The business of business has always been to provide products and services to customers. Throughout the ages, plans have been made, resources organized, people recruited (or conscripted), and everything coordinated together so that as near as possible the desired outcome was realized. Of all these elements, however, there is one on which the success or […]
As discussed in Secrets to Business Transformation Success, successful projects are characterized by six things: a well-defined governance structure, strong sense of urgency, active sponsorship from leaders, engagement across all organizational levels, alignment with the organization’s existing systems and structures, and strategies for sustaining changes over the long term. Of these six characteristics, sponsorship is one of the most fundamental factors and the one that correlates […]
“Business “transformation” is a hot topic — search the term on Google and you’ll return more than a million results. In a recent survey conducted by Forbes Insights/KPMG, 93% of the more than 900 respondents said that they have just completed, are planning or are in the midst of a business transformation. But what is business transformation, what distinguishes it from a […]
Deadlines, conference calls, last minute items that pop up, personal commitments—there is a multitude of things that we have to accomplish each day. It is easy to fall into the habit of just crossing things off of our to do list, without being fully present as we get them done. Of course we are physically […]
Much is made of delivering value to shareholders. Ask any senior director, manager or member of the board what his or her goal is in the company, and that will be the most likely response. It’s predictable, and it’s a cop-out. More on that in a moment. The term shareholder refers to those who have […]
Everyone has heard the statistic. Two-thirds of all change initiatives fail to achieve their expected business benefits – a statistic that has stayed constant from the 1970s to the present. This failure rate represents billions of dollars in lost productivity, wasted resources, opportunity costs and rework—not to mention the negative impact on organizational morale and […]
Just as with any business decision that affects the bottom line, there are various reasons that a company will decide to employ a change management strategy. Every business, no matter the size or industry, faces both internal and external pressures that influence short-term and long-term strategies. External pressures may include shifting economic conditions, governmental or […]
Management history is easily forgotten. All it takes is a generation or two to go by and some hard economic times. Then, when problems occur, solutions are sought. The belief is that the old ideas no longer apply, and that new ones must be found. What’s particularly surprising is just how often new ideas turn […]
Jesse Jacoby
