Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

A major constraint when implementing strategy is lack of proper metrics available for making right decisions. One such metric is, “how do employees spend their time?” This article was inspired by Reardon’s article1. “The importance of time tracking.” Everybody has the same amount of time – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Reardon [...]

“Occupations facing the least demand are those requiring the highest education”, says the CFIB report. It also goes on to say, “Three in four entrepreneurs operating in the transportation sector are looking for skill level C employees … and workers with skill level D training are in the greatest demand in the hospitality and agricultural sectors.” We see from the above that immigrants who fall in this category are the ones most likely to have access to the resources to immigrate. Individuals from the above countries who fall under skill level C do not have the economic means to immigrate. Their education may not even be in English. So how can they fulfill the requirements for immigration? Isn’t that hoping for A while rewarding B?

Innovation.
This is the most often used word in meetings now-a-days, I think. Count the number of times this word pops up in strategy meetings. At a recent quarterly meeting with a client, my count was 27. I couldn’t stand it. I asked, “What do you mean by innovation? When you say we need to innovate, [...]

Today’s Globe and Mail has the article US equity firm stalks BCE, plots takeover. Why is Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) hoping to takeover? After all, they do not know anything about running a telecommunications business – or do they? 
A private equity firm essentially buys out public companies in the hope of unlocking value. This could be in [...]

“This is the way we do things around here.” Do you not tell this to every employee who joins your organization? Your organization has its own work environment, its own way of doing things, its own processes and its own politics. How your organization approaches problems, what it believes in and its thought process defines its personality. This is what is corporate culture. It is born out of your organization’s beliefs and philosophies about why it does things the way it does. It is born out of how you with your stakeholders. Consistently doing the things you do results in your corporate culture.

To differentiate in a crowded marketplace, you need to think outside the “core-benefits” perception. The best part is no one will try to imitate them since what you do differently is not perceived as a core-benefit. Perhaps such an approach will make your customers root for you. FedEx decided to create another core-benefit: overnight delivery - and it succeeded. Volvo, Starbucks, Nike and all such successful organizations have expanded what the term “core-benefits” mean.

Note: For the first article in this series please go to Issues in Strategy Implementation. 
Innovative and technologically advanced support systems can be a basis for competitive advantage. This is assuming your competition cannot match the quality of your information systems. In today’s business environment, it is impossible to even think of successfully implementing strategies without [...]

Kaizen: Japanese for “change for the better” translates to “continuous improvement”. But how can you improve if you do not know how you are faring now? Improve from what to what? Improvement necessitates comparison. If your organization is to perform activities across the value chain effectively and efficiently, you need a benchmark. The benchmark may be the best-in-the-industry organization; or it could also be against your own self.

Now before importers and exports in Canada can jump on the trade bandwagon, they must do their due diligence. Doing business outside your home country is challenging. It is best to be prepared. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I will be linking to relevant articles about doing business with India.

Note: For the first article in this series please go to Issues in Strategy Implementation.
Just to recap, so far we discussed leadership, building teams with competencies and capabilities, organizational structure, resource allocation and internal policies & procedures in the implementation of strategy. It is important for both organization departments and employees to be enthusiastic about [...]