American Auto Makers Have to Change - So Do We!

The past few weeks have presented nothing but bad news for the formerly world leading American automobile industry. Henry Ford must be rolling over in his tomb. Alfred Sloan, the architect of the multi-division General Motors juggernaut, is a very sad “car guy” in the sky these days. Plant closings, huge employee layoffs, lost market share and horrid fiscal performance indicate that the “big three” (including Daimler-Chrysler) are in big trouble. They must change, and change is not pleasant for huge business complexes, or for employees, suppliers or customers. We live in a global market place. Nothing will change that. If foreign auto companies make better products at a better price we have to confront, and overcome, these market realities. Americans always have in the past, and there is no reason not to foresee a bright, but different future, for every current participant involved in the radical restructuring of our formerly great auto business.

Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Change Processes

Managers' behavior is the single most important variable in the success or failure of any organization's change or improvement effort. This starts with recognition that the organization is full of current or potential change champions.

How to Help Someone Else Get Organized - Without the Headaches

Organizing others is not an obvious task, even if you are organized yourself. This article will give you: tips on how to identify if the person you are thinking of it truly disorganized or if it is an appearance issue, and how to address this; what to do and not to do if the person is truly disorganized; resources to help you proceeed.

Five Steps to a Successful CRM Implementation

For the professional services person, some iterations of CRM may be confusing - many are slanted toward automating customer service operations. But never fear, there is a whole lot more to CRM than fielding service calls. In fact, a new breed of CRM is quickly becoming a powerful solution for professional services firms, especially those with management teams that want to leverage firm-wide intellectual property to grow their client base, improve productivity and maximize profitability.

The People Factor: Collaborative Decision-Making

We all generally get the 'doing' just fine: we know how to introduce strategic initiatives, how to begin the implementation process, how to offer our people 'change management' programs so the new systems (or whatever) are up on time and do what they are supposed to do. But how do we help our people adjust, and do a competent job, when we are asking them to simultaneously work with new people, new technology, new vocabularies, new outcomes, and new job descriptions – and aren't teaching them how to juggle all of that while maintaining their daily job requirements?

Do You Need a War Room? Life in the Command Center

The War Room or Command Center has its origin in military and technology environments. But businesses, other governmental and non-profit organizations have all adapted the command center concept. This article outlines the key elements of an effective command center regardless of the type of organization or intended purpose.

Managing Change: The Three Laws for Successful Transition

Today’s organizations are struggling with the fast pace of change. In spite of the massive amount of words that have been written on managing change, many organizations still seem to be going backwards. There are some simple yet powerful lessons to be learned from thought leaders of the past. See how you can apply one such lesson to kick-start your current change program.

Attention! Using Projects For Guiding Change - Small Versus Large Organizations

There are many similarities between large companies on one hand and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) on the other hand. Many concepts that may have been developed for large organizations are applicable for small businesses. Large organization could benefit from (forgotten) methods that are used by small businesses. Especcially when dealing with change.

What Is Lean Healthcare?

You will find a brief introduction to the idea of Lean Healthcare. You can also find some excellent resources for further exploration.

Organizations That Are Leading Change

All organizations deal in some way or the other with change... Many companies follow ow change that has been set in the market. A small group of companies or institutions deal with change in a different way; they are more in the lead of change. They could be pictured as change leaders.

Convert Ideas into Growth

Ideation is the flow of ideas that can be converted into growth on a consistent basis. Ideas for new products and/or services can come from two places: inside your organization or outside of it.

Corporate Gift Ideas: What to do when Birthdays at Work Suck!

7 Habits of Highly Effective Birthday Rebels. Navigating the Birthday at Work minefield

How's Your Head?

Right now, as you're reading this article, notice something. Do you have a headache? No? Did you notice that you didn't have a headache until I asked that question? Stop for a minute and appreciate the fact that you don't have a headache. Celebrate that your head feels good. Do you find that a little goofy? Yet it's usually only when our head hurts that we wish we'd remember what it feels like not to have a headache. Only when we feel lousy can we appreciate what it's like to feel well. That's not a lot different than the way we view our companies or organizations - or really, our lives. We don't really think much about the things that are going well until something happens to throw us off our game. At that point we need a quick fix so we can get back to taking the health of our bodies or our organizations for granted.

Business Golf: The Questions Business People Should Ask Themselves

To be successful into today’s economy, businesses need to find better ways to secure their customer and employee base. Business Golf provides the vehicle business should use to improve upon their business image and facilitate the changes they need to make to build solid business relationships.