Ok so first half of 2019 done and dusted and we’re into July already! So how was the first half of 2019 for you?
Here’s our round up of our favourite business content from around the web during June.
1/ I’ve lost count of the number of organizations that I’ve come across that proudly display failed evidence of continuous improvement projects within the confines of their business. With many wearing their badge of failure by displaying out of date KPI’s, unpopulated Kaizen boards, missed targets, and other elements of poor visual management systems, all evidence of a quality systems that at best fails to drive the business forward let alone keep pace with what is causing it pain.
Given that EVERY business knows that continuous improvement delivers success if you stick with it, then why do some businesses fail? Of course there’s that wonderful project launch but so many fail to keep pace afterwards. Over at https://www.sdcexec.com/professional-development/blog/21073352/change-management-needs-proper-approach-for-success they have a great piece on change management with some great detail on why change projects fail – for example they quote:
- 33 percent of change efforts fail because management behaviour does not support change.
- 39 percent of change efforts fail because employees are resistant to change.
- 14 percent of change efforts fail due to a lack of adequate funds or resources.
- 14 percent of change efforts fail for other reasons.
Given that driving change can be a struggle at the best of times having the right counter measures against these factors is a must do.
2/ While we’re being disparaging about Change Management, let’s now take a swipe at innovation or perhaps the lack of it. Pharmatimes.com has an article on innovation fatigue. Of all the industries that should be seen to be driving innovation it’s healthcare, it quotes that 61% of B2B respondents rated prescription health companies as ‘stuck in the stone age’
Of course the need for innovation transcends healthcare and business can no longer surprise its customer base by simply saying “hey look we’re innovative because we use cool tech”, customers expect now expect that out of the box. Brands now need to demonstrate that innovation is actually innovative and be able to communicate it in such a way that the customer base can understand. Given the complexities of the marketplace this is not always easy. How does your organization convey that it’s innovative to its market?
3/ Moving supply chains can be a daunting task at the best of times but transferring huge eco-systems out of a continent like China? Well that’s going to be tricky.
Given escalating trade wars that’s exactly what many companies are now looking at according to Forbes . Forbes generally provides great content and in yet another excellent piece it describes how many firms are looking at heavy lifting it’s supply chains from China. While focusing on China it could also be a read across for many examples of outsourcing where you heavily embed and integrate yourself only to find that you have to remove yourself. Unsurprisingly, heavy lifting an entire supply chain can then prove an enormous task fraught with risk.
4/ If you’re a regular reader of our blog you’ll know that we love KPI’s (used the right way of course). Industryweek.com has a great post on how KPI’s evolve and how businesses should keep up. While focusing on the manufacturing sector there’s some good nuggets for all if you take a look.
5/ Finally – we’ve introduced some fresh content during June, earlier in the month we put out a how to article on how to create a Team Charter, we followed that up with another how to article, this time how to create a Porter’s 5 forces template, finally we put out a piece close to a lot of people’s hearts – how to deal with a bad boss (or 10 steps to dealing with one). – be sure to check them out!
Do you have some content that you’d like to share with our readers? Fire us a link on Twitter or drop a content in below.