Market Effectiveness:   A Unique Way To Look At Your Business

Market Effectiveness™ is a series of cross functional business processes that need to be well managed and orchestrated. Market Effectiveness is akin to the supply chain and poor performance at either of these will result in bad business performance.

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Laws are created to deal with a problem that exists today and may not exist years from now. Business processes are the same. They are created to deal with current needs. Over the years the legal system has accumulated a series of laws that may have been appropriate for their time but have never been abolished. Here are a few examples: (more…)

Anti-Strategy is an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why someone in the company, a peer, a direct report or even the boss has done something that just didn’t make sense? Maybe it was reorganization, a change in product direction, adding new people that should be in other organizations, or worse yet, done nothing? Of course you have. You are probably guilty of it yourself, although you may not realize it or don’t want to admit it. Smart, successful and highly compensated people often do things that don’t seem to fit or support the program or your perspective of the direction of the company. (more…)

Understanding and being understood are among the most basic needs of all people. The same is true for businesses wishing to execute well, adapt to change, and effectively execute the company’s strategy. A common business language aligns a company’s operating organization and connects it with senior leaders and other key stakeholders. Further, a common, performance-based language helps avoid (more…)

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The Business Hierarchy of Needs ^® is a compilation of three levels of activities. As our work on effective strategic execution continues, we have found that most companies haven’t developed strategic execution and change management processes that provide consistent and effective implementation of their strategic objectives. Every organization (more…)

• Plant production increased from 7,500 Grilles/day to 22,000 Grilles/day.
• 60+ products were redesigned and implemented with an average 12% cost reduction per unit.
• Units/employee tripled.
• Incident rates per hundred grilles were reduced 85%.
• Sales increased 7% and P&L improved by $30M, a 15% improvement year over year
• Service levels increased from 48% of 96%
• Completed in 11 months

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Performance Management is a critical part of a company’s business strategy. As shown in Level 2 of the Business Hierarchy of Needs®, performance management is the bridge between strategy and results. As we have spoken to senior executives around the United States, we have found that their perception of performance management is more tactical than strategic.  We have found that functional organizations also see performance management as a check the box activity. Most companies view “performance management” (more…)

During a recent meeting of 40 M&A professionals, I facilitated a discussion around the results of a 1999 KPMG study on the success of Mergers and Acquisitions in large companies. This study indicated that 83% of mergers and acquisitions fail to increase share holder value. The M&A professionals who participated in this discussion represented middle market mergers and acquisitions. Members of the group were asked three questions: (more…)

Group50 has introduced a new cost effective cloud based performance management and strategic execution tool called Cascade. This system provides clients with the ability to achieve higher levels of employee engagement, monitor key strategy implementation, focus on cultural and performance objectives throughout the organization and institutionalize winning behaviors throughout their company.

Companies who have implemented Cascade have seen significant improvement in their operating performance at all levels.
Read more about utilizing Cascade for:

• Executing Strategy
• Performance Management

About Group50^® specializes in the development and implementation of manufacturing and supply chain strategies. The Group50 team are all former executives with well-known manufacturing and distribution companies who understand what it takes to put together and manage the implementation of a successful strategic plan. Group50 has designed a series of strategic assessments, workshops and strategic execution tools that eliminate the existence of Anti-Strategy^TM. You can reach us at (909) 949-9083, request more information here or send a note to info@group50.com.

I was speaking with a client the other day who was expressing frustration with being able to align his organization with the company’s strategies, vision, mission, values and tactics. He felt as if the yearly off site meetings and quarterly communications to employees weren’t causing the company to build a culture and performance mindset around those. He mused that there must be a better way to accelerate behaviors in the organization and create a culture of strategic execution. As we spoke further, we talked about the need for:

• Clear and concise strategies, mission, values and tactics
• Constant communications to all levels of the organization
• Measures that are cascaded down to each level that support the strategic initiatives
• Accountability for all managers and employees
• Full transparency in the company
• The ability to have communications both up and down about what is working and what isn’t
• An understanding of the company’s strategic and operating gaps

We agreed that a significant shift in culture and performance was a difficult objective. We also agreed during our conversation that cultural change isn’t achieved by yearly reviews and occasional communications. The tactics to implement such a change need to be well thought through and executed with rigor. It is one of the single most important set of activities for the company’s leaders and needed to be a daily activity. He would have benefitted from a change management framework such as Group50’s Business Hierarchy of Needs® to guide his organization’s strategic planning, change management and implementation efforts. As we talked further, we agreed to keep a dialogue going and focus on strategic alignment and performance management as part of our on-going work with his organization. Several articles with further information on this topic include:

• Performance Management as a Business Strategy
• Organizational Alignment: The Good and Bad News
• Cascade
• Morphing Evaluations Into Strategic Execution

About the author: Jim Gitney is the CEO of Group50^® and specializes in the development and implementation of manufacturing and supply chain strategies. Jim and the Group50 team are all former executives with well-known manufacturing and distribution companies who understand what it takes to put together and manage the implementation of a successful strategic plan. Group50 has designed a series of strategic assessments, workshops and strategic execution tools that eliminate the existence of Anti-Strategy. You can reach us at (909) 949-9083 or send a note to info@group50.com.