Massageman · 70-79, M
Company could be: Missing its core target market (who is it REALLY selling to??). Understand the "core competency" of the company. (3M core comp is coatings. P&G is making emulsions, etc). So, a company that makes pizza should probably not try to build cars, in an extreme example. Unbalanced criteria: you can make things or provide services good, cheap or fast. You only get to pick two in most businesses - something has got to "give"- something has to be sacrificed. Having a lack of long-range goals/planning as well as short-term operation. (What new services/products are one horizon for 2, years, 5 years, 10 years from now? What is the company doing to "reinvent" what it does and sells?? These elements are all rather basic economics of running a business. 3M, for example, is a master at coming up with new products, or at least re-vamping old ones (just take a look at Post-It notes). And how many variations can Kellogg's come up with or Special K cereals???
Mellowgirl · 31-35, F
@Massageman that's really insightful.
I think here the UK is going through a really bad shake up. Consequently companies that have become complacent probably need to address what you mentioned above.
In regards to to my mums work where they made a profit, it's worrying that they aren't able to filter some of that down the chain.
So that makes me wonder is it selfish, did they just manage to get their head above water or was it a plan to get staff to work harder. I don't really know but thank you.
I think here the UK is going through a really bad shake up. Consequently companies that have become complacent probably need to address what you mentioned above.
In regards to to my mums work where they made a profit, it's worrying that they aren't able to filter some of that down the chain.
So that makes me wonder is it selfish, did they just manage to get their head above water or was it a plan to get staff to work harder. I don't really know but thank you.
Massageman · 70-79, M
@Mellowgirl Most companies never seem to filter enough down the chain , even though the higher up bosses are living quite well. Some of their benefits might be a vacation home to borrow, a company car to drive, and these are generally considered valid business expenses. Of course, employees down the line don't get these benefits. Of course companies ALWAYS want their employees to "work harder" and to get more output out of the staff. IMO, companies should spend time finding ways to work SMARTER. This is a lot different than working HARDER. I know what you mean. I worked at AT&T for almost 20 years and any of several money/time-saving changes I created, used or both, somehow always got credited to my bosses and "their team". So I quit worrying about that stuff- just made me angry. At one point I was doing the work of 4 or 5 different titles (I really kind of lost count). I was the Admin Assistant to a 2nd level manager, Payroll Manager for our 100+ person division, the IP address manager for all AT&T downtown Chicago offices, Supply Manager for our group, and general all around "MacGyver" who who could unscrew the screw-ups of others. I liked the variety. - I was never bored. But I was exhausted. And I still had a home, wife, and two kids to help when I got home!!! I wasn't an employee who "played the game", just to get ahead. I DO have an MBA, Master's degree in Business Administration, but since I wasn't going to play ball with the upper management suits, I was limited in my growth there. AT&T would give out certificates, plaques, and anniversary gifts every 5 years, but those big raises never came through for me either.
Massageman · 70-79, M
@Mellowgirl AT&T DID provide compensation- one class per term- for my MBA. And at one point, they opened the tuition reimbursement to non-AT&T-job-related classes as well (because so many people were getting cut after the break-up of AT&T). A lot of the female employees took up Cosmotology. Some of the men took up HVAC and healthcare. I took Massage Therapy and have now been certified in MT for 30+ years (in case you wondered about my screen-name).
Justafantasy · M