Eddielogic

– Thoughts on Strategy and Management

September 29, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Strategy and execution – current findings

Strategy and execution – current findings

In the field of strategy a lot of research and analysis has been undertaken in the last couple of years. Having this in mind I was looking for some research results which would indicate whether “things” have improved. Strategic planning and strategy execution were difficult issues in the past (I will write a separate blog post regarding this in the future). Unfortunately 2014’s status indicates that the problems and barriers are the same than a couple of years ago.

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September 18, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Do you connect strategy and time allocation?

Do you connect strategy and time allocation?

Today I found the following – very interesting – research results regarding the connection between strategy and time allocations of leaders:

“There’s no question that executives and leaders are busier than ever. But are they spending their valuable time on what matters most, the things that advance their companies’ performance and competitive standing?

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September 8, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Bad plans

Bad plans

According to a definition, a strategic plan is a plan (=a detailed proposal for achieving or doing something) that provides argument and the data in support of a strategy (= long term direction of an organization) for the entire organization. A plan should clearly explain what the organization wants to accomplish in the coming years. These definitions sound very logic; hence we have to raise the question why some plans can be described as “bad / poor” plans which “need” to fail. Or to be more specific, what are the conditions that allow bad plans to exist?

There will be lot answers; however I would like to quote a participant from my seminars in a company workshop who presented me the following funny answer (it was a one-page text) in the training break:

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August 11, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on The need for a plan

The need for a plan

Q: Do you always need a business plan?

A: No, not always. (But it might help you to change the odds….)

“I had no business plan. I optimistically thought we’d figure it out as we went along.”

Charlie Clifford, Founder of Tumi

July 28, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Barriers

Barriers

“If you knew how hard it is to break into these industries, you would’nt even try.”
– Peter Thiel, PayPal co-founder –

July 23, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Business model and strategy process

Business model and strategy process

The employment of business models in strategy process has been featured in an article of the German Harvard Business Manager recently. The key question was: In which year did your organization discuss the business model as part of the strategy process? The results show that the business model discussion has gained an important role in the last decade.

Data source: Horvath & Partners, HBR, Juni 2014

March 11, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on The importance of trust management and the trust pyramid

The importance of trust management and the trust pyramid

In my previous posts I discussed certain aspects of trust. In this new post I will present a tool that might help your organization to deal with trust issues. The Internet – including its (social) media channels – is powerful force, but when it comes to money and personal finance, having a relationship with someone, customer trust still matters a lot. Customer trust represents one of the last competitive advantages of “off-line banks” since they are represented by more (i.e. real advisors) than just a website. We can summarize this “more” under the term “physical evidence”, i.e. a branch, personal contact, equipment, brochures.
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January 27, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Research questionnaire tips

Research questionnaire tips

London School of Marketing, an institution offering accredited marketing and business qualifications in the heart of London, has published a new blog offering advice to students about how to write strong research questionnaires when pursuing the CIM Professional Certificate as well as other credentials such as part-time, full-time and fast-track MBAs.

“We want to offer students more than the knowledge they need to succeed in their chosen programme,” said Anton Dominique, COO/CFO of London School of Marketing. “We want to provide them with the skills required to excel in their chosen profession as well. The resources we provide on our website and our online library are designed for this purpose.” Continue Reading →

January 4, 2014
by Oliver
Comments Off on Attributes of trust

Attributes of trust

In this former post I discussed calculus trust. With this new post I would like to discuss the attributes of trust. Again, I will employ the banking industry as an example.

Fairly different to power and conflict the issue of trust is linked with positive economically desirable results. Trust has always been an important issue, but before the financial turmoil some organizations and managers underestimated its impact on business. STAEHLE (1999) argues that trust’s positive results can be found in the following areas: stable personal and organizational relationships, reduced costs of transaction, additional business opportunities, easier coordination and better communication. Continue Reading →

October 30, 2013
by Dagmar
Comments Off on Did you already write your failure resume?

Did you already write your failure resume?

Last week I read an article at fastcompany.com about failure portfolios. This is another interesting idea that takes a well-known concept one step further. We all know that our failures and mistakes are a great chance to learn something. Contemplations about ‘lessons learned’ are a frequent component of processes like projects or planning cycles. Such an analysis of failures is mostly an internal issue that does not leave the company – or even the department.

The failure resume goes beyond that in several ways: Continue Reading →