Achieving Class A Business Excellence: An Executive's Perspective

Introduction

Six months into his new job, Greg is desperate. The list of problems he faces might signal the end of his career as president of the Cosmetics Products division of Amalgamated Consumer Products Corporation, Inc.

Imagine coming to work and facing these conditions day after day:

• Revenue and profit falling short of commitment

• Dreadful customer service, resulting in sales managers spending more time apologizing to customers than in building the customer base

• New products introduced late, and then not meeting share, revenue, and profit expectations

• Inventories expanding outside the walls of the warehouses, while orders are shorted, and expired and obsolete products are scrapped

• Functional managers who are operating as silo managers, and are at each others’ throats

• Marketing campaigns repeatedly beaten by the competition

 

Whether you are a senior executive or a mid-level manager with aspirations to reach the senior management ranks, you can empathize with Greg. Without robust, integrated management processes, disasters like these are all too common.

We hope you have avoided the simultaneous convergence of all these conditions. Greg has not been that lucky. He has to deal with all of them.

In this book, you’ll look over Greg’s shoulder as he confronts and overcomes these conditions. You’ll watch him make some traditional, expedient, and very counterproductive decisions as the pressure to improve business results increases. You’ll watch as he learns to think differently ...