.png?width=1500&height=398&name=CO_Corporate%20Logo%202021_4C_HOR_FNL-1%20(1).png)
Go-To-Market Cultural Alignment: The Invisible Variable in U.S. Expansion
Many companies that find success outside the United States have one thing in common: the need to succeed in the U.S. market.
That is not complicated or surprising. The United States is the largest economy in the world and, in many categories, the single biggest available market. World Bank data clearly shows the scale of the U.S. economy relative to most global markets. For companies in high-tech, scientific, medical, industrial, and systems integration sectors, the U.S. is not just attractive. It is strategic.
Company leaders want to grow. The U.S. is where they look. They are not wrong.
Big Data – More Transformational Than the Gutenberg Printing Press?
Sat, Nov 16, 2013 — Last month I visited the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany. Until this visit, I had not fully considered the impact the invention of the printing press had on the dissemination of knowledge and in enabling democracy. Prior to Gutenberg’s invention, the transfer of recorded information was reliant on scribes copying information by hand from one book to the next. After the printing press, multiple copies of a document could be created, increasing the dispersion of knowledge and lowering its acquisition cost. More information, lower cost.
How We’re Going To Make $1 Billion (for the US Economy)
Mon, Nov 11, 2013 — “You Can Be a Millionaire and Never Pay Taxes” – Steve Martin, circa 1974 Okay. So I’ve used this reference before, but it really fits this story. It’s one of my favorite Steve Martin gags, when he says, “YOU can be a MILLIONAIRE and NEVER pay taxes.” How? “First, get a million dollars.” In some small way, the sketch makes this point: it takes money to make money. So, what’s it going to take to make $1B? As it turns out, only $200,000. And we know where it’s going to come from.
YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE A BREAK.
Sat, Nov 9, 2013 — Guest Blog by Joanie Rufo, Initiate Consulting. One of the common themes I see in my work coaching executive leaders is the unilateral struggle of leaders to rest and renew. “EACH OF US NEEDS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE CARES WHICH WILL NOT WITHDRAW FROM US.” – Maya Angelou
The Power of Pricing: How to Improve Your Pricing and Profits
Wed, Oct 30, 2013 — Your sales team defines price as what’s on the invoice. Your CFO defines price as ‘what we take to the bank’. Your customer says price is too high. Your pricing manager says that price doesn’t match our standard terms. Your distributor says they can’t make any money on your line. And it’s still Monday morning! What’s the right way to define and measure price? More importantly, how can you improve net price realization and take more money to the bank? I define price as what goes to the bank, after all discounts, returns, warranties, commissions and other deductions are taken into account. There are several elements to price management. The first is achieving the optimal price for each good or service. The second is managing your product mix and services to achieve the optimal price for a set of customer transactions.
Outstanding CEOs Often Play It By Ear
Wed, Oct 16, 2013 — I did not like the Beatles when they first came to America, but I am a contrarian by nature. Today, John Lennon and Paul McCartney are music icons that created a legacy of sound and lyrics. The Beatles created some of the most recognized and memorable songs of today. "I don’t read music, you got a problem with that?" - said Paul McCartney. They created music from what came into their minds. How did they do this and become world renown? I suggest to you they “played it by ear.”
Let’s Talk Growth – 5 Questions CEOs Should Ask To Energize A Staff Meeting
Sat, Oct 12, 2013 — Twice this week, once at a client lunch and once during a dreaded staff meeting, the topic of unproductive staff meetings came up. This got me to thinking about the why. Upon reflection, is it because many of us focus staff meetings on the burning operational issues of the day, or because we focus on reviewing operational dashboards with little discussions of the 3rd, 4th or 5th "why" for average or lackluster performance? Jeff Bezos, when asked during his first meeting with Washington Post writers how he’d define success at the Post, replied “Growth."
How To Differentiate Yourself When You're Not that Different
Wed, Oct 9, 2013 — Positioning is a critical step in any business’ marketing strategy. It defines the company, forms the basis for messaging, drives the marketing approach and impacts the way in which products and services are priced. To be effective, positioning must be clear, compelling and, most importantly, differentiated. One of the most common complaints I hear from sales people is that their company’s positioning sounds the same as everyone else they sell against. Their products are “innovative”, their services are “world class”, and they are “customer focused.” These are all examples of buzzwords that marketers use to try polish their position. But spin is not enough. Instead, business leaders need to find or create real differences they can leverage in the market.
How Companies Can Make Inevitable Mistakes Pay Off
Sun, Sep 29, 2013 — No one likes making mistakes, but we all make our fair share of them. Humans are fallible, products and processes fail, and things slip through the cracks. Even the best-managed companies can go awry. Unfortunately, mistakes are not only inevitable; they can also be very costly. As a CEO you know that mistakes can cause operations costs to rise and productivity to falter — and most damaging of all, they frustrate our customers so that they start thinking about taking their business elsewhere. If we act quickly to fix our mistakes, however, we can make our mistake pay off.
Transforming an Organization: The 4 Steps Every CEO Should Take
Sun, Sep 15, 2013 — Companies can no longer settle for incremental improvement in today’s rapidly evolving and increasingly global economy—organizational transformation is necessary. McKinsey Quarterly, in their June 2011 issue offered the suggestion that in order to sustain high performance, organizations today must build the capacity to learn and keep changing over time and suggested that organizational health was perhaps the ultimate competitive advantage for today's economy. I can not stress more strongly how important the role of the CEO is in visibly participating in transforming an organization and how the CMO can assist in this process. I believe there is no single model for success, and actions will be influenced by the magnitude, need and nature of the change for an organization. But, in my experience there are four steps every CEO should take to transofrm an organization. I've found these basic change management steps always apply and can be scaled to fit every organizational transformation. The premise of these four steps a CEO should take to transform an organization is based on two important tenets that I believe must be considered when implementing an organizational transformation. First, it is people and relationships that make up organizations, not buildings, systems or processes. And second, most people don't like being forced out of their comfort zones and they must have a reason to do so. With that said – lets review the four steps for integrating change management into a new business strategy.