Smart people often struggle with strategy. I know because I’ve seen it many times. They may lose their way in the mechanics, get bogged down in detail or simply end up with a document which gets dusted down twelve months later for the next so-called “strategy round”.
So why wouldn’t boards of smaller companies evaluate their performance? After all they almost certainly consider it good practice to evaluate the performance of their management teams.
Had the UK Corporate Governance Code applied to UK plc in the run-up to the credit crunch, then perhaps we might have enjoyed more effective risk management, financial control, leadership and accountability
Achieving a marketing orientation requires an investment of time and money; maintaining it requires determination and consistency. But in these recessionary times, can companies really afford not to make such an important investment in their future prosperity – or perhaps even their survival?
The subject of marketing orientation prompted some lively debate last week in Zurich. The occasion was a Marketing Colloquium which I ran for the Zurich University of Applied Sciences’ International Executive MBA programme. The students were smart people, holding senior positions in areas such as engineering, law, IT and accounting. The aim of the colloquium …
It’s a great shame that Kodak joins household names such as Saab, Woolworth’s, Readers Digest, Ferranti, Sinclair and giants of British motorcycle industry. Kodak and “Kodak moments” have been an integral part of my life and the lives of millions of others.
Strategy is long term; it’s about the direction of an organisation and how it will meet customer needs profitably. Like a journey, you need to know your starting point, where you want to go and how you will get there. A key element of strategy is the identification and evaluation of alternative destinations; without this …
Train to Gain will soon be history. As I suggested nine days ago, this was an obvious target for the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Train to Gain has been of enormous value to SMEs, enabling them to operate more strategically and enhance leadership skills through coaching programmes. The existing contract will probably run for the …
Ask two economists where the economy is heading and you may well get three answers. In uncertain times such as these, organisations need to hope for the best while planning for the worst. So what can be done in the face of such uncertainty? Here are some areas to consider in your contingency planning:
The Government has made no secret of its commitment to start cutting the country’s budget deficit this year. Even with these cuts our eye-wateringly big national debt will continue to rise for several years – see previous posting on this. The impact of these cuts on a fragile economy will be profound and could well …