Business Bounce Back

In your capacity as business leader you will know full well what statistics prevail in your marketplace and how they will affect the chances of your company doing good business.

But are you sure that you are reading those statistics correctly?

Let us look at how statistics are presented.

Country X is experiencing an economic downturn, which has caused unemployment to rise to 17%. Interest rates have been reduced to 0.5% to keep the inflation rate low at 2.6%. And the rate of tax has been increased to 45% on earnings above 150,000. In an effort to lift 3 million out of poverty the personal tax allowance has been raised to 10,000 before any taxation is applied.

This all sounds rather gloomy. But let us take a different look at those same statistics.

In this Country X, 83% of the working population are in full employment, which means they are earning and have disposable income available to them and with the interest rates so low, there could not be a better time to make investments. And now another 3 million potential customers have entered the marketplace.

This would mean that you should be targeting your business revenue opportunities on those customers who obviously have disposable income available which they should be spending on your products and services.

Forget all the doom and gloom and focus your attention on this different look at the statistics which are presented to you. In this way your business will soon bounce back and bring you an abundance of success.

Increasing Business Growth

As most business leaders realize the future success of their business and its continuing survival is greatly dependant on creating business growth.

The business growth can manifest itself in several different ways; by providing their existing customers with new offerings; by increasing the price of their products; by finding new customers; by instilling a program of higher employee productivity; by eliminating unnecessary business costs, but there is one sure way to increase growth within any business and that is for the business leader to have an idea.

Companies that have shown a substantial increase in their business growth have all had business leaders who had an idea, an innovative idea that caused them and their business to develop new products and services which not only changed the direction of their business, but also changed the direction of people’s lives.

Innovation is the lifeblood of business growth and the spark which generates business success. 

Why U.S. Businesses Urgently Need To Develop Global Leadership Skills

5 Critical Areas to Begin Focusing on Now

Globalization has been the buzzword of the decade, and yet, many U.S. business managers are still unaware of the skill sets they urgently need to compete in a global market, says business consultant Kathleen Brush.

“The most attractive business opportunities in this century will be outside the United States, but identifying the best bets and tapping into them requires new and augmented skills,” says Brush, a 25-year veteran of international business and author of “The Power of One: You’re the Boss,” (www.kathleenbrush.com).

There are 32 developed countries with 1 billion potential customers, and 162 developing nations with 6 billion people, many heading into the middle class for the first time, with all the attendant needs and desires, Brush says.

The IMF has forecast $27.3 trillion in economic growth between 2011 and 2016. Eighty-seven percent will occur outside the United States, most of it in developing countries. The forecasted growth for developing China, India, Africa, and Latin America is two to four times that of the United States and the European Union.

“In 2013 and moving forward, U.S. business leaders will not come out on top without developing new skills to navigate the global opportunities,” Brush says. “Managers need to increase their understanding of how other countries operate.”

Brush offers five areas of critical importance to American business leaders:

• How to develop strategies that can’t lose. Being able to evaluate opportunities and threats around the world has to be a fundamental skill and one that is exercised regularly. This is because political, economic, and social issues are different and they change. How different are they? How about new regulations that appear without notice; judicial systems that do not administer justice; economic systems that can’t support the needs of operations, workers, or goods; and social cultural systems that condone corruption.

• Managing and motivating employees from different backgrounds. There is a good chance that Employee A from Country A won’t be motivated by the same things as Employee B from Country B. In part, this can be cultural, for example, pitting employee against employee may inspire the competitive spirit in Americans,but contests for individual supremacy can be culturally offensive for many others. Or, it may be regulatory. In the United States, it’s relatively simple to terminate an underperforming employee. In many countries, it will cost a fortune and even require external approvals.

• Traditional decisions on the 4Ps are being turned on their head. American managers have always preferred to build innovative/different products overproducts that are the lowest cost. But, this option will often be unavailable in the newest attractive markets. Besides competing on cost, there is the challenge of getting paid without credit. How do you promote products to people who read at a basic level, or in countries where there are many official languages? How can products be delivered on time when roads are primitive and airports inadequate?

• Reading financial statements. What if financial data is unreliable due to cultural inclinations, political machinations, or manual reporting systems? Gone are the days of blindly valuing what comes in black and white.

• A strong moral compass. Operating within unfamiliar, unpredictable places can make it challenging to distinguish the gold mines from the land mines. Some cultures will see bribery, the concealment of data, and quality shortcuts as business as usual. Today’s leaders know that a strong moral compass is the only reliable navigator of behaviors and decisions.

About Kathleen Brush

Kathleen Brush has more than two decades of experience as a senior executive with global business responsibilities. She has a Ph.D. in management and international studies. Brush has been teaching, writing and consulting on international business and leadership for companies of all sizes, including those that are public, private, foreign and domestic. 

Five Key Elements for Business Growth

For a business to grow and be profitable, business wisdom has shown that there are five key elements that will promote and sustain growth within a business.

These five key elements are frequently talked about in many businesses, but they are only implemented when people are willing to change the traditional ways and embrace the positive aspects of these five key elements for business growth.

Customer Focus

Trust

People

Skills

Cost Savings

Great Leaders Motivate With Communication

Great leaders give their people an overview of what the company is trying to achieve and then they work with each person to establish individual goals that will meet or exceed those company objectives.

Goals should have a good chance of being achievable while still challenging the individual to push themselves beyond their existing comfort zone.  Each goal must be relevant to the main objective of the organisation and relevant to the overall success of the company.

Work with your people to help them determine the goals that would be most appropriate for their development and growth and work with them to develop the appropriate action steps to achieve these goals and you will see a noticeable improvement in their performance.

Communicate and tell your people what is happening, people are hungry for information and from my experience can be trusted with company details. Unfortunately, too many corporations and their middle managers feel that people should only be given information that is relevant to their specific job.

Communication must be clear and concise, employees want to know where they stand and want to do a good job. They want to know how, you, as their leader, view their performance. That's why it is critical that you give them direction and feedback on a regular basis.

Experience has taught me that people will work harder for someone who praises them and recognises the effort they put into their work.  Acknowledge their energy and performance, their effort and commitment, how hard they worked and how involved they were with it.

Your people have a lot of knowledge and information and can often contribute valuable suggestions to improve the business. If you really want to create a team of highly motivated people take the time to listen to their comments and ideas.

This last point is the most important. If you want a highly motivated team, then you must lead by setting the example. You must demonstrate enthusiasm, energy, team cooperation, honesty, integrity and commitment.

Set and communicate high standards, provide positive reinforcement when your people perform and involve them. You will soon see a motivated team that will do almost anything to help you succeed.

Business Workplace Improvements

Changing the workplace environment can lead to a change in employee attitude and productivity. There are numerous practical tips that can be incorporated in order to overcome workplace ruts, among them:

·        Mentoring and Professional Development

Workplace mentoring, professional development opportunities and a steady influx of fresh perspectives can help shift stalled teams. Monthly lunch-and-learn sessions with inspirational guest speakers can build team cohesion. Employees need to feel comfortable voicing concerns and making suggestions.

·        Initiate an Incentive Plan
When effective teams are challenged they will work hard to meet a goal, especially if there is an incentive at the end. Incentives can build team dynamics and contribute to employee satisfaction. They can include a team lunch, a monetary bonus, coupons or the chance to participate in additional training.

·        Be Flexible
Flexible work schedules can allow employees to feel more at ease as they juggle the responsibilities of work and home. When employees feel trusted to manage their time and to take responsibility for their role in a team’s progress, then a manager has created a win-win situation.

                           

·        Make Time to Listen

Not all employees communicate in the same way. Some have great ideas you will never hear because they won’t speak up in a group meeting. Instead of expecting employees to conform to one way of communicating with you, learn different ways of listening and talking with your team. That can include more one-on-one or smaller group meetings, follow-up email questions and “drop-in” times where you are available to speak in an informal setting.

·        Improve the Environment

Sprucing up an outdated break room, upgrading lighting or adding a few office amenities can go a long way toward showing employees they are valued. If the budget is tight, funnel some of the savings from an office recycling program or energy efficiency project toward making the workplace more comfortable for everyone.

·        Express Gratitude

In today’s hectic workplaces, it is easy to get so caught up on behind-the-scenes management tasks that you may end up being perceived as dismissive or aloof. Taking time to thank employees for a job well done helps build long-lasting rapport. Be specific in your compliment and deliver it in person when possible. Also, be sure to acknowledge the most consistent employees who are often neglected because they require little attention. You should cultivate their loyalty and possibly provide ways to allow them extra opportunities to grow, such as mentoring.

Taking these and other steps to improve the workplace environment will positively change employee attitude within the workplace, promoting more productive and creative work.

This guest post was provided by Jessica Edmondson who contributes on Leadership and Management for the University Alliance, a division of Bisk Education, Inc.

Leading From Behind

Great leaders are successful because their approach is one of servant leadership, but what does leading from behind really mean?

Empowering your workforce and then trusting them to do a good job.
Delegating responsibility to your people and not asking for daily reports.
Listening to your employees innovative ideas and implementing them.
Promoting their hard work with regular praise for them.
Accepting the blame for not making the instructions clear and precise.
Projecting a vision which your staff can easily envision for themselves.

Great leaders are only as successful as the people that they serve.

Little Used Words in Business

As the business environment has become more difficult over the last few years it is noticeable that certain sets of words and phrases have begun to almost disappear and to become little used in many businesses.

It comes as some surprise for this to be happening when these are the exact words that can change the fortunes of any business and bring them significant business success.

What are the words?

‘Thank you.’

‘Is there anything more that we can do for you?’

‘It has been a pleasure serving you.’

‘What could we do better?’

‘Is it easy to do business with us?’

‘These are the products and services which will give you the most value.’

Signs of Business Success

What are the signs that indicate that a business leader and their business are being successful?

When a business is enjoying great success you only have to look at the business leader’s approach and attitude to their business to see what the signs of success are.

The business leader has empowered and delegated responsibility to their workforce.

New ideas and innovations are being listened to and cultivated.

Customer service satisfaction is high because the customer is being heard.

Product offerings are proven to add value for the customers.

And the business leader has a focus on business solutions not business problems.

There are truly lessons to be learnt by observing this sort of approach and attitude to business. Just by implementing these signs of success into your business you can make business success come to you.

The Importance of JD Edwards for Business Success

Every business should be seeking reduced costs, growth improvement and increased profitability by using the results of well defined business processes that are driven by information.


JD Edwards is an integrated applications suite of comprehensive enterprise resource planning software that combines all financial processes across your business applications into a single database which links seamlessly with your other enterprise solutions.

By utilizing JD Edwards consulting from Syntax you will achieve the maximum benefits and business management advantages which will ensure your business success.

You need to be able to make reliable business decisions quickly and the JDE streamlined infrastructure ensures you can view specific, relevant information at a moment's notice.

This accelerates your decision making process ensuring that you are informed by the most complete, accurate and current data available, which allows you to react more quickly to changing requirements.

This can provide you with a competitive advantage for your business and centralized and automated data management will save your business time and money.

Lean Mean Business Machine

When the economy is moving back towards growth it is a perfect time to take a close look at your business and determine if it is ready and capable of being a part of that growth.

Is everything about your business running smoothly or do you need to make some vital changes?

Do all parts of your business interact well and are they communicating clearly and efficiently?

When there is a downturn in business many people become complacent and bad habits begin to emerge, which will only cause problems when your business is running up to speed again. Now is the time to identify and eliminate those bad habits.

Have an overall review of your employees, do they look like a professional team of people who are ready for success? For any business to grow it has to be ready to grow and so do its people.

But don't just sit there thinking that your business will grow along with the economy. Business leaders should now think about how they will win the race to business success and insist on having a lean mean business machine that is capable of taking them there.

Substantially Increase Your Business Success

For most businesses the biggest problem that they experience is a lack of real success. And yet they could substantially increase their business success if they would only realize that it is well within their reach by applying these five simple rules.

Determine what is working well in the business and repeat it.
Determine what is not working well and immediately eliminate it.
Instill a mentality into the workforce of new ideas and innovation.
Watch closely what the competition is doing and copy their successful initiatives.
Ask your customers to sample many more of your best selling products and services.

Collectively these five rules will move your business to a new level, one that is progressive and full of growth potential, all of which will substantially increase your business success.

Business Network Security

As any business leader knows they have to ensure the highest levels of security for their Internet and IT infrastructure because it is vital to their business’s reputation and success.

The network security of any business is crucial in the increasingly risky business environment in which we now live, infrastructure monitoring and network visibility are critical to managing any security threats.

If your business’s existing solution doesn’t deliver the right results and your system is inflexible with inadequate management services, which only provide late incident notifications or even worse don’t capture the information on complicated risk events, it would be worth your time to review this network security business case

It provides an insight into how one retailer, that was seeking an IT network security platform that it and its customers could rely on, managed to find a perfect solution.

A solution that enabled them to enhance the privacy and security of their credit card transactions, avoided downtime due to fast incident notification and allowed them to renew their focus on core business issues and strategic planning.