Business Strategic Development

Sales Monster 2: Social Proof for business development

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:58:20 +0000

Our Sales Monster tool brings you everything you need for rapid business development and a killer sales strategy.

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One of our most exciting social networking projects is that we’re committed to helping at least 25 entrepreneurs make US$1m. Find out more

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Duration : 0:7:5

Technorati Tags: advice, Business, Development, growth, sales, tips

What a Business Strategic Development Plan Should Include

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:27:22 +0000

A business strategic development plan serves as a framework for decision-making or for securing support and approval from partners, employees or stockholders. The plan itself can be as simple and straightforward as the organization wants it to be, based on the way it normally makes its decisions.

The key is not what the plan itself looks like, rather how the conclusions are reached. In our experience in order for a business strategic development plan to be actionable – it must be a sincere effort by a group of knowledgeable individuals with the short and long term success of the organization in mind.

A plan for a strategic competitive advantage may also be included. Let’s face it, if the plan is perfect in every way but does not take into consideration what the market is saying, what your competitors are doing, and addresses ways around any possible competitive roadblocks, what real bottom line benefits does it create?

Most leaders agree that a business strategic development plan is a practical necessity. Without plans in place, it is very easy for owners and managers to become blinded by immediate issues, losing sight of their long-term goals or objectives. Even the simplest most elementary plans can be used as a basis for action today and more detailed planning, when that is needed.

When it is properly written, the plan will explain the business to others, to give all the stakeholders both the big picture and somewhat of a road map to the future, even serving as a mission statement for the here and now along with the not too distant future. It can also serve to motivate people to do the right things and get them involved moving their area – large or small, in the preferred direction to achieve overall success.

The cornerstone of you business strategic development plan is the assessments made about your competition. Everybody has competition and in order to succeed long term you must get and/or maintain a strategic competitive advantage. I know it’s simplistic to talk about competition, but I am not referring to whether or not you offer the same service for a better price or whether or not your company’s advantage is it’s cost leadership, whether or not your model is to offer “more” for an equivalent price, etc.

I am referring to the entire spectrum of competition you face, whether it is within your control to do anything about it directly or not. Most often when businesses are run effectively in accordance with a price, production, service, and marketing strategy they will get as much business as they are capable of getting on their own – through the things they have been doing right over the years.

Beyond what you can achieve yourself in the normal course of things – achieving superior competitive advantage is often a result of collaboration with savvy industry peers that results in the strategic implementation of strategies synthesized from an ongoing series of strategic conversations.

Many years ago a successful business owner told me that “it’s not the things you don’t know that get you in trouble, it’s the things you know for sure that are wrong” so consistently achieving your maximum strategic competitive advantages is most likely to result for having that same group of knowledgeable industry peers test your assumptions before you act on them.

When it comes to keeping your business strategic development process moving forward and keeping focused on your competitors, you should consider a regular process that keeps everything important on the boil.

That ongoing process is one that harnesses the power of your relationships in your industry and beyond, continually forcing you to consider alternatives, and cause you to take actions based on mutually determined sound judgements.

It has been my experience that an excellent business strategic development plan – one that includes actionable competitive analysis, is the result of one thing and one thing only! It comes from making better decisions. It’s that simple, not easy to do on your own however. In fact the most successful leaders among us, in every walk of life, systematically reach out to their hand-pick board of advocates and supporters for insights and advice.

You can have the same tools for creating your own strategic planning and marketing team, a no cost whatsoever. Simply go to www.b2bpeergroups.com and watch my 2 minute video. Once you join you will receive a powerful video series that will show you how to make decisions about the directions you take and the plans you make with greater confidence. It is 100% free, no strings attached.

Technorati Tags: Business Strategic Development, Strategic Competitive Advantage

Does the US military leadership go too far when making public statements?

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:13:14 +0000

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen is seems to be lobbying publicly for a surge of American troops in Afghanistan, much like the way Bush did in Iraq. Do you believe it is proper protocol for the military to publicly discuss politics and policy or do you think they should be more discreet and leave the decision-making to the Secretary of Defense and President of the United States?

To me, it’s rather frightening when high-ranking military officers make personal political statements via the media on military war policy. Remember Gen. MacArthur when he chastized President Truman for not wanting to give him the green light to bomb the Chinese back to the Great Wall of China during the Korean Conflict?

Let me know if you believe military officers have a right to dictate policy or to air their disagreements in war strategy via the media.
Omit "is" in first sentence.

It is not, it is called subornation. And a person of his ranking should no better. He wouldn’t want the people under him to publicly question him either. That why we have the chain of command. He is setting a bad example for the junior staff.

Strategic Management Case study. Please solve the 2 questions after reading the paragraph ASAP. Thnks!?

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:13:07 +0000

In mid 1984 Mr. Mahmood, the General Manager of Westward Exports Limited, Karachi,
Pakistan was trying to implement a management information system. He was facing resistance
from Mr. Saleem, his most senior Supervisor. Mr. Mahmood wondered what he could do to
overcome this resistance.
Company Background
Westward Exports was an exporter of ladies cotton garments. It was a private company
established in 1971. It was a family run business and all four directors were brothers. Over the
past fourteen years the exports of the company had grown from Rs. 0.71 million in 1972-73 to
Rs. 59.76 million in 1984. Almost 90% of the exports went to USA. It owned no manufacturing
facility of any kind. It purchased cotton cloth from six different textile mills and had the cloth
dyed and printed. This fabric was then passed on to 138 stitching subcontractors. The company
had been expanding the product line over the years and by 1983 it was exporting about one
million garments in over one hundred basic designs. The 100 designs were presented in a large
of fabric types, shades, designs and sizes.
When seen in the context that the company had to get all these things done through
subcontractors, the managerial control of the operations became quite challenging. The
directors who had always been actively involved in each and every aspect of the business, and
made all the decisions by themselves, felt the heat of changing situations. They appreciated the
problem and decided to hire some professional assistance to bring more control to their
operations.
Mr. Mahmood
Mr. Mahmood was hired in late 1983 to be the new general manager. He was an agricultural
graduate who had about fifteen years of marketing and sales experience with a multinational
organization. He also had attended more than a dozen management development courses. The
directors were confident that he could introduce some new control measures to help ensure the
continued success of the company.
Mr. Mahmood quickly determined that if Westward Exports was to remain in business it
immediately must eliminate the haphazardness in its operations. No proper costing, no
scheduling, no progress sheets or order status reports, no follow up charts, or for that matter no
control procedure worth the name existed. “It was all so nebulous” he concluded. He worked
1 Currently serving as Chairman, Department of Commerce, Bahauddin Zakria University, Multan.
late hours to comprehend fully the nature and scope of the company’s business and its
coordination and working relationships without contractors. Almost immediately he started to
design a proper system to help cure the lack of control and information available.
Mr. Saleem
Out of about 200 old employees in the company, the key operating manager was Mr. Saleem.
Saleem joined the company in 1973 as a production officer, nearly the lowest rung in the
company’s hierarchy. He distinguished himself because of his hard work and was promoted to
be a supervisor. By 1982, Saleem, under direct supervision of the directors, was looking after
every activity in manufacturing. Right from raw material procurement to packing and shipping
of finished garments, he was coordinating all of the activities. Because of the varied nature of
his duties and his dedication to work, he was able to learn all the ins and outs of the business.
Saleem also was considered to be a man with a photographic memory. He virtually ran the
whole business from the information stored in his head. “I have an abhorrence for paperwork”,
said Saleem. “My work load is so great that I am always engrossed in my job. Even my dreams
are job related”, he added. “But due recognition has always been awarded to me by my
director.”
Current Situation
Mr. Saleem initially cooperated with Mr. Mahmood. However, when Mr. Mahmood started to
implement some of the new systems and procedures, Mr. Saleem refused to go along with
them. Mr. Saleem even questioned the very need for such a drastic change. “Ask me about
anything …. any detail of a fabric, any garments any export order …. For that matter anything
that has bothering the people here with such clerical burdens? These luxuries are all right for
big companies, but not for us. We can not spare people for such unproductive things.”
Mr. Mahmood understood that Mr. Saleem was close to the director and was the senior-most
supervisor. Therefore, his opposition could not be taken lightly. Mr. Mahmood also felt that
others might say that he had neither the general management experience nor any particular
experience in the garment industry.
Conclusion
Nevertheless, Mr. Mahmood was confident that the company did need the change and as soon
as possible. He was troubled; however, with the resistance of Mr. Salaam’s reluctant to
accommodate his new system, he would not be able to do the job.

Questions for Discussion
1. Do you agree with Mr. Saleem that “such luxuries are for big companies, but no

Please do your own assignments.

Course description: Trust, Emotion, Ethics, and Morality in Negotiation and Decision Making

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:20:27 +0000

Jennifer Lerner, Professor of Public Policy and Management, introduces her fall 2009 course “Trust, Emotion, Ethics, and Morality in Negotiation and Decision Making” (MLD-307) to Kennedy School students. For the 2009-2010 Leadership Course Guide, visit www.hks.harvard.edu/leadership.

Duration : 0:2:43

Technorati Tags: cpl, decisionmaking, emotion, ethics, harvard, hks, kennedyschool, leadership, leadershipcourse, lerner, trust