December 15th, 2007 09:04 AM By WCG Staff
Cost Reduction Management
Virtually every executive on virtually all levels and across all industries and business sizes, have to deal with budgeting and cost efficiencies. One would be hard pressed to find any executive that is not attempting to reduce cost to increase profitability. However, considering the role of modern management coupled with technological development in the most recent two decades, one may wonder about the effectiveness of executive times to re-negotiate or find alternative solutions.
That being said, the sheer mention of the value of executive efforts and cost cutting in the same sentence may make the stakeholders rather nervous. Such concerns can be easily addressed by simple cost benefit analysis. In our experiences, the outcome is virtually always the same; the cost of having high level executives deal with cost saving daily tasks exceeds the benefits of those cost savings .
The most suitable solution lies within outsourcing . In our experiences we have found that a pay per performance model in this particular case is the most beneficial approach. Once a third party is chosen, the compensation could include a minimal base payment combined with a percentage of cost saving. Yet such agreement requires that virtually all contracts and agreements of the given organization is up for analysis and improvement .
Ultimately, cost saving and cost reduction management should be a vital part of overall strategic management. Yet the methodology and approach to such measures requires extensive cost benefit analysis in order to maximize the outcome which can be beneficial to all stakeholders.
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December 07th, 2007 08:26 AM By WCG Staff
Management Evaluation SOP
Regrettably, SOP or Standard Operating Procedures have gotten a bad reputation because of the societal and cultural movement toward different schools of thoughts in terms of individualism and micro management. However, standard operating procedures have not lost any significance because of popular misconceptions.
Essentially, SOP refers to a set of predetermined rules and actions that are inherently designed to achieve a prearranged set of results. The concepts of individualism or the fast past business world has not influenced the importance of such procedures. Though, because of popular misconceptions, stakeholders have to integrate measures that address concerns such as individualism as well micro management .
The most logical solution to take advantage of SOP while easing the minds of employees is within SOP itself; if SOP entails measures that put the SOP under constant review and evaluation, the concerns of employees should be eased. This brings us to the issue of SOP in evaluating management .
The mere fact that virtually every aspect of daily business is or should be subject to constant review and evaluation, diminishes the argument that executives cannot or should not be measured and evaluated. Yet, there are some additional concerns when it comes to upper level management; which can include the rather subjective nature of decision making that plagues the executive daily duties.
This is where SOP can have a significant positive impact by establishing neutral set of requirements and points of assessment that would take the subjectivity out of the evaluation process.
In the coming days and week we will outline specific procedures and measure to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in such SOP.
Brought to you by: World Consulting Group — Your premier management consulting firm .
November 21st, 2007 09:02 AM By WCG Staff
Knowledge and innovation are categorically among the concerns of human capital managers. Many issues such as innovation and pragmatism take their respective roots from organizational desire and needs to address the intellectual requirement and needs. Nevertheless, knowledge and knowledge management have to be fine tuned to avoid unintended consequences.
Knowledge and all its all respective impact on organizational operation illustrate a great deal of opportunity as well as uncertainty. The impact of knowledge and knowledge management though mostly positive can be accompanied by uncontrolled effects that may have unforeseen and devastating impact. Such unintended consequences may include hindering or reducing the speed of innovation. Hence the task of human capital managers and knowledge workers will have to include proper standard operating procedures that guard against such adverse effects.
Nevertheless, those SOPs’ cannot assure complete protection from abstract interferences that knowledge and knowledge management may cause. Interferences may include dynamic forms of knowledge competition, in-fighting, unnecessary and ineffective utilization of resources as well as hindrance of organizational vision and organizational coherence.
The question of countering those uncontrollable external or internal factors is equally problematic. Since every individual organization differs in its methodology, it is virtually impossible to devise uniform guidelines to counter those influential factors; however, some general steps in terms of review and quality control may enable the stakeholders to identify problems in early stages and minimize potential impact.
Ultimately, the duties and obligation of human capital managers are extremely dynamic and at times subjective. The organizational requirements to balance the most appropriate course of action falls on the shoulder of human capital managers that have to adapt to the ever changing internal and external factors.
Brought to you by: World Consulting Group . Your premier management consulting firm .
August 06th, 2007 07:25 AM By Staff
Management Consultants and management consulting firms have a tendency to formulate their own successful approach based on fundamental principals of business equally known to everybody. It is rather simple to observer and evaluate those consultants that abide by their company guidelines rather than basing their evaluation on individual needs of an organization.
That is where the smaller management consulting firms take a lead in innovation and creativity. Without being to centralistic it is important to emphasize that large organizations including large management consulting firms are prone to establish standard operating procedures or protocol which is rather rigid and inflexible. Certainly there are exceptions which include very large companies that are able to be flexible and adaptable. Yet the nature and fundamental basics of leadership dictates that a strict protocol is necessary to manage a large organization.
Hence, as a general rule it is rather important to evaluate management consulting firms and their respective performance preliminarily based on their organizational size. At first glance it sounds to simplistic but it is not. Smaller organizations including management consulting firms are inherently forced to compete with larger organizations that have several layers of research and development, layered organizational management, as well as an inherent bureaucracy that is established to abide by chain of command and create efficiency, yet actually achieve the opposite. Logically as well as practically this is not as suitable approach for smaller organizations. Just imagine a 20 to 50 man operation that would establish long decision making procedures that would delay actions as well as reduce productivity.
It is true to argue that small organizations including smaller management consulting firms encounter their own unique challenges such as limitations on resources including human capital as well as financial means. Yet those challenges are not very likely to limit successful operations on behalf of client because of the availability of simple solution that may include third party resources.
It is important to point out that most of the above statements are of theoretical and philosophicalnature. There are certainly many exceptions that might render those statements void. However, in terms of general assumptions it is not only logical but also viable to assume that because of limitations of resources, smaller organizations including management consulting firms are forced to become more effective, efficient and flexible in order to assure their own survival.
Brought to you by: World Consulting Group — Your premier management consulting firm.
July 11th, 2007 09:33 AM By Staff
The fundamental basics of any organization are inherently influencing factors in the outcome of organizational planning, actions and ultimately results. It is not too ambitious to suggest that the building blocks of any given entity are more or less vital to survival. Organizational culture entails the mentality and mind set of individual units, employee and ultimately all possible stakeholders attitude toward organizational procedures. Naturally there are internal factors such as hiring procedures, management and organizational strategic vision as well as external factors such as local economic and politics, competitor actions as well as profitability which may influence that organizational culture.
There are certainly variation in organizational culture in today’s’ ever changing global market. Some organizations may have a rigid and static culture in which traditional standard operating procedures and results are inert in order to avoid mistake and failure or because of lack of flexibility and adaptability. Yet others organizations may have a elastic and dynamic culture in order to adapt to the ever changing market because of industry specific markets or lack of clear direction. Nevertheless, both extreme are certainly plugged with weakness; which may suggest a more viable option by combining elasticity as well rigidity based on particular organizational needs, competitor actions, market needs, and past experiences.
Essentially, it is not far fetched to suggest that there is certainly no right or wrong answer in observing and evaluating the validity of individual organizational culture and its respective impact on overall outcome and profitability. The evaluation of organizational culture should emphasize the individual organization in the context of particular needs. Similarly, it is clear that the choice in organizational culture may not be entirely a choice or a completely controllable factor. Ultimately, in order to exercise control or at least retain the ability to influence organizational culture will depend on many internal and external factors that have to be carefully monitored and possibly adjusted based on ability and possibility to synchronize organizational strategic vision with organizational culture.
Brought to you by: World Consulting Group. Your premier management consulting firm in Columbia Missouri.
June 14th, 2007 06:25 AM By Staff
Value Chain Analysis
Value Chain Analysis refers essentially to the differentiation between a given commercial organization in comparison to its competitors. The differentiation can and should be within product or service proficiency and quality or price advantage.
The product proficiency and comparably superior quality refers to the conceptual or perceived greater value compared to the competitors’ product line. Similarly, the price advantage refers to conceptual or perceived lower cost in comparison to competitors. Nevertheless non of the theoretical advantages have to be real or tangible due to the fact that perception plays a great role.
Moreover, those activities that lead to value creation and value maintenance are designed to achieve a competitive edge which in turn is geared toward greater profitability as well as quantitatively greater market shares. However, those activities may or may not be limited to internal organizational efforts, rather than a combination of internal as well as external component which may or may not be classically managed or organized.
In order to conduct proper value chain analysis the comparisons of the given values have to be in sync and identical i.e. the comparison of value has to be conducted in consistent manner on product and services that are virtually similar. Such approach that eliminates potential flaws in data collection and analysis may contribute to a greater accuracy in the overall outcome as well as potentially less complicated yet more effective implementation.
Nevertheless, it is important to point out that though the theoretical aspects of value chain management and analysis make for a great hypothetical learning experiences, the real world implementation is not as flawless; factors such as lack of identical products and services for comparison purposes, lack of price comparison because of fluctuation in local economy and currency, cash flow and budgeting, diversion from traditional return on investment approach as well as local and internal conflicts contribute to a more problematic process.
Brought to you by: World Consulting Group — Your Premier Management Consulting Firm
May 16th, 2007 08:21 AM By Staff
Purchasing and purchasing decision making.
Generally speaking, purchasing illustrates a rather delicate balance of determining needs, finding the proper solution as well as evaluating the internal and external organizational impact. The Five stage model theorizes that five predetermined steps occur or should occur during this process which includes problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. The underlying assumption is that by understanding those steps, marketers acquire a better insight of purchasers and end users which in turn may assist in devising a more effective marketing campaign.
At World Consulting Group the process is slightly more customized to fit the organizational philosophy and mission. The most significant customization of five stage model at World Consulting Group is the determination of any given problem. At World Consulting Group this process is an on going standard operating procedure in which needs are determined and examined by all stakeholders on a weekly basis. The main difference is that instead of awaiting problems, World Consulting Group associates anticipate and predict potential needs before it becomes a problem. The team suggestions are reviewed by all decision makers on a weekly basis and undergo a collective reexamination on a monthly basis.
The other steps including information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behavior occur similarly in a collective manner. The philosophy beyond such collective action is twofold: first and foremost, encouraging all out internal feedback in combination with incentive based suggestions, comparison and analysis allows for the greatest possible collection of information sets that ultimately allows for a neutral and purely economic and efficiency based decision making.
The second important reason is illustration of neutrality and integrity. In the management consulting industry, many third party vendors attempt to influence the decision making and recommendations of individual management consultants in order to have a better chance of getting new business. Hence, at World Consulting Group we do not have any preferred vendors that are recommended based on their incentives for World Consulting Group as an organization or individual team members. Each project is evaluated, re-evaluated, compared and contrasted until the most viable recommendations are compiled. There are no preferential treatments for any vendor. Such actions are simply devised to benefit our clients by not only assuring them of our neutrality, but also of the integrity of World Consulting Group and its subsequence reports and recommendations.
Ultimately, though the theoretical basis of the Five Stage Model is established and philosophically sound, each organization has to modify it for their own use based on industry, individual organizational setup and dynamics, as well as potential requirements for particular end users.
April 25th, 2007 09:18 AM By Online Staff
TQM or Total Quality Management refers to internal or external organizational quality assurance process to achieve the highest possible effectiveness and efficiency Essentially TQM is designed to enhance as well as control each and every stage of a given companies production or services by adapting and implementing standards.
At World Consulting Group (WCG), TQM is taken very seriously. Though TQM is not particularly designed to be adapted by service industry, it can be easily modified and adjusted to achieve the spirit of total quality assurance. At World Consulting Group every employee is required to pass certain internal tests relevant to their particular and respective fields in order to achieve a uniform set of knowledge / process basis. The second step of TQM at WCG is the peer review of all accomplished tasks. Each project that has reached the final stages undergoes a serious review and critic by team peers. This step is further fine tuned by having project manager also conduct a through review of the project plans and the end product. Once that is accomplished, external third parties will also have the opportunity to evaluate the project at hand.
Essentially the entire TQM process at World Consulting Group heavily relies on the opportunity to discover weaknesses and potential issues before the project is even presented to the end user / client. Steps such as layered review and critics, focus groups, as well as stress testing are created and vigorously implemented in order to avoid any and all pitfalls.
Though one may argue that even TQM may go too far such as in case of World Consulting Groups’ extensive approach; it is difficult to argue against internal institutional concerns and goals to deliver the highest possible quality of products and services. Even an argument pointing to potential costs in terms of additional internal and external costs of labor, can easily be countered by pointing to the long term benefits of virtually flawless products and services which may in turn achieve greater client satisfaction and retention. Never mind the valuable impact on track record and marketing which also may have an extremely positive impact on marketing, advertising as well as new client development
