This is the first of a series of installments relative to "Poor Management". Management of any kind begins with self. How well you master yourself is the real key to your future success in any endeavor. The first step in your journey to self mastery is education. This is best accomplished by initiating the "Self Discovery & Empowerment Process". Self discovery will help you identify, characterize, organize and effectively utilize what you have learned and will continue to learn about yourself. This is the essence and the foundation of personal growth and development and it is the only means by which you can rise to higher levels of conscious awareness.
It has been said, "knowledge is power". If this is true, then the more knowledge an individual has or acquires, the more powerful that individual becomes relative to others in his/her immediate environment and the more confidence that individual has in himself/herself. This process is best initiated by engaging in self discovery. Having confidence in yourself encourages others to have confidence in you and your abilities.
In this post we are going to briefly discuss definitions that are relative to business operations, and new age marketing and management principles that will broaden your understanding and help you in any business undertaking.
1. ABC - Stands for activity based costing. This is defined as a method which identifies various activities needed to provide a product and determines the cost of these activities.
2. ADEA - Stands for the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which, according to text, prohibits age discrimination and mandatory retirement. It was established in 1967.
3. BARS - This stands for Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale. It is defined as a rating technique that relates an employees performance to a specific job related incident.
4. COBRA - Stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. This is defined as a policy established in 1985 which required continued health coverage (paid by employee) after job termination. This means that health insurers cannot discriminate base on a person's employment status.
5. E P - Stands for Effort yields performance, and is defined as: The degree of expectation that putting effort into a given task will lead to high performance.
6. EVA - Stands for Economic Value Added system. It is defined as a control system that measures after-tax profits minus the cost of capital invested in tangible assets. This , according to text, is intended to capture all the things a company can do to add value from its activities. .
7. HR - Human Resources, name for employees, or a department of a company which is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and keeping employees happy. They can implement strategies to departments for particular company goals.
8. MBO - Management by objective.
9. OSHA - Occupation safety and health Act, it establishes mandatory safety and health standards in organizations. Basically, creates a safe work environment for employees.
10. P O - Means performance yields outcome.
11. SWOT - Stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. This is what is searched for in a situation analysis, which is used to determine organization performance. According to the text, this is especially important for companies considering globalization.
The new management paradigm is based in the idea of a learning organization in which all employees are participants in the decision making process. This is a major diversion from the old paradigm, which is based in a vertical setup, where all of the power sits at the top. In the new paradigm, employees are given access to company information, which results in a more participatory decision making process.
This new paradigm is a result of a very rapidly changing, globalizing economy, diversity in the workplace and the speed by which information is moved throughout the world. In a learning organization, the structure is very dynamic, due to the input of more employees, and the development of better ideas. Although the new global economy is pushing major global corporation into the new paradigm, the old paradigm still rings true and is very effective for many smaller, more localized companies, which are still a vital part of our world today.
Have a mission statement for your company or enterprise. A mission statement is defined as a broadly stated definition of an organization's basic business scope and operations that distinguishes it from similar types of organizations. A mission statement will help you focus on your goals and objectives.
Adapt Total Quality Management principles to your specific business needs. Total quality management (TQM) is defined as a management approach that focuses orgainzationwide attention on delivering total quality to customers and includes...
- Employee involvement ( not necessary if you don't have hired help)
- Focus on the customer
- Benchmarking, and
- Continuous improvement.
There are four parts to a marketing system and they rest on ten cornerstones.
Marketing results are only as powerful as your marketing systems. To build your marketing system you need to be able to do four things: attract, convert, leverage and retain. With these four accomplishments and the practice of the 10 Cornerstone Principles of Marketing, success will come. Here are the 10 Cornerstone Principles to Marketing Success
1. The Principle of Packaging. The way you package your product or service is a deal breaker. If you sell a product, it has everything to do with the packaging, the colors, the box, the container - everything. If you sell a service and offer just one service, there still needs to be packaging. Just a different time. Packaging for a service provider resides in their offer. If you offer one solution which most independent professionals do, like an hourly or day rate, then you don't have a package. A package is a combination of items that create an offer that support the client in accomplishing their goal.
2. The Principle of Differentiation. You want to be the red crayon in the box of white crayons. You must know how you are different from your competitors and you must be able to convey that in all your messages in a way that your prospects pick it up simply. If you think you don't have any competitors, you do. If you know you are different and don't convey it, you lose. You must leverage your differences.
3. The Principle of Repeat Business. One-time buying is short-term revenue and requires ten times more work to find new clients. Keeping multiple, a lifelong paying client is your objective. If you offer a one-time event, you do not have a marketing process - you have a single sale. A marketing process sells to clients over and over again.
4. The Principle of Frequency. The number two reason businesses fail is because they don't stay in touch with previous clients. Frequency builds trust and trust is a requirement for a sale.
5. The Principle of Multiple Streams. Having many ways for people to buy from you always provides the desired revenue results. This requires a combination of active sales (where you participate) and passive sales (that sells without your presence).
6. The Principle of Reciprocity. This principle, also considered an exchange, is about relationships and networks. If you want to be alone, then your battle is gong to be long, hard, and it will fail. Build your vendor team, your Research & Development team, your administrative team, your strategic alliances, your bartering team, and your attraction will multiple. This works on the principle: "you scratch my back and I will scratch yours." It is not just about relationships, it is about the value of those relationships.
7. The Principle of Like Ability. If people don't know you, how can they like you? They need to like you before they will trust you and they must trust you before they buy from you.
8. The Principle of Communication. This is the most valuable asset you have. Communication is like your bank account: when you communicate correctly, you have a deposit, when you fail to communicate you will have a withdrawal. If, on balance they get "insufficient funds," that client is gone. Always ask, "Am I providing value that creates a deposit?"
9. The Principle of Perception. Your client's perception creates the sale. So many business owners think their service or product is absolutely great and they cannot understand why it is not selling. It is because they developed their product or service according to their perceptions and not their prospects' needs. Perception begins with what your employees think of their job, so start with their job responsibilities and titles.
10. The Principle of Emotion. Eighty-five percent of the buying decision is made from emotions and then justified with logic. This means you must first connect with their emotions and then give them the logic to justify what they bought. You cannot do one without the other.
