Pam and Scott's Blog

A Lesson From Mark Twain on Recognizing Opportunities

Over time, it’s easy to get used to a certain way of viewing the world. While “common wisdom” is often useful in speeding decision making, it can also keep us from perceiving lucrative opportunities even as they grow in front of our eyes. Of course, this paradox is nothing new. Over 100 years ago, Mark Twain wrote "I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one." The rising pace of changes in demographics, communication, technology, and so on makes this challenge more prominent than ever.

For example, we recently saw a segment on the Today show regarding how men are increasingly doing a larger proportion of grocery shopping: "Why supermarkets target guys with high prices." That this was treated as "news" amused us a bit, as Scott has been an equal partner in shopping and cooking for decades. However,it also occurred to us that the retailers and manufacturers who were able to proactively detect and act on this emerging trend before it became common enough to be a story on the Today show are probably the ones who will reap the most financial benefit in the long run.

For ideas on how to “get ahead of the curve” as opportunities emerge, check out our latest issue of the Harper Report: “Is Your Company Missing Emerging Opportunities.” We provide three guidelines that can enable your company to strengthen its ability to detect patterns that can signal opportunities -- before they're snatched up by someone else.

“Success” or “Failure”? It’s All How you Shape Expectations

As we ramp up into the first quarter of 2012, we’re seeing an interesting paradox. The latest news from the U.S. Department of Commerce is that fourth-quarter growth of 2.8% is the fastest in 18 months. However, despite this good report, some economists are painting a less optimistic picture that our expectations of a rapid recovery may not be met. On a smaller scale, we’re all managing expectations – some more successfully than others.

So how do you more realistically shape expectations so that employees, customers, investors, suppliers, alliance partners, and others who have a stake in your organization perceive less “failure” and more “success?” For our insights and guidelines to shaping stakeholder expectations to accelerate success,   Click here to read the full Harper Report white paper: “Success” or “Failure”?  It’s All How you Shape Expectations.

BAI sponsors ACG NJ event on February 28, 2011: Charles H. Green on "Building Trust in A Cynical World"

Business Advancement Inc. is a proud book sponsor of the February 28, 2011 Association for Corporate Growth NJ Bergen Regional Event featuring internationally known speaker Charles H. Green, Founder & CEO of Trusted Advisor & Associates. Mr. Green will speak on "Building a Trusted Business in a Cynical World," addressing 'pervasive questions about trust and leadership—such as how to develop business with trust, nurture trust-based relationships, build and run a trustworthy organization, and develop your trust skill set.'

In addition to being a highly sought-after speaker, Charles Green is author of multiple books, including "The Trusted Advisor" and "The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook" with Andrea P. Howe (John Wiley & Sons, 2011). The latter book will be given to the first 40 paid registrations for the event on February 28, 2012, 7:00am - 9:30am at the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, NJ.

Register for the event now.

Second Annual Reinventing Your Business through Innovation Conference is Front Page News

Underscoring the significance and impact of building new value through M&A and alliances to the New Jersey business community, NJBiz, the leading business weekly for New Jersey, featured the "Reinventing Your Business through Innovation” Conference as their lead story for November 8, 2011: "At conference, ACG focuses on strategic acquisitions, partnerships." Organized by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)/New Jersey in partnership with Fairleigh Dickinson University's Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurship, this year’s conference theme was "Creating New Value Through Mergers, Acquisitions & Strategic Alliances."

The keynote address was presented by Ralph A. LaRossa, President & COO, of Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G). Mr. LaRossa shared his insights on the power that innovative partnerships have had in creating new value for PSE&G and its stakeholders. It is particularly noteworthy that the conference occurred just one week after the historic East Coast October snowstorm of 2011, which brought down an unprecedented volume of trees and branches all over northern and western New Jersey, causing power loss for hundreds of thousands of PSE&G customers, us included. The audience voiced understandable interest in how PSE&G coped with the disaster, and the innovations that could in the future make it easier for utilities to more quickly and effectively restore power to storm-stricken regions.

The two executive panels that followed the keynote address deepened the focus on how companies of all sizes and geographic scope can build new value and transform themselves through both M&A and strategic alliances and partnerships. Over the course of the discussions, a theme emerged that the level of commitment, intensity and benefits of external business relationships runs across a broad spectrum ranging from short term tactical partnerships to uniting companies in a transformative merger, similar to the range of personal relationships from casual dating to marriage.

As a founder of the yearly conference series, co-chair on behalf of ACG NJ, sponsor, and panel moderator, we are delighted that we could contribute to the success of this year’s event.

If you'd like to learn more about our insights on how business leaders can enable their companies to gain even more value from their external business relationships, we invite you to read our "Harper Report" on "Four Steps to Powerful Strategic Alliances."

Preventing Strategic Gridlock Receives Another 5-Star Review

 

Pamela S. Harper’s critically acclaimed book, Preventing Strategic Gridlock, has garnered another 5-star review on Amazon.com, from Mary Clare Garber, Vice President of Princeton Legal Search Group, LLC. This recent review starts:

“Have you ever found a gem of a book that you know you'll hold unto and use again and again? I found that book, Preventing Strategic Gridlock by Pamela S. Harper. The value of the book is twofold; the ideas and concepts about how to identify the root causes of seemingly mysterious organizational problems she calls ‘strategic gridlock,’ as well as a process to follow to break through the gridlock and accelerate progress toward high performance results - regardless of the economy...”

To read this and other reviews in full, visit Preventing Strategic Gridlock on Amazon.com.

Pam Harper to Moderate a Panel on "Creating New Value Through Strategic Alliances"

Pamela Harper will moderate a panel on "Creating New Value Through Alliances & Partnerships" at the upcoming second annual conference on "Reinventing Your Business Through Innovation," organized by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)/New Jersey in Partnership with the Fairleigh Dickinson University's Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurship.

Tuesday, November 14, 2011, 7:00 am - 11:00 am
 
Featuring a keynote presentation by
Ralph A. LaRossa, President & COO, PSEG
 
Platinum Sponsor:  



CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND LINK TO REGISTRATION

Important Notice: BAI Does Not "Robocall"

We were recently alerted that someone has been making unauthorized use of our company name to make automatic "RoboCalls" to others, falsely claiming to be representatives of Business Advancement Inc. We want to assure our readers that we never use or authorize use of automated calling, and never employ third party marketing representatives. We suspect that these calls have been made to fraudulently solicit information from the recipients. If you ever receive an automated call claiming to be from Business Advancement Inc. that requests you to hold until the call is answered, we caution you to give no information and immediately hang up the phone.

Are you using the right metrics to track R&D ROI? -- Scott is quoted in Chief Executive Magazine

In our work with a wide array of science and technology-based companies over the years, a question we increasingly hear from executives is, "are we spending the right amount on our Research and Development (R&D) efforts?" The answer to this fundamental business performance question is as individual as each company, but a critical component is always the counter question of "how will you know?" As with many other aspects of business, a good deal of that answer starts and ends with metrics, and even more importantly, selecting the right things to measure.

While it's very common to track how much R&D costs, and what percentage of revenue it represents ("research intensity"), this time-honored metric doesn’t go very far in telling executives how productive their company’s research efforts actually are. To get at that much more relevant answer, it's far more useful to track measures that tell you how well the resources you put into R&D are advancing your business objectives.

This is one of the key points that Scott is quoted on in “Examining the ROI of R&D,” an article in the May/June 2011 issue of Chief Executive Magazine. The key is to ask not "I we spending the right amount on R&D," but rather "is our R&D investment providing the business benefits that we want and need?" The clearer that the executive team is on the objectives they seek to accomplish through their R&D operation, and the more fully the people involved in R&D understand the business context and consequences of their efforts, the more likely it is that your return on R&D investment will contribute meaningfully to your company's growth and profitability.

If this topic interests you, we invite you read more about our service and contact us about Increasing the ROI of Innovation / R&D.

Pam Harper Discusses How Small and Midsize Companies Can Successfully Go Global

Could your next growth direction be a global strategy? Pamela Harper joins Jim Blasingame once again on The Small Business Advocate radio program with tips to develop a global strategy, either for your business or to support customers who are global.
 
Click on the "listen now" buttons below to hear the interview.

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Pam Harper Discusses Reinventing Business by Thinking Strategically about Customer Communities

How do you stay relevant in the Age of the Customer? Pam Harper joined Jim Blasingame once again on The Small Business Advocate radio program on March 22, 2011 to talk about reinventing small businesess by thinking strategically about trends in communicating and developing customer communities.
 
Click on the "listen now" buttons below to hear the interview.

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