Mark Scott: Why you can gain a lot by sitting down with those who don’t agree with you
Mark Silverman had a lot of voices in his ear in the early days of Big Ten Network. The launch on Sept. 1, 2007, was a glorious day. But it was quickly followed by opinions from every direction as people with ties to the Big Ten Conference expressed their thoughts about what was and wasn’t […]
Building Stronger Communities: LifeCare Alliance
Working together: LifeCare Alliance marries the needs of for-profits with its own LifeCare Alliance would not be able to serve its 15,000 active clients without support from the corporate community — companies big and small deliver Meals-on-Wheels, work in its dining centers, deliver pet care, assist with numerous volunteer opportunities, and purchase catering and wellness […]
How potent are your sales drivers? They could improve the efficacy of your sales force
Considering sales purely as a numbers game often leads to brute-force approaches that are rarely effective. Alternately, analyzing sales drivers and systematically maximizing their potency results in more sales with less effort. Sales drivers are factors that influence the probability of deal-closure, deal cycle-time, deal profit margin and the post-sale risk of failure. […]
Amy Schultz Clubbs: Community partnerships — Being good neighbors makes good business sense
Healthy relationships are good for you — and in my experience, this is as true for companies as it is for people. At Molina Healthcare of Ohio, our involvement with community partners has enhanced our reputation, raised brand awareness, allowed us to model our mission in action and motivated everyone in the company to do […]
Todd Whittington: The strategic structure — Using a framework to manage business uncertainty can help you process it
The world of technology startups is dominated by one overriding characteristic: uncertainty. Uncertainty in marketing, feature sets, customer needs and even in revenue models nip at founders as they strike out and try to create something new. Uncertainty is not exclusive to young companies, as executives from small businesses to multinational corporations confront the unknown […]
Bill Glick: Why MDs may need MBAs to create value in the evolving health care landscape
Top-quality health care procedures are readily available in the United States, but disruptive trends are challenging health care businesses. Renewed attacks on health care costs, demands for greater access, exciting research on personalized medicine, evidence-based medicine and medical tourism are transforming health care businesses. Remarkably, these disruptive challenges are less about medicine and more about […]
Tom Feeney: Listening to clients — Three key tips to implementing a successful customer service metric
Companies use customer service metrics to gauge how customers view them. But that’s not enough — not if you really want to delight customers. Successful companies listen to what customers are saying and use it to drive operational change. Feedback isn’t just analyzed at the corporate level, but throughout the entire organization. When we rolled […]
Misha Malyshev: Why recruitment should always play second fiddle to retention
It’s no secret that the success or failure of any modern company is driven by the quality of its people. This was the basis for the “War for Talent” concept developed by McKinsey and Co. in the 1990s. But the “war” has since evolved into a new endeavor, as a mission to not only obtain […]
Para M. Jones engages Stark State College staff and the business community to keep the region's economic engine revving
Stark State College is focused on preparing students and graduates for the jobs that exist in its environment, says Para M. Jones, the college’s president. In order to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the community, however, the college must be able to pivot itself and its 500-plus employees to meet the needs of today’s […]
Leslie W. Braksick: Preparing for your next season — Finding a new purpose beyond the corporate world
When you are in the heat of the battle as a corporate executive, it’s hard to imagine what’s on the other side. Your life is consumed with phone calls, meetings, travel, dinners out, presentations, explanations, expense reports and budgets. There are endless requests for your time and point of view. It is a relentlessly busy, […]