22 Strategies to Improve Company Performance

To plan for the strategies, start with strategies in category “D” first, then “C”, and so on. To implement the strategies, start with category “A” strategies first, then “B”, and so on. Some of the 22 main strategies below may each have 2-3 sub-strategies, in addition to the main strategy.


D. Growth Strategies (what you need to do FOR the company)

1) Product/Service Re-Costing & Re-Pricing [Revenue Enhancement]

2) Costs-rationalization (support operations, front-office, direct & variable costs, transfer pricing/costing) [Costs Minimization]

3) Financial/capital restructuring (alternative funding, reserves) [Capital Enhancement]

4) Asset re-optimization [Capital Enhancement]

5) Reinvestment programs [Capital Enhancement]


C. Customer Value Proposition (what you want to do FOR or give to the customer)

1) Unique Product Attributes (value-for-money [premium-pricing, rock-bottom promo] affordability, top-of-the-line models, variety, reliability)

2) Customer Relationship (product knowledge & awareness, online/offline ordering (web presence), business-building, L-T relationship, customer financing/refinancing advisories, payment terms, pre-sale confidence-building actvities (product awareness, tryouts, update broadcasting), post-sales programs, after-sales loyalty enhancement/retention programs)

3) Dealership Branding (top-of-mind, your friendly neighbourhood dealer, community development/involvement)


B. Operations Enhancement (what you need to do TO the company)

1) Aggressive/Extensive but affordable Marketing & Promo programs

2) Branch/Outlet Operations (accessibility, ambience, c-svc/c-care)

3) Stock-ups (Order Lags/Leads, JIT)

4) Critical-Path Processing (pre-sales - orders - purchases - post-sales)

5) Back-end support (IT (intra-systems, web presence), A/Cs, HR, Admin, etc.)

6) Comprehensive training program for customer-facing personnel (salesman, customer svc reps, mechanics)

7) Planning system & performance monitoring system (BSC)


A. Staff Development (what you need to do FOR your staff)

1) Skills upgrade

a) Functional skills (product knowledge, planning, sales success, operational processes)
b) Behavioral skills (negotiation, critical thinking, creativity)

2) Leadership development program (strategy development, performance mgmt)

3) Learning systems (intranet, web, e-learning)

4) Rewards, Incentives & Commissioning programs

5) Career development & enhancement program

6) Organizational culture (merit pay, knowledge-sharing, business-building)

7) Mgmt-Employee Engagement programs


Each of the above 22 strategies will have a minimum of 2 KPIs each, and each KPI will have a minimum of 2 initiatives/activities each :[so, a total of 22 strategies = will have a total of 44 KPIs = and a total of 88 activities across the company]

Parents rushing to abandon their children LEGALLY ….. disgusting

I read with utter shock and disgust, the following article this morning …..

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/safe_haven

I one of the states there, parents can go to hospitals to legally “drop off”/abandon/disown their kids (on the average, teenagers) when they have a crisis. Apparently, all states there already have these laws but they clearly apply to infants. But still, to have a government and legislature going all out supporting this sort of initiative is really sickening.

What is coming to this world. A country, so technologically-advanced and with self-professed high degree of standards (though not necessarily moral), can pass laws like this (apart from other humanly-degrading & demeaning laws like legalising gay marriages, etc). But what else is new about that country.

This can never happen in Malaysia? Wanna bet?

And to think that we, Malaysians, support their economy - buying their products, investing in their companies, even incentivising them to run their operations here, only to see the benefits channeled off to other countries. And sometimes too, we watch their “hard-to-miss” programs day in day out - especially those reality shows on both local & cable networks, increasingly popular to young M’san teenagers (& others) nowadays - exposing/enriching ourselves with such degrading values and moral standards. Sadly enough, we as Muslims, don’t seem to find anything wrong with it - and that goes to both the corporate people and parents. As a society, we have not done enough to reverse this worrying trend.

Disgusting ….. parents being able to abandon their kids legally …..

Such stark contrasts …..

Are we really concerned about the environment, as much as we say?

I've just watched a documentary on Planet Earth on a local channel today. It's about our oceans, the influence it has on our beautiful planet, and the increasing global warming that is destroying it, and that if left unchecked, can destroy the entire planet - sooner than we think.

Well, nothing new, really. What catches me was at the end of it the narrator says, "It's up to us to change it". Thought I should share some of my views here .....

Are we really concerned about the environment, as much as we say?

Can we really change our lifestyles to make it eco-friendly?

We, as social beings, always want to be associated with current trends. Lately, it seems everyone is jumping the bandwagon on addressing issues of global warming, green earth, etc, etc. Almost everyone I know is a part of some "greenpeace" or "green earth" groups. Nothing wrong with this, in fact, I think its great - especially for Malaysians (we r quite late in joing these global concerns).

The problem is we, maybe unintentionally, publicize more than we do/act. Unknowingly, our current lifestyles are doing more harm to d environment. Our ignorance may be the major culprit, but I think we can't do much aout it. Our society is mentally-conditioned to behave in environmentally-destructing ways. Through marketing adverts (online/offline/broadcasts), blasting our minds every hour, we r addicted to products and lifestyles that hurt the environment (maybe this is what we call progress). In other words, we are brain-tattoed to destruct the earth. Just two small examples are our shopping habits, and our total reliance on cars.

Do you know that many products that you use on a daily basis are actually hurting the environment? While oil/petrol/gas can top the blame, plastics are right next at the very top. It takes hundreds of years for plastics to degrade biologically - making the soil we happily-step on, and the breathable-air we carelesssly take for granted, more toxic and polluted by the year. The answer may be simple - reduce use of plastics. How? well, here are some ideas you can help the environment in small but yet meaningful little strides - if only we all have the guts to follow them diligently, and make our lifestyles and products we use, more environmental-friendly .....

1) Use less plastics (and unnecessary oil-based products)

This may be hard, considering plastics is one of the major human "innovations" in the last century, touching all aspects of our daily life. But we, as Malaysians, somehow have to strive for this - in our own unique Malaysian ways. We can start with these two efforts;

a) Don't use Baby Napkins made of plastic materials.

Use "kain" napkins instead, might be a bit more tedious/nasty. What's the difference anyway, a poop is still a poop - why glorify it with such pampering. Besides, your nanny's doing the kids-pampering most of the time anyway. And to think that u r paying for "shit"! ...

b) Use less plastic grocery bags.

Ask for paperbags. Bring one if you have. If not available, put all your purchases in only ONE teeny weeny plastic bag you have been using for the last 20 outings to the store. If its impossible for you to do that, then BUY LESS. If its unimaginable to do that, then go less grocery-shopping (maybe once, every 2 months). OR you can SHOP LESS. If there are still some god-forsaken reasons you still can't do that, then don't shop - ASK a friend or neighbour to do the shopping for you. The fact remains, shoppers IS the biggest reason for the unstoppably-high usage of plastics on the whole Planet. Can you think of any other?

c) Use less make-up

Another oil-based product is the "make-up" (beauty products) you put on, and drain off. While they may be deemed healthy and safe, a lot of the chemical components in these products are non-biodegradable. Sure, the manufacturers say they are "eco-friendly", but oil-based is oil-based - oil is used - how can this be eco-friendly? Now, I can't comment much more on this, but surf the net and you'll find a lot of environmental-concerns on this. So reduce wearing make-up. Why do we need artificial assisstance to improve Allah's creation! It's as if we're saying - He's not perfect (astaghfirullah)! If not, what are we saying? Women can look womanly and naturally beautiful without a mile of make-up, and men can equally look manly and macho without a tonne of hair-gels, etc. etc.

2) Use less gas/petrol.

This should be a no brainer. How hard can this be? Drive less. Commute more. Pool-car more (only with people u know or want to know). If you still have to drive, then use less petrol when driving, and preserve it when not driving. How to reduce ur petrol consumption or preserve it? Here r some ideas .....

a) Well, for one, speed is the main culprit for inefficiently-high gas emissions.

Drive less than 80km/h (or 50mph, if you think u r a melayu mat salleh) on the road - on d highway and off. What's d rush - it's only your life at stake (u know, our driving habits are among the worst on this planet - check out the annual festive seasons road statistics - we r continuously & collaboratively working hard to beat previous records - and being very successful at it - Malaysia boleh).

b) AVOID traffic jams.

How? Just, don't go out at the same time as others do - how hard can anyone figure this out. Depending on where u r (city, or suburbs), in d morning, traffic starts to build around 7:30am and peaks around 8:30 am. Evening time, its anytime between 5:30-7:30 pm - u all know these daily miseries. So, AVOID these times at all costs - it'll do you more good than harm - less tension, more gas to spare, more money to shop (wait, shop less plastic products, that is). You'll be better motivated to start work, AND cheerful when u go back home to receive and love your family.

So how do you avoid these bad traffic times?

- GO OUT EARLY, I mean very early (takkkan lah kite semua sembahayng subuh 5 minit sblm syuru' kot - so there's plenty of time to start your morning early). Get a breathe of real fresh, cool, morning air, and roll down your windows (for a change, stop using your car air-cond at 6:30 am).

- LEAVE WORK EARLY, I mean right on the dot. Who says the Company has the right to force you to work after your scheduled worktimes (check your employee-friendly labor laws). More often times than not, it's actually the employees who want to work late (and I mean both at the officer and managerial levels). There's only harm done, nothing good when you go home late. You suffer (u have no time for life outside work), your family suffers (from your mood swings or when its not swinging at all). You're already not at your productive levels at these times (so the company will not be gaining more from you being at work late - instead they'll gain higher electic bills).

- Find ALTERNATIVE ROUTES to work and back home (you know, KL may be the worst-planned city in the whole world but it has a lot of yet-to-be discovered short-cut routes - taxi drivers can attest to this). Check out google maps (they even have satelite mode where u can see the trees that line outside your house). Buy UPDATED road maps (KL roadmaps have very good editions - one u can even tell the number of your residence/workplace). Always plan your travels/trips, and your routine morning & evening trips. If you plan well, it'll be a beautiful morning leisurely drive to work, and a refreshing drive back home - with you smiling to meet your smiling family. Oh sorry, for those who are single - START a family fast. Life is too short to waste on IDEALS. Want ideas? Come on, u r not dat desperate, eh? (err, next week I might have somethin' for all d struck-out singles. So, stay surfed!)

c) When not driving, park your cars/vans/18-wheelers under some sort of shade.

Gas/petrol does evaporate (maybe just about 3%-5% but still its petrol!). If you have to park outside, know where the sun rises and sets. In the open, buildings offer some of the best shades in the city, even 4-story shophouses). At least park your car so that the petrol tank in your car is under the shade.

d) Don't fill up your gas tanks to the fullest.

More petrol is unneccessarily-burnt up carrying the extra weight (research says its about 3%-5%). 50%-70% full is good. Clear the boot of your car (and also inside your car) of unwanted junks (you have your attics for that, right. If you need more space, rent out a bonded warehouse!). leave your bowling balls and golf sets at home. If you have to bowl or do some golfing around every weekday at 7pm, then rent out an equipment storage at the place. If you still need to have something in your car/boot (some people just can't stand the idea of having a cleaned-out vehicle), put some books in so you can read when stuck in traffic, or pretend to - joys of pretension, always psyshe one out.

e) Use less gas, period.

Don't drive around too much, especially to the malls on every weekend. Reduce your weekly social interactions & networking activities (I know u can't stop entirely, but at least, space out a bit more between activities). Life after work doesn't have to mean extensive clubbing experience, and elaborate mate-search explorations, week in week out. Find healthy alternatives:- movies - downloads; clubbing - facebook (tak cukup ke?); mate-explorations - sembahyang & doa je (jaga aurat, oi).

3) Use fuel-efficient cars.

Here, its either you regularly send your car for maintenance, or you get one that has got less mileage on it. Clean the air filter regularly - u can do it yourself. Your car needs sufficient amount of air to burn the petrol. Dirty air filters only block that regular flow of air to the combustion chamber, hence more petrol is used to fire up the engine. Also, cars that have high mileage usually are no longer burning fuel efficiently. I think a 30-year old car has depreciated enough to be road unworthy, don't you think so? No? Hmmm .....

And buying a used car should never be an option - you'll never know the real history of the car, its maintenance, etc.. So, do we buy a new car? Which type of new car is fuel-efficient. The choice is endless, only because the public is intentionally ill-informed. Car manufacturers will definitely hide the downside of their products. Now I'm not biased towards either of the two, but buyers can at least do something to force car manufacturers to be more responsible to the environment - by buying LESS of their eco-unfriendly products.

Another option is stay away from the car market, altogether. Can we do this? Are we mentally-conditioned to NOT respond to new cars on the market, with deceiving marketing ads & promotions and easily-approved financings extended by ever-willing & desperate banks. Not to mention the aggressive salesmen. Well, u can stop looking at the newspaper & TV ads, for a start. Reduce your exposure to marketing & promotional efforts, so that you can reduce/eliminate unnecessary needs. I know this is not easy to do - this is your lifestyle you're talking about.

4) Get an NGV (non-gasolene vehicle) or electric/solar car

This may be a bit far off. Don't know much about this, but is there either one in the market right now in Malaysia? Alternatively, run your car on tap water. You can download this guide to help you get started immediately - http://www.mediafire.com/?ztmeymzyrn2 (Fun Guide - Run Your Car on Tap Water.pdf).

Well, there's a lot more that can be said here, and it'll probably be more interesting if it comes from you. So, I hope u'd add on to these notes when you have d time .....

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) - Big Stick & Carrot

Has it truly been a success in Malaysia?

Foreword

The Balanced Scorecard. By now, it's already a cliche. It's a hype, and a tool too. It's everything you want it to be. It can be about strategy, management, performance, people, or leadership. It can also be about control - with a BIG or small Stick. And about tempting Carrots, however miniscule they can be. At the end of the day, everyone agrees that it should bring about change. For the better or for worse? That remains to be seen. After all, its only been 10 years in its conception.

Part 1 - Value-Based BSC

Balanced Scorecard ... what a phrase. It has changed the lives of millions, probably billions by now. For better or for worse? Hard to tell. I know it has changed mine, not so much financially as philosophically.

I've come to appreciate BSC (as its usually termed) in a whole different light. To me BSC is fundamentally about values, empowerment, empathy, virtuousness, and positivity. It is a set of beliefs that encompasses the positive attitudes of the human nature - for the betterment of human society. And its definitely more than just a tool to measure performance and success in your financial, customer, process & learning goals. I think the use of "tool" in explaining BSC away is itself demeaning to the powerful concept it was originally conceived.

Hence, the success of BSC implementations in organizations - private or public, for-profit or not-for-profit. Fact is for Malaysia, after 10 years of extensive publicising by corporations implementing it, and those offering IT-solutions for it, no company has really achieved any breakthrough in their performance worth shouting about. That is, until early this year when IIUM was inducted into the BSC's Hall of Fame - the only organization to achieve such a disctinction in the whole of Malaysia and Asia-Pacific Region. Is this something to shout about? For IIUM, maybe. For Malaysia, definitely NO. Why would anyone want to. Through the last 10 years, the Malaysian economy has grown but only incrementally. some public-listed companies has tripled their earnings but many still have floundered. The net effect, our stock exchange is still trading at about the same level as it has 10 years ago. And many of the companies here have proudly announced their successful implementation of the BSC in their organizations. On a good note, it has however become a successful tool for corporate governance for public-listed companies. Achieving breakthrough results, on the other hand, is a whole different matter.

As long as organizations use BSC as only "tools" to measure performance, they will only achieve incremental growth (business as usual). We need to use BSC as a set of values to trigger positive thinking in order to drive home the message of empowerment, empathy and virtuousness to truly create an environment of learning and engagement in organizations. Only through these personal attitudes (for a start) and real knowledge-fostering environment will there truly be creativity and innovation to create uniquely-distinctive products - unique enough to create competitive significance for the organization in the marketplace, and hopefully, at the global level.

Actually, i'm quite tired of hearing organizations saying they have successfully implemented the BSC and have seen results, worse still, if they have not seen any. In the first place, who is to determine if an organization is successful or not - the organization itself or its customers (or stakeholders for public organizations)?. Secondly, "success" is a relative term. And that says a lot about performance. ( ..... to be continued)

Next week update ..... Part 2 - Strategy-Based BSC.

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