| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
The "Better People" Fallacy
It's easy enough to convince your own staff that better people will prevail, even against the odds. It's what they want to hear. And surely in a marketing war quality is a factor as well as quantity. It is, but superiority of force is such an overwhelming advantage that it overcomes most quality differences. We have no doubt that the poorest team in the National Football League could consistently beat the best team in the NFL if it could field 12 men against the opposition's 11. In business, where the teams are much larger, your ability to amass a quality difference is much more difficult. The clear-thinking marketing manager won't confuse the pep talk at a sales rally with the reality of the marketing area. A good general never makes military strategy based on having better personnel. Nor should a marketing general. ("Our army," said Wellington "is composed of the scum of the earth, the mere scum of the earth.") Obviously you'd be in deep trouble inside your company if you used Wellington's words to describe your own army. Tell your people how terrific they are, but don't plan on winning the battle with superior personnel. Count on winning the battle with a superior strategy. Yet many companies cling deeply to the better people strategy. They're convinced they can recruit and hire substantially better training programs can help them keep their "people" edge. Any student of statistics would laugh at this belief. Sure, it's possible to put together a small cadre of superior people. But the larger the company, the more likely the average employee will be average. And when it comes to the mega companies, the possibility of assembling an intellectually superior team becomes statistically almost zero. At last count, IBM had 369,545 employees, a number which is growing rapidly. On a one-to-one basic, there may be more white shirts at IBM but not more gray matter. IBM is winning the computer war the Eisenhower way. Where the competition has 2, IBM has 4. Where the competition has 4, IBM has 8. Arvind Kumar is an Electrical Engineer from a premier Institute, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. He has 3 years experince in marketing business consulting services and marketing services. He is founder and CEO of http://www.nuttymarketer.com. You may reach him at arvind@nuttymarketer.com.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Keep Your Good Workers by Building Good Leaders A recent report from the American Hospital Association's Commission on the Workforce asked healthcare workers key questions about the performance of their front line managers. The study concluded that an employee's decision to stay with or leave an organization is primarily based on his or her relationship with an immediate supervisor. Examining the Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Researchers have undertaken numerous studies to look at the connection between customer and employee satisfaction. A majority of these studies were able to uncover a correlation between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and profitability. Popular Business Misconceptions Cost You Money! Faulty information costs you money! Which of these popular business misconceptions do you believe?Popular Misconception #1:"We Only Need Our Books Done Once A Year For Tax Purposes."Are Your Accounting Records Adequate To Run Your Business?Although it is important to keep records for tax purposes, it is not the only reason (or even the primary reason) good accounting records should be kept. Making Powerful Requests That Launch People Into Action Do you ever wonder why people do not simply do the things that you want them to do? Well, instead of waiting for things to happen, decide to take responsibility for making them happen. The way to do this is often as simple as making an appropriate request. Managing Group Meetings MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS: Keep the size of the meeting as small as possible. The larger the group, the more complicated communication becomes and the more garbled the purpose may get. The Crisis of Modernity Since the beginning of the industrial era our world has been facing what some historians call an ongoing "crisis of modernity". As fast as we adjust to new circumstances, the circumstances change again, and, the rate of change seems to be multiplying exponentially. Is Your Business Ethical? Ethics - in a profession or trade - is that branch of philosophy which studies the principles of right and wrong in human conduct.Is your business ethical?What I mean is "Does your business do the right thing when faced with that decision?" It's a simple question, which many businesses struggle with. How to Help Your Company Become a World Class Company Most people think real change in an organization occurs as a result of top-level leadership. This isn't always the case. Communicating CEOs I see a PR firm has done a survey on the amount of time Canadian CEOs spend on communication, and found they spend almost half of their time on communication.I think we're supposed to be impressed that CEOs spend that much time on communication. 5 Interviewing Mistakes That Can Lead To Hiring The Wrong Person Mistake #1: Going with the flowInexperienced interviewers sometimes fall into the trap of letting the interview become "free form", spending different amounts of time on different questions, basing follow-up questions on on how the candidates answer. This can result in a candidate taking control of the interview and leading you where he or she wants to go, rather than where you can get the information you need. Are You Prepared for a Disaster? Yesterday I look at my calendar and saw that my newsletter was on my calendar for today. I wondered what I would write about. Why Business Owners Need Security The main reason is to stop any potential lawsuits from happening! But do you know how many individuals I have talked to about this very thing? Many! Do you know what the majority have told me? They have locks and cameras, so they don't need anymore security than that!This is a mess waiting to happen, the reason is as follows. This attitude is the reason things happen in business establishments that prompt major lawsuits from those that get hurt in some way while on the premises or by someone on the premises. Are You in Control of Your Practice or Does it Control You? One of the most common complaints that business owners have today is that they feel their practice is running them and that they're being pulled in every direction instead of really running the business themselves.Well, I'd like to tell you, when I was in practice I experienced the same thing. Is Chess Good for Management? The game of chess has been applauded and taught in business school as a game that gingers creative intelligence.Chess is a game involving kings, queens, bishops, knights, castles, and pawns like a real life. Effective Email Communication Email, when used properly, can generate additional direct sales and leads; can be used as a tool to communicate with your existing client base to let them know of upcoming events which may affect them; and as a means of ongoing promotion for your business.The following is a list of simple guidelines and tips that will help you become an effective email communicator. Out of Control? There are papers on the floor, across the desk and resting on the keyboard. Piles of files are all around. Overcoming Perfectionism Perfectionism can get in the way of building or marketing a successful business. It can prevent us from moving ahead quickly or from taking advantage of business opportunities. The "Better Product" fallacy Another fallacy ingrained in the minds of most marketing managers is the belief that the better product will win the marketing battle.Behind the thinking of many marketing managers is the thought that "truth will out. Having Your Phil February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m. Knowledge Management - Creating a Sustainable Yellow Pages System How can I "know who knows" None of us can personally know more than around 250 people, yet we want our companies to be smart, learning organisations where it's easy to find the right person to talk to. This is why many organisations create "yellow pages" applications, which enable employees to find and contact other staff with particular expertise and skills.
|
| home | site map | contact us |