Group50® Insights

In our earlier posts on Anti-Strategy—situations where well-intentioned employees act against company interests—we’ve explored various cause and effects. Today we consider the impact of poor communications on Anti-Strategy. “Do we need better communication around here?” The answer to that question is: It depends. Have you over-heard this common question (or complaint) lately? “Better communication” is the politically-correct solution of choice when “slip-ups” occur. “No one told me about that…”. …Read More

Many have long considered Continuous Improvement activities mostly relevant to manufacturing and related operational functions.

However, continuing competitiveness and growth in market share is built upon a steady, progressive march forward in all areas of a business. And since a company’s Market Effectiveness activities and functions (shown below) are the most market-oriented and customer-intimate parts of a business, effective Continuous Improvement efforts are …Read More

In our earlier posts on Anti-Strategy—situations wherein well-intentioned employees act against company interests—we’ve explored this all-too-common issue, some of its symptoms and how it shows up in various business functions. Today we consider the root cause: poor and/or untimely information availability and its damaging effect on a company’s culture. Absent information, particularly in a dynamic business environment, people tend to …Read More

In the Group50^® series on Anti-Strategy, we discuss how companies can unintentionally encourage well-meaning employees to act against their company’s best interests, whether through an unclear overall business strategy, a lack of information, or even badly designed sales compensation programs . In this series of blog posts, we’re going to address the question: How can businesses move from “Anti-Strategy” to “Actionable Strategy”? By “Actionable Strategy”, we don’t mean a strategy that lives in a PowerPoint presentation. We mean …Read More

The Talent Management process requires focus on the following critical elements:

• Recruiting
• Employee Development
• Compensation and Benefits
• Performance Management and Succession Planning

When recruiting, your analysis of the right candidate for your company’s organization needs to be comprehensive and specific.

As we all know, hiring the wrong person is disruptive and costly and in some instances creates strategic risk to the company. Employers need to understand a person’s fit based on the following five specific criteria:

 

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Working capital, cash flow and operating profits are primary measures of senior leadership performance. Companies audit their financials every year to validate compliance and performance, but typically don’t have an audit plan for critical business processes that impact these performance measures and the customer’s perception of performance.

There are 7 critical business processes that every company must …Read More

The Group50^® series on Anti-Strategy, characterizes situations wherein talented, driven and well-intentioned employees unintentionally act against their company’s best interests. Anti-Strategy often occurs when strategy is unclear or information is lacking. Is there another cause that feeds Anti-Strategy? Is it possible, to have Anti-Strategy designed into the company’s own processes or policies? Absolutely! Let’s consider how this can happen in sales compensation systems.

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Anti-Strategy causes a negative impact on Market Effectiveness and your customers know it.  Let’s start with a couple of definitions before we get into the meat of this article: Anti-Strategy: Conscientious employees trying to do the right things without the guiding principles of a clear strategy.

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” Anti-Strategy ” is defined as result of the set of activities initiated by well-meaning people who don’t have a corporate strategy to guide their thinking. As you can imagine, without an overarching corporate strategy that properly focuses demand creation and the supply chain, a lot of decisions can be made that will sub optimize performance. If you think about …Read More

In consumer businesses, the answer is “Absolutely!” But what about in business-to-business (“B2B”) categories? If you type into your favorite search engine, “Do B2B brands matter?” it will surface a number of research-backed articles that emphatically declare, “Yes!” The skeptic might challenge, however, “Sure, if I’m Intel or some other mega-budget giant in a high profile category.”

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An interesting question… Neither Wikipedia nor Dictionary.com has a definition for “Performance Management,” but Google it, and you get 124 million results! Many companies are in the same boat.

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What is all this hype about Management vs. Leadership? Everyday we are bombarded with information on the differences between them, the benefit of one over the other and the necessity to be great at both. Everyone wants to be known as the “great leader,” but does anyone want to be known as a great manager and what happens if you drop the management ball?

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Market Effectiveness™ is a series of cross functional business processes that need to be well managed and orchestrated. Market Effectiveness is akin to the supply chain and poor performance at either of these will result in bad business performance.

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Ever since software-as-a-service (SaaS) entered the picture several years ago, huge leaps have been made in how businesses leverage technology. Not just from an IT perspective, but from an operational and strategic perspective as well. Along with this trend came the explosion of acronyms such as CRM, CMS, ERP, and others which are now common terms used among marketing, sales and IT departments worldwide.

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It’s natural and often advisable to get excited about “the next big, new thing” and focus your energy and revenue growth emphasis accordingly. However, just as there is continuing truth to the old business axiom, “Your best revenue growth opportunities are often with current customers”, it’s also true that companies abandon “old platforms” too quickly.

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If you are like many leaders, you remember the great new ideas that were early springboards for your company’s success. For some reason, however, your new products and services “pool” seems to have dried up over the years. What happened? Have you become less creative? Has your organization grown complacent and removed from customers and how your products are used? Perhaps you’ve just been looking in the wrong places.

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Laws are created to deal with a problem that exists today and may not exist years from now. Business processes are the same. They are created to deal with current needs. Over the years the legal system has accumulated a series of laws that may have been appropriate for their time but have never been abolished. Here are a few examples: …Read More

Is your company and organization ready for the next big change? Study after study show that 70% to 80% of all Corporate changes fail AND 80% of the failure can be blamed on not having an adequate Change Management Plan. Yet most leaders when asked how to prepare for the next change, they will focus on product initiatives, customer penetration or technology enhancements.

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If you are like most business owners, your days are fast-paced, your activities varied and your time precious—it’s likely that you are among the 87% of owners who have no written exit plan. Yet, despite the value you’ve created in your business, you will exit at some point and need to figure out how to reap the fruit of your efforts while leaving a successful, ongoing business legacy.

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Anti-Strategy occurs when an organization’s strategy is not clear and functional leaders and individuals make choices in their best interests. Some call this “silo thinking” some call it “self-centered,” but without a clear Corporate Strategy it is impossible for groups to align to what is right for the entire organization! Without a clearly articulated Corporate Strategy, each function works on their priorities seemingly without regard to other department’s needs. Here are some examples of Anti-Strategy: …Read More

Entrepreneurs are wired differently than most, often “painting outside the lines,” seeing things others don’t. But their vision, creativity and drive can come with a cost. They under manage and most don’t manage their companies or themselves well.

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Organizations that aren’t guided by clearly articulated strategy and objectives have a tendency to wander and fall apart. Their foundation is weak and they have inadequate structural supports. They don’t have something to use as a litmus test for making decisions.

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Anti-Strategy is an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why someone in the company, a peer, a direct report or even the boss has done something that just didn’t make sense? Maybe it was reorganization, a change in product direction, adding new people that should be in other organizations, or worse yet, done nothing? Of course you have. You are probably guilty of it yourself, although you may not realize it or don’t want to admit it. Smart, successful and highly compensated people often do things that don’t seem to fit or support the program or your perspective of the direction of the company.

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If your Strategic Execution™ is hit-and-miss, you are not alone—only 10% of all companies execute well to their strategies. There are lots of contributors to companies’ poor execution to strategy, but one that holds many back is organizational readiness. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL football team set a record for pro sports futility in its first two years—26 consecutive losses in 1976 and 1977. At a press conference after the record-breaking 20^th loss the late John McKay, then the Buccaneer’s coach, was asked, “Coach, how do you feel about your team’s execution?” McKay quipped, …Read More

December 1, 2014 Los Angeles, CA Group50^® Business Management Consulting Firm announced today that it has significantly expanded its consulting resources and tools in sales force effectiveness, organizational development, and change management. Jim Gitney, CEO and Founder of Group50® commented….”Strategic Execution is the cornerstone of a company’s success and our sweet spot. Our clients want to work with a consulting firm that has broad expertise and deep bench strength. I am pleased to announce that Deborah Wexler has joined Group50. As a career consultant, Deborah has helped companies design and execute their strategies through effective use of their people, processes and technology. She has led …Read More