. Vis... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Graeme Nichol @ Thursday, 21st December 2006 @ 3:48 PM

IIn my world of working with companies to achieve their strategic plans through execution, were always developing goals and objectives to work on achieving during a calendar year. So in the prospecting side of my business I met many executives and business owners who tell me how well they have things covered, but still wonder why business is not doing as well as it should. Recently I was invited to spend sometime with a company and determine how what I do may be of use in improving the b... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Mike Teng @ Thursday, 21st December 2006 @ 3:39 PM

Planning tells you what is going to happen, post-mortem tells you what has happened Both planning and post-mortem are essential management tools needed to achieve corporate objectives, as well as to prevent the recurrence of the same mistakes. Planning for change must be the ever-present concern of every executive. At the same time, if events do not happen as planned, a post mortem is to be conducted so as not to repeat the same planning errors. General Dwight D Eisenhower's famous q... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 7th November 2006 @ 11:30 PM

It has been said and proven repeatedly that change is the order of the world. When it comes to business, everything from its growth and expansion to its dissolution is continuous change. Changes happen because of new work conditions, work pressure caused by customer feedback, implementation of new processes or perhaps due to seasonal conditions among numerous other conditions. Whether it is for the company or its workers, if change is done positively, companies can overtake their counterparts an... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Fidens Felix @ Tuesday, 7th November 2006 @ 9:20 PM

Lean manufacturing (LM) is an innovative methodology to making companies' profits and earnings somehow upbeat and at par with contemporaries around the world. This manufacturing system, according to experts, was developed and initially implemented and launched in Japan, by a company now known as Toyota. Japan itself is a country foremost known for interactive and inventive approaches to solving and dealing with problems. Experts also note that lean manufacturing principles are very simple a... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Martin Haworth @ Tuesday, 31st October 2006 @ 7:58 PM

When you're where the buck stops, it's easy to regard help as something you can't accept. Especially when offered. Let me share a story. A famous radio presenter in the UK, Roger Royle, once told this anecdote about 'saying no'. During the war, as with many English children living in London, he was evacuated into the country. There, for the first time he was introduced to the luxuries that escape the attention of city-dwellers, yet are common-... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Anna Woodward @ Saturday, 28th October 2006 @ 10:49 AM

Standards: all businesses have them; high standards are expected by your customers, and should be demanded by management and stakeholders; the highest standards are a necessity to achieve true excellence, and maintain your competitive edge in all aspects of business. Six Sigma, variously defined as a philosophy of continual improvement, a measure of variation or, most commonly, a process performance metric, is a methodology to reduce business process cost and waste, improve quality and delivery... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Phil Morettini @ Saturday, 21st October 2006 @ 9:58 AM

Outsourcing Software Development Offshore This is a strategy that has "taken off" and is rapidly becoming mainstream in the software industry. Much has been written on the social and macroeconomic consequences of this phenomenon. My take on it will be strictly from a business perspective. In my research in this area for a number of clients, several important questions popped to the forefront. I'll address them one at a time. What are the circumstances whereby outsourci... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Phil Morettini @ Saturday, 21st October 2006 @ 9:57 AM

What are the pitfalls, and potential drawbacks of outsourcing? Well, there are many--and this is what scares the "late adopters" away. The biggest fear, I believe, is entrusting your intellectual property to any third party, let alone to someone you don't know, in a country with different customs (RE: more IP theft) and laws. This isn't something that I would suggest being taken lightly. However, the outsourcers are aware of this fear. They won't be in business long... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Tim Hagen @ Tuesday, 19th September 2006 @ 11:11 PM

Coaching your staff, is different than managing your staff. Coaches are dedicated to improving their employees, no matter what the cost. The result, if done effectively is increased sales and higher morale. Many believe the process of coaching is arduous, time consuming, and filled with questions; and, nothing could be further from the truth. A well designed coaching plan can accommodate your skills, abilities, and schedule so that you and your staff members experience success. Keep in mind... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Tony Jacowski @ Saturday, 16th September 2006 @ 6:40 AM

Six Sigma is a relatively new concept as compared to Total Quality Management (TQM). However, when it was conceptualized, it was not intended to be a replacement for TQM. Both 6 Sigma and TQM have many similarities and are compatible in varied business environments, including manufacturing and service industries. While TQM has helped many companies in improving the quality of manufactured goods or services rendered, 6 Sigma has the potential of delivering even sharper results. Total Qual... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Ron Bates @ Thursday, 14th September 2006 @ 2:02 AM

Some hiring authorities have had the good fortune of being trained in various interviewing skills. I know I have, both as an executive hiring authority and as an executive recruiter. One of the most common interviewing techniques, behavioral interviewing, is designed around the premise of past behaviors being some sort of an indicator of future performance. The problem with behavioral interviewing is it focuses on how someone - behaved - in a given historical situation; it doesn't g... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By Kadence Buchanan @ Thursday, 31st August 2006 @ 3:23 AM

A variety of organisations affect our daily lives. Manufacturers, retailers, service firms, agribusiness companies, non-profit organisations and governmental agencies provide us with a vast array of goods and services. All of these companies share two common things. First, they all have a set of goals or objectives. A bank's goals might be profitability and customer service, or a hotel's goals might be total quality services and cost minimisation. Second, in pursuing an organisation�... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By David Gass @ Thursday, 24th August 2006 @ 12:44 PM

Effective management is crucial for a business to succeed, and it is possible only if the right candidate with the right qualifications and expertise does the job competently. The greatest challenge to good management is hiring a good team of managers to do the job assigned to them in such a fashion, as to guide the business towards its target goals in an accelerated, well-coordinated fashion. This can be a problem especially to new businesses, as they must hire the right personnel, who can also... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By David Gass @ Wednesday, 9th August 2006 @ 11:57 PM

The success of a business depends on various factors such as a well thought out and executed business plan, effective fiscal, personnel, and time management, hard work, determination, and a will to succeed no matter what the odds. Follow certain basic strategies and business will improve. Below are a few of the strategies that help businesses run more smooth. 1. When following a business plan, running a business is a fairly easy task, as business owners know what to do, how to do it, and ... more...

Business » Management » Organizational | By David Gass @ Wednesday, 9th August 2006 @ 3:16 AM

Employees must be monitored and evaluated periodically to ensure that the management is aware of their performance as well as to suggest improvements when needed. When the employees are monitored and know that their performance will be appraised, they usually put in their best efforts to do the job assigned to them well. Thus, employee performance reviews are an integral motivation and management tool as they determine if a raise or promotion is due or if a person who has not been performing wel... more...