What is a Paradigm?
Paradigm: Provides us a language, a common set of assumptions, and a common set of expectations of what may occur in the future.[i] Barker, Joel, Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future, Harper Business, 1992.
Paradigms
Corporate Earthquakes
The company with the second best organization ends up second place in the market. Wayne Calloway, CEO PepsiCo, Inc. Mergers and acquisitions are increasing. The result was that more people were downsized than at any time in recent history. Why is this happening? Companies want to boost profits and can’t do it by simply raising …
Who or What is Xerox?
AT&T is a continuing story of business transformation and rebranding that’s happening to many companies. Xerox a little while ago was the ‘Copier Company.’ Then it transformed itself into the ‘Document Company.’ In its latest incarnation, it’s branded into the ‘Knowledge Company.’ Normally jobs are cut when there is a financial emergency. The company is …
The Killer New Product
To prosper, all companies search for the next killer product or idea. Now, there are simply not enough products in the pipeline to accommodate new customer demands as the economy and markets expand. Many companies learned this lesson the hard way. When products go stale, stagnation and revenue loss are not far behind. The auto …
Answering the Wake Up Call
One way to increase productivity is to do whatever we are doing now, but faster … there is a second way. We can change the nature of the work we do, not how fast we do it. Andrew Grove, CEO Intel Organizations want to live. This is the bottom line of business. The question is …
Fewer US Companies – Just Successful Ones
“There are No German or US Companies, Only Successful Ones” the Wall Street Journal recently headlined. We have become a global economy and it affects us in ways we probably don’t like. Senior managers in many companies believe in open markets; global competition where customers are accessible; products move seamlessly across borders; technology is universally …
12 Rules for Career Success
Ensure your marketability Think globally Communicate powerfully, persuasively, and unconventionally Keep on learning Understand business trends Prepare for areas of competence, not jobs Look to the future Build financial independence Think lattice. Not ladders. Be a generalist with a specialty or a specialist who’s a generalist. Be a ruthless time manager. Be kind to …
That Was Then: This Is the New Normal About Work
William H. Whyte wrote The Organization Man in 1956. See how much things have changed: “On the fundamental premise of the new model executive … the young men who hope to be that vary little, and from company to company, region to region, you hear a litany increasingly standard. It goes something like this: Be …
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The Living Organization
Companies follow a life cycle of starting up, growing, and dying. The average life expectancy of a multinational corporation is between 40 to 50 years. Arie de Geus, in The Living Company, says that companies die because their managers mainly focus on processes and products while forgetting what made them great, their people capital. How …
Who Own’s Your Power Company?
Dramatic and drastic changes are coming to the power industry. Sixteen states have announced legislation that will allow outside utilities to compete for natural gas and electric customers in territories that were once the domain of a single power provider. A European company may own your energy provider. One of the biggest roadblocks facing these …