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Procurement Budgeting
Procurement describes the acquisition of goods or services at the best possible cost, in the right quantity, time and place, for the direct benefit of the firm. The question now arises: how do you prioritize when you only have a limited amount of money to spend? That’s where the role of budgeting comes in.A budget is a quantitative expression of

is that it's because we are an activity culture - we have been duped into the false belief that as long as we do things (and finish them on time and to budget) then we have succeeded. A little more scientific thinking would go a long way: we need to use measures to test our hypotheses that the actions we have chosen in fact do produce the results we intended. So in reality, measures like these are actua

Using ROI (Return on Investment) as a Marketing Tool
One thing that I’ve learned after 35 years in advertising is that no business wants to pay more than they have to for promotional expenses. It’s understandable considering all the various marketing options and the associated costs. A business has so many fixed overhead expenses from insurance to rent to employees that advertising is often left to the v

There are lots of so-called “measures” that people choose to monitor business results. Some are good, some bad and some downright ugly! This is one of the most colossal mistakes I see people making with performance measures: to claim as a performance measure something that absolutely is not a measure of performance at all.

Here are three of the so-called performance measures that I really dislike most:

"win the BlahBlah Award"

The award might be a customer service award, or environmental award, or workplace health and safety award. Why do I dislike awards as measures? The winning of an award is an event, and can’t give regular, ongoing feedback that can inform decision making and improvement - to use it as evidence of business performance assumes that the criteria for the award correlate directly to the business’s priorities and strategy. And just think about the kind of behaviour and culture this kind of "measure" would encourage... everyone aiming to impress the judges of the award and taking their eyes off their real stakeholders.

"complete BlahBlah Project by June 2007"

Projects such as implementing a customer relationship management system, or upgrading a maintenance facility, or running a new employee training program are typically put in the KPI column of business plans. They are next to useless as evidence or feedback about business performance. Finishing a project by a particular date is an action, not an outcome, and thus provides no evidence whatsoever of the result that the project should have achieved. But they are the most common type of "measure". My theory is that it's because we are an activity culture - we have been duped into the false belief that as long as we do things (and finish them on time and to budget) then we have succeeded. A little more scientific thinking would go a long way: we need to use measures to test our hypotheses that the actions we have chosen in fact do produce the results we intended. So in reality, measures like these are actual

The Online Store With The Best For Less
We are an online provider of a huge selection of electronics, jewelry, home decor, housewares, sports, auto parts, office supplies, and much more for a fast growing number of customers. We have built a solid reputation as a reliable, efficient and dependable business, offering our clients enormous variety of products at rock bottom prices.As we

ost:

"win the BlahBlah Award"

"complete BlahBlah Project by June 2007"

Swimming & How to Stay on Top in Business
What else would I do first thing in the morning?It's 5.50am when I jump into the pool. When the cool water hits my body I'm instantly awake. Awake enough to think,"why do I do this? I could still be in bed! Am I crazy ?"Before you say "Yes," I can hear you asking too, "why DO you do this?"Why? Because:a) I've reco

te directly to the business’s priorities and strategy. And just think about the kind of behaviour and culture this kind of "measure" would encourage... everyone aiming to impress the judges of the award and taking their eyes off their real stakeholders.

"complete BlahBlah Project by June 2007"

Recruiting The Best Franchisee Team Member Candidates
As a Founder of a multi-Brand Franchising Company often, I am asked some tough questions by start-up entrepreneurs. Recently, I was asked how did you recruit your franchisees. Well, I am retired really and not selling franchises anymore. But we had several methods. Some came from web searching interest of potential franchisee team members. Some of our

facility, or running a new employee training program are typically put in the KPI column of business plans. They are next to useless as evidence or feedback about business performance. Finishing a project by a particular date is an action, not an outcome, and thus provides no evidence whatsoever of the result that the project should have achieved. But they are the most common type of "measure". My theory is that it's because we are an activity culture - we have been duped into the false belief that as long as we do things (and finish them on time and to budget) then we have succeeded. A little more scientific thinking would go a long way: we need to use measures to test our hypotheses that the actions we have chosen in fact do produce the results we intended. So in reality, measures like these are actua

Achieve Your Business Success Through Clear Differentiation
The importance of clear differentiation for your product and service proposition cannot be overstated. Take any highly successful organisation and you will invariably find a distinctive range of products and services that deliver value and results to its customers. You most likely operate in an extremely competitive market as do most businesses today.<

"Annual BlahBlah Survey"

The survey could be an employee survey or a market survey or a community reputation survey - who knows? Irrespective, surveys are just data collection processes, not measures. The measures come from the data the survey collects and the measures must be very clearly designed and defined in order to ensure the survey collects the right data. Way too much money is wasted on surveys that ask irrelevant questions, and collect data that is never used. I guess having my foundations as a survey statistician makes me particularly frustrated by measures of this type. I'd just love to see more people demonstrating that they can discern the difference between data and measures!

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Payroll Service, Changing Providers. In Three Chapters. Why should I Change Payroll Providers? What should I look for in a New Payroll Provider. What should Happen When I Change Providers

In a saturated and highly competitive market place, the importance of brands and branding to market share growth and product success cannot be over emphasized. Companies, countries, regions, towns and organizations who are able to grasp the principles of brand DNA are more likely to eclipse those who do not, in terms of delivering value to shareholder investments, or in the ability to attract inwards and foreign direct investments (IDIs and FDIs).

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