Notes on Noble Business

Let’s talk “Competitive Advantage”. What makes you and/or your business better than others? If you can answer that question – and convey that answer to others, you’re bound to increase your likelihood of success dramatically. I’d like to offer three keys for you to consider:

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Most companies at one time or another stand back from the day-to-day company business and ask just that question: How can we achieve superior Company performance? Furthermore, how can we design and set in place the management processes that will keep us performing at that level?

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“We’re celebrating ten years. Thank you to our customers who have made this possible.”

Sign in a restaurant in Connecticut

But don’t forget another constituency that is fast becoming a company’s most important constituency to serve, because of its power to help a company to grow profitably!

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In our last blog post (August 5, 2011) “Want to transform your business? Then don’t rely just on traditional approaches” we identified the traditional approaches used to make businesses better, and why they are no longer enough to assure success. In this post, we’ll take a look at approaches that can totally transform companies into winners. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Okay, so you don’t like the suggestion that you and/or your business needs to be transformed. Nobody likes to be accused of being unreformed or untransformed, but frankly, I couldn’t think of a better phrase. Maybe you’d like something more “corporate speak” like “the emerging business model”. In any case, I am continually bombarded with literature about ways of making business more successful, and I invariably find them missing an important ingredient. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Businesses, especially large corporations, are held in low esteem by the public – and that was even before the financial meltdown during which the US government bailed out many big financial institutions while the public watched. This does not bode well for business long term – in attracting talent, in attracting customers and keeping them happy, and in satisfying investors.

So it’s good news when a leading consulting firm – [Read the rest of this entry »]

I have collaborated with Angela Dowd to create an online course that discusses implementing the Noble Enterprise business model. The course is in test mode right now but this blog entry will allow users to post their comments and assignments.

Okay, so here’s the deal: On October 1st, while in a business meeting about a business conference I am helping to plan and organize at Sunday River Resort, Maine’s largest resort, I experienced a serious stroke that has temporarily left me without voice and partially paralyzed. In my limited view of reality, the month has become “lost” – with canceled appointments including a presentation for the MaineBiz Momentum conference. I’m in a rehab facility in Freeport currently which is closer to my home than Central Maine Medical Center where I was for October.

Who knows what lies ahead? I look forward to singing again – and to speaking also. But if that’s not to be, then I know there will be some other path for me.

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So, it’s official: the recession has ended. In fact, it officially ended mid-year last year! How can that be? Leave it to experts in economics (and that was my college major) to define the end of a recession as merely when the economy stops plummeting and begins clawing its way back. That definition actually just means the bottom of the economic downturn has been reached. We’re far from getting back to where we were before the recession – in terms of output (Gross Domestic Product) – not to mention in terms of employment levels!.

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This recession is teaching us once again about the trade-off between people and profits. While companies scramble to get through financially – by postponing investments, cutting costs and managing cash, it’s important to keep the other resources healthy too. Thus a recession is a great environment for learning how to manage finances AND manage the human resource and customer relationship dimension optimally.

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