Intelligence

Strategy and Operations:

Acquisitions and Alliances

Alternatives to a COO

Navigating Your IT Services Business Through Current Business Challenges

Practitioners and pundits alike are calling this the deepest drought in the IT services industry in 30 years. This note discusses some strategies for navigating your firm through these tough times.
Role of the Executive Steering Committee of Strategic Initiatives

The role of the Executive Steering Committee on strategic initiatives is to ensure that action is taken on a timely basis, in the appropriate part of the organization to attain the initiative’s business goals. This note lays out a framework for organizing an Executive Steering Committee and a sample agenda for conducting highly effective meetings.

Executive Transformation Initiatives

You greatly increase the probability of success of executive transformation initiatives when you are clear about what steps to take. This note lays out a useful framework for organizing and managing the five phases involved in complex executive transformation initiatives and identifies key actions for each phase.

A Note on What It Takes to Succeed with a Transformational Initiative

Four factors are associated with most successful initiatives. Having all four doesn’t guarantee success but missing one or more dramatically increases the probability that things won’t go as planned.

Notes on Offshore Technologists

Firms with access to offshore technologists in India, Ireland, and Russia have all inquired recently as to the best way to make their capacity available to US firms. This note is a way to help them organize their thinking upon entering the US market. Please share with us your own views on this subject.

Taking Over a Ship

Taking over the leadership of a company is difficult. A new commander of a navy ship is similarly challenged. These notes outline the strategy for success as an incoming Chief Executive developed by a commander who inherited the top role on seven ships during his years of service in the US Navy.

Top 8 Reasons Review Meetings Under-perform

Review meetings with a board of executives with different competencies and perspectives, can be invaluable. This note tells what can go wrong with such sessions.

Operating Unit Definition

An operating unit is more stable, easier to grow, more valuable, and provides more connectedness, interest and fun than a collection of one-off projects. This note lays out important elements of an operating unit.

Three steps to selling a task plan

I understand that Ross Perot once said, "a proposal should be nothing more than a written confirmation of a work plan that has already been agreed to!" These points present a three step process to do just that.

Corporate Lessons

This note presents some important lessons from one of the founders of a fast-growing services firm that grew to over a billion dollars.