How Do Total Cost of Ownership Models Affect Your Business?

The concept of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is not new and for many not a bit exciting. But, it is a critical part of the acquisition process and has been successfully used for the analysis of Information Technology and government procured products for many years. It is a mainstay of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Yet, the concept of the Total Cost of Ownership hasn’t been universally adopted by middle market manufacturing and distribution companies as part of their standard Supply Chain Management Solutions. Middle market companies (more…)

Time based Key Performance Indicators provide significant insight to how quickly your organization responds to the needs of internal and external customers.  They tell a story that every leader needs to pay attention to.  Which of the following time based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are being tracked in your company?

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Talent Management is a set of integrated organizational HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees. The goal of talent management is to create a high-performance, sustainable organization that meets its strategic and operational goals and objectives. John Hopkins University I particularly like this definition as it first focuses on the outcomes from productive and engaged employees. This is the model I follow when helping organizations “think about their integrated organizational Human Resource processes.” Whether you have a robust Talent Management process or you randomly (more…)

In our earlier posts on Anti-Strategy—situations where well-intentioned employees act against company interests—we’ve explored various cause and effects. Today we consider the impact of poor communications on Anti-Strategy. “Do we need better communication around here?” The answer to that question is: It depends. Have you over-heard this common question (or complaint) lately? “Better communication” is the politically-correct solution of choice when “slip-ups” occur. “No one told me about that…”. (more…)

Many have long considered Continuous Improvement activities mostly relevant to manufacturing and related operational functions.

However, continuing competitiveness and growth in market share is built upon a steady, progressive march forward in all areas of a business. And since a company’s Market Effectiveness activities and functions (shown below) are the most market-oriented and customer-intimate parts of a business, effective Continuous Improvement efforts are (more…)