Few executives believe they are making an unethical choice. Instead, they look at it as purely a business decision. The moral dimension was not part of the equation. “Ethical Fading” (Tenbrunsel) takes ethics out of consideration, and even increases unconscious unethical behavior.   Consider these types of ethical fading:     Negative Performance Metrics:  Goals…

Speaking with a salesperson last week, she could not understand why I was not purchasing her company’s product, even though I really liked what it could provide me. I explained to her that we had multiple initiatives currently ongoing, and each of these competes for employee attention and completion. Change fatigue comes from an increasing…

Kraft Foods, who recently merged with Heinz, has a 27-brand portfolio representing $18B, yet many of these brands are old. Recently, they had a breakout innovation (big, broad and aggressive), instead of an incremental improvement… Mio!  1.     Started as Crystal Light (liquid version of powder) o   Part of funnel of new ideas – constantly working…

Boston Consulting Group detailed in July 2014 a growing issue of labor shortages. Of the four BRIC countries widely recognized for growth potential, only India is safe from an impending shortfall. Japan was hit in 1995, and now Germany faces a projected 2.4 million dollar labor shortage in 2020; growing to 10 million by 2030….

How does an organization balance investments in R&D versus operational improvements? Start-ups may spend up to 20% of revenue on R&D, while mature organizations drop to single digits. This is an act of science and art, as one startup’s CEO spent heavily on sales and marketing since his previous startup lost the industry due to…

A couple of years ago, the American Airlines CEO shared his insights with a group of us in Austin. He had done well to reach the position he was in, and the wisdom was evident: 1.     Previous CEO had been a great mentor; 2.     Need solid foundation for solid decision making; 3.     Career path a)    …

In our growing borderless world, there are shifts in public policy which have made the movement of people, products, money and ideas move across national boundaries easier than ever. And, it is only getting easier, as this global flow is estimated to triple in the next decade, due to: a) rising prosperity and participation in…

When I worked at IBM at the beginning of my career, I had a mentor. He met with me one time for 24 minutes. One of his metrics on his annual performance management was to “Serve as a mentor,” and I am sure he checked off the box as “complete.” Of course, the intention of…

As one company’s CEO transitioned out to make room for a new one, I was at the conference where this company started to “Create Their Future.” The past is a story (they recognized the previous CEO), the future is a possibility (celebrated the new strategy). With this transition came a new future-state view. Yet, the…

Organizations must regularly evaluate assets in order to determine their value differentiation. Too many times, an organization holds onto a product or service that is minimally impacting their profit (i.e., bricks in a backpack); whereas the trade-off decision would be a better investment of their finite resources to an asset with a higher payoff.  In…