Passing The Torch

When we left off last time on the topic of exit strategy, we were discussing exit planning as the first phase - when you determine how to transfer the business when you leave. (This is relevant for all exit strategies except liquidation.) The second phase is succession planning which involves determining who runs the business […]

Keeping Your Business Humming Along No Matter What

Since we’ve been talking about scenario planning in this space over the past few weeks, the natural course of discussion leads us to continuity planning. You may decide to accept one or more of the risks identified during your scenario planning, and continuity planning will help you minimize the effects if any of the risks […]

Running scenario planning

Last time in this space we started discussing scenario planning by
talking about preparing for the "big what ifs" or the driving forces
that generally exhibit as 1) social dynamics, 2) economic issues, 3)
political issues, or 4) technological issues. These are the cases that
tend to push your thinking and are usually classified as the big
unknowns.

But
there are […]

Thinking about the ripple effect

We’ve all seen and heard the unsettling headlines pointing to a
business slow down in the news - "Home Foreclosures Skyrocket;"
"Housing Market Continues Slump;" "Disappearing Sales Tax Revenue;" and
"Credit-market Contagion From US Subprime Crisis Affects Global
Economy."
It
is human nature to ignore the bad news rather than pay attention to it.
Whether you think you are immune to […]

Responding to what you’ve discovered

Responding to your market is critical to being market-focused. You can generate information and communicate it internally, but unless you respond to market needs, nothing gets accomplished. Your company should be driven by:

An understanding of what your customers want
The knowledge of how to meet the customers’ needs
The delivery of the product or service customers want

Many […]

Growing natural

All the government legislation doesn’t hold a candle to the impact businesses are having on environmental progress. The resources, constraints, overpopulation, and pollution are just a few of the trends driving environmental products, services, and business practices. The big change in the trend is that the environmental services are now becoming profitable.
Here’s what’s growing:

Shortage of […]

Getting Ready for Implementation

With the recent debut of the execution module of our award-winning strategic planning software, MyStrategicPlan, much of our focus around the office has been on plan implementation and execution. Both topics are also especially relevant this time of year as many business leaders and organizations start preparing for a new fiscal year start in July […]

Kicking your value up a notch

Take out your big-strategy guns and kick it up a notch. To increase your value, you need to create something that is better or different than your competitors. By construction your value chain, you now know what you can do in specific areas to improve. In this section, you find out how to have a […]

Changing how we think about change

Increasingly today, we are witnessing the blurring of
commerce and social responsibility. Companies navigate a complex and evolving set
of economic, environmental, and social challenges, all the while addressing
stakeholder demands for greater transparency, accountability and
responsibility. Senior Advisor Allen White of Business for Social
Responsibility contends that rethinking the social contract remains one of the
most urgent imperatives of our […]

Staying on top of technology trends

Many people believe that the revolutionary impact technology has had on products, processes, and communication systems has just begun. New technologies and processes continue to change the way organizations operate daily. The problem for most companies is evaluating which advances are truly opportunities and which are distracting.
Failure to monitor and address advances may negatively impact […]