Of the four basic perspectives of corporate performance in the Balanced Scorecard (People, Systems, Customer, and Financial), Systems is commonly the least understood. We typically see champions assigned to the People, Customer, and Financial perspectives, such as an HR Director, Director of Marketing, and CFO or Controller, but the Systems perspective often gets overlooked. To… Read more »

As managers and leaders, we are expected to deliver consistently successful results quarter after quarter. There is absolutely no tolerance for failure to execute. What is a manager to do? Develop and manage systems. That’s right, systems, when properly designed and managed, provide the company with predictably successful results. Not computer software. Systems, here, refers… Read more »

Many mid size businesses make attempts to “institutionalize” marketing within the business. They try to make marketing a component of the business and subsequently try to develop and implement a marketing plan. But often these efforts fail. Why? Based on my experience with many difference types of marketing plans for many different businesses, I conclude… Read more »

Much has been written and said on the subject of customer service, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. You’d think we’d all be doing something about it. The sad truth is that most middle market business leaders underestimate the concept or are too busy to figure it out. By the way, even the big boys seem… Read more »