Consulting Thought Leadership

 
Page 33 of 60
search button
 

The pressure on public services to identify and deliver value for money means they quite rightly need to scrutinise everything that they do, not just on a day-to-day business level but also when they need to reshape to meet the latest policy or legislative guidance - for example Varney’s report on transformational joined-up government. Many public organisations have now recognised that fundamental change cannot be delivered within a business-as-usual setting and that programmes of change need to be established to deliver transformation.


Governments face growing pressure to improve the customer experience for citizens accessing public services, according to a new Deloitte report titled One Size Fits Few: Using Customer Insight to Transform Government. Leading businesses have trained people to expect high quality, personalized services -- standards that citizens are now applying to government.


If you are involved in sales, and who isn't, you know the terms, techniques and tips for attracting potential customers, creating the desire to buy, gaining trust, closing the deal and maintaining relationship. Each step in the process is critical to the desired outcome: productive and profitable customer relationships. Acquiring a new customer costs more than five times as much as keeping an existing customer.


As I read more articles about Agile development, many of which attempt to redefine the role of the product manager, I ask myself – is Agile development a threat to the discipline of product management? I’ve read forums and blogs, and talked to colleagues and friends about this issue.


The paradox of IT Service Continuity (ITSC) Management is that while IT managers and service managers agree on its importance to the organisation, this is frequently not reflected in the focus given to it.


Don’t be deceived; execution on this logic isn’t simple because it requires managing so many parts.


The domain exchange

Naseem Javed

Forget the bricks and mortar for a minute, and just dream of owning a universal domain name identity in cyberspace, along the likes of priceline.com, food.com, creditcards.com or cheapflights.com, as such identities are valued in tens of millions and continue to double in price every year.


The business environment is changing at a dizzying pace, driven by globalisation, virtualisation, outsourcing, and other factors.


After many years in the IT industry I’ve discovered a hacker needn’t be like the stereotypical person that we expect them to be.


Revolution in a box

Naseem Javed

Come August 24th, 2008, when the Olympics Games start with music and hymns and the torch lights the flame, the global spotlight will land on Beijing.


Hold the front page!

Bernadette Doyle

Here's a little marketing quiz for you.


In the eye of the telecom-media storm

Arthur D. Little and Exane BNP Paribas

As consumer demand for mobile broadband services reaches critical mass telecom operators can expect that 50 per cent of the European population will access the internet through broadband on their mobile phones by 2012, according to the seventh annual research report, In the eye of the telecom-media storm.


.


Do any of these situations apply to you? You have enjoyed steady career progression and have unexpectedly thrust into the job market for the first time in 15 years. A viable opportunity for internal promotion has popped up, but you will be going up against some the company’s top employees. You have reached the proverbial “glass ceiling” and want to pursue new executive opportunities. A mentor you admire wants to introduce you to a key decision maker and a preliminary interview is scheduled. All of these situations have the same thing in common—they require you to put best foot forward and provide proof of performance.


Four golden rules of successful data migration

Tony Sceales and John Morris

.


Indecent proposal

Cal Harrison

As a business development advisor to North American management consultants, I am constantly reminded how much they dislike having to participate in an RFP.


One big question I hear over and over is 'how on earth do I find time for marketing and selling?' The challenge of running your own business is that typically you are not only the sales manager; you're also the person delivering the service to your clients.


Companies embrace promise of BPM to drive innovation

Virtusa Corporation and PRTM Management Consultants

The survey found that while companies often have basic elements of BPM in place—including systems for collaboration, workflow and business rules—most of these elements are in early stages of deployment and are not yet optimized.


A changing economy and increased regulatory requirements have put increased pressure on banks and their core banking systems.


A new study by Booz Allen Hamilton in cooperation with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), found that marketers are facing an increasingly complex combination of media fragmentation, new technologies, personalization and consumer power in a more digitalized environment. The study identified some major opportunities for marketers within the new digital marketing environment but, stressed the report, implementing the opportunities will require a complete marketing transformation. "We have identified four critical areas where marketers must work harder for closer media integration in the digital sphere including consumer insight; media mix and channel management; marketing organization, culture, and talent; and ecosystem interconnectivity and partnerships," said Gabriel Chahine, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton. "Some leading organizations have already begun to demonstrate the kind of change required, but there is no uniform model or template for all organizations.


The value of stories to emergency workers has been documented by Gary Klein in his book Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions, (MIT Press, 1998).


Presidential branding

Naseem Javed

The boy wonder of USA minority blacks, Senator Obama, is being referred to as being a "just do it" brand, and Lady Clinton of the good old Whitehouse days of the sleek Clinton era as a "yes we can" brand.


Have you ever given a sales presentation and your prospect said thanks but no thanks? They didn't seem all that interested or even if they were interested, they didn't want to buy from you? Think of all the time, money and resources (TMR) you have wasted on these sales presentations that go nowhere.


If you are doing any sort of 'direct outreach' marketing, then sooner or later you will encounter the dreaded 'gatekeeper'.


Big decisions and large effects can be swayed by small changes

Diamond Management & Technology Consultants

Why would more test subjects report more pain relief from a pill priced at $2.50 than from the same medication priced at just 10 cents? Why do people who opt-in to savings plans at work save much less money than those who opt-out? According to Dan Ariely, behavioral economist and best-selling author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Force That Shape Our Decisions," consumer purchasing decisions are guided by expectations, emotions, and context that are not accounted for in traditional economic theory.


How can we control an organisations production or service if we are not allowed to specify the parameters within which it works? After all, we have to tell people what to do or they would never do anything, would they? We are aware of the flaws inherent in this system of management, strikes, low moral, destructive behaviour, but in the absence of any other way to manage we persevere, flogging this same old dead horse. But there is a model for non authoritarian leadership, and although the model predates the book it is thoroughly explained in Douglas McGregors work "The Human Side of Enterprise," written in 1962.


Introduction The world of any large, medium or small sized company is tied to the vital quality and outcome of its business-to-business human interactions; a company’s employees who engage in direct oral and written communication with highly valued customers several times a day.


Design Thinking links strategy and execution to catalyze innovation.


What to do about late payers

Bernadette Doyle

I often hear people saying, "I'm really struggling with late payers.


Heard about 'free days'?

Bernadette Doyle

Imagine the following scenario.


5 essential sales questions

Bernadette Doyle

To help a client move from 'I'm interested, tell me more' to 'You're hired!', sooner or later you are going to need to make a presentation. Depending on your situation your presentation may be in person, over the telephone, or in writing, but whatever FORM your presentation takes, in each case you are effectively saying, 'this is the action I recommend that you take, and this is why it will be beneficial for you'.


Working in the learning and development industry presents a wonderful opportunity to help many types of organizations as well as many adults and young people accomplish what they have defined as success through meaningful goals.


The power of thinking Big

Bernadette Doyle

Just over a year ago, I participated in a business coaching program where we were asked to set BHAGs - Big Hairy Audacious Goals.


Helen asks, 'I have a great idea for a course, but how do I build a list attracting people interested in the topic, without giving all the course content away in the newsletter?' This is a common question, and it seems that one big fear people have about using their existing knowledge as a marketing tool through newsletters, articles or even talks or free teleseminars is that when they give their goodies away, there will be no need for people to hire them. The sooner you get over this fear, the faster your business will grow.


The survey of nearly 30 FPP CEOs across the global industry's developed and emerging markets, 30% from Canada and the US, identified four key priorities - attaining the right business model, cost control, sustainability and leadership.


Have you ever had a prospect say to you "Tell me about your products and I only have 10 minutes"? What have you done in this situation? What was the response you received? Before we look at three ways to respond, let's look at the "I only have 10 minutes" statement. The "I only have 10 minutes" statement could be true and/or it could be being used as a protection mechanism.


.


How to raise your fees

Bernadette Doyle

Last week I got two emails from subscribers about the same topic.


Companies making acquisitions in rapidly developing economies (RDEs) are twice as likely to generate superior shareholder returns -- at least initially -- as companies that make acquisitions in both developed and developing economies.


Page 33 of 60