Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header about About Home Profiles articles Tools forums inspirational quotes About facebook Twitter YouTube Blog

rationalization Tagged Articles



Accountability and Trust
Managers need to hold employees accountable for meeting commitments. This sounds simple, but in the messy world it can be a conundrum. Reason: People have a tendency to justify their actions based on their personal rationalization. To the manager it may seem a lame excuse, but to the employee, there was no way the commitment could have been made. The technology for holding people accountable begins with the notion that it is expected behavior. Still, the manager needs to do this in a way that follows the Golden Rule. There is a fine art to holding people accountable and still maintaining trust with not only the employees in question but also their peers. What techniques do you use to manage accountability without trashing trust? My opinions on this subject are contained in the attached article.

Lack of Focus
As the stock market continues to flounder around (mostly the wrong direction) and some people in the middle east continue to try to destroy each other, I woke up this morning pondering failure. I thought of another “classical entrepreneurial lesson” that we made at Martingale Software – lack of focus.

Quieting the lizard brain
How can I explain the never-ending irrationality of human behavior?
Spend Analysis versus Spend Intelligence: More Than a Semantical Difference
I believe the phrase "spend intelligence" to be misleading. To me, it sounds like a new take or sub-segment of business intelligence software applications which offer analytics and dashboard capabilities and sit on top of existing systems of record. The problem is that spend visibility and analytics is much more complex, requiring data cleansing, rationalization, classification and other efforts which go far beyond what is needed to gain insight into basic HR, financials, IT and other internal information, which fall cleanly in to the BI camp.
Be Patient
Amazingly few people are willing to be patient. However, putting off gratification until later in order to obtain larger rewards than those immediately available is essential to achieve true success.

The Rule of Three: When to Invest in Your Business
It is the businesses that consistently and carefully spend money and invest wisely that make the most money. Many businesses have gone on cost-cutting rampages only to find they are less profitable than before. Why? They crippled themselves by removing profitable business investments.
9 Vital Principles of Communication
Communication is an extremely powerful tool for success which, when effectively engaged in, creates strong relationships, harmonious working conditions and allows us to share the best of ourselves with others.
Your Sales Force - Who is Playing on Your Team?
Your worst salespeople lost the only opportunity they had. Devestation, depression, excuse making and inaction. They fail to rebuild their pipeline. Who do you have playing for you?
Double Marginalization and the Decentralized Supply Chain Revisited
Without a doubt, the concept of double marginalization and the resultant issues associated with understanding and addressing its impact represents one of the more complex elements of an organization’s supply chain practice. As the point of convergence of multiple stakeholder interests and the seemingly disparate (some would say contradictory) strategies that define today’s partinioned enterprises, the intent of the article when it was first published was to create an awareness of a concept that up until that point was not widely recognized, let alone understood by the majority of purchasing professionals.

Is Ford's auto-xchange the "Real Deal?" (Survey Response 2)
In a recent video that was released by The Ford Motor Company, Ford's Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Jim Yost indicated that the company has to "share information in real-time" and therefore can no longer use "the sequential processes” in which there were many “handoffs" and "transfers of information." Yost also emphasized the fact that Ford needs to "integrate much more closely with their customers, supply base and even internally," as well as stressing the importance of making information available to multiple levels of their supply base "simultaneously," thereby eschewing the current "cascade processes that might take days, weeks and even months" to disseminate. To enable you to respond to this question, you can access both the video as well as the corresponding article by contacting the author.
What is the Value in your Supply Chain A PI Q and A
Member Question: What is the difference between Supply Chain and Value Chain? My Response: To begin, the reference to supply or “value” chain is a misnomer in that it implies a sequential architecture. This is a term that is on its way out as an organization’s supply “practice” is actually centered on the synchronization of diverse stakeholders sometimes spanning multiple supply networks. This is an important distinction given the impact that real-world synchronization has on theories such as value chains. That said the concept of the value chain was first introduced by Michael Porter in 1985 in his book, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.

Technology's Diminishing Role in an Emerging Process-Driven World (Part 1)
Organizations that already have a technology driven program in place or have just recently implemented one still surprise me with their significant interest in the dramatic changes in procurement methodologies and practices. But rather than focusing learning on new and emerging technologies, today's procurement professionals seek insights into the actual processes that drive their enterprises. The impetus behind this change is largely the result of the fallout from the consistently high level of e-procurement initiative failures. Industry studies for the period 2001-2005 indicate 75-85 percent of all programs fail to achieve the promised results.

Yes Virginia! There is more to e-procurement than software! (Part 1)
My recent post on the series of interviews I had with Ariba garnered considerable interest and feedback. By far the most interesting (and insightful) comments came from the Commonwealth of Virginia. What was compelling about the Virginia response was their willingness to provide a perspective from what they referred to as the “other side of the fence.” What was refreshing is that the subsequent interview revealed an extremely capable group of people whose passion for procurement was only rivaled by their commitment to a vision. A vision that was centered on gaining a thorough understanding of the processes that defined the Commonwealth’s procurement practice as well as the unique requirements of a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders.

The Bands of Public Sector Supplier Engagement
“To really leverage vendor partnerships, solution providers need an in. For the public sector, that entre has to go beyond the program to the individual behind it who understands the market nuances and challenges that can hold partners back.” From the article 25 Public-Sector Channel Leaders (ChannelWeb Network, March 19, 2007) In one simple statement within the confines of a single article there has never been a better or more succinct explanation of what plagues public sector procurement practice today. Especially in the area of supplier development and engagement!

Other rationalization Related Articles

Great Leadership Is Admitting What You Do Not Know and Thus Avoid Becoming A Victim
Great leadership or effective leadership is the ability to admit what you do not know. Justification and rationalization are not characteristics of great leadership. These individuals understand that life must be challenged and more importantly so must their own performance as they lead themselves and others forward.
Spend Analysis versus Spend Intelligence: More Than a Semantical Difference
I believe the phrase "spend intelligence" to be misleading. To me, it sounds like a new take or sub-segment of business intelligence software applications which offer analytics and dashboard capabilities and sit on top of existing systems of record. The problem is that spend visibility and analytics is much more complex, requiring data cleansing, rationalization, classification and other efforts which go far beyond what is needed to gain insight into basic HR, financials, IT and other internal information, which fall cleanly in to the BI camp.
Kraft Buys Into the Mirage of Vendor Rationalization
In yet another example of the "when will they ever learn" category, About.com's Martin Murray's article "Kraft To Rationalize Vendors" reported that the company "announced that it is planning to cut its supplier base in half, affecting more than 30,000 businesses, but possibly saving Kraft more than $300 million a year." Putting aside for a moment that enterprise-wide rationalization strategies rarely deliver the sustainable savings that are expected - it would be interesting to see how the $300 million per year number was actually calculated - history has shown that the "sifting" process usually results in a supply base composed of the least desirable vendors.
Accountability and Trust
Managers need to hold employees accountable for meeting commitments. This sounds simple, but in the messy world it can be a conundrum. Reason: People have a tendency to justify their actions based on their personal rationalization. To the manager it may seem a lame excuse, but to the employee, there was no way the commitment could have been made. The technology for holding people accountable begins with the notion that it is expected behavior. Still, the manager needs to do this in a way that follows the Golden Rule. There is a fine art to holding people accountable and still maintaining trust with not only the employees in question but also their peers. What techniques do you use to manage accountability without trashing trust? My opinions on this subject are contained in the attached article.

Featured Article

Bottom Footer



Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

Designing Employee-Enhancing Training Programs

Here's a great ROI

Expanding Your Business By Franchising
Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.