Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Time to Start Preparing for the Next Recession

Wow! This recession isn’t over yet and CNN Money is already telling us to “prepare for the next recession”! (CNN Money, Sep 25, 2009) Considering that boom-and-bust cycles have been happening faster and faster, it’s good advice, but it’s still a bit of a downer. I agree with Moore (in the contained video interview) that a new economic order is likely needed, but it’s not going to happen any time soon, so we have to optimize against what we have.

So how do you prepare for the next recession? The article offers three primary pieces of advice:

  • Make friends now with people you’ll need later.
    For example, if the government gives you a chance to sit on task forces, send executives, not functionaries. It doesn’t look good when the CEO only shows up to lobby officials on a potential tax or regulatory change that would benefit his or her company.
  • Listen to unconventional wisdom.
    No one wanted to listen to Jeremy Grantham when he said that real estate and asset prices had become insane. He’s still working when many fund managers aren’t.
  • Don’t go soft on evaluations.
    The best companies, like P&G, are as rigorous in evaluations in good times and bad. That’s why they never find themselves with a roster of C players when the downturn hits.

It’s all great advice, and I’d heed it because you’ll do even better than your peers during the recovery if you do.

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Is No News Good News for the Oompa Loompas?

When we last checked in, the road was still rocky for the Oompa Loompas who had to deal with E. Coli at the Nestle Plant, Venezuala seizing coffee companies (and catching them in the cross-fire), and a death at the New Jersey Chocolate Plant.

Since then, there has been very little news about the Oompa Loompas. Very little. Besides these low-key articles where:

  • Barry Callebaut announced it was to acquire Chocovic
  • Undeclared Milk was found in Dark Chocolate Truffles Made by the Appleton Chocolates Company
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk Went Fair Trade in Canada

and this nice press on CNN.com that noted that dark chocolate is the ultimate superfood,

I haven’t seen anything on what seemed to be a never-ending plight for the oompa loompas since our last update. Could this mean that, after two long years, things are finally shaping up for the oompa loompas? What do you think?

Six Tips for Six Sigma Implementation

A recent article on the SSON did a great job of covering the “Top Ten Tips for Implementing Six Sigma”. Of these, five are absolutely critical to the success of your effort. Even though all ten are important, if you miss any of these five, plus the bonus tip, you can pretty much bank on a project failure.

  • Go Six Sigma, Go Lean All The Way
    Half-way efforts don’t work and, in fact, will only make matters worse. You need to actively engage your entire team in end-to-end value stream mapping, understand what needs to be done, and do it.
  • Don’t Forget The Change Leadership
    Chances are you’ll identify significant changes that need to be made … changes that won’t be easy. Furthermore, such a radical departure from traditional operating practices will almost certainly be accompanied by numerous traumas all along the chain of command if the correct message isn’t communicated consistently and thoroughly. Change will have to be managed top down.
  • Get the Measurement Systems Right
    Metrics are essential to six sigma as you can only improve what get’s measured, but you’ll only improve if you focus on the right easy-to-calculate metrics which drive you towards continuous improvement.
  • Understand the Wider Environment
    Understand how your project will impact the rest of the organization. For example, trying to improve your processes during the busiest production season might not be the greatest idea. While Six Sigma and Lean are always the right things to do, it’s not always the right time to do it.
  • Don’t Expect Training Alone To Solve Everything …
    Your staff need to be well-trained, but you need more than training … you also need an execution framework, an execution plan, and good project management (with great change management and leadership support) to see the project through to completion.
  • … But Don’t Forget the Training!
    Having a well-trained team is a must. Your people have to be up to the challenge.

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Have You Figured Out Where Your Cash Went Yet?

About a year ago, Bob Matthews of Paladin Associates penned a great post over on e-Sourcing Forum.

It’s the Fourth Quarter … Do You Know Where Your Cash Went?.

It’s a good question … and one that is as poignant as ever. Do you?

If you don’t, now would be a really good time to find out. There are a number of sourcing service providers with expertise in spend analysis that can quickly get you on the right track and, if you don’t already have one, help you get a spend analysis solution that will allow you to answer this question whenever you need to ask it.

Here are just a few of the service providers you can call (who are on the list because I’ve talked to them recently and/or verified recent wins for their customers):

Claro Group

iq West

Lexington Analytics

Mitchell Madison Group

MPower Group

Opera

Paladin Associates

Power Advocate

Source One

Treya Partners