Fuzzy Vision: corporate vision and mission don't inspire people; lack of strategic alignment; people don't know where the organization is going and what it is trying to achieve in the future.
Lack of Leadership Skills: fear of change; leaders lack entrepreneurial spirit; leadership style on the part of management is either too directive or too hands-off; managers do not lead, they just administrate and micromanage; weak leadership development program.
Discouraging Culture: no shared values; lack of trust; blame culture; focus on problems, not opportunities; people don't have fun at work; diversity is not celebrated; failures are not tolerated; people lose confidence in their leaders and systems.
High Bureaucracy: bureaucratic organizational structures with too many layers; high boundaries between management layers; slow decision making; too close monitoring of things and subordinates; too many tools and documents discouraging creative thinking; bureaucracy is tolerated.
Lack of Initiative: poor motivation and encouragement; people do not feel their contributions make a difference; management fails to engage the organization effectively; people work defensively and not creatively, they do their job, and nothing more.
Poor Vertical Communication: people have no clue of the big picture and do not feel that their contributions are important; too much uncertainty; people don't know what top-managers are thinking and planning.
Poor Cross-functional Collaboration: functional mindset; lack of cross-functional goals and cross-functional collaboration spirit; functional, no enterprise-wide business process management; no cross-functional management committees; lack of or powerless cross-functional teams.
Poor Teamwork: no organizational commitment to team culture; lack of shared and worthwhile goals; weak team leaders; team members who don't want to play as part of a team are tolerated; teams are too large; lack of shared rewards.
Poor Idea and Knowledge Management: cross-pollination of ideas is not facilitated; no creativity, idea and knowledge management strategies and systems; "know-it-all" attitude; "not invented here" syndrome.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
three secrets of successful companies
So, what is it about one company that makes it a good company, and does that description equate to a good stock to invest in? The answer depends on whether you ask an accountant, an economist, a marketer or a human resources expert, but by pulling all of those disciplines together, you generally can define a good company by these three characteristics:
Competitive advantage
Above-average management
Market leadership
Competitive Advantage
Michael Porter pioneered the concept of competitive advantage and broke it down into two forms: differentiation advantage and cost advantage. Differentiation advantage is when a company provides a superior service or product for the same price charged by the market. Cost advantage is when a company provides the same service or product as the market, but at a lower price. Porter collectively refers to these as "positional advantages" because they define the firm's position as having the leading service or product in its specific industry. He also states that these advantages cannot be sustained for any length of time because the promise of economic rents invites competition.
Barriers to entry
Good companies can also maintain their high status if there are significantly high barriers to entry into their fields. This can include large fixed costs, such as those associated with heavy manufacturing, or long-term research and development costs, like those found in the pharmaceutical or computer software development industries. All of these entry costs can deter competition from entering the market, thus helping the company sustain its leading status.
Name Recognition
We tend to take the value of name recognition for granted when looking at a company's status. Brand names like Kleenex and Coke have become synonymous with their products. The problem with name recognition is placing a value on that name, and there is no easy way to do that. A name only has qualitative value, but it can provide a long-term relationship between a company’s products or services and its customers. While it can be debated whether this trait alone makes a company good, when combined with the other characteristics it can be a powerful source of success.
Price Leadership
There is nothing more powerful than providing comparable services or products to the market for a lower price. In any economic environment, boom or bust, there will always be a demand for low-priced services and products. Being able to come to the marketplace with consistently lower prices across the board can fill a niche in the market that can attract customers for a long period of time. The key in price leadership is being able to sustain that level and fend off others who try to compete in that space.
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Above-Average Management
The quality of its management is a big factor in whether a company is successful, and an important attribute in any management team is a blend of experience. Experienced managers can not only lead a company through market cycles, but they can also provide mentorship for the next generation of managers.
Another telling attribute is when management tends to stay at a company for a long period of time. Talented managers can be swayed to move from company to company with handsome compensation packages, but tend to stay at companies where they like to work and they believe in their company's future successes.
Market Leadership
One of the most important characteristics in becoming a good company is market leadership. Leadership can come in many forms, but the reputation that comes along with this tag is priceless. The label of "industry standard" is one that every company strives for. Examples include leading the market in quality, innovation, customer service or even warranties.
Market leadership is probably the hardest status to maintain. No competitor is content being No.2 in the industry. This is where barriers to entry come into play. If the company you are watching competes in an industry with high barriers to entry, it's much more likely that its market dominance can continue. Companies can also move toward market leadership by buying and merging with other successful companies to improve their market share, vertical and horizontal integration, and technologicalbases.
Conclusion
So what is it about one company that makes it a good company, and does that good rating equate to a good stock to invest in? If the company has a competitive advantage, above-average management and market leadership, you are looking at a potentiallystrong investment. While these traits alone don't necessarily tell the whole story, they are important factors in evaluatingwhether a company might be recognized by investors globally as a good investment.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
WIKI on Task Force
It's interesting to know how much interested we (management artists) are in the way military plays game, or perhaps both fields just complement each other. Here's a little definition of Task Force by wiki:
A task force (TF) is a temporary unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many non-military organizations now create "task forces" or task groups for temporary activities that might have once been performed by ad hoc committees.Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_force
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
SAP - An Innovate Business Software Company
"Innovation is life-blood for those who lead."
-My Father
Introduction:
One of the most distinctive and striking feature of SAP, a business software provider of IT and business solutions and services, is growth by innovation. Established in 1972 by five former IBM employees – Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus Tschira, and Claus Wellenreuthe by the name of S-A-P (Systems Applications and Product), it has followed only one thought pattern which has become its tradition - namely, innovation and growth. It is quite evident from the fact that in 1998 it came on the world's largest stock exchange, the New York Stock Exchange.
Clarity of Vision:
I was amazed by the clarity of its vision about its strategy, explained in depth in a very short and plain sentence, which goes as: Our vision is "to develop standard application software for real-time business processing." [1]
It is "world's leading provider of business software." It is interesting to note further is it's clarity about what business software is about. It says:
SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management, and supplier relationship management.
A Brief Introduction to Its Business:
Its introduces its business in these words:
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software, offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes across more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With approximately 76,000 customers (including customers from the acquisition of Business Objects) in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP."
Business and Corporate Overview (U.S. GAAP)
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Its BusinessObject Portfolio:
SAP BusinessObject provides solutions through software, It and web-led tools and applications (real time business processing) to two kinds of enterprises and organizations:
1. Large Enterprises
2. Small and Mid-size Enterprises
Its Industries:
SAP provides software and counsel services to a vast number of industries ranging from mining/oil and gas companies to public security and health & care institutions. Almost all kinds of service-oriented companies and industries are benefiting world-wide from its innovate IT-led solution systems.
It provides:
1. Financial and Public Services (banking, defense & security, insurance, etc)
2. Manufacturing (aerospace manufacturers, mill products, mining, oil & gas etc)
3. Service to other businesses like media, professional services, entertainment industry, distribution, travel & logistics, etc.
Read and see all the industries SAP serves here.
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For further and detailed information, please visit SAP's official website: http://www.sap.com/index.epx
Monday, January 19, 2009
Dollar against rupee up by paisa 22
KARACHI: The value of dollar against rupee in the inter-bank market went up by paisa 22, as dollar closed at Rs79.60 today.Forex market dealers said that the demand for dollar swelled up due to flight of foreign capital from the stock market. Forex Association of Pakistan president, Malik Bostan told Geo News that the expatriate Pakistanis remittances were also seen somewhat shrunk, which pushed the rupee under pressure. On the other hand, dollar .... Full Story
Turmoil after Turmoil for U.S. Bank - Citigroup the One Now!
Citigroup Posts $8.29 Billion Loss and Will Split Into Two Companies
By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
Published: January 16, 2009
Citigroup on Friday reported a fourth-quarter net loss and provided more details of an ongoing restructuring plan that will divide the company, for management purposes, into two separate businesses -- Citicorp and Citi Holdings.
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