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Recruiting Great Sales People

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:58:00 +0500

Recruiting Great Sales People

You say it to your sales team all the time: "ABC. Always be closing." Well, as a sales leader, I'd recommend that you adopt a slightly different mantra for yourself: ABR: Always be recruiting.Many sales managers settle into complacency when their team is performing well, or recruiting falls by the wayside when there's too much else on their plates. But in reality, it's essential to constantly have recruiting on your to-do list for three important reasons:

People leave. No matter how well you pay your team, or how well they seem to be performing, one thing's always certain: turnover happens. Whether it's someone winning the lottery, moving, or getting a better offer somewhere else, some of your employees will inevitably move on from your company. And as their manager, you'll be last to know, so don't be caught in a bind when one of your key team members gives notice.
People under perform. Traditionally, sales teams fall into a pattern: 20% hit well above their target, they are your high performers. 60% hit their target fairly consistently, they are your workhorses. And 20% under perform or are too new to measure. You always want the option to replace your bottom 20% with better performers, and you won't have any options if you're not actively recruiting.
Your team will grow. Even in the best case scenario--where all of your team members are over performing and you're hitting it out of the park in your market, then it's time to start attacking new markets. And at that point, you'll need new reps to go after those markets.

Recruiting is an important aspect of any sales leader's job, and there are some techniques that make it a more manageable task. Here are some of the best practices that our sales VP clients use in recruitment:

Use a professional services recruiting company that focuses on sales. We often see companies using recruiters who are more general in nature, and unfortunately they sometimes just don't "get" salespeople. One of the best sales recruiting companies in North America is Peak Recruiting.
Develop an internal referral program. A generous referral bonus will encourage your employees to bring in their network. Your employees understand your business best, and are most likely to cultivate loyalty when they bring in one of their own contacts. We suggest an offer of at least $5,000 per employee that is referred, hired and stays beyond six months. It's less than you'd spend on advertising or recruiting, and likely a better quality candidate.
Ask clients, vendors, partners and your resale channels for referrals. Your new hires are going to be the first point of contact with your clients and partners, so why not ask them whom they'd like to buy from or work with? Some of your best customers might be able to draw from their network or refer you to other sales reps they've worked with.
Get varied interview feedback. It's important that more than one person interview each candidate in order to get well-rounded and objective feedback. I recommend that the interview process incorporate three different people within the company, including someone who reports to you--perhaps another sales rep--and someone outside the department to see how they react to non-sales environments.
Vary your interview locations. You should also consider varying the interview environment beyond just the office conference room. Can they focus in a more distracting environment, like a restaurant or coffee shop? Sales requires getting out of your own office, so you'll want to see how they do in a variety of situations.
Use social media. Post your openings on Facebook, LinkedIn or your blog in order to attract people from across the country or around the world if required. Also, use social media to check out potential candidates' profiles before beginning the interview process.
Ask one last question. There are a lot of things you can test about a candidate in an interview, but one tough long-term thing to measure is memory, which is essential for a good sales rep. I use one simple question at the end of the interview to help assess this: I ask the candidate to relay back to me what we discussed in the interview. If he or she can't do so accurately, it's a bad sign that their mind was elsewhere during the meeting.

By keeping these seven simple tips in mind, you can make recruiting a constant priority without devoting incredible amounts of time to it. Ensure that you're never in a bind and treat recruiting like the sales process, where you always have a healthy pipeline of viable prospects.

Roots, suffixes, and prefixes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 5 Sep 2012 00:09:00 +0500

Component	Meaning	Example
CARDIO-	heart	echocardiogram = sound wave image of the heart.
CYTE-	cell	thrombocyte = clot forming cell.
HAEM-	blood	haematoma - a tumour or swelling filled with blood.
THROMB-	clot, lump	thrombocytopenia = deficiency of thrombocytes in the blood
ETHRO-	red	ehtrocyte = red blood cell
LEUKO-	white	leukocyte = white blood cell
SEP, SEPTIV-	toxicity due to micro-organisms	septicaemia
VAS-	vessel / duct	cerebrovascular = blood vessels of the cerebrum of the brain.
HYPER-	excessive	hyperglycaemia = excessive levels of glucose in blood.
HYPO-	deficient / below	hypoglycaemia = abnormally low glucose blood levels.
-PENIA	deficiency	neutropenia = low levels of neutrophilic leukocytes.
-EMIA	condition of blood	anaemia = abnormally low levels of red blood cells.

Abbreviations and Acronyms (Cardiovascular)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 5 Sep 2012 00:04:00 +0500

AA	Anaplastic Anaemia
ALL	Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
AML	Acute Myeloid leukaemia
ANC	Absolute neutrophil count
ANLL	Acute non-lymphatic leukaemia
ASH	American Society for Hematology
B-ALL	B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
BP	Blood pressure
CALGB	Cancer and Leukemia Group B (USA)
cALL	Common ALL
CGL	Chronic Granulocytic Leukaemia
CHF	Congestive heart failure
CLL	Chronic lymphocytic Leukaemia
CML	Chronic myeloid leukaemia
CMML	chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
CPR	Cardio pulmonary resuscitation
CVA	Cardiovascular Accident (stroke)
CVC	Central venous catheters
ECG	Electrocardiogram - heart scan
FAB	French American and British classification scheme for leukaemia
FBC	Full Blood Count
G-CSF	Granulocyte colony stimulating factor promotes production of white blood cells
GM-CSF	Granulocyte and macrophage colony stimulating factor
Hb	Haemoglobin
HCL	Hairy Cell Leukaemia
HD	Hodgkin's Disease (lymphoma)
HTLV	Human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus
IV	Intravenous - into a vein
LRF	Leukaemia Research Fund (UK)
LVEF	Left Ventricular Fjection Fraction - a heart function test
LVSF	Left Ventricular Shortening Fraction - a heart function test
MM	Multiple Myeloma
RBC	Red blood cell / red blood count
WBC	White blood cell count
WCC	White cell count

What Are the Organs of the Cardiovascular System?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 23:54:00 +0500

At first glance, the cardiovascular system appears to consist of only a single organ--the heart. This organ is certain a key player in the system; it’s responsible for pumping blood rich in nutrients and oxygen to the body cells, and its pumping action helps return oxygen-deficient blood back to the heart for re-oxygenation at the lungs. However, the heart is not the only organ of the cardiovascular system; other organs synthesize blood, process and clean the blood, and assist in distribution.

Bone Marrow

The primary purpose of the circulatory system--to distribute blood--would be rendered impossible if there were no blood to distribute. As such, the bone marrow, or soft, active tissue found inside the long bones of the body, is a crucial component of this system. Red blood cells, called erythrocytes, are responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues. Dr. Gary Thibodeau notes in his text, “Anatomy and Physiology,” that the erythrocytes are synthesized in bone marrow localized in the ends of long bones. White blood cells, or leukocytes, are also important components of blood, and help to fight infection. They’re made in the marrow localized in smaller ends of bones.

Blood Vessels

The arteries, capillaries, and veins are necessary components of the cardiovascular system as well. These are the vessels designed to carry blood to and from the heart, and their morphology reflects their function. Arteries, which carry blood from the heart, must withstand the force of high-pressure blood. They are muscular and tough. Arteries branch into smaller and smaller vessels the further they get from the heart, eventually branching into the tiny capillaries, which are so narrow that blood can only pass through a single cell at a time. Capillaries have very thin walls, to allow nutrient, waste, and gas exchange between cells outside the vessel and blood inside the vessel. Veins, then, return blood to the heart. Venous blood is at much lower pressure than arterial blood, so veins are not as tough as arteries. They do, however, have one-way valves inside to prevent backflow of blood, notes Dr. Thibodeau.

Heart

The heart is the circulatory system’s pump, and its job is to receive blood from body cells, send that blood to the lungs for oxygenation, receive oxygenated blood back from the lungs, and then send the blood to the body cells once more. To accomplish this without mixing of blood, the heart has two sides. The right side receives blood from the body and sends it out to the lungs, while the left side receives blood from the lungs and sends it out to the body. Since the left side has to push blood through a much longer network of vessels, this side of the heart is much more muscular and much larger than the right side.

Spleen

Located near the top of the abdomen, the spleen is blood storage and cleaning organ. It is filled with cells of the immune system, so as blood passes through, it is checked for pathogens and impurities. In addition, however, the spleen acts as a source of an emergency blood transfusion; if a person is bleeding badly, the spleen contracts and increases blood volume and blood pressure to try to maintain consciousness, notes Dr. Lauralee Sherwood in her book “Human Physiology.” The spleen’s tendency to store large quantities of blood makes it prone to rupture during traumatic injuries, however. Fortunately, it’s a nonessential organ, and ruptured spleens can be removed surgically with no negative long-term consequences.

Function of the Cardiovascular System

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 23:38:00 +0500

It is important to understand the function of the cardiovascular system in order to see how your lifestyle choices affect your heart. It is a very efficient and complex network.

Our very existence relies on the function of the cardiovascular system.

The function of the cardiovascular system is to circulate blood through a network of vessels throughout the body to provide individual cells with oxygen and nutrients and help dispose of metabolic wastes. The oxygen rich blood leaves the heart via the arteries and delivers nutrients and oxygen to the body in exchange for waste and carbon dioxide. The oxygen-depleted blood travels back to the heart via the veins. At the heart the blood acquires more oxygen and makes the journey thought the body again. This is an involuntary network that works 24 hours a day. Here are some of the important functions of the cardiovascular system:

Circulates oxygen and removes carbon dioxide
Provides cells with nutrients
Protects the body against disease and infection
Stops bleeding after injury by clotting
Regulates body temperature.
Removes the waste products
Transports hormones to cells and organs.

Each day the heart beats about 100,000 times and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood. This network exists in conjunction with the pulmonary network - as it is the lungs that supply the oxygen to the heart and eliminates the waste of carbon dioxide.

What are the functions of the cardiovascular system?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 23:21:00 +0500

Best Answer

To name a few

1) supplying oxygen to the body
2) supplying nutrients to the body
3) supplying the wastes to the excretory organs of the body for elimination
4) immunological
5) maintaining body temperature
6) supplying the drugs and medicine to the target organ
7) maintaining the internal body pressure
8) transporting hormones from source gland to the target body part
9) absorption of the digested food from the elementary canal (not lipids & fats)
10) the level of various blood contents is of great significance in diagnosing any deviation of the body functioning from normal, eg. B.urea, B. sugar, etc.

Cardiovascular System Function

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 19:35:00 +0500

The cardiovascular system, the most important of the human body system, consists of organs that are responsible for carrying out many of the important functions. The system consists of organs like the heart, the spleen and the blood vessels that are spread throughout the body. The cardiovascular system is a complex system and understanding its functions will help understand the overall human physiology better.

Functions of the Cardiovascular System

Its functions can be categorized into three main domains: transport, regulation and protection. The organs of the system carry out these functions in coordination with the functions of the other systems for the proper functioning of the body. These are the main functions of the cardiovascular system and they are explained in detail below.

Transport : It transports oxygen from the lungs to the various cells of the body. Its primary function is to transport nutrients from the intestines to the lungs and other parts of the body, and carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs. Hormones from the various endocrine glands and heat from the cells are also transported by this system. Removal of waste products like carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the body is also performed by this system. This function of transport is mainly carried out by the blood and the network of blood vessels present in the system.

Protection : It performs the function of protecting the body and its organs from infection and diseases by providing white blood cells that have the ability to fight against them. Proteins and antibodies required for destroying viruses, bacteria and disease causing germs are also provided by this system to the various parts of the body. Another important function of this system is to protect the body from excessive blood loss through the process of blood clotting during an injury.

Regulation : Another important function is the regulation of the concentration of hydrogen ions (pH) in the body, the body temperature and body heat, and the regulation of the salt and water content of the cells in the body.

Structure

It is important to know and understand the structure of the cardiovascular system to understand its functions better. As mentioned before, it is made up of the heart, the blood vessels, the spleen and blood. Each of these perform individual functions to make the overall functioning of the system possible.

The Heart : The human heart is situated at the center of the chest and is approximately the size of a clenched fist. It performs the function of a muscular pump, wherein it expands and contracts to pump blood into the blood vessels and the rest of your body. it consists of four chambers, the upper two are known as the left and the right atria and the lower two are known as the left and right ventricles. The deoxygenated blood is carried to the right side of the heart which pumps it into the lungs where blood absorbs more oxygen. This oxygenated blood moves to the left side of the heart which pumps it into the blood stream and is carried to the various body parts.

Blood Vessels : There are three different types of blood vessels in the human body, the arteries, the capillaries and the veins. The arteries are of three types, the pulmonary artery, the aorta and the coronary arteries. They perform the function of carrying oxygenated blood from the heart to the other parts of the body, but the pulmonary artery carried deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs. The capillaries carry oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and cells of the body and the veins carry deoxygenated blood from the various organs of the body to the heart.

The Spleen : The spleen is a large organ situated below the diaphragm and performs an important function of storing blood.

By now you must have got an idea of how the cardiovascular system functions. To sum it up, De-oxygenated blood is carried by the veins to the right side of the heart which pumps it into the lungs for oxygen absorption. Once the oxygen has been absorbed, the blood is pumped into the left side of the heart and from here the arteries carry it to the other parts of the body. The capillaries distribute the oxygen and nutrients supplied to them by the arteries and remove waste products from the blood stream.

Now that you know about the functions of the cardiovascular system, it will be easier for you to understand its importance and how essential it is to protect this system from damage. To keep it healthy, it is essential to eat right, exercise and follow a healthy lifestyle.

5 Major Functions of the Cardiovascular System

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 19:16:00 +0500

The cardiovascular system, also known as the circulatory system, is composed of blood, blood vessels and the heart. The heart functions as a pump to move blood through the blood vessels of the body. A circulatory system is essential for large, multi-cellular organisms, such as humans and animals, and provide at least five major functions that are necessary for life.

Transporting Oxygen and Removing Carbon Dioxide

One of the most important functions of the circulatory system is to supply oxygen to all the cells in the body. Every cell in the body requires a constant supply of oxygen to stay alive. Because most of the cells are not in contact with air, the circulatory system must supply them with oxygen.

When a person inhales, air enters the lungs, and oxygen is then absorbed across the membrane of the lungs into the bloodstream. This oxygen-rich blood is pumped through the heart to smaller and smaller blood vessels throughout the body. In the tiniest blood vessels, called capillaries, oxygen diffuses out of blood and into cells. At the same time, carbon dioxide produced by the cells is absorbed back into blood, which then returns to the lungs, releases carbon dioxide and picks up more oxygen.

Transporting Nutrients and Removing Wastes

A second critical function of the circulatory system is to supply all the cells in the body with nutrients and energy. After food is digested in the stomach, it migrates through the intestines, where nutrients from food are absorbed into the bloodstream. The blood also absorbs glucose, an energy source, from the liver, which is the body's glucose distribution center. These nutrients and energy are then transported to all the cells of the body, in a manner similar to the transport of oxygen. Blood also absorbs the waste products made by cells, and transports them to the excretory organs for removal from the body.

Fighting Disease

In addition to nutrients and oxygen, the blood also carries around important disease-fighting cells. The organs of the immune system, such as the spleen, create many types of specialized cells that can kill foreign cells trying to invade the body. The circulatory system is responsible for transporting these cells from the immune system to all other parts of the body.

Transporting Hormones

Hormones are crucial chemical signals that the body uses to communicate with itself. Hormones control many things such as growth, the reproductive cycle and glucose metabolism. Hormones are created in one part of the body, such as the brain or the liver, and then must be transported to another part of the body by the cardiovascular system in order to deliver their message.

Regulating Body Temperature

The cardiovascular system also plays a role in regulating body temperature. If body temperature rises too high, blood vessels close to the skin dilate, increasing in size. The larger surface area of blood vessels close to the skin means more heat is conducted across the skin into the air. Conversely, if body temperature drops, the blood vessels constrict, decreasing in size. The smaller surface area of blood vessels next to the skin causes less heat to be lost across the skin and retains more heat in the body.

References

CencerIndex.org: The Cardiovascular System
Clinton College: Circulatory System
Virginia State Department of Health: Care of the Circulatory System
National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Your Digestive System and How it Words
Georgia State University: Temperature Regulation of the Human Body

Speak in the customer’s language

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:28:00 +0500

If you want to be a bad product manager, have your messaging reflect language that makes sense to you and your competitors. Write down the words which are used during your office meetings and make sure to use those in your press releases and brochures. Look at how your competitors market their product and make sure the words you use are “cooler” and more buzz-worthy.
If you want to be a good product manager, speak in the language your customers use. Speaking in the customers’ language means two things: making sure that your language and approach resonates with the market, and making sure that you are tailoring your marketing effectively to the type of buyer/persona.
If you’ve told family members or friends that you work in marketing, you may have received responses of chuckles and eye rolls. Have they followed up with jokes about “paradigm” and “synergy” and “world class”? Their reaction is understandable, given the sheer amount of bad product marketing that is out there in the world. Bad marketing gives marketers a bad name, but good marketing can improve the impression of marketers by increasing overall marketing effectiveness and driving companies’ success and revenues.
Too often websites, brochures, and other marketing materials are filled with jargon that only makes sense to people within the company or to industry insiders. Sure, your whole product development team might know what the acronym means, but does the customer? Does a “scalable, best-of-breed cloud-based framework leveraging cutting-edge XYZ technology” mean anything to your buyer (or even your sales team, for that matter)?
Customers don’t care about features, they care about benefits. They don’t care about whether your solution is “built on the newest JRE platform” or not, so long as it “works on all devices.” Saying that your product “addresses key government regulations” is much clearer — and more concise — than listing a handful of acronyms.
Not only do you need to talk about benefits in language the reader will understand, you also need to think about the target reader(s). For most products — especially those in business-to-business markets — there is not a single individual “customer,” and you need to address those buyer personas differently. With an enterprise IT purchase, for example, the IT manager deciding which product fits the organization’s needs the best is going to have different questions, concerns, and lingo than the finance manager approving the expenditure. In that case, the IT buyer may really want to know about the technical jargon, while the finance buyer may be more concerned about long-term maintenance costs and licensing terms.
When you address the right buyer in their terminology, it allows them to determine better whether the product addresses their needs and allows you to overcome any potential hurdles they may have in the purchase process. There are few things worse than convincing several key stakeholders that you have the right solution for them, only to be hung up on one required approver because your messaging didn’t speak their language.
The most ineffective product marketing is filled with internal jargon, overused hyperbole, and targets the wrong audience. The best product marketing connects with the customer by speaking in terms which they understand and which resonate with their needs.
By understanding the language your buyers use, and understanding the differences between your different buyer personas, you’ll not only make your marketing much more effective, but your company revenues may grow dramatically. Plus, as a side benefit, you just may change the reaction you get from family and friends.

SWOT analysis method and examples, with free SWOT template

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 13:33:00 +0500

The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Information about the origins and inventors of SWOT analysis is below. The SWOT analysis headings provide a good framework for reviewing strategy, position and direction of a company or business proposition, or any other idea.

Completing a SWOT analysis is very simple, and is a good subject for workshop sessions. SWOT analysis also works well in brainstorming meetings.

Use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, marketing, business and product development and research reports. You can also use SWOT analysis exercises for team building games.

Note that SWOT analysis is often interpreted and used as a SWOT Analysis 2x2 Matrix, especially in business and marketing planning.

In addition to this 2x2 matrix method, SWOT analysis is also a widely recognized method for gathering, structuring, presenting and reviewing extensive planning data within a larger business or project planning process.

See also PEST analysis, which measures a business's market and potential according to external factors; Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It is often helpful to complete a PEST analysis prior to a SWOT analysis. In other situations it may be more useful to complete a PEST analysis as part of, or after, a SWOT analysis. See also Porter's Five Forces model, which is used to analyse competitive position.

Please note: If you use SWOT Analysis as a 2x2 matrix method , then technically Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors (generally the case anyway), whereas Opportunities and Threats are external factors (this can be more difficult, since it requires you to ignore internal threats and opportunities). The SWOT 2x2 'internal/external' matrix method thus only considers external threats and opportunities.

As a more general guide, here is a free SWOT analysis template worksheet (doc file), and the same free SWOT analysis tool (pdf format).

If you have difficulty opening the above doc file here are two other formats:

SWOT Analysis Template doc file using table format instead of text-boxes (portrait layout)
SWOT Analysis Template doc for Apple Mac (thanks U Weissbach)

A SWOT analysis measures a business unit, a proposition or idea; a PEST analysis measures a market.

A SWOT analysis is a subjective assessment of data which is organized by the SWOT format into a logical order that helps understanding, presentation, discussion and decision-making. The four dimensions are a useful extension of a basic two heading list of pro's and con's .

SWOT analysis can be used for all sorts of decision-making, and the SWOT template enables proactive thinking, rather than relying on habitual or instinctive reactions.

The SWOT analysis template is normally presented as a grid, comprising four sections, one for each of the SWOT headings: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The free SWOT template below includes sample questions, whose answers are inserted into the relevant section of the SWOT grid. The questions are examples, or discussion points, and obviously can be altered depending on the subject of the SWOT analysis. Note that many of the SWOT questions are also talking points for other headings - use them as you find most helpful, and make up your own to suit the issue being analysed. It is important to clearly identify the subject of a SWOT analysis, because a SWOT analysis is a perspective of one thing, be it a company, a product, a proposition, and idea, a method, or option, etc.

SWOT analysis is commonly presented and developed into a 2x2 matrix, which is shown and explained within the SWOT analysis matrix section.

swot analysis matrix - in business/marketing - internal v external factors

Modern SWOT analysis in business and marketing situations is normally structured so that a 2x2 matrix grid can be produced, according to two pairs of dimensions.

Strengths and Weaknesses, are 'mapped' or 'graphed' against Opportunities and Threats.

To enable this to happen cleanly and clearly, and from a logical point of view anyway when completing a SWOT analysis in most business and marketing situations, Strengths and Weaknesses are regarded distinctly as internal factors, whereas Opportunities and Threats are regarded distinctly as external factors.

Here is the explanation in more detail:

Strengths and Weaknesses	the internal environment - the situation inside the company or organization	for example, factors relating to products, pricing, costs, profitability, performance, quality, people, skills, adaptability, brands, services, reputation, processes, infrastructure, etc.	factors tend to be in the present
Opportunities and Threats	the external environment - the situation outside the company or organization	for example, factors relating to markets, sectors, audience, fashion, seasonality, trends, competition, economics, politics, society, culture, technology, environmental, media, law, etc.	factors tend to be in the future

swot matrix (2x2 matrix using internal/external categories)

Here is a typical extension of the basic SWOT analysis grid into a useful 'action-based' 2x2 SWOT matrix.

The SWOT analysis in this format acts as a quick decision-making tool, quite aside from the more detailed data that would typically be fed into business planning process for each of the SWOT factors.

Here the 2x2 matrix model automatically suggests actions for issues arising from the SWOT analysis, according to four different categories:

	strengths (internal)	weaknesses (internal)
opportunities (external)	strengths/opportunities obvious natural priorities Likely to produce greatest ROI (Return On Investment) Likely to be quickest and easiest to implement. Probably justifying immediate action-planning or feasibility study. Executive question: "If we are not already looking at these areas and prioritising them, then why not?"	weaknesses/opportunities potentially attractive options Likely to produce good returns if capability and implementation are viable. Potentially more exciting and stimulating and rewarding than S/O due to change, challenge, surprise tactics, and benefits from addressing and achieving improvements. Executive questions: "What's actually stopping us doing these things, provided they truly fit strategically and are realistic and substantial?"
threats (external)	strengths/threats easy to defend and counter Only basic awareness, planning, and implementation required to meet these challenges. Investment in these issues is generally safe and necessary. Executive question: "Are we properly informed and organized to deal with these issues, and are we certain there are no hidden surprises?" - and - "Since we are strong here, can any of these threats be turned into opportunities?"	weaknesses/threats potentially high risk Assessment of risk crucial. Where risk is low then we must ignore these issues and not be distracted by them. Where risk is high we must assess capability gaps and plan to defend/avert in very specific controlled ways. Executive question: "Have we accurately assessed the risks of these issues, and where the risks are high do we have specific controlled reliable plans to avoid/avert/defend?"

N.B. SWOT analysis is a very flexible tool. Its use is not restricted to business and marketing. Be mindful that when SWOT is used in situations outside of business and marketing, strict categorization of the SWOT dimensions (according to 'internal' and 'external' factors) can be limiting, and so a more open interpretation of the model can be helpful in such circumstances, especially when assessing Opportunities and Threats.

Also be mindful that if using the SWOT analysis model only as a 2x2 matrix, which assumes the categorization of internal and external factors (and notably limiting the assessment of threats and opportunities to external factors only), that it is very easy then to miss certain threats and opportunities that can exist (internally) within the company/organization. Some internal threats and opportunities can be substantial, for example, opportunities such as: energy-saving, process-improvement, training, advertising, or discontinuing loss-making products, or threats such as: desertion or key staff, the loss of major contracts, to name just a couple of typically ever-present threats within large commercial corporations.

Be mindful therefore that the 'simplified' SWOT 2x2 matrix 'internal/external' method is not a reliable tool alone for identifying all threats and opportunities within organizations, or indeed any other situation.

You will note from the origins of SWOT analysis below that the methodology did not begin, and was not operated as the simple 2x2 'internal/external' matrix that we commonly see today. Particularly, the original application of the model did not restrict threats and opportunities to just external factors. Instead, six key aspects of the business in question (namely: product, process, customer, distribution, finance, admin) were each assessed using the SWOT model. Each aspect was considered according to all four SWOT elements. Thus today when we apply the SWOT model to an entire business, if we disregard internal threats and opportunities, so the analysis can exclude some potentially serious issues.

swot analysis - different applications

SWOT analysis is a powerful model for many different situations. The SWOT tool is not just for business and marketing. Here are some examples of what a SWOT analysis can be used to assess:

a company (its position in the market, commercial viability, etc)
a method of sales distribution
a product or brand
a business idea
a strategic option, such as entering a new market or launching a new product
a opportunity to make an acquisition
a potential partnership
changing a supplier
outsourcing a service, activity or resource
project planning and project management
an investment opportunity
personal financial planning
personal career development - direction, choice, change, etc.
education and qualifications planning and decision-making
life-change - downshifting, relocation,
relationships, perhaps even family planning?..

Whatever the application, be sure to describe the subject (or purpose or question) for the SWOT analysis clearly so you remain focused on the central issue. This is especially crucial when others are involved in the process. People contributing to the analysis and seeing the finished SWOT analysis must be able to understand properly the purpose of the SWOT assessment and the implications arising.

SWOT analysis template

Here is a larger illustration of SWOT analysis.

Note that this format is not presented or proposed as a 2x2 'internal/external' matrix; it's a more open demonstration of the sorts of issues and questions which can be addressed when using the SWOT format as part of business planning and decision-making.

Subject of SWOT analysis: (define the subject of the analysis here)

strengths

Advantages of proposition?
Capabilities?
Competitive advantages?
USP's (unique selling points)?
Resources, Assets, People?
Experience, knowledge, data?
Financial reserves, likely returns?
Marketing - reach, distribution, awareness?
Innovative aspects?
Location and geographical?
Price, value, quality?
Accreditations, qualifications, certifications?
Processes, systems, IT, communications?
Cultural, attitudinal, behavioural?
Management cover, succession?

weaknesses

Disadvantages of proposition?
Gaps in capabilities?
Lack of competitive strength?
Reputation, presence and reach?
Financials?
Own known vulnerabilities?
Timescales, deadlines and pressures?
Cashflow, start-up cash-drain?
Continuity, supply chain robustness?
Effects on core activities, distraction?
Reliability of data, plan predictability?
Morale, commitment, leadership?
Accreditations, etc?
Processes and systems, etc?
Management cover, succession?

opportunities

Market developments?
Competitors' vulnerabilities?
Industry or lifestyle trends?
Technology development and innovation?
Global influences?
New markets, vertical, horizontal?
Niche target markets?
Geographical, export, import?
Market need for new USP's?
Market response to tactics, e.g., surprise?
Major contracts, tenders?
Business and product development?
Information and research?
Partnerships, agencies, distribution?
Market volume demand trends?
Seasonal, weather, fashion influences?

threats

Political effects?
Legislative effects?
Environmental effects?
IT developments?
Competitor intentions - various?
Market demand?
New technologies, services, ideas?
Vital contracts and partners?
Obstacles faced?
Insurmountable weaknesses?
Employment market?
Financial and credit pressures?
Economy - home, abroad?
Seasonality, weather effects?

free SWOT analysis template worksheet version (doc file)

swot analysis example

This SWOT analysis example is based on an imaginary situation. The scenario is based on a business-to-business manufacturing company, who historically rely on distributors to take their products to the end user market. The opportunity, and therefore the subject for the SWOT analysis, is for the manufacturer to create a new company of its own to distribute its products direct to certain end-user sectors, which are not being covered or developed by its normal distributors.

Subject of SWOT analysis example: the creation of own distributor company to access new end-user sectors not currently being developed.

strengths

End-user sales control and direction.
Right products, quality and reliability.
Superior product performance vs competitors.
Better product life and durability.
Spare manufacturing capacity.
Some staff have experience of end-user sector.
Have customer lists.
Direct delivery capability.
Product innovations ongoing.
Can serve from existing sites.
Products have required accreditations.
Processes and IT should cope.
Management is committed and confident.

weaknesses

Customer lists not tested.
Some gaps in range for certain sectors.
We would be a small player.
No direct marketing experience.
We cannot supply end-users abroad.
Need more sales people.
Limited budget.
No pilot or trial done yet.
Don't have a detailed plan yet.
Delivery-staff need training.
Customer service staff need training.
Processes and systems, etc
Management cover insufficient.

opportunities

Could develop new products.
Local competitors have poor products.
Profit margins will be good.
End-users respond to new ideas.
Could extend to overseas.
New specialist applications.
Can surprise competitors.
Support core business economies.
Could seek better supplier deals.

threats

Legislation could impact.
Environmental effects would favour larger competitors.
Existing core business distribution risk.
Market demand very seasonal.
Retention of key staff critical.
Could distract from core business.
Possible negative publicity.
Vulnerable to reactive attack by major competitors.

See also the PEST analysis template and method, which measures a business according to external factors; Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It is often helpful to complete a PEST analysis prior to competing a SWOT analysis.

more on the difference and relationship between PEST and SWOT

There is some overlap between PEST and SWOT. Similar factors appear in each. That said, PEST and SWOT are certainly two different perspectives:

PEST tends to assess a market, including competitors, from the standpoint of a particular proposition or a business.

SWOT in business and marketing tends to be an assessment of a business or a proposition, whether it is your own business or (less commonly) a competitor's business or proposition.

Strategic planning is not a precise science - no tool is mandatory - it's a matter of pragmatic choice as to what helps best to identify and explain the issues.

PEST analysis may useful before SWOT analysis where it helps to identify SWOT factors. Alternatively PEST analysis may be incorporated within a SWOT analysis, to achieve the same effect.

PEST becomes more useful and relevant the larger and more complex the business or proposition, but even for a very small local businesses a PEST analysis can still throw up one or two very significant issues that might otherwise be missed.

The four quadrants in PEST vary in significance depending on the type of business, for example, social factors are more obviously relevant to consumer businesses or a B2B (business-to-business) organization close to the consumer-end of the supply chain, whereas political factors are more obviously relevant to a global munitions supplier or aerosol propellant manufacturer.

All businesses benefit from a SWOT analysis, and all businesses benefit from completing a SWOT analysis of their main competitors, which interestingly can then provide useful points back into the economic aspects of the PEST analysis.

swot analysis history - the origins of the SWOT analysis model

This remarkable piece of history as to the origins of SWOT analysis was provided by Albert S Humphrey, one of the founding fathers of what we know today as SWOT analysis. I am indebted to him for sharing this fascinating contribution. Albert Humphrey died on 31 October 2005. He was one of the good guys.

SWOT analysis came from the research conducted at Stanford Research Institute from 1960-1970. The background to SWOT stemmed from the need to find out why corporate planning failed. The research was funded by the fortune 500 companies to find out what could be done about this failure. The Research Team were Marion Dosher, Dr Otis Benepe, Albert Humphrey, Robert Stewart, Birger Lie.

It all began with the corporate planning trend, which seemed to appear first at Du Pont in 1949. By 1960 every Fortune 500 company had a 'corporate planning manager' (or equivalent) and 'associations of long range corporate planners' had sprung up in both the USA and the UK.

However a unanimous opinion developed in all of these companies that corporate planning in the shape of long range planning was not working, did not pay off, and was an expensive investment in futility.

It was widely held that managing change and setting realistic objectives which carry the conviction of those responsible was difficult and often resulted in questionable compromises.

The fact remained, despite the corporate and long range planners, that the one and only missing link was how to get the management team agreed and committed to a comprehensive set of action programmes.

To create this link, starting in 1960, Robert F Stewart at SRI in Menlo Park California lead a research team to discover what was going wrong with corporate planning, and then to find some sort of solution, or to create a system for enabling management teams agreed and committed to development work, which today we call 'managing change'.

The research carried on from 1960 through 1969. 1100 companies and organizations were interviewed and a 250-item questionnaire was designed and completed by over 5,000 executives. Seven key findings lead to the conclusion that in corporations chief executive should be the chief planner and that his immediate functional directors should be the planning team. Dr Otis Benepe defined the 'Chain of Logic' which became the core of system designed to fix the link for obtaining agreement and commitment.

Values
Appraise
Motivation
Search
Select
Programme
Act
Monitor and repeat steps 1 2 and 3

We discovered that we could not change the values of the team nor set the objectives for the team so we started as the first step by asking the appraisal question, for example, what's good and bad about the operation. We began the system by asking what is good and bad about the present and the future. What is good in the present is Satisfactory, good in the future is an Opportunity; bad in the present is a Fault and bad in the future is a Threat. This was called the SOFT analysis.

When this was presented to Urick and Orr in 1964 at the Seminar in Long Range Planning at the Dolder Grand in Zurich Switzerland they changed the F to a W and called it SWOT Analysis.

SWOT was then promoted in Britain by Urick and Orr as an exercise in and of itself. As such it has no benefit. What was necessary was the sorting of the issues into the programme planning categories of:

Product (what are we selling?)
Process (how are we selling it?)
Customer (to whom are we selling it?)
Distribution (how does it reach them?)
Finance (what are the prices, costs and investments?)
Administration (and how do we manage all this?)

The second step then becomes 'what shall the team do' about the issues in each of these categories. The planning process was then designed through trial and error and resulted finally in a 17 step process beginning with SOFT/SWOT with each issue recorded separately on a single page called a planning issue.

The first prototype was tested and published in 1966 based on the work done at 'Erie Technological Corp' in Erie Pa. In 1970 the prototype was brought to the UK, under the sponsorship of W H Smith & Sons plc, and completed by 1973. The operational programme was used to merge the CWS milling and baking operations with those of J W French Ltd.

The process has been used successfully ever since. By 2004, now, this system has been fully developed, and proven to cope with today's problems of setting and agreeing realistic annual objectives without depending on outside consultants or expensive staff resources.

the seven key research findings

The key findings were never published because it was felt they were too controversial. This is what was found:

1) A business was divided into two parts. The base business plus the development business. This was re-discovered by Dr Peter Senge at MIT in 1998 and published in his book the Fifth Discipline (not '5th Dimension' as previously stated here - thanks J Hoffman for this correction, 28 Jan 2011). The amount of development business which become operational is equal to or greater than that business on the books within a period of 5 to 7 years. This was a major surprise and urged the need for discovering a better method for planning and managing change.

2) Dr Hal Eyring published his findings on 'Distributive Justice' and pointed out that all people measure what they get from their work and divide it by what they give to the work and this ratio is compared to others. If it is not equal then the person first re-perceives and secondly slows down if added demands are not met. (See for interest Adams Equity Theory and the Equity Theory Diagram pdf)

3) The introduction of a corporate planner upset the sense of fair play at senior level, making the job of the corporate planner impossible.

4) The gap between what could be done by the organisation and what was actually done was about 35%.

5) The senior man will over-supervise the area he comes from. Finance- Finance, Engineering-Engineering etc.

6) There are 3 factors which separate excellence from mediocrity:

a. Overt attention to purchasing

b. Short-term written down departmental plans for improvement

c. Continued education of the Senior Executive

7) Some form of formal documentation is required to obtain approval for development work. In short we could not solve the problem by stopping planning.

in conclusion

By sorting the SWOT issues into the 6 planning categories one can obtain a system which presents a practical way of assimilating the internal and external information about the business unit, delineating short and long term priorities, and allowing an easy way to build the management team which can achieve the objectives of profit growth.

This approach captures the collective agreement and commitment of those who will ultimately have to do the work of meeting or exceeding the objectives finally set. It permits the team leader to define and develop co-ordinated, goal-directed actions, which underpin the overall agreed objectives between levels of the business hierarchy.

Albert S Humphrey
August 2004

translating SWOT issues into actions under the six categories

Albert Humphrey advocated that the six categories:

Product (what are we selling?)
Process (how are we selling it?)
Customer (to whom are we selling it?)
Distribution (how does it reach them?)
Finance (what are the prices, costs and investments?)
Administration (and how do we manage all this?)

provide a framework by which SWOT issues can be developed into actions and managed using teams.

This can be something of a 'leap', and so the stage warrants further explanation. Translating the SWOT issues into actions, are best sorted into (or if necessary broken down into) the six categories, because in the context of the way that business and organizations work, this makes them more quantifiable and measurable, responsible teams more accountable, and therefore the activities more manageable. The other pivotal part in the process is of course achieving the commitment from the team(s) involved, which is partly explained in the item summarising Humphrey's TAM® model and process.

As far as identifying actions from SWOT issues is concerned, it all very much depends on your reasons and aims for using SWOT, and also your authority/ability to manage others, whom by implication of SWOT's breadth and depth, are likely to be involved in the agreement and delivery of actions.

Depending on pretext and situation, a SWOT analysis can produce issues which very readily translate into (one of the six) category actions, or a SWOT analysis can produce issues which overlay a number of categories. Or a mixture. Whatever, SWOT essentially tells you what is good and bad about a business or a particular proposition. If it's a business, and the aim is to improve it, then work on translating:

strengths (maintain, build and leverage),
opportunities (prioritise and optimise),
weaknesses (remedy or exit),
threats (counter)

into actions (each within one of the six categories) that can be agreed and owned by a team or number of teams.

If the SWOT analysis is being used to assess a proposition, then it could be that the analysis shows that the proposition is too weak (especially if compared with other SWOT's for alternative propositions) to warrant further investment, in which case further action planning, other than exit, is not required.

If the proposition is clearly strong (presumably you will have indicated this using other methods as well), then proceed as for a business, and translate issues into category actions with suitable ownership by team(s).

This is my understanding of Albert Humphrey's theory relating to developing SWOT issues into organizational change actions and accountabilities. (I'm pleased to say that Albert kindly confirmed that this is indeed correct.)

There are other ways of applying SWOT of course, depending on your circumstances and aims, for instance if concentrating on a department rather than a whole business, then it could make sense to revise the six categories to reflect the functional parts of the department, or whatever will enable the issues to be translatable into manageable, accountable and owned aims.

SWOT Analysis - POWER SWOT

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 13:12:00 +0500

Marketing Teacher's Approach to SWOT Analysis.

Why is there a need for an advanced approach to SWOT Analysis?

SWOT analysis is a marketing audit that considers an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Our introductory lesson gives you the basics of how to complete your SWOT as you begin to learn about marketing tools. As you learn more about SWOT analysis, you will become aware of a number of potential limitations with this popular tool. This lesson aims to help you overcome potential pitfalls.

Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. its flexibility. Since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. However this can lead to a number of anomalies. Problems with basic SWOT analysis can be addressed using a more critical

POWER SWOT. POWER is an acronym for Personal experience, Order, Weighting, Emphasize detail, and Rank and prioritize. This is how it works.

P = Personal experience.

How do you the marketing manger fit in relation with the SWOT analysis? You bring your experiences, skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs to the audit. Your perception or simple gut feeling will impact the SWOT.

O = Order - strengths or weaknesses, opportunities or threats.

Often marketing managers will inadvertently reverse opportunities and strengths, and threats and weaknesses. This is because the line between internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats is sometimes difficult to spot. For example, in relation to global warming and climate change, one could mistake environmentalism as a threat rather than a potential opportunity.

W = Weighting.

Too often elements of a SWOT analysis are not weighted. Naturally some points will be more controversial than others. So weight the factors. One way would be to use percentages e.g. Threat A = 10%, Threat B = 70%, and Threat C = 20% (they total 100%).

E = Emphasize detail.

Detail, reasoning and justification are often omitted from the SWOT analysis. What one tends to find is that the analysis contains lists of single words. For example, under opportunities one might find the term 'Technology.' This single word does not tell a reader very much. What is really meant is:

'Technology enables marketers to communicate via mobile devices close to the point of purchase. This provides the opportunity of a distinct competitive advantage for our company.'

This will greatly assist you when deciding upon how best to score and weight each element.

R = Rank and prioritize.

Once detail has been added, and factors have been reviewed for weighting, you can then progress to give the SWOT analysis some strategic meaning i.e. you can begin to select those factors that will most greatly influence your marketing strategy albeit a mix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Essentially you rank them highest to lowest, and then prioritize those with the highest rank e.g. Where Opportunity C = 60%, Opportunity A = 25%, and Opportunity B = 10% - your marketing plan would address Opportunity C first, and Opportunity B last. It is important to address opportunities primarily since your business should be market oriented. Then match strengths to opportunities and look for a fit. Address any gaps between current strengths and future opportunities. Finally attempt to rephrase threats as opportunities (as with global warming and climate change above), and address weaknesses so that they become strengths. Gap analysis would be useful at this point i.e. where we are now, and where do we want to be? Strategies would bridge the gap between them.

History of SWOT Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0500

by Tim Friesner

Having arrived on this page you have probably surfed the Internet and scoured books and journals in search of the history of SWOT Analysis. The simple answer to the question What is SWOT? is that there is no simple answer, and one needs to demonstrate a little academic wisdom in that nobody took the trouble to write the first definitive journal paper or book that announced the birth of SWOT Analysis.

There are a number of contrasting, if not contradictory views on the origin of SWOT. Here are a few of the leading thinkers on the topic (and if you have more please let us know so that we can add them).

Stanford University’s Albert Humphrey led a research project in the 1960s-1970s based upon the United States’ Fortune 500. Humphrey lead a research project which ultimately developed his Team Action Model (TAM) which is a management concept that enables groups of executives to manage change. SWOT was to have originated from his ‘Stakeholders Concept and SWOT Analysis.’ However, if one proceeds to find out more about the author in academic libraries there is nothing accredited to him. It is unusual for such a prolifically cited piece of research not to have an original definitive publication as its centrepiece. The TAM approach is one of a number that are used by trainers around the World, although for us the crediting to Humphrey as the creator of SWOT cannot be supported.

King (2004) also recognised that it was tricky to track down the origins of the acronym SWOT. He cites Haberberg (2000) as stating that SWOT was a concept used by Harvard academics in the 1960s, and Turner (2002) attributing SWOT to Igor Ansoff (1987), of Ansoff’s Matrix fame. Koch (2000) considered the contributions of Weihrich (1982), Dealtry (1992) and Wheelan and Hunger (1998). Again whilst these are the commonly accepted views of thinkers on the topic of SWOT, even the common observer would recognise that Weihrich (1982) was not the originator of the concept but rather an innovator of it. As Koch (2004) comments he recognised that a series of SWOT/TOWS analyses had the advantages of a single arbitrary matrix. Wheelan and Hunger (1998) used SWOT to look for gaps and matches between competences and resources and the business environment. Dealtry (1992) considered SWOT in terms or groups and vectors with common themes and interactions. Shinno et al (2006) amalgamated SWOT analysis with an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which ranked and prioritised each element using software. Shinno et al (2006) do not really deal with the obvious limitations of SWOT (see our SWOT lesson for a refresher).

A refocusing of SWOT was offered by Panagiotou (2003). He introduces a TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS strategic framework which in effect maps strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats against his suggested acronym - TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS. So, for example T = technological advancements, E= economic considerations, L = legal and regulatory requirements, etc. The most useful aspect of Panagiotou’s article is that not only does he recognise the difficulty in finding the origins of SWOT, but he also manages to unearth some interesting alternatives. In contrast to crediting the tool to Stanford University’s Albert Humphrey, SWOT is credited to two Harvard Business School Policy Unit professors – George Albert Smith Jr and C Roland Christiensen during the early 1950s. Later in the 1950s another HBS Policy Unit professor Kenneth Andrews developed its usage and application. All professors were specialists in organizational strategy as opposed to marketing. SWOT went on to be developed by the HBS during the 1960s until SWOT became the tool that we use today.

Again despite their interest in the concept of SWOT Analysis, none of these respected authors actually cite its origins. It may be that SWOT’s origins have been forgotten and are confined to the corner of the library labelled ‘folklore.’ It may be that SWOT originated in a number of places, or became common place in the training rooms of corporate America in the 1950s and 1960s. One thing is true and that is if you conduct your own review of the literature on SWOT that there is no obvious history of thinking on the topic i.e. that it has no documented epistemology. In this case – marketing student beware! Web based searches proclaim to have an answer to What is SWOT? but they do not. They perpetuate plagiarised views. There is no documented history of SWOT – that is the answer!

Tim Friesner is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom

SWOT References

Ansoff, H.I. (1987), Corporate Strategy, revised edition, Penguin Books.

Brooksbank, R (1996) The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business, Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol 14, 4, P 16-23.

Dealtry, R. (1992) Dynamic SWOT Analysis, DSA Associates, Birmingham, Haberberg, A. (2000), "Swatting SWOT", Strategy, (Strategic Planning Society), September.

Hill, T. & R. Westbrook (1997), “SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall,” Long Range Planning, 30, No. 1, 46-52.

King R.K. (2004), ENHANCING SWOT ANALYSIS USING TRIZ AND THE BIPOLAR CONFLICT GRAPH: A Case Study on the Microsoft Corporation, Proceedings of TRIZCON2004, 6th Annual Altshuller Institute.

Koch, A.J. (2000), SWOT Deos Not Need to be Recalled: It Needs to be Enhanced, http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2001/swot2.htm - accessed 15th September 2008.

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung, Andrew Sai On Ko (2000), Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria, Managerial Auditing Journal Vol 15 (8), pp407-423.

Menon, A. et al. (1999), “Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making,” Journal of Marketing, 63, 18-40.

Piercy, N. and Giles, W. (1989) Making SWOT Analysis Work Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol 7, Issue 5/6, P 5-7.

Panagiotou, G. (2003) Bringing SWOT into Focus, Business Strategy Review, Vol 14, Issue 2, pp8-10.

Shinno, H., Yoshioka, S., Marpaung, S., and Hachiga, S. (2006), Qualitative SWOT analysis on the global competiveness of machine tool industry, Journal of Engineering Design, Vol 17, No.3, June 2006, pp251-258.

Tiles, S. (1968), Making Strategy Explicit, in I. Ansoff (ed), Business Strategy, Penguin. Turner, S. (2002), Tools for Success: A Manager’s Guide. London: McGraw-Hill.

Valentin, E.K. (2001), SWOT analysis from a resource-based view - journal of marketing theory and practice, 9(2): 54-68.

Wheelan, T.L. and Hunger, J.D. (1998), Strategic Management and Business Policy, 5th Edition, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

Weihrich, H. (1982). The Tows Matrix – a Tool for Situational Analysis, Long Range Planning, April (60).

Marketing Acronyms and Terms

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:40:00 +0500

by John

As you explore the world of marketing—and especially online marketing—you will inevitably run across an alphabet soup of acronyms, terms, phrases and other jargon that you will need to decipher. Most seasoned marketers throw these terms around with ease and confidence, forgetting that up-and-coming marketers may not be as familiar with them. And most junior marketers are unwilling to admit they are in the dark about terminology, so they suffer in silence. To help new marketers decipher this alphabet soup of terminology, and refresh senior marketers’ memories of what the terms actually mean, I’ve put together a list of some acronyms and terms below. Of course this is not meant as an exhaustive list, so feel free to add some of your own terms in the comment section.

Glossary of Marketing Terms

Above the fold: Refers to any information or content that appears at the top of a web page or other marketing piece. The point of origin for this phrase comes from newspapers, and it referred to content above the fold running through the middle of the page.

Adsense: Google’s contextual advertising program. You can incorporate Adsense into your own site to generate advertising revenue.

Adwords: Google’s Pay Per Click advertising program. You can use this program to advertising your offering and drive traffic to your site.

Affiliate: Someone who resells a company’s product/services. Affiliates typically do not handle the product/service, but rather help in the advertising. Affiliates are typically paid for every buyer (completes a transaction) they refer to a company’s website. Software programs track every visitor and every sale, allowing affiliate a way to track their progress online.

Alt Text: Also known as alternative text, Alt Text is text used to describe images and links in the HTML code of a webpage or email. If someone has the images turned off in their web browser, alt text that will appear in place of the image. (Also referred to as Tool Tips.)

B2B: Business to Business. Refers to a business marketing to another business, rather than directly to consumers.

B2C: Business to Consumer. Refers to businesses marketing directly to end-user consumers.

B2G: Business to Government. Refers to businesses marketing to government entities and/or agencies (federal, state and local). Similar to B2B marketing, but may involve a more bureaucratic sales process and several layers of approvals.

Backlinks: Links on other sites/pages that refer back to your site/page. Backlinks from sites, especially highly ranked and trafficked sites, help your own page rank and drive traffic to your site.

Below the Fold: Any content that appears at the bottom of a webpage, requiring the user to scroll down, or at the bottom of a marketing piece.

CMS: Content Management System. A program or application that allows non-technical users edit, update, maintain and create a websites, webpages and content using built-in templates.

Contextual Advertising: Online ads targeted directly toward the individual user visiting a web page. Contextual advertising systems scan the content of a site/webpage, determine what the page is about, and then display topical ads related to the content.

Cookie: A unique code or file automatically embedded within a visitor’s web browser. A cookie allows a website to track that visitor during his current visit and any subsequent visits.

CPA: Cost Per Action/Acquisition. Cost an advertiser incurs for each specific action a visitor takes in response to an ad. This commonly includes subscribing to a newsletter, requesting a free trial, requesting more information of a sales-call follow-up, or even making a purchase. It doesn’t matter how many people see your ad or click on it. You pay for the number of people who complete the action you determine, leading to an acquisition. (Sometimes referred to as PPA, Pay Per Action/Acquisition.)

CPC: Cost Per Click. This is the cost to an advertiser for each click on a link by a site visitor, search engine user or even a newsletter reader. Many search networks/engines, such as Google, use this model to generate revenue from advertisers. With this setup, you only pay a set cost for every click recorded, regardless of the number impressions. (Sometimes referred to as PPC, Pay Per Click.)

CPL: Cost Per Lead. This is usually an internally defined metric that measures the marketing expenditure needed to obtain each new sales lead. Comparing CPL between marketing activities is a good way to gauge the effectiveness of how you are dedicating resources. (Sometimes referred to as PPL, Pay Per Lead.)

CPM: Cost Per Mille (Thousand). This is the amount charged for every 1,000 impressions of an ad. With this model, you pay a set price for every 1,000 impressions, regardless of how many clicks are recorded. (Sometimes referred to as PPM, Pay Per Mille.)

CPS: Cost Per Sale. This is a broad internal metric generated by dividing costs (usually marketing related) by sales revenue generated to determine the cost to make each sale. This metric is great at determining the effectiveness and efficiency of your sales process.

CR: Conversion Rate/Ratio. The percentage of prospects who complete a desired action (make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.). Usually the higher the CR, the better.

CRM: Customer Relationship Management/Manager. Involves improving customer interactions by better understanding their needs and wants, as well as their history and behaviors. Also sometimes refers to software or systems that track customer interactions with the aim of increasing sales, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (and therefore increasing profits).

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets. Used in conjunction with (and sometimes in place of) HTML to render webpages and emails. CSS helps make designs more flexible and can result in reduced HTML file sizes.

CTR: Click-Through Rate/Ratio. Percentage of visitors/users who click on a link.

Cyber Squatting: A practice of registering a domain name with the sole intent of selling it to someone else who may actually want to use the domain for a website. Some cyber squatters register domain names of known or new trademarks, hoping to sell those domain names to the trademark owner. Others simply register many domain names using commonly used words and terms at a very low cost, and then wait for someone to buy it.

Dead Link: A link that no longer works.

DM: Direct Marketing. A type of advertising meant to elicit an action (place an order, visit a store/website, request further information) in response to a communication from the marketer. The communication itself could be in a variety of formats, including traditional mail, telemarketing, e-mail, infomercials and point-of-sale (POS) displays. Customer response to the campaign is usually measurable. (Also referred to as Direct Mail or Direct Response.)

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions. Often used as the webpage title of answers to commonly asked questions about an offering or company.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the set of symbols/codes/tags that tell a browser how to display content on the web.

IM: Instant Messaging. A communication vehicle that enables a kind of private chat room with another individual or group in real time. It’s similar to a telephone conversation but uses text-based communication.

POS: Point of Sale. A place where a sale is made. Commonly a business, place or display where an offering can be purchased. (Also called Point of Purchase.)

PR: Page Rank. An assessment by a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, of a website’s or webpage’s relevance to a specific term/subject and possibly its popularity

PR: Press Release. A public relations announcement about a product, service or company issued to the news media and other targeted recipients for the purpose of drawing public attention to the subject and letting the public know of new developments. (Also called a News Release.)

PV: Page View. A measure of each time a user visits a webpage. (Also written Pageview.)

ROI: Return on Investment. This refers to how much profit is made after all applicable costs have been accounted for. ROI can be calculated for a business as a whole, or it can be calculated for specific activities, divisions, etc. From a marketing perspective, this is a commonly used metric that gauges the effectiveness of a marketing campaign.

RON: Run of Network. This is an arrangement with an ad network to have your ad placed throughout all websites within the network. Ad networks are basically a collection of websites that provide ad space. Websites join ad networks to sell ad space because they do not enjoy the economies of scale networks do in dealing with ad sales, metrics, reporting, customer service, etc., to their advertisers. Instead they contract their ad space to a network. Often RON is cheaper than having your ad placed on selected sites.

ROS: Run of Site. Similar to ROS, but ads rotate across the pages of a single site instead of an entire network. This is usually cheaper than having your ad placed on select pages.

RSS: Really Simple Syndication/RDF Site Summary/Rich Site Summary. Acronym used to describe a method of web content syndication. RSS is XML based and allows publishers to distribute their content, which can then be read by an RSS reader, on another website or even through mobile applications.

SEM: Search Engine Marketing. Marketing tactic similar to SEO that stresses the importance of search engines and search engine rankings to drive traffic to a website.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization. The process of optimizing webpages and websites for high rankings in search engine results in order to attract more visitors.

SERP: Search Engine Results Page. Page of results displayed after a successful search engine query.

SMM: Social Media Marketing. The process of generating interest and excitement in an offering through various online social outlets, such as blogs, RSS feeds and social networks. Programs usually center on creating content that attracts attention, generates online conversations and encourages readers to share it with their own social networks. The message spreads from user to user and hopefully resonates since it is coming from a trusted source as opposed to the brand or company itself. (Also referred to as Social Media Optimization.)

USP: Unique Selling Proposition. The reason somebody should buy from you and not competitors. It is the unique set of benefits your product/service offers consumers.

VOD: Video On Demand. Systems that allow users to select and watch/listen to video content on demand to an individual web browser, TV, handheld or other device whenever the user requests it.

WOMM: Word Of Mouth Marketing. A form of viral marketing similar to Social Media Marketing that involves the passing of information from person to person. Originally the term referred specifically to oral communication, but has come to include any form of human communication, such as face to face, telephone, email and text messaging.

WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. A website editor that converts your text, image and graphic layout into HTML while displaying the content exactly as it will be seen by the end user. Most Content Management Systems utilize a WYSIWYG editor. Pronounced “Whizzy-Wig.”

XML: Extensible Markup Language. A generic format intended for maximum flexibility that provides information in a wide variety of structural formats. A variety of XML formats exist for different applications, including RSS. Unlike HTML, XML is extensible, meaning authors can create their own elements and attributes.

Definition of Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:34:00 +0500

by John

“Marketing” seems to mean different things to different people. Some think of Ron Popeil and late-night infomercials, while others may think of the circulars and coupons they get in their Sunday paper. Many also think of the spam in their inboxes and the junk mail the mailman delivers every day. In reality all these views are correct, but marketing is much, much more.

Marketing involves selling products and services, but that doesn’t mean marketing is limited to sales activities. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Sounds impressive, but what does that really mean? This definition is chocked full of information, so let’s break down each component of the definition.

The Activity
Marketing involves activity. That sounds obvious, but it is important to remember that marketing is not passive; It requires active participation on the part of the marketer. It may sound like this active participation means solely promoting your product or service, but it really means employing the entire marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion), plus some of the legwork that goes into implementing the mix, such as market research, financial planning, strategy, etc.

Set of Institutions
Even the best salesperson in the world knows that marketing is a group effort that involves a variety of individuals and groups, internal and external to his organization. From an overall perspective marketing involves many institutions/groups, such as market researchers, advertising agencies, sales support, research and development, financial forecasting, distributors, etc. A key to good marketing is being able to manage and coordinate all these institutions and groups.

Processes
Marketing has to be process driven. While flying by the seat of your pants may sound like fun to some people and may even work for the short term, eventually it will land you in trouble. Without processes in place, you will not be able to plan effectively, determine what is working or not working, figure out which efforts have a positive or negative effect on sales or even learn from your successes and mistakes. To do all this, you really need a mapped-out process that can be honed and replicated.

Creating
Marketing is an innovative field that attracts very creative people. Marketing ideas and strategies are limited only by your imagination, and we see this high level of creativity in action every day. I have always respected an artist who can make his audience feel a certain emotion or understand a certain idea or point of view. But I admire a marketer who can make his audience act even more. Understanding and feeling are just the first steps for a marketer, while mobilizing toward action is what really counts. This is true creative power in action.

Communicating
If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it fall, does it make a sound? This philosophical question mirrors a problem marketers face; You may have the best product or service in the world, but if you don’t communicate the benefits and features of that product or service well to the right audience (and not necessarily only through advertising) how is the world going to find out about it? Communication is important to marketing your product or service, and this communication can come in many forms, from overt advertisements and promotions to more subtle activities such as the effectiveness of your supply/value chain and branding.

Delivering
Again this seems obvious, but marketing isn’t just selling a product or service. In essence it is delivering on the promise created by your marketing mix. It is your job to accurately describe that brand promise, and if you fail to deliver on that promise, you have failed as a marketer. At the very least you need to deliver what you promise, but a smart marketer over delivers to delight and wow his customers.

Exchanging Offerings That Have Value
You provide customers value in the form of features and benefits delivered by your products and services. In return you demand value, usually in the form of financial payment. Only an unethical marketer would expect to receive value for something of no value. And only an ineffective marketer would deliver value yet not receive appropriate value in exchange. One of the roles of a marketer is to determine the fair value of the product/service he is marketing. He must then go about exchanging that product/service for the appropriate value.

Customers, Clients, Partners, and Society at Large
Marketers must satisfy these constituents by marketing products and services so that they fulfill customer needs/wants and attain their clients’/partners’ goals. There is also an ethical question about the role of the marketer to “protect” society at large by refusing to misrepresent features/benefits or hide the negative aspects of a product or service. True marketers think of long-term, strategic goals, and trying to “make a quick buck” at the expense of others is not how you attain these objectives.

In conclusion, “marketing” seems to mean different things to different people, but in reality marketing is a complex and robust activity that encompasses many different skills, competencies and people. It is a very exciting and rewarding field that offers a marketer the chance to explore his own interests and develop strengths in areas he may have never considered.

What is Marketing? What is PR?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:29:00 +0500

Lisa Chapman

You’ve likely heard it before – in the digital world, “The lines have blurred between Marketing and PR.”

What does that mean? How have the lines blurred?

The OLD Rules of Marketing

The message was delivered ONE-WAY, and CREATIVITY was the secret sauce that commanded the audience’s attention. Among the fundamental concepts of the OLD marketing paradigm:

Advertising was the core tool
The advertising message was generally crafted to appeal to the masses
Advertising INTERRUPTED the audience with a one-way message
Advertising engaged campaigns for a defined time period
Creators focused on creativity – and award-winning campaigns
Advertising and PR were different specialties, run by different people

The OLD Rules of PR

The ultimate goal: Spin a press release to capture reporters’ attention, then get a clip of the story, to show that the message was viewed by the audience.

Media comprised the toolbox, in order to get the message out
A press release was the core tool
Only significant news commanded the attention of the media
It was all in “the spin” (or HYPE!)
Quotes from third parties were an important element of a press release
Press releases were meaningless unless a reporter decided that it was worthy of a story

The NEW Rules of Marketing and PR

Since the internet is now one huge publisher, ANYONE can learn how to create compelling messages and publish them. Getting found online is the science and art. A few of the new rules include:

People don’t want “spin” – they want authenticity
People don’t want to be interrupted anymore (it’s now called SPAM)
People don’t want to be ‘told’ (push marketing), they want to be heard
People want VALUE (content), which develops relationship and trust
Marketing and PR can reach niche audiences online in a wider variety of ways
Content is KING, and stays online, with no end to the campaign

The New TOOLS of Marketing and PR

It’s no longer TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, etc. Meaningful, valuable CONTENT is the vehicle that captures audiences’ attention. It is now found on:

Websites
Blogs
Microblogs (Tweets)
Social Media platforms (Facebook.com, Myspace.com, etc)
Article Directories
Videos
Podcasts
Etc, etc etc!

10 Marketing Musts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:23:00 +0500

Are you are spending enough time and money marketing your business? If not,you are ignoring a critical success component. Customize these ideas to work for you and enjoy increased revenue in 2012!

Marla Tabaka

Marla Tabaka is a life and business coach who helps entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses grow their companies faster. She serves as a Success Coach for Make Mine a Million and helps award recipients grow their businesses to $1 million and beyond. Marla has 25 years of experience in corporate, start up and entrepreneurial ventures.

Small business owners and solo-practitioners are notorious for ignoring marketing efforts. It's easy to do, isn't it? You are ensconced in your business; serving clients, shipping product and doing what you need to do to keep the money flowing in. But if you are not spending time and money to market your business, then you are ignoring a critical success component.

If you are concerned about making time to market then download my audio and workbook on Increasing Productivity by 40%. Almost anyone can increase the amount of available time in their schedule by eliminating certain mistakes and behavior. This is your first step.

Begin by investing 10 – 20% of your time in marketing. You can split this time into 2 hour segments during each day or set aside a day for marketing. You may feel concerned about losing revenue if you do this, but revenues will increase as you invest more of your time and resources into your plan – it's a natural cycle. Here are some guidelines and ideas; customize them to work for you!

1. Create a plan. This does not have to be an intimidating process. You know what efforts have garnered clients in the past. List them and expand on them. A simple marketing plan includes a list of marketing practices and a timeline.

2. Face-to-face networking. On-line businesses benefit most significantly from social networking, search engine optimization and pay per click campaigns, but most solopreneurs will benefit by creating relationships off line- regardless of the type of business you run. To meet like-minded people go to classes, lectures and other events that interest you. Keep your eyes and ears open at the grocery store, coffee house and other local establishments. Look into your local Chamber of Commerce and networking groups to see if those are up your alley as well.

3. Cold Calling. I know, yuck! Here's how I look at it. I love meeting new people. I call with the intent of having a nice conversation with someone new, and I've met the most amazing people! You can buy a list or hire a college student, bring on an intern, or have your virtual assistant compile a list for you. Begin by writing a script and giving intention to your call. Know what you wish to achieve; a face-to-face visit, permission to send information, to close the sale or send a free sample.

4. Telemarketing. If cold calling on your own is not an option, consider hiring a professional telemarketing firm. A few hours a week can garner one or two solid leads for you. Depending on your business, this is a simple and sure way to increase revenues.

5. Social Media. A good networker doesn't walk into a room and hand out 20 business cards, tell everyone about himself and leave. They are there to build relationships. It's the same in social media. Ask questions, express interest, get to know people. This is a long term investment and you won't be sorry. Great relationships, business and personal, are built this way.

6. Podcasting. This intimidates and confuses some people, but once you research how to create your own podcast you will be amazed at how easy it is. Having your own podcast puts you in the position of the “expert' and also helps you to expand your horizons. My two shows have contributed to my growth and brought people into my life who are truly important to me. Promote your show via social media, your list, iTunes, in your blog and via your guests' lists. Create special offers to bring traffic to your site and to build your list.

7. Guest blogging and inviting guest bloggers. If you are not blogging yet, do. This again, is a long term investment – you probably won't see results right away, but they will come. Comment on other blogs and contact popular bloggers who also target your audience with ideas for their blog, offering to write for them. You will gain subscribers and expand your audience. After you build your following invite popular bloggers to do a guest post on your blog. They will bring followers, many of whom will stay.

8. Follow up with your list and past clients. This one seems obvious but it's often neglected. When a new client comes to me with cash flow problems this is the first area we look at. There is much untapped business with existing customers, past clients and prospects. What can you upsell? What special offers can you promote? How can you recreate yourself or your product to spark new interest?

9. Ask for referrals. Many solo-practitioners hesitate to ask for referrals. We tend to assume that if our clients like what we do for them they will spread the word. Not always so. If you recruit the assistance of your happy clients your practice will grow. Supply them with materials to forward or hand to their friends and family. Make it easy for people to spread the word about you.

10. Be consistent in your message. It may take time for your marketing efforts to have an impact and prompt a significant response. People sometimes say “I've been following you for years….' and we wonder what took them so long to act. We all have different “buy' triggers and have to be in the right place emotionally and financially before we buy. Market frequently and be consistent in your key message.

What's worked for you? What hasn't worked? How consistent are you in your marketing? What frustrates you the most? What do you enjoy the most about marketing? Share your insights and experiences with us here!

Get Everyone on Your Marketing Team – 3 Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:18:00 +0500

by Kivi Leroux Miller on February 28, 2011

in Nonprofit Communications,Nonprofit Marketing Strategy

On Tuesday, I’m presenting the webinar, Turning Your Whole Staff and Board into an Effective Marketing Team. Nonprofit marketers and fundraisers are overwhelmed and overworked. The best way to solve that problem is to get some help with your to-do list. The natural place to look for help is among your current staff and board. But they’re busy too, right?

Of course they are. But there are some very simple things you can do to turn them into a marketing team, whether they know it or not, without really increasing their workload.

The reality is that they are already marketing for you every time they talk about work, inside and outside the office. All you have to do is help them do that better.

Start with a simple three-step approach:

1. Train Them.

Show them what you mean by marketing by starting with the conversations they are already having. Some people refer to this as the elevator pitch, but it’s just as likely to be the “on the train” pitch or the “happy hour” pitch. Ask people to share how they talk about the place they work (or volunteer) when they are with friends and family. How do they explain their jobs? Go from there.

2. Encourage Them.

Make it easy to do the right thing. Use technology tools like shared calendars so they know what’s coming up next and marketing banks so they know exactly where to go for your logo files. Give them lots of examples of what you consider good marketing and bad (“Check out this post on Facebook . . . you could do that” or “Let’s try to avoid getting ourselves into these kinds of debates on Twitter.”)

3. Appreciate Them.

Make praising the small victories a regular part of your routine (I call this “blowing kisses”). Celebrate things like someone sharing a great client story with you (even if you had to clean it up in order to actually use it) or someone meeting one of your deadlines for submitting ideas for the newsletter. Have some fun with it.

Basic Definitions: Advertising Marketing Promotion Public Relations and Publicity and Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:12:00 +0500

by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

It's easy to become confused about these terms: advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity, and sales. The terms are often used interchangeably. However, they refer to different -- but similar activities. Some basic definitions are provided below. A short example is also provided hopefully to help make the terms more clear to the reader.

One Definition of Advertising

Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to the attention of potential and current customers. Advertising is focused on one particular product or service. Thus, an advertising plan for one product might be very different than that for another product. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, etc.

One Definition of Promotion

Promotion keeps the product in the minds of the customer and helps stimulate demand for the product. Promotion involves ongoing advertising and publicity (mention in the press). The ongoing activities of advertising, sales and public relations are often considered aspects of promotions.

One Definition of Marketing

Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and getting value in return. Marketing is usually focused on one product or service. Thus, a marketing plan for one product might be very different than that for another product. Marketing activities include "inbound marketing," such as market research to find out, for example, what groups of potential customers exist, what their needs are, which of those needs you can meet, how you should meet them, etc. Inbound marketing also includes analyzing the competition, positioning your new product or service (finding your market niche), and pricing your products and services. "Outbound marketing" includes promoting a product through continued advertising, promotions, public relations and sales.

One Definition of Public relations

Public relations includes ongoing activities to ensure the overall company has a strong public image. Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the company and its products. Often, public relations are conducted through the media, that is, newspapers, television, magazines, etc. As noted above, public relations is often considered as one of the primary activities included in promotions.

One Definition of Publicity

Publicity is mention in the media. Organizations usually have little control over the message in the media, at least, not as they do in advertising. Regarding publicity, reporters and writers decide what will be said.

One Definition of Sales

Sales involves most or many of the following activities, including cultivating prospective buyers (or leads) in a market segment; conveying the features, advantages and benefits of a product or service to the lead; and closing the sale (or coming to agreement on pricing and services). A sales plan for one product might be very different than that for another product.

An Example of the Definitions

The following example may help to make the above five concepts more clear. I recently read that the story comes from the Reader's Digest, a quote found in "Promoting Issues and Ideas" by M. Booth and Associates, Inc.

"... if the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying 'Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday', that's advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that's promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor's flower bed, that's publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that's public relations." If the town's citizens go the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they'll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that's sales.

Basics -- and Misunderstandings -- About Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Jan 2012 03:06:00 +0500

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

What is Marketing?

Before you learn more about marketing in the many links later on below topic, you should first understand what marketing is, because the topic is so often misunderstood. Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return.

How Marketing is So Misunderstood

Far too often, organizations try to develop a product to meet customers’ needs without ever really verifying what the customers wanted in the first place. Instead, those organizations make a strenuous effort to “sell” the product through rigorous, ongoing advertising, promotions and publicity -- through "outbound" marketing. These organizations may have built a beautiful ladder – but it may be entirely on the wrong roof! Far too often, that lesson comes from painful experience.

Experienced organizations have learned that it is not their opinion that matters most regarding whether their product is needed or not. The opinion that matters most is that of the customers. These organizations have learned that they might not know what they don't know about their customers. That precious knowledge about the customers comes from "inbound" marketing -- through market research to clarify customers' needs and what they are willing to do to get those needs met. If the inbound marketing is done well, the outbound marketing is particularly easy -- and effective.

Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:

What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets) might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a new program -- however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business development, or earned income development, often starts by researching a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)
How those needs might be met for each group (or target market), which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)
How each of the target markets might choose to access the product, etc. (its "packaging")
How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how (pricing analysis)
Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors (its unique value proposition)
How the product should be identified -- its personality -- to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)

Outbound Marketing Includes:

Advertising and promotions (focused on the product)
Sales
Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)
Customer service
Customer satisfaction

The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 17:26:00 +0500

Eric Jackson

Sydney Finkelstein, the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, published “Why Smart Executives Fail” 8 years ago.

In it, he shared some of his research on what over 50 former high-flying companies – like Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Rubbermaid, and Schwinn – did to become complete failures. It turns out that the senior executives at the companies all had 7 Habits in common. Finkelstein calls them the Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives.

These traits can be found in the leaders of current failures like Research In Motion (RIMM), but they should be early-warning signs (cautionary tales) to currently unbeatable firms like Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Amazon.com (AMZN). Here are the habits, as Finkelstein described in a 2004 article:

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment

This first habit may be the most insidious, since it appears to be highly desirable. Shouldn’t a company try to dominate its business environment, shape thefuture of its markets and set the pace within them? Yes,but there’s a catch. Unlike successful leaders, failed leaders who never question their dominance fail torealize they are at the mercy of changing circumstances.They vastly overestimate the extent to which they actually control events and vastly underestimate the role of chance and circumstance in their success.

CEOs who fall prey to this belief suffer from the illusion of personal pre-eminence: Like certain film directors, they see themselves as the auteurs of their companies. As far as they’re concerned, everyone else in the company is there to execute their personal visionfor the company. Samsung’s CEO Kun-Hee Lee was so successful with electronics that he thought he could repeat this success with automobiles. He invested $5 billion in an already oversaturated auto market. Why? There was no business case. Lee simply loved cars and had dreamed of being in the auto business.

Warning Sign for #1: A lack of respect

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests

Like the first habit, this one seems innocuous, perhaps even beneficial. We want business leaders to be completely committed to their companies, with their interests tightly aligned with those of the company. But digging deeper, you find that failed executives weren’t identifying too little with the company, but rather too much. Instead of treating companies as enterprises that they needed to nurture, failed leaders treated them as extensions of themselves. And with that, a “private empire” mentality took hold.

CEOs who possess this outlook often use their companies to carry out personal ambitions. The most slippery slope of all for these executives is their tendency to use corporate funds for personal reasons. CEOs who have a long or impressive track record may come to feel that they’ve made so much money for the company that the expenditures they make on themselves, even if extravagant, are trivial by comparison. This twisted logic seems to have been one of the factors that shaped the behavior of Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. His pride in his company and his pride in his own extravagance seem to have reinforced each other. This is why he could sound so sincere making speeches about ethics while using corporate funds for personal purposes. Being the CEO of a sizable corporation today is probably the closest thing to being king of your own country, and that’s a dangerous title to assume.

Warning Sign for #2: A question of character

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers

Here’s the image of executive competence that we’ve been taught to admire for decades: a dynamic leader making a dozen decisions a minute, dealing with many crises simultaneously, and taking only seconds to size up situations that have stumped everyone else for days. The problem with this picture is that it’s a fraud. Leaders who are invariably crisp and decisive tend to settle issues so quickly they have no opportunity to grasp the ramifications. Worse, because these leaders need to feel they have all the answers, they aren’t open to learning new ones.

CEO Wolfgang Schmitt of Rubbermaid was fond of demonstrating his ability to sort out difficult issues in a flash. A former colleague remembers that under Schmitt,” the joke went, ‘Wolf knows everything about everything.’ In one discussion, where we were talking about a particularly complex acquisition we made in Europe, Wolf, without hearing different points of view, just said, ‘Well, this is what we are going to do.’” Leaders who need to have all the answers shut out other points of view. When your company or organization is run by someone like this, you’d better hope the answers he comes up with are going to be the right ones. At Rubbermaid they weren’t. The company went from being Fortune’s most admired company in America in1993 to being acquired by the conglomerate Newell a few years later.

Warning Sign for #3: A leader without followers

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them

CEOs who think their job is to instill belief in their vision also think that it is their job to get everyone to buy into it. Anyone who doesn’t rally to the cause is undermining the vision. Hesitant managers have a choice: Get with the plan or leave.

The problem with this approach is that it’s both unnecessary and destructive. CEOs don’t need to have everyone unanimously endorse their vision to have it carried out successfully. In fact, by eliminating all dissenting and contrasting viewpoints, destructive CEOs cut themselves off from their best chance of seeing and correcting problems as they arise. Sometimes CEOs who seek to stifle dissent only drive it underground. Once this happens, the entire organization falters. At Mattel, Jill Barad removed her senior lieutenants if she thought they harbored serious reservations about the way that she was running things. Schmitt created such a threatening atmosphere at Rubbermaid that firings were often unnecessary. When new executives realized that they’d get no support from the CEO, many of them left almost as fast as they’d come on board. Eventually, these CEOs had everyone on their staff completely behind them. But where they were headed was toward disaster. And no one was left to warn them.

Warning Sign for #4: Executive departures

Habit #5: They are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image

You know these CEOs: high-profile executives whoare constantly in the public eye. The problem is that amid all the media frenzy and accolades, these leaders’ management efforts become shallow and ineffective. Instead of actually accomplishing things, they often settle for the appearance of accomplishing things.

Behind these media darlings is a simple fact of executive life: CEOs don’t achieve a high level of media attention without devoting themselves assiduously to public relations. When CEOs are obsessed with their image, they have little time for operational details. Tyco’s Dennis Kozlowski sometimes intervened in remarkably minor matters, but left most of the company’s day-to-day operations unsupervised.

As a final negative twist, when CEOs make the company’s image their top priority, they run the risk of using financial-reporting practices to promote that image. Instead of treating their financial accounts as a control tool, they treat them as a public-relations tool. The creative accounting that was apparently practiced by such executives as Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling or Tyco’sKozlowski is as much or more an attempt to promote the company’s image as it is to deceive the public: In their eyes, everything that the company does is public relations.

Warning Sign of #5: Blatant attention-seeking

Habit #6: They underestimate obstacles

Part of the allure of being a CEO is the opportunity to espouse a vision. Yet, when CEOs become so enamored of their vision, they often overlook or underestimate the difficulty of actually getting there. And when it turns out that the obstacles they casually waved aside are more troublesome than they anticipated, these CEO shave a habit of plunging full-steam into the abyss. For example, when Webvan’s core business was racking up huge losses, CEO George Shaheen was busy expanding those operations at an awesome rate.

Why don’t CEOs in this situation re-evaluate their course of action, or at least hold back for a while until it becomes clearer whether their policies will work? Some feel an enormous need to be right in every important decision they make, because if they admit to being fallible, their position as CEO might seem precarious. Once a CEO admits that he or she made the wrong call, there will always be people who say the CEO wasn’t up to the job. These unrealistic expectations make it exceedingly hard for a CEO to pull back from any chosen course of action, which not surprisingly causes them to push that much harder. That’s why leaders at Iridium and Motorola (MMI) kept investing billions of dollars to launch satellites even after it had become apparent that land-based cellphones were a better alternative.

Warning Sign of #6: Excessive hype

Habit #7: They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past

Many CEOs on their way to becoming spectacularly unsuccessful accelerate their company’s decline by reverting to what they regard as tried-and-true methods. In their desire to make the most of what they regard as their core strengths, they cling to a static business model.They insist on providing a product to a market that no longer exists, or they fail to consider innovations in areas other than those that made the company successful in the past. Instead of considering a range of options that fit new circumstances, they use their own careers as the only point of reference and do the things that made them successful in the past. For example, when Jill Barad was trying to promote educational software at Mattel,she used the promotional techniques that had been effective for her when she was promoting Barbie dolls, despite the fact that software is not distributed or bought the way dolls are.

Frequently, CEOs who fall prey to this habit owe their careers to some “defining moment,” a critical decision or policy choice that resulted in their most notable success. It’s usually the one thing that they’re most known for and the thing that gets them all of their subsequent jobs. The problem is that after people have had the experience of that defining moment, if theybecome the CEO of a large company, they allow their defining moment to define the company as well – no matter how unrealistic it has become.

Warning Sign of #7: Constantly referring to what worked in the past

The bottom line: If you exhibit several of these traits, now is the time to stamp them out from your repertoire. If your boss or several senior executives at your company exhibit several of these traits, now is the time to start looking for a new job.

[Jackson was long AAPL at time of writing]

Five Resolutions for Aspiring Leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 17:07:00 +0500

By :John Coleman and Bill George

(John Coleman, HBS '10, is the author of Passion and Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders. Bill George is professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and the author of five books, including True North and True North Groups. Follow them on twitter @johnwcoleman and @bill_george.)

As the New Year approaches, people will be making resolutions to eat better, exercise more, get that promotion at work, or spend more time with their families. While these are worthwhile goals, we have a more important challenge for young people: Think seriously about your development as a leader.

These are tough times. Many leaders of the baby boomer generation have failed in their responsibilities by placing their self-interest ahead of their organizations. In so doing, they have failed to serve society's best interests. As a result, more young leaders from Gen X and the Millennials are being asked to take on major leadership responsibilities. To be prepared for the challenges you will face, we propose the following resolutions this New Year's:

Find a trustworthy mentor: Mentorship is a critical component of your development as a leader. A 2004 study showed that young leaders with mentors were more likely succeed professionally and experience career satisfaction. The essence of effective mentoring is developing a trusting relationship between the mentor and mentee. Identify someone with whom you have a genuine chemistry and who is committed to your development. Although many mentees do not realize it, a sound relationship is a two-way street that benefits both parties — not just the mentee. We suggest looking for mentors whom you admire for their values and character more than their success.

Form a leadership development group: Most of us have little time to reflect on the values and characteristics we want to define us as leaders, the difficulties we're facing, or the long-term impact we hope to have. Forming a leadership development group can give you the space you need to think deeply about these subjects. Leadership development groups are groups of six to eight people who meet to share their personal challenges and discuss the most important questions in their lives. Find people you can trust, and make a commitment to be one another's confidential counselors. Meet regularly, and share openly your life stories, crucibles, passions and fears, while offering each other honest feedback.

Volunteer in a civic or service organization: Have you served your community this year? In the Facebook era it's easy to lose touch with our real-world neighbors. Long hours often cause us to avoid volunteer opportunities. Participating in local organizations — from religious organizations to civic groups — can give you early leadership experiences, provide real connection to your neighbors, and offer opportunities to serve others. It adds a dimension to your life that work can't, and helps you develop and solidify your character while giving back to the community. You will find your time serving a community organization is highly rewarding while broadening your outlook on people and life.

Work in or travel to one new country: "The world is flat," as Tom Friedman puts it, so it has never been more important to get global experience. In the future cultural sensitivity will be a more important characteristic for leaders than pure intellectual ability. John's survey of more than 500 top MBAs found that on average they had worked in four countries prior to entering graduate school and expect to work in five more in the next ten years. Having a global mindset and the ability to collaborate effectively across cultures are essential qualities for aspiring leaders of global organizations.

Finally, ask more questions than you answer: With the high velocity of change in the world, it is impossible to have answers to all the important questions. Much more important is a deep curiosity about the world and the ability to frame the right questions in profound ways. The world's toughest problems cannot be solved by you or any one organization. Your role will be to bring the right people together to address the challenging issues you raise. Our research demonstrates that the biggest mistakes result from decisions made by people without deep consideration of thoughtful questions.

Young leaders will soon be asked to take on major leadership responsibilities in their organizations and their communities. We believe it is essential that they take steps like these in order to be prepared for the difficult leadership challenges they will face. There's no better time to get started than the coming year.

Five Predictions For Biotech And Medicine In 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0500

Image via Wikipedia

Continuing a proud Forbes tradition, here is what I see happening as we move forward through 2012.

1. We’ll see more super-expensive drugs.

Charging $100,000, $200,000, or even $500,000 per patient per year is the most successful strategy in the drug business. One case study: In 2008, the Joint Economic Committee of the Senate and House heard testimony alleging that drugs for rare, orphan diseases were getting too expensive. One parent testified that the treatment for her son had increased in price from $1,000 per vial to more than $30,000. There was controversy and bad press, but Acthar Gel’s maker, Questcor Pharmaceuticals, has become one of the best-performing stocks in any business, up more than 2,500% over the past five years.

Biotech’s other best recent performer is Alexion, which makes the drug Soliris for a rare blood cancer. It costs $500,000 per year for the average patient, making it the most expensive drug in the world. This strategy has it’s limits, and the high prices in some diseases are finally starting to meet resistance, particularly in cancer, where a de facto limit of $100,000 per patient per year seems have been reached. But the mass-market model no longer works. The vast majority of medicines are now cheap generics. No longer able to make money on volume, drug companies are going to focus more and more on price.

2. New genetic technologies will brave the valley of death.

DNA sequencing is getting cheaper and making its way into hospitals. Some cancer patients (notably Christopher Hitchens and Steve Jobs) have used genetic tests to try and pick the right drugs for their tumors. But right now using DNA sequencing on patients is not making much money for companies that make DNA sequencers, such as market leader Illumina, and big funders like the National Institutes of Health are tightening their belts. The result is that the two publicly traded genomics upstarts, Pacific Biosciences of California and Complete Genomics, are trading below or near the value of the cash they have on hand.

The beneficiary so far has been Ion Torrent, the new sequencer maker bought by lab giant Life Technologies in 2010. It has been able to build a user base with its sequencing technology, an it could use this bulwark to launch a bigger attack on Illumina. The science will continue to advance. Whether its these DNA sequencer companies or next generation efforts like Foundation Medicine, the Google Ventures-backed cancer sequencing startup, is anybody’s guess.

3. Medical devices will face an even tougher environment.

From heart-focused Medtronic and Boston Scientific to joint replacement makers like Stryker and Biomet, it’s been an awful few years. Don’t expect it to get better unless the industry can face its fundamental problem: too many of its devices don’t face rigorous testing. The unfolding disaster over metal-on-metal hip implants that are deteriorating and needing to be replaced years before they should is just one example of this problem. Fixing it will require these companies to rethink how they invent and test products. It won’t be easy, and the industry’s response to a report from the Institute of Medicine this summer that suggested more large-scale clinical trials indicate that, as a group, these companies are not facing facts.

4. Health information technology will stall.

There’s a huge need for better computer systems to improve medicine, and the government is pushing hospitals to adopt them. But I tend to agree with analyst and fund manager Les Funtleyder at Miller, Tabak, who argues that hospitals are going to be slow to adopt new computer systems in 2012. What’s really needed is a disruptive innovation, a computer system so good that it solves many of medicine’s problems. We’re probably not there yet.

5. Pharmacy benefit managers will struggle as their reason for existing vanishes.

Companies like Medco and Express Scripts were created to help manage the explosion of mass-market drugs being churned out by Merck and Pfizer in the 1990s. Now they are merging, in part because they are going to get squeezed. Richard Evans of policy analysis firm Sovereign & Sector has called PBMS “the most compelling short story in healthcare” because they will lose ability to make money off of generics as insurers and the government move to new, better benchmarks for drug prices. When almost all drugs are generic, companies no longer need to hire somebody to switch people off the brand.

Bonus Prediction: India will eliminate polio.

In a positive step for the effort to eradicate the virus that paralyzed Franklin Delano Roosevelt from the face of the planet, I’m going to predict that India will have managed to banish the disease. It’s been many months, as I write this, since there has been a case there. If that keeps up, it will be a major victory for the effort, backed in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to battle this disease. Even if it’s true, there’s still a great deal of work to be done before this virus is gone.

The Best Big Drug Company Of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:47:00 +0500

Bristol CEO Lamberto Andreotti

Among the ranks of large pharmaceutical companies this year, there was a clear standout: Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, and Eli Lilly all managed to notch share price increases of greater than 15%. So did Amgen, which continued to define the border between the biotechnology companies and big pharma, which it looks a bit more like every single year.

Bristol blew them all away. Its share price increased 32% to $35 over the course of the year. And unlike Pfizer, Lilly, and Amgen, Bristol’s share price is above where it was five years ago, too, showing steady, long-term gains. Not bad considering the fact that investors are bracing for the patent expiration of Plavix, the blood-thinner Bristol shares with French drug giant Sanofi, next year. Plavix, with annual sales of $7 billion, is the second-best-selling drug in the world, and its loss will lead Bristol’s sales to drop by 13% to about $18 billion, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

But Bristol has managed to innovate in the face of this impending loss. In March, the Food and Drug Administration cleared Yervoy, the first drug to extend the survival of patients with metastatic melanoma, by several months. Like many other cancer drugs, it does have potentially toxic side effects, but analysts expect it to be a multi-billion dollar seller.

In August, Bristol unveiled results of an 18,000-patient clinical trial of the blood-thinner Eliquis, which it is developing with Pfizer. Eliquis was the first anti-coagulant to prove that it reduced the risk of death compared to warfarin, which has been the standard of care for preventing strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder, for seven decades. The other new blood thinners, Pradaxa from Boehringer Ingelheim and Xarelto from Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, have reached the market before Eliquis but were deemed essentially similar. Eliquis is awaiting FDA approval.

Bristol chief executive Lamberto Andreotti, 60, who took over last May, has built on the strategy put in place by drug-and-medical-device industry veteran James Cornelius, who ran the company for four years starting in 2006. Bristol had been hobbled by a series of drug research failures, patent expirations, and accounting scandals that led to the resignation of former chief executive Peter Dolan. The response was to sell non-core businesses and brands, most notably the Mead Johnson baby formula business, and focus on building a strong pharmaceutical presence – partly by doing daring deals like its $2.4 billion purchase of biotechnology firm Medarex in 2009. At the time, many researchers and analysts viewed the deal with skepticism, but it gave Bristol full rights to Yervoy.

Now other companies seem to be following the sell-off-and-focus strategy Bristol pioneered. One reason for the rise in Pfizer shares this year was that the company is openly talking about making divestitures, including one of its baby formula business. Abbott, for its part, announced plans to split in two, creating a large, faster-growing medical devices and products company and an even bigger standalone drug giant. By facing its crises six years ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb became one of the drug industry’s trendsetters.

Over a longer horizon, Bristol still has not performed as well as Novo Nordisk, the diabetes specialist that has outperformed most other drug makers over the past year but which did not do as well this year, or biotechnology firms like Alexion, focused on rare diseases, or Biogen Idec, focused on multiple sclerosis. Both of those companies saw their stocks increase by about 70% in 2011.

The Ten Most Annoying Management Terms Of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:32:00 +0500

We are nearly at the end of 2011 and another year of mayhem behind. We will be judging our 2011 Non-Predictions and trying to dream up some new ones for 2012 in the next fortnight or so but this week we have been able to get some long needed admin done.

With it came a realisation that even if the financial industry is suffering, the creative management community has been in full swing dreaming up new terms and phrases to camouflage the blindingly obvious.

The evolution of ‘management speak’ means some phrases die and some survive and flourish. TMM really doesn't know what determines the success of one term or phrase over another other than, as with the arts, adoption and patronage by the most respected in the field. TMM hope that this year’s rash of newcomers all die off naturally but we would like to help with a shove into their deserved obscurity.

TMM have noticed that every cause nowadays needs an "Awareness" campaign and though we feel that "doing" is of much greater importance than "awaring," we will go along with the fashion and launch a Management Talk Awareness Week with the list of phrases and terms we have found most irksome this year.

So here are TMM's top ten annoying phrases of 2011 (even if some are older) that we would like to see the back of.

10 - Internalise - As in "What you have all failed to internalise is that there has been a paradigm shift. As a result you are all now behind the curve when it comes to the multi-lateral interoperability needed to realise the supra-organisational mission statement.” Even though there is an awful lot to detest in that statement "Internalise" is the word we most object to. It appears to just means learn or remember but as telling someone to learn or remember something appears instructive, suggesting they internalise it will sound more empathetic, but at the severe cost of sounding like a clone-monkey.

9 - Hi, I hope all is well - With the birth of the email there came an awkward period when the formality of letters, with their "Dear Sir / Yours sincerely" had to be detuned to fit in with the new immediacy and informality. After a stuttering start the world passed through an embarrassed joint squirm and settled on "Hi" for anything other than legal representations. But 2011 has seen a pernicious ingress of a new form of insincerity with the addition of "I hope all is well" to the "Hi". Rather than questioning either the validity or sincerity of that statement, we would just ask that the bulk senders of such missives consider where they are sent to, as for many recipients things are blindingly obviously not well. We suggest the only time this greeting is appropriate is when addressed to bore-hole companies.

8 - Weaponise price opacity - As the scarcity of new Himalayan Pink Salt in the financial market takes its toll on the bottom lines of financial institutions it is becoming more important for them to make sure that they maximise the profitability of existing basic products. Opacity of price is critical in this process but weaponising it? Wow.

7 - Ideation - What happened to good old "have a think" or "come up with some ideas"? Even running things up flag poles is less irksome than "ideation" which sounds as though it should involve radioactive iodine.

6 - Stakeholder Community - Not a Transylvanian village but the new plural of stakeholder. Theoretically a stakeholder is anyone who can affect, or is impacted by, your decisions and so could be a lowly minion in your company, but deference only ever seems to be made to "stakeholders" when they are either your bosses, investors or regulators. Please let's call them who they really are.

5 - Socialise - When issues got out of hand in the old days you would normally either just tell the boss, or perhaps "take it upstairs." But now a cunning adaptation of the old mantra of "My profit, our loss" has invoked a caring sharing attitude to screw-ups by "socialising" them. As in "I think we should socialise this issue with senior management and the stakeholder community."

4 - Complementary - Odd one this, and it's really down to our own stupidity, but we have regularly opened emails this year expecting some nice free service only to re-read it and find it's not "complimentary" but something expensive and homeopathic. We expect the marketing world to soon be jumping on this and emailing multitudes of complementary not-at-all-free offers. Such as Ryan-Air offering "Complementary Flights" which sound as though they are free but are actually expensive and just "complement" what a decent service should be by being dreadful. Or have they done that already? "Complementary" should be banned from subject lines so that the vaguely dyslexic amongst us shouldn't be taken advantage of.

3 - Bandwidth - The adoption of IT geeky words into mainstream fashion is nothing new but the latest over-usage of "Bandwidth" by management is particularly grating. Just as "spending more time with my family" has become the acceptable expression of "Just been fired/stiffed/shafted/backstabbed/found out but have photos" so has "I'm sorry I can't action that, I don't have the bandwidth” become the generic replacement for "I don't have the time/resources/authority or inclination." But the saddest part is the way it's used under the false allusion that "bandwidth" is new and fashionable. Our grandmothers, thanks to broadband adverts and home routers, know what bandwidth is so please, unless you are the type of person who still uses "groovy" in the boardroom, please drop "bandwidth."

2 - Geosourcing - Why you lose your job to someone in a different part of the world. "The support function has been geosourced" or "How's the front office geosourcing project going?” It's the sharp end of a simple belief of ours that if there is someone able and willing to do your job for less than you, you are toast. But the use of "geo," which has connotations of environmental friendliness married to "source," which conjures images of babbling fresh springs in the mountains, results in a super-eco word which actually means "You're fired."

1 - Reaching out - TMM first came across 2011's winning term in July and since then it has spread like wildfire, which has us looking like Irish Riverdancers as we try to stamp it out as fast as we can. The origins and epidemiology of this disease has us suspecting it's the product of some Class of 2011 Management School somewhere. It really is complete and utter rubbish. If you are about to call an investor for some documents you don't "reach out to the client," you phone or mail them. If you want to know why a trade hasn't settled you don't "Reach out to Bangalore" you "call back-office." So let's just kill that one right now before someone gets accused of molestation.

And with that we open up "Management Talk Awareness Week." We are sure you all have your own experiences to share and we look forward to the comments column acting as a joint cognitive pan-cohesual empathy forum leading to textualisation of common goal and achievement recognition programs.

Happy New Year.

Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 2 Jan 2012 17:22:00 +0500

What is an STD?

A sexually transmitted disease (STD) is an infectious illness that is transmitted through unprotected sexual activity...including vaginal, anal and oral sex, or skin-to-skin contact with an infected area. STDs can also be spread via skin-to-skin contact or through intravenous (IV) drug use, and can be passed to an unborn child during pregnancy or through breastfeeding.

STDs are caused by some 30 viruses, bacteria and parasites that survive and spread through sexual contact. STDs have been around for hundreds of years and most people will experience an infection during their lifetime...the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate 19 million new cases every year, which presents a major public health challenge. Indeed, untreated STDs are estimated to cause at least 24,000 women to become infertile every year.

STDs vs. STIs

Diseases that are passed from person to person through sexual activity are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). "Disease" implies a clear medical problem, usually with obvious signs or symptoms. But some common STDs are asymptomatic; in these cases, the sexually transmitted virus or bacteria can be described as causing a sexually transmitted infection (STI), which may or may not evolve into a "disease." Because "STD" is preferred by most people, we generally use that term for both sexually transmitted infections and diseases.

STD Risk Factors

How do people get infected with an STD?

STDs can affect anyone of any background, lifestyle, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status and are most often passed from one person to another through sexual activity...including genital, anal and oral sex. STD risk factors include:

A history of STDs
A history of unprotected sex
A new sexual partner
Multiple sexual partners
Meeting sexual partners on the Internet
Men who have sex with men (MSM)
Sexual contact with sex workers
Sexual contact while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Illicit drug use

Due to reporting disparities and a number of other variables, there is a higher prevalence of STDs among sexually active females, teenagers, young adults, African-Americans and Hispanics...for example, women are more likely to get screened, and some ethnic/minority groups are more likely to use public clinics that report STD cases. As well, awareness of STDs and how to prevent them, and access to regular healthcare are inconsistent among populations that are disadvantaged by poverty and other social determinants...these groups may therefore be more likely to engage in risky sexual activity.

Even if you've been treated for an STD, you're not immune...you can be re-infected. That's why sexual partners should be treated at the same time so that an untreated partner still carrying the bacteria or virus doesn't re-infect the treated partner.

Signs and Symptoms of STDs

Many sexually transmitted infections are "silent." That is, they have no symptoms...at least not right away. And when symptoms are present (e.g., sores, bumps, painful urination, discharges, bleeding, fever, etc.), they may resemble those of other conditions, which means that proper diagnosis and treatment is often delayed.

Our STD Guides can help you know what to look for...including an overview of risk factors, symptoms, complications, testing and treatment for:

Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Herpes 1 & 2
HIV
Syphilis

STD Complications

What if an STD is untreated?

Most people aren't aware that complications from untreated STDs can include everything from infertility and upper genital tract infections to heart disease, certain cancers, HIV and many other diseases and abnormalities...even death.

For example, untreated syphilis can damage the internal organs and neurological system, and untreated gonorrhea and chlamydia infections can spread throughout the body and cause infertility. STDs can also be seriously harmful to pregnant women and their babies.

So, if you're sexually active, it's in your best interest to get tested annually...or, if you have multiple sexual partners, get tested every six months. Know what other STD risk factors may also apply to you — from men who have sex with men (MSM) to substance abuse and various social determinants. The better informed you are, the better you can protect yourself and others from the potentially debilitating effects of STDs.

STD Testing

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), less than half of people who should be screened receive recommended STD testing. It's important to detect and treat diseases early on to protect your health and prevent the spread of STDs to others.

We provide testing for the most common bacterial and viral STDs that can be diagnosed through blood or urine samples:

Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Herpes 1 & 2
HIV
Syphilis

We also provide treatment, counseling and therapy for certain diseases and individual circumstances.

At a test center that's most convenient for you, you can get tested quickly, privately and effectively for all of these STDs (no undressing or swabbing required!). Learn more about "testing windows" – the recommended amount of time between potential exposure to an STD infection, and when screening is expected to identify the infection (or re-infection).

To find out if you would benefit from STD testing, Medical Director Lisa Oldson, MD, offers guidance with a personalized Test Recommendation.

Note: See your regular doctor to get tested and treated for other STDs – like HPV – that require a pelvic exam or a swab test that cannot be done at a standard testing facility. Be aware that most doctors don't automatically screen for STDs...so be sure to specifically ask your doctor for the tests you need.

Are the test results accurate and reliable?

Rest assured that your test results will be as reliable as those you'd receive through your regular doctor...and much more timely.

Through our partners at LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics – who, under the purview of the FDA, are subject to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988 – the tests we offer are the gold standard in the industry. CLIA establishes consistent quality standards for all lab tests to ensure the timeliness, reliability and accuracy of test results...regardless of the location of a particular testing center.

Using type-specific testing, DNA PCR technology and nucleic acid amplification technology, SexualHealth.com offers you the highest degree of testing specificity and sensitivity available today...helping you and one of our doctors to make informed decisions about your treatment, and how to keep you as healthy as possible.

STD Treatment

Is there a cure or a treatment for STDs?

Some infections can be cured and others are chronic, but treatable with medication. Here's a snapshot of the most common STDs that are curable or treatable:

Common curable STDs

These STDs can be completely healed if you take the prescribed medications correctly:

STD	Treatment
Chlamydia	Antibiotics
Crabs and scabies	Over-the-counter and prescription creams
Gonorrhea	Antibiotics
Non-Gonococcal Urethritis (NGU)	Antibiotics
Shigella	Antibiotics
Syphilis	Antibiotics
Trichomoniasis	Antibiotics
Molluscum contagiosum	Various

Common treatable STDs

These viruses can be treated and managed, but they cannot be cured:

STD	Treatment
Hepatitis A	Rest, fluid, vaccine
Hepatitis B	Antiviral medications, vaccine
Hepatitis C	Antiviral medications
Herpes (HSV)	Antiviral medications
HIV	Anti-retroviral therapy
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)	Vaccine

Note: We provide testing and consultation for chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes 1 & 2, HIV and syphilis. See your regular doctor to get tested and treated for other STDs that require a pelvic exam.

STD Prevention

How can I protect myself and others from STDs?

Abstinence (no sexual contact) is the only sure way to prevent STDs. But if you are sexually active, the best ways to stay healthy are:

To be mutually monogamous (ideally with a person who has tested negative for STDs, or who has been tested and treated for any STDs, if necessary)
To use a latex condom or a dental dam every time you have vaginal, anal or oral sex (you may also want to consider female condoms, FC1 and FC2)

The best way for men and women to decrease their chance of infection when having oral sex with women is to use a latex dental dam.

Get tested and take charge of your health

If you're sexually active, getting screened for STDs annually is the surest way to know if your status. If you have multiple sexual partners or unprotected sex, we recommend getting tested every six months. Protect yourself, protect your partners...and give yourself peace of mind.

If you have an STD...

First, you're not alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate 19 million new STD cases in the United States every year. If you are positive for an STD, it's critical to complete the recommended treatment exactly as instructed.

And while it's not easy to do, be sure to tell everyone you've had sexual contact with in the last six months so they can get tested and treated, too. If it's been more than six months since you were sexually active, be sure to inform your most recent partner.

Remember, once you've been treated for an STD, you're not immune...you can be re-infected. That's why sexual partners should be treated at the same time so that an untreated partner still carrying the bacteria or virus doesn't re-infect the treated partner. Additionally, with gonorrhea and chlamydia, you and your partner shouldn't have sexual contact again until one week after you've both completed treatment.