Commoditization, is it happening to you?

“We are living in an era where there are too many retailers serving too few customers and where there is no longer any brand loyalty or retail loyalty” Kevin Burke, President/CEO. The American Apparel and Footwear Association.

From this comment by Mr. Burke I believe the apparel and footwear industries are in the midst of an important struggle, to move away from their current status of a commodity business.

The winners will be those with strong design, distinct brand, and smart developed distribution systems. The same can be said for almost any current industry.

Too many retailers and points of sale? I doubt it. What I interpret from this comment is that there is intense competition between retailers, and instead of seeking exclusivity or innovation to attract and maintain customers, they are using the oldest,simplest trick known….lowering product prices and with it, the quality of the shopping experience.

It is a classic example of commoditization.

Manufacturers are also to blame. The rush to sell their product to high volume buyers insures loss of control of the marketing and retail channels.

The rush to sell everywhere, to everyone, at the same time allows and promotes price competition and price wars between the various manufacturers and retailers.

Too few customers? The real problem is overproduction. Current manufacturing focuses on high volume production and this encourages the standardization of product. The desire to reduce fixed costs drives manufacturers to seek out cheap world labor, increase productivity through mechanization (which encourages product standardization) and the outcome is a mountain of finished products, created all over the world, that are indistinguishable from one another.

Commodities. Most apparel and footwear companies focus on low cost, high volume manufacturing, they sell to wholesalers or retailers that also focus on volume. So suddenly branded products can be found in department stores, boutiques, grocery stores, flea markets and the Internet. The product is everywhere, consumers have learned that one should just look for it where the price is lowest.

This also makes it easier to pirate and sell a product to a growing network of sales outlets focused on offering a brand name for less.

No brand or retail loyalty?
If there is no customer loyalty (read as no perceived advantage to shopping with you versus the competition), and loyalty is important for continued growth, profit and success, then it’s time for a serious reevaluation of how one is doing business.

How can one stand out from the crowd, do something different and unique, and create a sense of exclusivity and prestige for the consumer?

This is the future.

Related Links

The easy way

10 top reasons for poor customer service and their solutions

Give this away

Are you listening to what the customer needs?

Top 10 reasons for poor customer service and their solutions

Customer service, the interaction between the client and the supplier is an integral part of the purchasing and user experience, and as such, is the key to continued success in business.

What are the reasons for poor customer service?

Top 10 Reasons for poor customer service and their solution

1.    People are not trained.  When an organization does not spend the time to fully train their people the consequence is poor service.

Solution:  Dedicate resources (time and money) for training and reinforcement.   Employees should be fully informed about company goals, the products and services.  Emphasis and training should be focused upon the importance of listening and responding to the customer’s requests.  People can only do the job if they are given the right tools and objectives.  It costs money to train people.  It will cost more if you decide not to train them.

2.    People don’t care.  Selecting the correct personality is crucial for your business success.  Apathetic or self centered personality types have no place in a business that requires customer contact.

Solution:  Focus the selection and evaluation process to identify personalities that do not fit the required profile.  Get the wrong people out immediately, it also sends a clear message to everyone.

3.    Sabotage.  Angry or frustrated employees can actively work to sabotage and try to destroy the company.

Solution:  Keep honest and open communications with employees.  Informally and formally review performance, goals, objectives and feelings to stop potential problems before they reach the customers.  Get these people out of the front lines immediately.

4.    Employees don’t believe in the company, product or service.  If the image, marketing and promotion of the company is quite different from the reality, workers will not be able to sustain a positive attitude in the face of problems they know exist.

Solution:  Be honest.  Work closely with customer service, marketing and quality control to identify real problems and fix them.  Don’t let  marketing advertise over problems, solve them.

5.    Personal problems reflected in work.  When an employee’s personal life is in crisis or out of control, they may exercise control, aggression and negativism toward customers in an attempt to put some part of their life in order.

Solution:  Clear communications with employees:  If their personal life is affecting work performance, talk about it.  Time off, access to counseling or just listening may prevent more serious problems.

6.    Burnt out.  Too much negative, too many complaints can lower a person’s level of commitment and move their positive and helpful attitude to an apathetic one.

Solution:  Constant communication helps to identify who is burning out and why.  Get customer service people together to talk of success and how to deal with the frustrations.  Provide recognition or incentives for excellence in dealing with problems.

7.    Not providing the correct solutions to customers, lack of empowerment.    There is nothing worse than dealing with an employee who listens to a problem, then shrugs and says they have to ask someone else in the company to intervene and provide a solution.

Solution:  Give the people on the front lines the authority, power, tools and ability to solve problems.

8.    Don’t see the benefits – don’t understand their role in the company. 

Solution:  Employees project an image of the company.  They are the company.  They should be reminded of their importance and value to the customer and to the company.  Incentives, recognition, training and constant reinforcement are important.

9.    Apathetic from hearing the same problems over and over.  A fundamental role of the customer service division is to provide constant feedback on how customers view the company, the products and the service.  If this feedback is not analyzed and acted upon by upper management a feeling of apathy and frustration is created.

Solution:  Set up a model and procedure for the accumulation, analysis and implementation of solutions for the problems identified by customer service.

10.    Incentives/salary not tied to results.

Solution:  If you insist that the company depends upon people, and that people are the key to success, implement compensation packages, evaluations and incentives that support and reinforce this.

Related Links 

Are you listening to what the customer needs?

Broken Promises

Give this away

Don’t find a solution, find a way to make it better

Are you on the right team?

 When the focus at work is on providing a great product or service to the customer (maximizing) the perceived value of the product is higher for the customer, and they are willing to pay more.

This translates into more profit for the company.

When our focus is on maximizing profit for the company, management tends to rush toward cost cutting and/or reducing product quality (minimizing) many times resulting in reducing perceived product or service value for the customer.

The customers may not buy your product now, resulting in less profit for the company.

It’s all about providing a product or service that will be appreciated, sought out and embraced by the market.

Creating a product or service that is valuable to the market.

The more people want YOUR product, the more money they will pay for it.

It’s about listening to customers, creating new ideas, innovating, and taking calculated risks based on your expertise and understanding of your business.

It’s not easy.  Creating has never been easy.

Success is not guaranteed.  In fact the higher the risk the higher the potential payoff and profits.

But it sure is more exciting and rewarding than cutting pennies off manufacturing, administration, sales and logistics costs.

It takes a different type of leadership, management and employees to make this happen.

What team do you want to work with, lead or manage?

Related Links

The 6 Fundamental Concepts Behind Every Successful Business

Successful Managers Should Be Breaking the Rules

Even governments market 

Determine cultural conflicts between Mexico and your home country

This site will help determine possible cultural conflicts between your home culture and Mexico.

It compares 4 dimensions of cultural differences; Power Distance, Individuality, Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity.

From the site: “Welcome to the Intercultural Business Communication tool. This simple online tool offers a great resource for people wanting to get some intercultural business communication tips when working with people from different cultures. All you do is choose your own country and another country and we produce a graph that shows the the major differences between the two cultures. You then get some insightful intercultural business communication tips for working in or with that culture.”

Intercultural Business Communication Tool

It provides a comparison between the countries, and then provides tips in order to reduce or manage this cultural gap.

Very interesting.

Related Links

Intercultural Business Communication Tool – Kwintessential Language and Cultural Specialists

Geerte Hofstede, Cultural Dimensions

Cultural Misunderstanding- it can happen to you

Create great international business relationships

How we react to unethical actions and behaviour

There are a number of reasons why individuals and organizations refuse to perform in an ethical manner or raise their voice against unethical behaviour.

6 Reasons why we don’t object to unethical actions or behaviour.

1. Ignored and Ostracized. We will be eliminated from the “group”. Showing opposition to an idea that was created by someone with power or the power of persuasion can result in being ignored and left out of future decision-making.

2. Fear. Not on board with the company philosophy? You might get fired. Fear of unfavorable personal consequences.

3. Demoted. Will lose power, prestige, and income if you speak up or oppose the idea or practice.

4. Insecurity. Perhaps we are not sure if the means justify the ends. Inability to clearly see the situation as unethical or wrong.

5. Reward. We see a payoff (money, power, prestige) that overwhelms our sense of ethics. Justifying wrong in order to receive personal gain.

6. Lazy or uncommitted. Unwilling or unable to challenge the group or idea.

5 Reasons why we should speak up and question unethical actions or behaviour.

1. Be true to yourself. Stand up for your own beliefs.

2. Be a leader. Others in the group might believe the same thing, but are timid or afraid of voicing objections. Create a dialogue and open a discussion of the issues.

3. New point of view. The group might not have thought of the consequences, or not see the situation as an ethics related decision. Open their eyes.

4. Protect the organization. Your intervention might save the organization from scandal, embarrassment, legal and financial problems.

5. Clarify. If you are unsure, voice your concerns and let the group present their case in order to clarify and resolve any doubts that you might have.

Related Links

Is your company noble, moral, ethical or virtuous

Sales and marketing terrorism 

Corruption, bribes, mordidas and tips – Doing business in Mexico

Where do you draw the line

The dangers of success

Today a Google search for the word “success” turned up 321 million websites.

“Failure” got 218 million sites.

We all want to be successful. Leaders are expected to be successful.

We’ve been trained, rewarded, pushed and prodded to become successful. School, work, games and personal life, we are always focused upon success.

It is probably genetic in nature. Competition to survive demands success, and therefore the desire to succeed is an inherent quality in human beings.

Success brings recognition, wealth, favor and fame to the individual or group. All are benefits and rewards of being successful. We like the rewards and benefits….we really do.

Business loves success. In fact, business is not very tolerant of failures, especially leadership failures. To be a leader in a business environment means that you must be successful and get your objectives accomplished.

We strive for success, we really want it to happen, we plan for it, we train, we learn new things, we even modify and manipulate external factors to assure the outcome we desire. Despite all our planning, spending and preparations we are not always successful. No one is successful all the time.

We often forget that past success is not a guarantee for continued success, and that failure is always a learning experience, not always a bad outcome.

The illusion that we must always be successful, and the glory and attention that success brings is not always a good thing.

“Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it” Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe

Success, and particularly continued success, can lead an individual or organization into the following behaviours and attitudes.

• Cult of Personality / Fame. The focus is on the personality and not on the present or future work outcomes. It becomes more about who is doing it and less about what to do.
• Fear. Avoiding or agonizing about doing something different, new or original, “ we were great doing this…let’s keep on doing it”.
• Can’t let go. Inability to let go of a success and move on to the next challenge. Unwillingness to say “that project and party is over…what’s next”.
• Over Confidence. Invincible attitude leads to strategies, theories and attitudes that may provoke attacks on enemies or punish those in a weakened position.
• Loss of control. Inability to gauge or control excess or weakness. Losing touch with the reality of the situation.
• Yes Men. Lack of honesty from the people around you, no real challenges to ideas, methods and objectives.
• Hangers on. Distractions and undesirables begin to fill the agenda and schedules.
• Closing Networks. Cutting ties with old networks and individuals to move “up” in status.
• Depression. When the happiness or emotion of succeeding does not reach previous levels of emotional highs or didn’t meet the expectations.
• Risk. Anxiety about repeating the success may drive one to take larger risks, or to eliminate risks.

So go on seeking success, it’s the right thing to do.

Don’t take the failures too hard, learn from them, pick them apart and understand exactly why failure occurred.

Celebrate when you do succeed, take your 5 minutes in the limelight. Then put your feet back firmly on the ground and get back to work.

“Try not to become a man of success but rather become a man of value” Albert Einstein.

Related Links

Why do we fail

Leadership lesson – A Message to Garcia

Don’t find a solution, find a way to make it better

We make a large error in our business and personal lives if we believe that every problem or situation can be solved immediately or in the short term through our decisions and application of resources.

Theoretically it’s possible, but our focus on solution instead of optimizing and making changes to make it better can blindfold us toward evolutionary processes that in the long term provide better, stronger and long lasting solutions.

I’m suggesting that every situation should be initially evaluated based on two basic criteria; can it be solved now, or can it be improved now.

The situations that can be solved now or in the short term, should be. The organization should dedicate the time and resources toward the solution.

An example would be a delivery service that has 3 trucks and cannot cover the current delivery area on-time due to an increase in customers and package volume. A possible swift solution would be the purchase of another vehicle and hiring of a new driver.

A situation that cannot be solved now or ever should be approached by identifying areas where improvement should be made. The time and resources of the company should be focused upon the improvement.

An example would be government’s attempt to eliminate poverty or disease from a population. A perfect solution is not possible or practical, but by focusing on specific areas one can find great opportunities for success or enormous impact (vaccinations for children against polio).

When we look at every situation as a problem that needs to be solved right now we may be missing the best solutions and strategies required to resolve the situation over the long term. Ask yourself:

• Can we solve the problem quickly and efficiently with simply modification of variables or a shift in technology? If the answer is yes, then set the process and resources in motion.

• What if the problem is not able to be solved quickly or has no practical or economically viable solution? This is where the approach of resolving and modifying parts of the problem comes into play.

This evolutionary approach to problem solving is not often requested or expected in business (the quick fix is always applauded and sought after), but often the best long term strategy is optimization and gradual modification.

This evolutionary problem solving process will provide new opportunities for change and solutions to be developed in the future.The identification of areas, processes or resources that are the bottlenecks in your organization become areas of opportunity.

Modifying and improving these bottlenecks will automatically create new bottlenecks, in new areas. The focus on identifying and solving these “new” situations leads to a process of continual improvement and a better, stronger organization.

This is one of the fundamental ideas behind the Theory of Constraints (TOC).

Common sense tells us that in a complex world not all solutions are simple, quick or painless. The “quick fix” is a great idea, but not often found in everyday life.

Observation of science, technology, philosophy and business ideas and strategies show us that change occurs through the rare revolution (paradigm shifts and new discoveries) and through the more common evolution (gradual modifications leading to continual change.

What can be changed, fixed or modified today to make the organization, process, product or service incrementally better?

Related Links

Why don’t they?

Starting over

How to systematically analyze any situation for better decision making

AGI Institute – Theory of Constraints

Evolution (Disambiguation)

Frustration

Frustration can cause bizarre behavior and out of proportion reactions.

When we are frustrated we get angry or apathetic. Our responses become magnified or diminished.

The perfect example of how strange we can react when frustrated is reflected in the “mosquito in bed” scenario.

We lie in bed just dozing off. We have a planned a perfect long nights uninterrupted sleep.

Then the thin piercing buzzing begins, seemingly inside one of our ears. A mosquito.

A quick pass of our hand seems to frighten away the mosquito, and we close our eyes again and drift toward dreamland.

Again the mosquito appears. Exactly in front of our ear. This time we move quickly and with more vigor in order to squash the tiny insect before it can fly away.

This happens several more times.

By now we are angry, frustrated and bent on killing that bug.

Each time we slap at the mosquito we are increasing our velocity and the force behind each swing.

By the 6th or 7th swat all we are really accomplishing is increasing our frustration level and repeatedly hitting ourselves about the head harder and harder.

The apathetic approach calls for us to cover our entire head with the covers and pillow.

This successfully prevents the mosquito from entering our ears and has the added benefit of increasing our body temperature and reducing the oxygen level, eliminating every possibility of breathing normally.

After 10 minutes we throw back the covers gasping for breath, sweating at the temples and find our nemesis in our ear again.

We don’t stop, sit up and turn on the light and track down the tiny bug in a well lighted room. No, our frustration has driven us to absurd behavior, boxing our own ears or suffocating ourselves in the attempt to eliminate a tiny problem from our lives.

Now think about your day at work.

Can you identify your “mosquito” that’s preventing you from fulfilling your real mission?

What the best, most efficient way to find and eliminate your “mosquito”?

Related Links

Starting Over

Why do we fail

No one likes to fail.

We can feel foolish, outmaneuvered, incompetent, insecure, unlucky, silly, angry, overwhelmed, frustrated and in some cases afraid to try again. after suffering a defeat.

Failure is an integral part of the learning process.

Failure is required in order to become successful.

Rare is the successful individual, product or organization that has not met adversity, failure, defeat and loss.

One of the keys to success is the ability to accept failure, learn from the experience and try again.

The fear of failure is so great in some organizations that it freezes innovation, thwarts change and stifles growth.

Organizations try to reduce or limit failure by passing on historically successful methods and accumulated knowledge to new members.

Many times this information is not useful and out of date because the elements, players and dynamics of today’s challenges are quite different from those of the past.

Use the following list to analyze your current projects (and possibly prevent or limit failure), or use the list after a setback or defeat to identify where you can improve.

Reasons for business failure can be broken into 4 main groups:

Planning

• No plan
• Incomplete plan
• Wrong calculations
• Poor or incomplete interpretation of data and research
• Failure to take into account all factors
• Lack of experience
• Failure to evaluate competitor reactions correctly
• Failure to anticipate consumer response
• Significant difference between planned and actual costs
• Poor cash flow calculations
• Unrealistic goals and expected outcomes
• Underestimate risks

Information

• Didn’t collect all the pertinent information for planning
• Product or service was not wanted or needed by customer
• Lack of knowledge of market
• Lack of knowledge of customers
• Lack of experience in the industry
• Lack of experience in manufacturing
• Lack of experience in sales and marketing
• Lack of experience in administration

Operations and Follow-through

• Lazy, didn’t do the work required
• Undisciplined
• Unorganized
• No control of suppliers
• Did not stop in time and take corrective actions
• Did not recognize warning signs
• Ignored warning signs
• Did not seek professional assistance
• Lack of attention to logistics details
• Failure to focus on customers needs, desires and wants
• Poorly trained personnel
• Lack of initial capital
• Not enough capital to maintain operations for first years

Factors outside of our control

• Important changes in technology
• Environmental factors
• International, Federal, State or local government laws, regulations and legislation
• Aggressive competitor(s)
• Act of God
• Change in fashion and trends
• Theft and fraud

Related Links

Leadership lesson – A Message to Garcia

How to systematically analyze any decision for better decision making

10 things you should never do on a Friday afternoon

9 steps to better decisions

Questions – Answers, Doing business in Mexico

Have any questions about how to do business in Mexico?

Any specific problems or dilemmas related to doing business in Mexico?

Questions about the business culture in Mexico or Mexican culture in general?

Would you like to know more about a specific theme related to Mexican business?

Need references or information about organizations, people or associations in Mexico?

Send your questions to me at   lee.iwan  at  gmail.com
or post a comment here.

Related Links

How to do business in Mexico

Official government websites of the 32 Mexican States 

The definitive dialing guide for calling Mexico

Shorten your learning curve about Mexico

Business South of the Border

Corruption, bribes, mordidas, tips – Doing business in Mexico

There are perceptions and realities associated with bribery and corruption when doing business in Mexico.

Corruption, bribery, “mordidas” (translated as “bites”, but are actually bribes) and tips are part of Mexico and the foreigner’s perception of Mexico.

It’s a difficult subject to address because it involves ethical and moral decisions for the foreign visitor or business person. What is culturally OK in Mexico, may be seen as immoral and corrupt by an individual from another country.

Historically, corruption in Mexico is blamed upon the Spanish conquistadors. While corruption no doubt existed prior to the Spanish conquest, they certainly did institutionalize it in government and throughout the Mexican (and Latin American) culture.

Today corruption, bribery and tipping occur at all levels of Mexican society and at many different degrees. For one reason or another it has become part of daily life. Most of it involves small sums of money, and is thought of as tipping and not as a bribe.

In fact, to eliminate corruption in Mexico overnight is unrealistic and would probably result in chaos. As some Mexican observers have noted, “La mordida” is the grease that makes the system work.

All of the following might occur in Mexico. Which of the following are acts of corruption or bribery? Which are totally unethical, somewhat unethical, and no big deal? Which of these events occurs in your country ?

• The garbage collectors come by every 2 weeks, rings the doorbell and ask for money for a soft drink, US $1 or $2.
• While waiting in a long line, someone comes up to you and asks if you would like to avoid the line and be attended right away. It will cost US $ 5 to US $ 10, and save you 2 hours.
• Your application for a permit/license has been in the government office for several weeks, and no one seems to be able to tell you what is wrong. The secretary asks if you would like to buy a raffle ticket for some organization. After buying the ticket the application suddenly appears.
• You visit a local political leader and take him to dinner and a theater event to discuss your project.
• At holiday time, you send gifts to politicians, suppliers and business associates.
• Your daughter copies exam answers from another student at school.
• The police stop you for a traffic violation (which may or may not have occurred). They suggest that for US $ 20 or $ 50 you can make it disappear, and you’ll be on your way in 5 minutes.
• You need government agency approvals for your business project. In order to make sure everything is done correctly, you hire an official in the department as a consultant.
• You require a zoning change on a piece of land, you invite a government official to participate as an investor in the project, or perhaps give him some shares.
• Your son or daughter wants to get into a nightclub, the doorman says no. They give him US $ 5 and walk right in.
• A city inspector finds code violations in your restaurant. A call to a family member, who knows someone, who knows someone, results in the violations being revoked.
• A drug enforcement agent receives a phone call that tells him to choose between accepting USD $ 20,000 payment this year to let a drug shipment go by unharmed or to have his children shot.
• Your immigration papers are not quite right. There is a document missing. You are able to convince the official (though words and tears) to “overlook” the situation, no money is exchanged.

Can you live and work in Mexico and not pay bribes? Yes. (I’m lived and worked in Mexico over the past 14 years and have never paid a “mordida” in my private or business life.)

Are bribes necessary for doing business in Mexico? I think it depends on the circumstances. Most business can be done without them. It depends on you, and your evaluation of the situation. There must be certain areas where influence peddling, and “mordidas” are an integral part of the business, and other areas where it’s not required in the least. This is not unique to Mexico.

All Mexican local, state and federal governments and government agencies are not corrupt. In fact, in the past 10 years there have been great advances in transparency in government, including guarantees for the time involved in processing applications and permissions.

Mexican federal public policy and local and state governments have been actively reducing and eliminating institutionalized corruption and penalizing government workers involved in illegal acts. There is still a long way to go before it’s completely eliminated, but there has been a noticeable change in many areas.

Mexico’s poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, history and culture make it difficult to eradicate corruption overnight. Mexico is a country with many laws, but they are not well enforced. It’s similar to the temptation one might feel on the lonely country road at 3:00 AM and confronting a red light…..do you stop…or run through it?

You should develop and hold firm to your own ethical and moral principals in order to live and do business in Mexico. If you don’t do it at home, why would you do it in Mexico?

Your company should have a clear policy about corruption and bribery, and hold to it when doing business in Mexico, or internationally.

If you have any personal experiences or observations about corruption, bribery, mordidas and doing business in Mexico, please write me or comment here.
Related Links

How to do business in Mexico, Parts 1 – 28

Tipping guidelines for Mexico

Doing Business in Mexico – cultural tips

World Corruption Perception Index – 2006

Patience chaos and doing business in Mexico

World Corruption Perception Index 2006 – Transparency International

Interesting look at perceived corruption worldwide.

Transparency International has released their 2006 index of corruption perception on November 6, 2006.

Mexico lands at number 70 on the list, which puts it close to the middle of the pack out of a total of 163 countries.

” Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Index of perception of corruption ordering the countries of the world according to “the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians“. The organization defines corruption as “the abuse of public office for private gain. ” – excerpt from Wikipedia Corruption Perception Index.

“As this index is based on polls, the results are subjective and are less reliable for countries with fewer sources. Also, what is legally defined, or perceived, to be corruption differs between jurisdictions: a political donation legal in some jurisdiction may be illegal in another; a matter viewed as acceptable tipping in one country may be viewed as bribery in another. Thus the poll results must be understood quite specifically as measuring public perception rather than being an objective measure of corruption.

Statistics like this are necessarily imprecise; statistics from different years are not necessarily comparable.” – Wikipedia Corruption Perception Index.

Related Links

Internet Center for Corruption Research

Corruption Perception Index – 2006 (EXCEL)

Transparency International

Wikipedia

Motivation – heroic moments

Determine which actions during the day, are your “heroic moments“.

Heroic moments might be viewed as simple required actions, obligations by others, but deep inside us, we understand that these actions require us to make a yes or no decision. We have to commit ourselves.

Heroic moments consist of an internal decision to do something for the greater good, to contribute to an idea or organization, to participate in a selfless act. The decision to start, follow-through and finish a project or activity that will benefit others.

It’s a moment when we say to ourselves “I will do this, no matter what”.

Heroic moments occur when we decide and commit to actions that that we know are required, expected or desired by others.

The most important heroic moments happens daily, when we make the decision to leave the comfort of our warm bed, wake our sleeping body and mind, and start the day.

A heroic moment occurs when you make the decision to face the angry customer, and resolve the problem.

A heroic moment occurs when you dig into the pile of paperwork on your desk.

A heroic moment occurs when we pick up the phone and start “cold- calling”.

A heroic moment occurs when we’re having a miserable day and keep smiling and don’t take it out on others.

A heroic moment occurs when we decide to motivate or lead others through inspiration and not fear.

A heroic moment occurs when we start an exercise program.

A heroic moment occurs when we decide not to involve ourselves in an personal argument or conflict.

A heroic moment occurs when we DO involve ourselves in an argument or conflict in order to solve a organization or family problem.

As employees, leaders, managers, parents, children, siblings, co-workers, or even as strangers, we are confronted with many opportunities to make “heroic” decisions.

We don’t do these things because we’ll be recognized. We don’t do them because someone will build a statue. They may not be monumental actions. It’s not the type of heroism that makes it on to the front page of the newspaper.

The only person who might know about it is you.

Finding and identifying the heroic moments in our lives is a simple way to motivate ourselves and feel good about our decisions and how we are interacting with the world around us.

(Thanks to Jesus Sotomayor for the phrase and idea)

Related Links

The power of something extra

What defines an exceptional leader

12 reasons why we ask for business help

Here’s a list of common, and not so common, reasons we seek out business help and hire business consultants:

12 Reasons: Why we ask for business help

1. I know what’s wrong, but don’t know how to fix it.

2. I know what’s wrong but don’t have the resources to fix it, what should I do?

3. I know what’s wrong and I know how to fix it, but don’t want to fix it that way, show me another method that is easier, better or less costly.

4. I don’t know what’s wrong. Help me diagnose the organization or situation.

5. I think I know what is wrong and want a second opinion, validation and confirmation.

6. I don’t think anything is wrong, but just to make sure I want you to take a look.

7. I want you to tell me what is wrong so that I can tell you you’re wrong.

8. I want solutions, if they don’t work I want to blame it on you.

9. I want to achieve specific results and don’t have the expertise. I want to hire an expert in order to save time and reduce errors.

10. I have a problem and want to fix it. I don’t want to be wrong and prefer to use experts to guarantee success.

11. I want to be one of the first to learn and implement the “new and improved” business ideas, theories and practices.

12. I am looking for new ideas to break our routine and make it exciting again, make something new happen.

Related Links

10 Reasons why people hire business consultants

The clients I don’t want

The future of our entry level workforce – gloomy

Will our future entry level workforce be competitive and competent?

Are we ready to build a nation full of entrepreneurs and world class workers?

I highly recommend you read the study published by the The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management, entitled:

“Are They Really Ready To Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce”

According to this study of 431 companies in the US, representing over 2 million employees in a variety of industries and geographic areas, the future is bleak.

“The future U.S. workforce is here—and it is woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today’s (and tomorrow’s) workplace.”

The basic skills and knowledge identified and considered to be very important elements for future employees include:

• English Language (spoken)
• Government/Economics
• Reading Comprehension (in English)
• Humanities/Arts
• Writing in English (grammar, spelling, etc.)
• Foreign Languages
• Mathematics History/Geography
• Science

The applied skills, which are increasing in importance as criteria for success in the future:

• Critical Thinking/Problem Solving—Exercise sound reasoning and analytical thinking; use knowledge, facts, and data to solve workplace problems; apply math and science concepts to problem solving.
• Oral Communications—Articulate thoughts, ideas clearly and effectively; have public speaking skills.
• Written Communications—Write memos, letters and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.
• Teamwork/Collaboration—Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers; be able to work with diverse teams, negotiate and manage conflicts.
• Diversity—Learn from and work collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, races, ages, gender, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoints.
• Information Technology Application—Select and use appropriate technology to accomplish a given task, apply computing skills to problem-solving.
• Leadership—Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals; use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others.
• Creativity/Innovation—Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work; communicate new ideas to others; integrate knowledge across different disciplines.
• Lifelong Learning/Self Direction—Be able to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills; monitor one’s own learning needs; be able to learn from one’s mistakes.
• Professionalism/Work Ethic—Demonstrate personal accountability, effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time and workload management.
• Ethics/Social Responsibility—Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior; act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind.

Excepts from the study:”Business leaders must take an active role in outlining the kinds of skills we need from our employees for our companies and economy to thrive.”

“As business leaders, we must also play a role in creating opportunities for young people to obtain the skills they need. Businesses can partner with schools and other organizations that work with young people to provide internships, job shadowing programs and summer jobs. Businesses can encourage their employees to serve as mentors and tutors. Businesses can invest in programs at the local and national level that have demonstrated their ability to improve outcomes for young people.
Finally, business leaders can use their expertise in innovation and management to help identify
new and creative solutions.”

We assume that our schools are producing graduates with fundamental business abilities, why isn’t it happening?

Are we going to accept that the training of the future workforce is in the hands of private business, and not the educational system?

What is the cost to business when new employees must be given remedial training, just to get them up to entry level?

What is your organization doing right now to ensure, or create talent for the future?

Read the study, pass it around the office and makes sure the boss and human resource people get copies.

This is no longer someone elses’s problem.

“ The numbers don’t bode well for the future—the future of our workforce. It is in our interest to help solve the problem. And business has the capacity to help solve the problem by partnering with education and community leaders to create opportunities for young people to practice the skills they need to be successful.” – Bill Shore, Director, U.S. Community Partners, GlaxoSmithKline

Related Links

The Conference Board: Are they really ready for work?

Are they really ready to work (PDF)

Most young people entering the US workforce lack critical skills essential for success

Young Workforce is “Ill-Prepared”

Great International Business Trip Results

In any international relationship communication and understanding are critical for success.

Problems created by; language, stereotypes, misinformation, lack of information, and cultural misunderstandings combine with normal business problems to create a complicated scenario for anyone involved in international relationships and global business.

Prepare your international meetings and business presentations using the following questions as a guide to organize your ideas and focus on actions that will produce positive results for everyone involved.

6 Questions – Create Great International Business Trip Results

1. What does this organization know about me, my company and my country?
2. What do they think they know about me?
3. What can I tell them that they do not know?
4. What do I know about my international partner, culture and country?
5. What do I think I know about this business, culture and country?
6. What can they tell me that I do not know?

1. What does this organization know about me and my company. When you walk in the room an opinion has already been formed about you, your organization, and your ability to perform in the future. These ideas are based upon facts, information and past experience.

• What has been the history of our relationship in their country?
• Who has been involved in our mutual business, and why?
• What promises have been made and kept by both?
• What promises have been made and not delivered upon?
• What have the major problems and success been in the past?
• Press and media, our organizations promotional material.

2. What do they think they know about me. Clarifying the unknowns or presumed realities in a relationship is crucial to success. These ideas may be very damaging and limit your ability to trust one another. What stereotypical behaviour can you avoid or prevent? What can you clarify or refute through information or actions?

• Behaviour and reacts based upon past experience with your organization.
• Rumour and innuendo, press and media reports.
• Negotiation styles.
• Business objectives.
• Behaviour, goals and methods of doing business based upon country and cultural stereotypes.

3. What can I tell them that they do not know. Today’s business world requires trust, information and solutions. Reinforcing your need to work with your international partner, providing important information or solutions, and clarifying misunderstandings can only help the relationship.

• Clarify or destroy cultural stereotypes.
• Clarify business objectives and why they are important in order to reach these objectives.
• Provide solutions and alternatives to existing situations and challenges.
• Provide information of value for their business and strategy.
• Clearly identify current or potential business problems.
• Predict and have answers ready for their questions.

4. What do I know about my International partner, culture and country? What do I know is true and not innuendo or interpretation? The numbers, facts, information, agreements and past performance history of the business. Information about the country and the business culture.

5. What do I think I know about this business, culture and country? What preconceived ideas and stereotypes are you working with? What are you assuming and what has been proven?

6. What can they tell me that I do not know? What questions do you need to ask in order to verify information or create plans. What pieces of your information puzzle are missing? This is the time to get your questions answered, what are they?

Related Links

Cultural misunderstanding it can happen to you

Stereotypes and global business

Create great international business relationships

16 Essential questions – the international business traveller’s quiz

Lessons in international business

The New Mercenaries – Outsourcing

Mercenary, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary: “Motivated solely by a desire for monetary or material gain. One who serves or works merely for monetary gain; a hireling.”

Using this definition, and forgetting the military connotations of the word (warrior for hire). The term mercenaries can be used to describe outsourcing suppliers and organizations.

Our outsourcing mercenaries are individuals or organizations that are motivated solely by monetary gain and do not share our organizations philosophies, ideals and interests.

We are hiring mercenaries to manufacture our goods, “do the dirty work”, buy time and help us compete better (and win) against the competition.

Are we weighing the long term risks of this outsourcing strategy?

Beyond the current short term cost benefits, have we identified the long-term strategic and control risks to our organizations by embracing outsourcing?

There are inherent dangers and advantages to using mercenaries. What can history tell us of mercenaries and the long term results of depending upon them?

Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince (a book about the strategy of power and control), wrote that mercenaries were not loyal, dangerous and even useless: “He who holds his State by means of mercenary troops can never be solidly or securely seated. For such troops are disunited, ambitious, insubordinate, treacherous, insolent among friends, cowardly before foes, and without fear of God or faith with man. Whenever they are attacked defeat follows; so that in peace you are plundered by them, in war by your enemies. And this because they have no tie or motive to keep them in the field beyond their paltry pay.”

The decline of the Roman Empire has been linked to the use and dependence upon mercenaries. The failure to control them, and their infiltration into positions of command and control inside the government.

Mercenaries

• Historically tend to overthrow the power or control they do not like.
• Adopt strategies to protect themselves from danger and risk.
• If talented, will seek to increase their power, and if incompetent will ruin their employer.
• Have no loyalty to the employers ideals, goals or objectives.
• Are marked by their materialism.
• Create their own agendas and goals
• Their first priority is to themselves and self preservation.

Using (outsourcing) mercenaries can be positive when:

• There is total control and agreement regarding training, quality, standards, and continual improvement.
• The competition has access to equal or reduced resources in order to hire mercenaries.
• There are clear short term objectives and goals, at which point the contract is finished and/or renegotiated.
• There is clear recognition that their intervention is specialized, unique and required to create an advantage for swift campaigns or to solve specific problems.

Mercenaries and outsourcing become a risk or hazard to your organization when:

• Mercenaries reach a level of importance and power, where their absence will provoke or contribute directly to your failure.
• They understand your entire process or have access to your “secrets”.
• When the competition can pay more for their services than you can.
• Objectives are not clear, and contracts are not specific.
• Quality standards fall, or the organization accepts below standard levels of work or products.
• Mercenaries are relied upon to provide long term stability or to reach long term goals for your organization.
• You forget that mercenaries respond to power and money, and not on providing quality “soldiering”.
• You believe that by hiring mercenaries you have eliminated risk from your operations.

What risk factors and changes occur in our organization when we relinquish control over the entire process by using outsourcing mercenaries?

What happens when our outsourcing “partner” says no or begins to work for the competion?

Are we outsourcing because everyone else is, or are there fundamental long term strategic and economic reasons that support the decision?

Related Links

The Dangers of Outsourcing and What You Can Do About It

Reining in Outsourcing Risk

What can we learn from the piracy business model

Here is a interesting way to view, prepare for and compete against businesses copying and pirating your content or products.

Piracy is a business model. Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group, announced during a keynote address at MIPCOM. While her focus was on the pirating of media content, the same message applies for manufactured goods.

“It exists to serve a need in the market….. Pirates compete the same way we do – through quality, price and availability. We don’t like the model but we realize it’s competitive enough to make it a major competitor going forward.”

What’s so amazing about this?

Taking the piracy is a business model approach allows us to analyze the business model and how it is acting or reacting to the economic fundamentals in the market.

Instead of locking up our company secrets and seeking punishments for the pirates, we can analyze why and where our “competition” is taking advantage of us in order to strengthen and modify our business model.

None of this changes the actual situation. But it might change business strategies and planning when you realize they are competitors and they are here to stay.

What are the advantages of being a pirate, and the disadvantages?

Why are there opportunities for them? What should I be doing that I’m not?

How can I change my organization to take back the market from the pirates?

Once weaknesses in the piracy business model are identified they can be exploited. When strengths are discovered, they can be integrated into our own business model.

The fight against piracy should begin with a focused analysis of the market environment, existing business models and new strategies on how to adapt to the changing market conditions and exploit them to your advantage.

We can stop focusing on the individual “pirates” and their control or capture, and move toward competing intelligently against them.

Related Links

The easy way

The power of something extra

Netribution – Disney Co-Chair recognizes ‘piracy is a business model’

Boing Boing – Disney exec: Piracy is just a business model

@MIPCOM Piracy is a business model

 

The power of something extra

“Here is a simple but powerful rule – always give people more that what they expect to get.” – Nelson Boswell

What defines an exceptional leader, a great manager, a super business, or remarkable experience? Something extra.

There are two words (one French and the other Spanish) that convey and represent the concept of something extra, lagniappe and pilon.

Lagniappe (hear it) is the word commonly used in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. It’s defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as an extra or unexpected gift or benefit.

Pilon is the Spanish word used in the southern US and Mexico to describe a gratuity given by tradesmen to customers settling their accounts, it’s something extra, and not expected.

Incorporating something extra in our actions, results and as a business philosophy can be incredibly powerful.

Something extra:

• forces creativity and innovation.
• demands clear understanding what is expected of us by others.
• focuses our attention of adding value, and not on cutting costs.
• is positive.
• is rewarded with good will and positive reactions.
• will lead to continual improvement.
• is fundamental to continued success.

Something extra is all about the little things and details.

Something extra is not just something “free”, it must arrive without anticipation, unexpectedly in order for it to be special and make an impact.

Something extra allows you to surprise the customer.

Something extra will make think about your results and expectations. It will make the difference between simple compliance and outstanding results.

Something extra will make you and your results different from all the others.

Embracing something extra and applying it on a daily basis, will make you great.

Giving something extra is not a difficult task. It’s all about applying small acts of innovation and creativity to your results, especially for routine and day-to-day tasks.

The power of something extra can change your life, your products, your processes and how others perceive you.

“If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step… the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: What ELSE could we do?” – Dale Dauten

Related Links

Motivation – Heroic moments

What defines an exceptional leader

Customer driven or customer ignorant

“When people talk about successful retailers and those that are not so successful, the customer determines at the end of the day who is successful and for what reason.” – Gerry Harvey

Talking about it or Doing it.

• There are organizations that talk about serving the customer.
• There are organizations that do what customers want.

Enemy or Friend

• There are organizations that perceive and react to the customer as an adversary.
• There are organizations that listen to, seek out and embrace the customer and the customers ideas.

Products or Solutions

• There are organizations that create products and services because they can, and hope that the customer will find them.
• There are organizations that innovate and create better products and solutions for the customer.

Now take the word “organizations” and replace it with “governments”.

“This may seem simple, but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back.” – John Ilhan

Related Links

There are no new management and leadership ideas