Organizational Silos - How To Deal Effectively With Them

Organizational Silos - How To Deal Effectively With Them
I was driving through dairy country in Virginia, and the
silos at every farm reminded me of a client I was working
with at the time - a successful manufacturing company
undergoing change. They had organizational silos - much
tougher to deal with than the ones on the farm. But they do
share certain characteristics.

The company had been successful for many years, but new
competition and new technology were forcing change. Their
organizational silos were big obstacles to change.They were
firmly in place, and while their occupants were convinced
of the need for change, they were just as firmly convinced
change was needed in all the other silos, but not in
theirs. Whenever the call for increased productivity,
problem solving and collaboration went out, each silo
responded individually - by working harder - more hours -
more volume. It got a lot busier, but not a lot more
effective.

It wasn't until the silos were changed that real change and
growth could take place.

The CEO realized that all silos have two things in common -
first, they keep things in - and second, they keep things
out.

There is one other thing the vast majority of silos share -
the only way to get anything into them is through the top -
or, sometimes, through the bottom. Nothing gets in through
the sides.

One way for that to change is to knock down the silos, but
the longer they've been in place, the tougher that is to
do. And they have real value to most enterprises - they're
not necessarily bad. And when they are knocked down, all
hell breaks loose - so it isn't done very often.

My client placed a high value on their silos - they were
structures that had been effective and provided the kind of
organization and order that focused people on their work.
That kind of order has a high value - as it should. And the
silos were full of good, experienced people who knew their
jobs, and took pride in them. But when organizational silos
create barriers to collaboration, to outside the box (or
should we say silo) thinking, to looking at new and
innovative solutions to competition and innovation, then
they have to be dealt with.

My client decided on a strategy that kept the structures,
but poked holes in the sides - letting ideas and
communication and problem solving circulate through
different levels - and creating opportunities for peer to
peer and cross functional activities to occur. It wasn't
easy, but it was effective.

The key steps taken to make this happen were :

The CEO communicated expectations. He made it very clear in
communications and actions that the way internal business
was conducted had to change if the business was to survive
and prosper. He communicated the pressing need for change.
He then communicated what he saw as the structure that
would be developed to make that happen.

The top 5 goals for the business were made known to every
one of the 1500 employees.

Company and functional area performance to the top 5 goals
was reported to all on a monthly basis.

Cross functional and problem solving teams were established
and trained in team development, dynamics and
communications.

A close analysis of approval chains was made with the
objective of eliminating as many low value - added steps as
possible - and putting as much responsibility as possible
at the most effective operating level.

Every functional head was required to make cross functional
activity part of every employees responsibilities. Either
as part of a team, or through temporary assignments, or
through transfer to other functions.

Every functional head was required to communicate their
contribution and issues to the whole organization. This was
done using teleconferences and meetings, an internal Ezine,
and face to face meetings

The effect was that the silos grew closer to each other -
and became interdependent. It worked well enough that the
business found solutions that kept it competitive and
growing. And they found them inside the organization - the
place where 95% of the answers to organizational issues can
be found. And just as importantly, it created a new set of
behaviors between silos that allowed skills, experience and
capabilities to be used on an interdependent basis. Much
higher leverage of human capital was created.

Silos don't have to be knocked down. While "organizational
silos" is most often spoken as a negative term, it doesn't
have to be. Respecting and valuing structure while creating
opportunities for leveraging the talent in organizations
can be the single most effective that can be done to gain
competitive advantage

----------------------------------------------------
Andy Cox helps clients align their resources and design and
implement change through the application of goals focused
on the important few elements that have maximum impact in
achieving success - as defined by the client. He can be
reached at http://www.coxconsultgroup.com and E Mail at
acox@coxconsultgroup.com

Background Report 101

Background Report 101
There are so many reasons why you should have a background
report on some individuals you know. Primarily, it will
serve as a basis whether or not you can trust the person in
different aspects such as business ventures, intimate
relationship and others. You may independently make one on
your own but if you wish to know extensive details to
maximize your knowledge and security, you may want to avail
of online services. Take note that the report offered in
particular Web sites are not the same as FCRA compliant or
tenant screening sheets.

You need to fill in a few information to help
professionals' research and zone in on the important data.
Some of the requirements are the person's name, address and
date of birth or approximate age. Packages may vary but
there are a number of reliable Web sites that will give you
more than you need. Some of the things that may be included
in the background report are previous addresses in the past
5 to 10 years, the target's relatives, neighbors and
friends, assets, criminal records, bankruptcy records, any
lawsuits filed against him or her, UCC filings, liens and
judgment. Common turn around time can be anywhere from 1 to
24 hours.

There are more extensive reports that may cost more. The
advantage is that everything basic is included plus vehicle
information, wants and warrants, nationwide coverage of all
criminal records and driving records in several states.
Turn around time is still within 1 to 24 hours.

A deluxe package provides a very comprehensive report which
is the most detailed that one can find online. Some of the
information provided in this type of special package may
not be available in some states. Since the data covers
virtually everything about the person, you will be provided
with preliminary information within the first 3 days.
Completion of remaining details will follow in 1 month.

Prices of course will vary depending on the expanse of the
information included. Remember that there are some
information that may not be accessed due to privacy
protection laws. However, all accessible public records
will be provided. Professional background reporters will
use different strategies and techniques to gain accurate
information. Expect them to use various resources to
acquire data as well like documents, old records as well as
people who knows the individual. Depending on the state,
criminal history can be accessed easily while other areas
will prohibit questions regarding convictions and criminal
offenses in the past.

As for prices, you will be able to obtain a basic
background report for as low as $99. Other extensive
packages may range up to $249 or $499. You should also be
prepared to answer questions as to why you're investigating
the individual. It is important that you don't break any
laws or disrespect privacy in the process. Some agencies
may require the owner's consent first before disclosing any
information. It might also put a mutually trustworthy
relationship at risk if you scan for inconsistencies
without the other party knowing.

On the other hand, you should also be prepared to reinforce
your own history to stay ahead of background reports.
Expect others to make a report on your so try to maintain
flawless transactions and credible accounts. Keeping
everything clean will help you well in business, family and
other financial ventures.

----------------------------------------------------
Ed Opperman invites you to visit his background check and
online investigation website for all of your search needs.
He offers employment locate, internet infidelity
investigations, email tracing, telephone investigations,
and a lot more. To learn more about background checks and
other useful information please click here now:===>
http://www.emailrevealer.com

Locate Ideas to Create More Profitable Sales from Adjusting Prices

Locate Ideas to Create More Profitable Sales from Adjusting Prices
Most companies set prices to optimize profits at similar
selling volumes. In either price-elastic markets or where
marginal costs are low, that is a mistake.

Further, many companies look only at their own prices
rather than what it costs a customer or end user to acquire
and employ the offering. While not every offering can be
vastly more attractive at a lower total cost to the
customer or end user, many will. Companies need to vastly
increase their testing to identify opportunities to expand
volume profitably through changed pricing structures.

With a pen you can change your profits by adjusting your
prices. That's a lot easier to do than finding and
implementing a lot of subtle value improvements at the same
price.

Do you know what price adjustments you should make? A
spreadsheet can tell you the profit impact . . . if you
know what the volume effects can be. But you know that most
of your volume estimates will be way off the mark.

To overcome those potentially expensive errors, you need to
test new prices first. But you already test prices. What's
different from what you have been doing if you are to
create an improved business model?

You now sell a product at a dollar a unit. You want to find
ways to increase your profits from this product. Normally,
you would test a slightly higher price in one geographic
market to see how it goes. That price might be $1.05. Your
average cost is $0.80 for the product.

If the sales stay about even with what you expect, you will
probably make that price increase in all territories. That
apparently profitable change in price could be a major
missed opportunity, but you'll never know it.

Consider an example to help illustrate other ways to think
about changing prices.

Let's consider an alternative that you probably didn't
test. Because it would only cost you $0.25 (the marginal
cost of the product) to sell more of this product, you
decide to sell it at $0.80 instead. If the volume you sell
increases by at least 50 percent, you make more money.

If you don't have to invest in more equipment or working
capital and you are the low cost producer, this is a better
deal because competitors will have a harder time making
inroads against you in the future and you have just
increased your relative cost advantage. If you are a high
cost producer, all that may happen is that you will set off
a price war that you will lose.

The competitors may ignore your test, which will make the
test results misleading. But they will not ignore a full
roll-out.

Now, consider a second alternative that you probably didn't
test. The product's price stays at $1.00 for the volumes
purchased in the last year, but for increased purchases
above that level the price is $0.70. If total volume
increases by at least 15 percent, you make more money.
Again, if you don't have to invest more to make this money
and you are the low-cost producer, you are ahead. The price
war risk is much less if you are not the low cost producer.

Then, look at what else these customers purchase. Maybe
they need another product to go along with this one. The
other product costs $0.10 and sells for $1.00. In this
test, you price the first product at $1.00 on existing
volumes, and the increased purchases at $0.40. If the
purchased volumes of both products go up by at least 5
percent, you make more money before considering required
changes in investments.

If customers need both products, you also should consider
how price elastic the first product is versus the second
one. You may make more money by cutting the price of the
second product for incremental volumes and holding the
price of the first product.

Now, all of this evaluation could easily be faulty. Why?
Well, the customer may simply be storing the product in a
warehouse somewhere and there is no real increase in
consumption.

This would occur if the benefit of the better prices solely
went to increase profits of the customer, and you already
had 100 percent of that customer's business. If you were a
small market share competitor, the strategy of one of these
price reductions might be the right one. If you were a
large market share competitor, it is less likely to work
well except in the two product example.

Instead, you could aim your incremental price reduction at
the end user. This might mean that you offered a rebate to
consumers who haven't tried your customer's product before
and are likely to find your product desirable. Or you might
share the cost of free samples for new accounts that your
customer has not done business with before. Depending on
whether or not the end user was more or less price elastic
than your customer, this would or would not be a good idea.

Imagine that we are talking about services instead. In
many cases, the extra cost of supplying more services is
extremely low (such as more hours of connection time to an
Internet Service Provider). In this case, the price of the
extra service might be $1.00 and the cost of providing more
might be $0.01. In many cases, one service also affects
the usage of another service. In such a case, the correct
price to optimize profits (before considering increased
investments) could be vastly lower than where it is today,
assuming that you could supply all of the demand that was
stimulated. Done quickly, competitors might not be able to
respond at a time when they are out of capacity, and you
might also grasp large relative improvements in average
costs at the same time.

Do you still think that keeping the current pricing
structure and testing small increases is the way to go? I
hope not.

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of seven books including Adventures of an
Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The Ultimate
Competitive Advantage. You can find free tips for
accomplishing 20 times more by registering at:
====> http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

What Do You Want To Achieve?

What Do You Want To Achieve?
It's a question that most of us never really give much
thought too. With hectic schedules, appointments to keep,
and people to meet we tend to be a little to busy with the
here and now to consider a future that might be ten or more
years down the line. But once your business is up and
operational the future can arrive a lot sooner than you
think.

So the question is what do you want to achieve with your
business? Now you'll need to carefully consider this
question before you answer it. Besides the fact that you
can't really predict how successful your business will
become, your feelings about the business will change as you
have your successes and failures.

But you still need to ask yourself what you'd like to get
out of the business? Are you looking to build up your own
business empire? Do you just want to be your own boss? Or
maybe your hoping to achieve financial freedom. Asking
yourself this question is the first step in figuring out
the answer.

So why is it so important to know what you want to achieve
when you've barely gotten your business off the ground?
It's simple enough really. Knowing what your ultimate goals
are will help you make the decisions that will get you
there. If you're happy just being your own boss do you want
the responsibility of having to deal with employees? Given
the chance to expand do you want to risk your own credit to
come up with the funds to do so? Do you want the
responsibility of having to make decisions that will impact
more and more people as your business grows?

Taking the time to answer the question of what you want out
of your business will help you set the goals for your
business and make the important decisions along the way. So
take the time and consider the answer very carefully. It
could save you a lot of trouble and keep you from taking
your company in a direction you might not want to go.
Developing and growing a business is something that for you
can be life altering. You'll put your heart and soul into
it. And a wrong step along the way can bring trajedy to it.
Your goals for it can always be adjusted as you see how
successful it is becoming. The easiest thing for you to do
is to state within your business plan what it is that you
are trying to achieve. And if you have th good fortune to
reach those objectives then you can decide what your next
step along the path might be.

----------------------------------------------------
Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who
has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His
years of experience in small business cover such topics as
planning, management, marketing, human resources,
ecommerce, and taxation. If you are looking for more
information on this subject and others related to starting
and running a small business you can visit his website at
http://www.SmallBusinessDelivered.com