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Bottleneck-oriented Business Management
Article Title: Bottleneck-oriented Business Management Author: Stephan Szugat Word Count: 1,176 Article URL: http://www.abenetis.com/encyclopedia.html Format: 65 Characters per Line ------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------...
Business or Leisure – Make Sure You Get the Best Stay
“Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belt. We are about to land in a moment...” Well, you might think that you have reached your destination. But not necessarily the end of the journey. In fact, when you hop around places for business or...
It's Time To Get All Strategic - Small Business Marketing Stategy
Copyright 2005 J D Moore So what's your small business marketing strategy? I'm willing to bet that close to 85% of the people reading this are scratching their heads now. Many small business owners fail to create a marketing strategy at all,...
Rules To Setting Business Goals And Objectives: Why And How To Be Smart
We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set. That applies to any kind of plan, whether we're talking business or personal finances, university degrees or NGO programs, website promotion or...
The Crisis Of Modernity
THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY Since the beginning of the industrial era our world has been facing what some historians call an ongoing "crisis of modernity". As fast as we adjust to new circumstances, the circumstances change again, and, the rate of...
 
Ideas Are Free - A Book Summary

This article is based on the following book: Ideas Are Free
By Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder
Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2004
ISBN 1-57675-282-8
232 pages

Without great ideas, no organization can stay afloat, much less flourish. Managers and top executives are
constantly struggling to come up with big ones – creative marketing strategies, ingenious cost-cutting
schemes and other corporate solutions that will save time and money and improve productivity. But what few
of them realize is that right under their noses is a virtually limitless source of valuable ideas – ideas
that can revolutionize their company and help bring substantial and sustainable competitive advantage.
These great ideas come, surprisingly, from the lowest point of the corporate food chain – from the frontline
employees who do the “dirty” work and who therefore see a lot of problems and opportunities that their managers do not.

Employee ideas are a lot more valuable than most managers think. More importantly, they can be had virtually for free, if you know how. This book teaches the most effective methods for tapping this “hidden” resource,
based on extensive research in more than 300 organizations around the world. It offers precise techniques for setting up an idea management system that can empower your people,
transform your organization and make you a much more effective leader.

The Idea Revolution

In traditional companies there are two distinct types of
workers:

1. The thinkers – the supervisors, managers and other executives; and

2. The doers – the frontline employees.
The rationale behind this division is that regular workers are not capable of the kind of critical thinking needed for problem solving and strategy formulation, and therefore
they should not participate in brainstorming.

The Idea Revolution invites you to break free from this old, limiting thinking pattern and to change the rules,because the truth is that although your frontline workers may indeed not have the knack for strategic planning, they do possess other, equally valuable type of knowledge – detailed, practical information about the company’s daily
operations, and common sense. Because they are actually where the action is, so to speak, they see a lot of things
that you do not – what the customers really need, what machines are not working, what is being wasted. And often they know what to do to make things better.

The only thing you need to do is to ask and to welcome, not discourage, their ideas.

Why Employee Ideas are Important

In most organizations only the first type of knowledge is encouraged. The other kind is not only discouraged,
but actually suppressed. But actually both are needed to run an efficient company. Managers and employees need to cooperate, to contribute what they know in order to come up with workable solutions and significant improvements.

Managers and supervisors can tend to


generalize issues and gloss over certain details, while employees who work directly with what is causing the problem know exactly what is wrong and what should be done about it. Their
knowledge of the problem is direct and intimate, and they can provide accurate solutions. They know things
by experience, not by theory.

The Power of Small Ideas

Big ideas are always more attractive – they are splashier, grander, always more promising. Managers are therefore
more likely to weed out “small” ideas and go for the really big ones, the “home runs” – those that could help generate millions of dollars in revenue or topple the competition, instantly. But when it comes to ideas,
small does not always mean ineffective or weak. In fact, in organizations it is often smarter to focus on small
ideas rather than on big ones.

Idea Management

As simple as it sounds, getting and using employee ideas to improve your organization’s performance entails a lot of planning, preparation and hard work. Two crucial issues that you would have to deal with are:

• How can the employees be encouraged or motivated to come up with so many ideas?

• Who has time to deal with all of them?

After all, once the ideas start pouring in, they would each have to be evaluated, and then implemented. These
are non-value adding tasks that can take up all of your valuable time. The only way you can effectively manage
employee ideas is by setting up a good idea system, one that will make the process, which can become messy,
organized and productive.

Profound Change

By encouraging the free flow of ideas, you will have the opportunity to bring about a profound transformation
within your organization, one that could not only boost its overall performance, but would also liberate the people who work within it.

Idea systems have the power to change the very culture of an organization, by bringing about more trust, respect, openness, commitment and harmony among its people.

When employees see that their ideas are valued, their attitudes change, from one of detachment and frustration
to involvement and fulfillment. This not only uplifts the quality of their lives, but also brings about real growth in the organization.

By: Regine P. Azurin
Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

http://www.bizsum.com
"A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read"
Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers for Busy Executives and Entrepreneurs

Mailto: mailto:freearticle@bizsum.com
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(c) Copyright 2001- 2005 ,BusinessSummaries.com -
Wisdom In A Nutshell

About the Author

Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

 

Strategic Planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations)
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... First, a Point About For-Profit and Nonprofit Strategic Planning ...
www.managementhelp.org
 
Basic Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know)
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... Strategic planning often includes use of several key terms. ...
www.managementhelp.org
 
Strategic Planning, Strategic Plan, Business Strategy, Strategic ...
Strategic planning advice with free strategic planner & sample strategic plan covering mission statement, SWOT analysis with business plan software for cash ...
www.planware.org
 
Strategic Planning
FAQs regarding strategic planning - geared primarily toward non-profit organizations but with enough detail and general information to provide useful ...
www.allianceonline.org
 
Frequently Asked Questions
Strategic Planning · Fundraising · Financial Management · Risk Management · Credit Card Acceptance. The FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) listed on this ...
www.allianceonline.org
 
Strategic planning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strategic planning involves defining objectives and developing ... Strategic planning uses "the big picture" to pursue large scale, long term objectives. ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
08/26/96 STRATEGIC PLANNING
You guessed it: strategic planning. Suddenly, the idea of rising above the ... But if strategic planning is back with a vengeance, it's also back with a ...
www.businessweek.com
 
Dr. Strategy - Dr. Pete Johnson, Keynote Speaker, Marketing ...
StrategicPlanning.com “Turning Change Into A Competitive Advantage”. Dr. Pete's Preview Video Click Here. Take-Away Value Sample Program Handouts ...
strategicplanning.com
 
Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation
Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation.
www.sps.org.uk
 
Guide 7
Strategic Planning in Smaller Nonprofit Organizations ... In short, as a result of a strategic planning process, an organization will have a clearer idea of ...
www.wmich.edu
 
STRATEGIC PLANNING MANUAL
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Your browser may not have a PDF reader available. Google recommends visiting our text version of this document.
 
BPubs.com: Strategic Planning & Business Planning Articles
Business Publications related to Corporate Strategic Planning.
www.bpubs.com
 
Strategic Planning Tools
Strategic Planning is a method for positioning an organization to take ... A strategic planning process incorporates an in-depth planning model that takes ...
www.nsba.org
 
Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.
The Center for Simplified Strategic Planning offers training, seminars, consulting, speakers, workshops, a book and a newsletter on strategic management for ...
www.cssp.com
 
LEADERSHIP: Strategic Planning and Strategic Management
Introduction: Is strategic planning really worth it? ... The purpose of strategic planning is to encourage thinking about your organization's "big ...
vskn.ca
 
The CEO Refresher Archives - Strategic Planning
When done right, the integrated strategic planning process can take a ... Strategic Planning and Project Management: The Key to Successful Implementation ...
www.refresher.com
 
HEFCE : Publications : 2000 : 00/24 - Strategic planning in higher ...
This guide reviews good practice in strategic planning in higher education (HE). It originated in a consultation exercise which we held in 1998 to review ...
www.hefce.ac.uk
 
The Association for Strategic Planning
The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), is a non-profit professional society whose mission is to enable people and organizations to succeed through ...
www.strategyplus.org
 
Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A ...
Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook: Books: Michael Allison,Jude Kaye by Michael Allison,Jude Kaye.
www.amazon.com
 
Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for ...
Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast!: Books: Robert W. Bradford,Robert W. Bradford,J. Peter ...
www.amazon.com
 
 

 
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