May 27, 2013

Is tHere any differences between a pHarmacy and a delicatessen?


It depends on what you decide to examine.

So if you look at point of sales you can argue how much larger is  or where is located in urban area or how many pos you can find in a town.
You can examine the laws that rule the matter or the specific qualify of who works for them.

Well, if we look at the point of sales as a public area where consumers go to satisfy a specific need in that case we can find a lot of points in common.

Focusing attention on over-the-counter drugs we can analyze the figure of the pharmacist and delicatessen owner: both are considered as a consultants.
Both manage their point of sales with the aim to loyalize customers, obviously the final goal is to maximize the profit.

Now we try to examine the rapport with their suppliers.

What  will they expect? 
Effective logistic services? low costs? payment extension? promotions? trade or consumer loader? excellent and well known products? high margins? problem solving? a unique referent for each supplier always at their disposal?

YES!

Maybe in a different priority order, but more o less the same want list.
I can continue, but make your further considerations...

May 24, 2013

RenT your brain



We're running towards the complete loss of the identification between employee and company. 

As it happens in sports or in real life , a union isn't forever!
 In sport it doesn't exist the "flag-man" that identify himself and his career with the colours of only one team, in life it doesn't exist a devoted wife such as Penelope that wait for her Ulisse, the only man in her life.

Ability in retention and attractiveness are two faces of the same medal for a successfull company. 

The techniques and strategies in pursuing these models of human resource management are quite similar and they find their foundations on the ability to value immaterial assets.

I will give you a point of view on which you can reflect:
In long term, what is the less expensive or more effective approach?

Attractiveness? Included search costs, training costs, a top salary, an immaterial cost of integration ....

Retention? ability in creating new incentives, in giving qualified training, in exploiting experience and knoledge of the company processes ...


May 22, 2013

Tuttofood Exhibition, what can you expect?


Big disappointment!

By now in Italy  the poor demand of visibility or space to meet customers, prospects and professional operators is splitted between two exhibitions: Cibus and Tuttofood, Parma and Milan.
Result? Both Cibus and Tuttofood are risking to disappear.

I have gone to Tuttofood exhibition 2 days ago and I have found ... nothing!

No new products, no new connections, no new ideas.
Only 4 wings opened, a lot of free space, few people.

Maybe if a company wants to meet its clients, prospects or people interested in its activities or to make deals, then it can set a 'open doors' week directly in its headquarter. 

But it's a provocation ... and this is only my opinion.

May 13, 2013

chanGE MAnagement in the salumi market? As a YELL in a desert ....

No echo, no horizon!

You can possess the source of knowledge, you are willing to share it with other people but you don't find anyone greedy to gain knowledge.

You can explain them how grasping the essence of change, you can provide them the tools to dig a well to find water, you can show them analysis and researches about the presence of water underground ... the result will be a yell in the desert!

They are looking for the comforting past experience, the certainty of well-known things.

They will prefer to walk under the burning sun to look for an oasis. It isn't important where it is, how long they have to walk around, if the oasis still exists.

Meanwhile the desert will change,  it will transform before into a large salt lake and then into a huge mountain ... but they are still looking for an oasis.

May 07, 2013

How to eXploit uniQue strenGths of neWcomers

Is there an approach that can encourage newcomers to express their unique perspectives and strengths on the job doing what they do best?

 For Daniel M. Cable, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats (MITsloan management review), this new approach is explained in their article "Reinventing Employee Onboarding".
They use Wipro's real case to sustain their theory of "personal-identity socialization".

Join this link to read more
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/reinventing-employee-onboarding/
To read full article is necessary a free subscription.

May 05, 2013

How To geT critical informaTion from cusTomers in 3 sTeps

Well, it's only a positive attitude!

Step 1 - show them your maximum interest for everything they will want to tell you

Step 2 - listen to them

Step 3 - continue to listen ... simply...

May 04, 2013

I like and share this piece

The Six Characteristics of Companies That Are Winning the Digital Game

I recently spent several days with digital tool and media companies who aim to change the core operations of marketers through very cool new analytics and workflow capabilities. Adobe and Google, in particular, have ambitious strategies behind their offerings that, if marketers adopt them, will remake fundamental aspects of how organizations operate -- their speed, their accountability, their adaptability, their ability to mobilize a broader ecosystem of digital service suppliers, and even their creativity.
All of these changes are meant to enable marketers to better exploit the capabilities of digital/social/mobile channels. BUT, at the highest levels in many companies, the culture, focus of leadership, incentives, and management mechanisms are simply not set up to enable the transformations to happen. Across several dozen deep interviews we have done with Chief Marketing Officers, digital leaders, agencies, and media providers, we see six characteristics in the companies whose leaders are able to make broad digital change happen:
Align at the top: Across the executive suite, there not only is a digital steering committee to evaluate investments, but there is also a common base of beliefs about the core changes that digital is forcing the company to make in its strategic direction and operations. Everyone knows the priorities, their economic implications, and the trade-offs the company will make as it drives forward .... to be continue on http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130503115138-1816165-the-six-characteristics-of-companies-that-are-winning-the-digital-game?goback=%2Eptf_*1_*1_*1_*1_recentPosts_*1&trk=who_to_follow-b

By David Edelman

May 02, 2013

3 Tips ab0ut sharinG inf0rmati0n

In general society we can assert that information has experienced a complete transformation. Few and in delay in the past, a huge number and in continuous update nowadays.
The same thing is for the companies.
So an employe is surrounded by a lot of information and he has to steal time to his work to decide what is useful for him or for his company.


Below you can find 3 simple tips to check faster information and choose the best to use:

1) Email: use "ad hoc" filters to classify them and to avoid spamming, so start to read depending on the arguments from the last received.

2) Company's statistics or documents: look at your tasks in agenda, so select the documents or statistics that can help you today to carry out your job or to partecipate proactively to the meetings.

3) Exceeded documents: keep a summary of them by arguments, after 2 day you can throw them away or delete.

Maybe the best thing could be to have an assistant for these tasks ... do you agree?