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Trends in Seniors Housing
The Outlook Across the nation’s metropolitan areas, seniors housing rent growth has slowed as occupancy rates have edged down. But by both measures, the sector has thus far avoided core commercial real estate’s more precipitous slump in fundamentals.

The Power of Good Measures
Most organizations have a TQM (Total Quality Management) Program. It is the quality of the measures in this effort that will determine the success or failure of it. Here is a short paper I wrote on some interesting aspects of measures.
“People”…The Secret Ingredient to Success
In simple terms, you can measure your business success by how well you get customers, keep customers, and the efficiency of your operations. Many companies measure their success by revenues, income and other traditional accounting yardsticks. The problem is that the accounting approach measures how you did but not how you should have done. For example, take a company that grew 20% last year, and had $10 million in revenue. Its management team was weak, so it lost an additional 20% growth, missed out on another 5% in net margin, and had unnecessary turnover of 10% in client base. So this same company (assuming a 10% net margin) could have seen another $800K added to their bottom line. The one secret ingredient was “people.”
Excellent Tips and Experience Sharing for Organizational Performance Measurement
Profit and loss, revenue and expenses - these are measures of important things to a business. But they are information that is too little and too late. Too little in the sense that other results matter too, such as customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer advocacy. Business planning is a process that is well established in most organizations, which means they generally have a set of goals or objectives.
Balanced Scorecard: Measuring the Important Stuff
The Balanced Scorecard was devised by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in the early nineties. It began with the premise that an exclusive reliance on the financial indicators such as profit and loss was causing the managers and owners of businesses to do the wrong things. Subsequently it was seen as a tool to measure the success of implementing strategies or implementing good ideas. The financial indicators are great at telling us how a business has performed in the past what the Balanced Scorecard does is supplement this with measures that indicate how the business will perform in the future.
Quality is Not an Action, It is A Habit
Small Business Owners, have you ever faced this situation? You develop or improve your systems for product or service delivery. Along with your new systems you establish quality standards and measures, and then you train your employees to make sure that everyone knows how to do what they need to do to get the job done to meet the new standards. You feel good about what you have put in place and so you go about looking at other areas to grow or improve only to find out later that the employees go right back to the old way of doing things as soon as they can. How frustrating is that?
All Metrics Will Be Gamed
The dynamics that are in play within the business and team must be understood. Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living (1998) very succinctly puts it "In short, my faith in human dignity consists in the belief that man is the greatest scamp on earth." It is only natural that people will try to take advantage of a measure in a business to 'game' the system - to interpret it in a way that makes it easier to achieve the number, or easier to obtain reward and recognition. As humans, we will try to take advantage of any interpretation that we can to help ourselves.

The One Main Thing
The one main thing is what drives the business. It is a critical lead indicator that reveals the health of a business. What is the one main thing that your business needs to focus on? In this article Steve helps you to understand why the one main thing and one main measure is so important to your business. He provides some key questions to ask yourself so that hopefully you might be able to identify what the one main thing is that your business needs to focus on.
Lesson #2: “Getting out of the way is really important”
One of the reasons why Craigslist has become such a success story is because Newmark has understood the importance of getting out of the way where and when it mattered. From content to overall management of the site, he knew that it was not going to be him who always had the best answers. And, where it counted, he was willing to step back and hand over the reigns.

Success - What it is and isn't
Success is looking forward to getting home and seeing the people you love. It’s being mentally and emotionally free to share yourself with them and to be interested in them.

Building the Perfect Board Package
Some companies do a great job of putting together package for board meetings -- it's empirical, concise, and focused on measures that matter and that can be influenced -- while other companies leave their boards more confused after the meeting than before.
Making your customers uncomfortable
Tomorrow is the ridiculous Black Friday ritual, gaining in steam every year, in which large American retailers run big sales that start at 6 am. People line up even earlier to get in first. Kids are stampeded. Muscles are pulled. Friendships frayed. Credit cards exhausted.

Repeat!
I used this quote last week in a post. Since then, I've shared it with dozens of people in professional and personal settings. Almost no one has failed to say, "Email it to me—I want to circulate it." Hence my decision to re-inflict you with it:
Build Your Own Strategic Plan
Creating a strategic plan for your life can literally change your whole experience in whatever you want to do. Wouldn't you like to be in better control of your destiny from year to year? You can, just read and follow the advice in this article.

Project Success: Top Ten Tips
All organizations run projects from time to time. Yet more than half of all projects started fail their objectives. Why is this so? Read this article to discover ten things you can do to improve the chances of success with your project.
Merger Miseries 8 Scrambled Cultures
Blending organizational cultures after a merger or acquisition is often the most difficult part of the process. Many organizations fail because they did not anticipate the challenge of this step and institute processes that would have helped the integration. This article describes 12 ways to help make the process work better.
Do you know your organization’s “Execution Quotient”?
“Execution Quotient” or “xQ” for short – measures the gap between an organization’s goals and how well it achieves them. It’s like measuring the organization’s IQ for achieving results. Why do so many organizations find it difficult to execute their strategies and achieve results? Harris Polling surveyed 2.5 million workers to ask about this and they found the following shocking results...
Creating an effective sales performance management system
Following on from last week’s article about managing and measuring the right things in sales, I thought it would be worth looking at some of the key principles for effective sales performance management systems. The first place to start is to align your sales performance management system and subsequent key measures to your organisation’s strategy and goals. It’s then the job of the CEO and the Sales Leader to ensure the organisation (that means everyone else who supports the sales effort) is aligned to the sales performance management system. When this dimension is in place the organisation is best placed to sustain high sales performance.
••••••>Get Me On Top Free SEO Tip of the Day: Refrain from Duplication of Content When Performing SEO Techniques
Major search engines utilize duplicate content filters to determine if you have repeated content on your website or any other website on the Internet. This is done in an effort to reduce the deceptive measures that some webmasters use in order to receive higher page rankings in search indexes
Marketing Analytics of Online Ads
Understanding online ad campaigns with more than just click-through rates.
Advertising Alone Cannot Generate Profits for Your Home Based Business Opportunity
If you want to build long term profits with any business, you need to develop a relationship with your customers. Inside this article are some ideas on how to maximize your profits.

The most important thing to know about your strategic plan.
As part of the product development process for RapidInfluence we had numerous sessions with individuals both inside and outside of our target market. The purpose of these discussions were to work through the premises of our Strategic Planning Manifesto and to preview the first version of our product. One of the more insightful sessions we had was with Ian Smith of Portfolio Partnership and the author of The Smith Report, a must read for growth companies. In our session we discussed the need for companies to create strategic plans and more importantly to implement them. During our discussion, Ian rightly pointed out that success in strategic plan implementation was largely dependent on knowing what the status of various action items are within the strategic plan.
How to Develop the Entrepreneurial Mindset and succeed in your online business
How do you develop the entrepreneurial mindset? Are there a set number of tangible steps to reaching the goals you have set? This is my analysis of what are the most important facets of the mindset that are necessary to really succeed in your home based online business.
How to be Successful In Sales: Make Your Luck
Some people have an inexplicable amount of good luck. Even during tough times, they’re successful in their careers, finances, and their personal lives without seemingly having to overcome the adversities that plague most of us. They don’t appear to be smarter or more talented, but they do seem to be blessed with some force of nature that consistently produces good fortune.

Are you living to work?
Do you feel like all you do is work? Are you noticing dissatisfaction in your personal life? Here are some tips from a life coach that can help you evaluate your quality of life. A happy person is a productive person.

Increasing Your Profit By Looking At Your Data
Every business accumulates massive amounts of data that can tell the business owner where the hidden profit and cash flow is in their business. But sadly, most business owners never take the time to think about or examine what the data is telling them.
Bank Stress Tests?? What Stress?
So by now you’ve heard the unofficial results of the bank stress tests. Only ONE, that’s right, ONE bank out of the nineteen tested is in need of additional capital.   SHOCKER!!  I mean really, did anyone actually believe that the government would do more damage to the already-fragile banking system?  

Avoid A Reputation Online Equivalent To The One Of A Real Life Jerk
Currently, we live and survive in two very different worlds: a real one and a virtual one and both can be equally important depending on the situation and angle in which events are viewed or experienced.

Why an Outstanding Resume is Not Enough to Get an Interview: Reason 2
Many people think that a powerful, well written résumé is sufficient to give them the edge needed to secure a job interview. While an outstanding résumé is absolutely necessary, it may not always be sufficient. This is the second in a series of short articles which outlines the factors, other than your resume, which could determine whether you will be amongst the chosen few from the multitude.
How to Handle Discrimination Claims
The key to handling discrimination claims is knowing what to do BEFORE it goes to court.
Business in 2009 - Do you really need to be a Fortune Teller
No know really knows how the overall economic climate will play out over the coming months and possibly years. What we can say is that individual businesses will be defined by the decisions they make and the actions that they take.
New laws protect the privacy of Social Security numbers for New York residents
Quick summary of legislation in New York regarding employers' responsibility for privacy of Social Security numbers.
Improving Your Management Communications Skills - What's It Worth?
A manager needs to have good communication skills. It is one of the major elements of communication. One of the most vital skills in any manager or supervisor's portfolio of skills. But why? What are the benefits of being a good communicator? Read on for more...
101 Tasks Helping New Managers to Survive
People often ask me for my thoughts on becoming a new Manager. My immediate reaction is ‘great, fantastic, go for it, it can be a great and diverse career move’, quickly followed by ‘Do you know what you are letting yourself in for?’
The Power of the Win/Loss Analysis
Typical success rates for closing major new proposals are typically less than 20% when several suppliers are asked to present. Companies often spend tens of thousands of Rands (if not hundreds of thousands) in an effort to win business. For those who failed in their bids, little feedback is offered for why a competitor was a better fit. As a result, the likelihood of winning the next major opportunity remains roughly the same. Independently collected research data, gathered from interviewing supplier selection teams, offers surprisingly simple fixes that losing competitors could use to improve success rates. Yet, relatively few sales forces consistently gather quality data about their losses to permit a legitimate benchmarking, tracking, and management of their proposal and presentation process.
Happiness is only a thought away
Do you want to be happy in your life? Not the constant blissed out happiness of flower children, but genuine happiness on a day to day basis. Happiness is only a thought away. What do I mean by that? One of the key indicators of how happy you feel is how optimistic you are and one of the causes of optimism is how you talk to yourself. In a previous issue, we talked about your internal guidance system and touched on self talk. This month I would like to explore this concept a bit further.

How to Survive the Tough Times
Look… Let’s be honest. There’s no “one size fits all” solution to survival during challenging times. But there are some strategies that will help no matter what situation you and your business are in.
Success from The Inside Out
Everyone wants to be successful but few people take the time and effort to define success on their own terms. We are bombarded by messages about what success looks like: owning the right car, living in a certain neighborhood with a certain size house, closing the big deal, becoming well-known, or growing your company to a certain size. While these are certainly fine goals, they offer only a restrictive view of success. To complicate the issue, many of us also get the message that our level of success means something fundamental about who we are – about our worth and value as human beings. Rationally we know that this is ridiculous; however, so many of us operate as if it’s true and as a result, we try harder and harder to prove we are successful according to these superficial standards. There is a better way.
Excellence vs. Perfection
At some point, we have to settle for "excellence" and go for it! I'm not talking about being sloppy or settling for mediocrity, but in most cases, excellence is good enough.

The Use of Goals - Friend or Foe?
As a society we are achievement driven and recognised for our tangible contributions to the world. At work we are rewarded for achieving specific objectives. Public organisation are required to share their goals with the world. The penalties for failing to achieve them are collapsing share prices and reduced investment. The message is clear - it is good to achieve.

The conditions of Compulsory Licensing under the TRIPS Agreement
An overview of the conditions under which compulsory licensing may be triggered under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Ugandan Government to Set up Laws for Regulating its Microfinance Sector
During the 2007 Citigroup Micro-entrepreneurship awards ceremony in Kampala on January 10, 2008, State Minister for Microfinance, Caleb Akandwanaho announced that a new law regulating the activities of microfinance institutions will take effect in June 2008. The law is meant to bring an end to corruption in Uganda’s savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) following dozens of complaints from customers claiming to have been fleeced of their savings, and police investigations in September 2007 of four savings and co-operative organizations (SACCOs) suspected of fraud, including the suspension of The Support Uganda Savings and Cooperative Society, and arrests of SACCO heads.
Lead measures matter much more than lag measures
I am always slightly amused when economic growth figures and the like are released usually followed by fanfare. I amused because we won’t know March quarter figures until June! as an example. It's too late then! These kind of numbers are measurements of the past, often called lag measures. They tell us where we have been, not where we are going. I for one am much more interested in where I am going than where I’ve been. The past is done, over, finished. We can’t change the past. All we can do is learn from it.
Discovering and Living by Your Core Values
Core values are essential to keeping your life on track. Do you know yours? Most don't! Would you like to know yours? Here are a couple of quick ways to help you get started in discovering your core values and help you hammer them into a values statement:

Celebrating 10 Years in Business Lessons Learned
As a coach and professional communications consultant, I've experienced a lot in my first 10 years in business. This article shares some of the top lessons learned. From balance, to personal marketing and hard work...some tips to help folks just starting out get on the right track.

Don’t Waste Your Talent
As I watched the football play-offs over the last few days, it struck me how we need to consider our talents and how they fit into this game called life. What position can we play that brings us excitement, challenge and success? A position that allows us the opportunity to work hard yet is worth the effort. A position where sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail but always feeling the importance of the position as it delivers benefits to the team?
Human and Physical Capital: The Effects of Human Capital on Economic Development
Human capital is a broad concept which identifies human characteristics which can be acquired and which increase income. It is commonly taken to include peoples’ knowledge and skills, acquired partly through education, but can also include their strength and vitality, which are dependent on their health and nutrition.
4.1 Diversification trends at the regional level: Economic Report on Africa 2007
Figure 4.1 shows three different measures of diversification for African economies as a whole (see Ben Hammouda et al. (2006a) for detailed definition of the indices of diversification). Three concise comments on the general trend of Africa’s diversification experience can be made.
The Online Advertising Road Map or Basic Steps for an Efficient Online Promotion Plan Starting from Ground Zero
This article tries to offer a brief description of how online advertising works and how entrepreneurs can benefit from it, summing up the steps that need to be taken from the start-up of a business.

Other measures Related Articles

Government Support for Entrepreneurship in Nigeria : Exploring entrepreneurship in a declining economy
Recognizing the indispensability of the small-scale, private sector enterprise as the dynamic impetus for general economic development, many countries have instituted enterprise support networks and structures to fuel the development of these enterprises. Nigeria is not an exception in this regard. At various times since the 1970s, the government has designed and introduced a variety of measures to promote small and medium enterprise development. These measures included fiscal, monetary and export incentives.

Didn’t I park my car here?
Discussing auto theft and preventative measures.
Tough Times Demand Tighter Retail Security
Every retailer has a unique set of security challenges and, in the retail world, your security challenges never end. More retailers are realizing that using perimeter and anti-virus technologies alone are not enough. As someone once said, it's like locking your doors but leaving your windows open. Now retailers must take a lot more security measures. Here are some vital strategies retailers need to take for preventative measures against retail loss...
Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal - Part 6 Measuring Success
If you want your team to produce exceptional results, you need performance measures to guide your and their efforts.
The Power of Good Measures
Most organizations have a TQM (Total Quality Management) Program. It is the quality of the measures in this effort that will determine the success or failure of it. Here is a short paper I wrote on some interesting aspects of measures.
Leadership Development is Key to Organizational Success
Financial measures are not effective measures you can put on a leadership course. What you can do is measure changes in behavior and attitude in the company over a period of time. The effectiveness of leadership training can be measured through a rolling employee survey. Ask employees how their managers are behaving.
Healthcare Reform: beyond Quality and Cost Cuts: The Brand
Many organizations are focusing, appropriately so, on cost containment and cost/quality performance measures. These will be the ticket to play in healthcare reform. Others are building Accountable Care Organizaions. All appropriate activities. The Winners in Healthcare Reform are also in the process of establishing meaningful, valuable, recognized Healthcare Brands to appeal to those growing numbers of insured under the reform measures. The time to begin is NOW!
Handling PQQ’s in the Correct Manner
The business world is highly competitive and one area where this is very easily seen is the awarding of contracts on the basis of tenders. As a result, there are many measures in place to weed out companies that do not make the grade. One of these measures is called a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). Companies and Government agencies that use the tendering process to award contracts use PQQs to find out whether the companies that are desirous of doing their work are actually capable of doing it.
Organizational Measurement and Feedback Pathways and Pitfalls (Part One)
Far too many measures are designed to meet internal needs. They may satisfy management's command-and-control paranoia for "snoopervision" or they're designed to serve accounting information technology, human resources or other support departments. Numerous measures are also highly technical, production- or product What's often missing from these inward measurements is the customer. High performing organizations measure from the outside in along the customer-partner chain. They begin by measuring what's important to customers and pinpointing the performance gaps. Next on the measurement pecking order are the needs of those external and internal partners serving customers. Then attention turns to the people producing products or serving the servers.

Strategic Measurements Guide Change and Improvement
"Crude measures of the right things are better than precise measures of the wrong things." Here are five core measurement areas that provide broad and balanced feedback loops for assessing and improving organization performance.
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