Small Business Divisional Structure: Managing Growth and Adaptability
Unlike the early industrial giants like Ford, Alfred Sloan understood that in modern business, competition had shifted from production capacity to managing growth and diversity. He leveraged public financing to raise capital for sustained growth and used a new organizational structure to manage growth more effectively. This structure became the blueprint for managing complex businesses […]
How Small Businesses Can Navigate the Age of AI (Artificial Intelligence)?
Navigating the age of AI can be both a challenge and an opportunity for small businesses. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help small businesses leverage AI effectively: 1. Understand the Basics of AI 2. Identify Business Needs 3. Start Small with AI Solutions 4. Invest in the Right Technology 5. Enhance Customer Experience 6. Optimize […]
DIY Toolkit: Development Impact & You
This is a toolkit on how to invent, adopt or adapt ideas that can deliver better results. It features 30 practical social innovation tools that are quick to use and simple to apply.
Build a Working Model System for a Small Business
1. Define Business Goals and Objectives: Before building any system, it’s crucial to clearly define the business goals and objectives. This will guide the development of the system and ensure it aligns with the business’s strategic direction. 2. Identify Key Processes: Identify the key processes within the business that need to be streamlined and optimized. […]
What are your strengths, skills and resources?
There is no doubt that your own personal strengths, skills and resources are a major reason for your achievements to date. They are sure to play a major part in the success of your business. They may well be the main reason that your customers choose to use your service or buy your products. Are […]
The Simple Things That Make A Big Difference
Ideally you want everyone in your business, everything your business does, everything you stand for, to provide an enjoyable, pleasant and easy experience for your customer. Why is this important? Everybody is busy, and the increased pressure that new technology brings means everything is expected more quickly and instantly. If something doesn’t hit between the […]
Creating Real Business Value
Great brands use brand as business to re-ignite their organizations and create real business value in four ways. To expose new growth opportunities . Brand as business reframes what business the company is really in. By considering the bundle of values and attributes that comprise the value delivered to customers, the brand-as-business approach provides new […]
What is Systems Thinking?
The term “systems thinking” was coined by Barry Richmond in 1987. According to Richmond, “Systems thinking is the art and science of making reliable inferences about behavior by developing an increasingly deep understanding of underlying structure.” In The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, author Peter Senge states, “Systems thinking [is] a way of thinking about, and a […]
BEYOND THE MONEY
Perhaps you were initially attracted to your industry because you saw it as a way to generate a supplemental 1 income stream. Maybe you had a desire to make life a bit easier for yourself and your family by earning an extra few hundred or a few thousand dollars more each month. Maybe you were […]
BUSINESS PROCESSES TO CREATE INFRASTRUCTURE
A business process is a set of tasks or activities that produce desired outcomes. Every process is triggered by some event, such as receiving a customer order or recognizing the need to increase inventory. The columns in the figure represent different parts, or functional areas, within an organization, such as sales, warehouse, manufacturing, and accounting. […]
