First Step Marketing

People are going to resist what they don’t want. It could be something they find dull, overwhelming, frustrating, boring or threatening in some way.

No matter what the reason, resistance is healthy and ought to be expected. It’s good for workers because it allows them to vent feelings, and it’s also good for the company because it provides valuable information. But it also poses problems for the manager when work has to be completed. Read the rest of this entry »

“They want us to do it this way.”

“You can’t expect any more from them.”

“They will never go along with it.”

In the eyes of some employees, every manager becomes, at one time or another, the personification of “them.” This happens when workers look upon rules and procedures as mandatory—because you, the executive, decreed them—rather than accept them because they serve a useful purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

Traditional methods for building trust between managers and workers are to stress common objectives, build group spirit, and offer motivational rewards.

But this “shared fate” approach is flawed, contend Samuel Culbert and John J. McDonough, co-authors of Radical Management: Power Politics and the Pursuit of Trust .

“It is impossible to keep redefining every situation so that all employees feel they have the same goal, and it is unrealistic to expect people to continually subordinate their personal interests,” says McDonough, a professor of management at UCLA. He has found that real trust grows when employees are consistently shown that their needs are understood and respected. Read the rest of this entry »

“You’ve been uncooperative, lax and late for work three times in a row. Take tomorrow off—with pay.”

Has this supervisor gone dotty, rewarding poor performance with a day off? What’s going on?

It’s positive discipline at work. The technique, introduced more than 20 years ago by Canadian industrial psychologist John Huberman, has been used at organizations like General Electric, Union Carbide, AT&T, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and others. Read the rest of this entry »

Even in an era where mandatory retirement ages are .creeping higher and higher, corporate managers need to plan for their own transitions from the seat of power to new roles and other activities.

For some, a top consideration is perpetuating a philosophy of business that they feel they have helped their companies develop. They want to know that what they have contributed to the corporate culture and success will not be lost.

Others are more pragmatic. They accept that new management must set its own standards and tone. They put their energies into planning for their own futures elsewhere.

There are many managers who don’t care too deeply about what happens to their organizations after they leave. Such managers recognize that corporations are, by their nature, designed to survive the individual employee, and they, therefore, see little value in staying too emotionally involved. Read the rest of this entry »

“Cognitive divergence” describes the situation of a person whose thinking has become so different from the rest of the group that he or she doesn’t really fit in. This person is now considered ^-out of it,” an eccentric, a maverick. Some changes that can make you seem like this in your own organization:

• Your company may have changed since you joined it as a bright young newcomer. New people with a different management philosophy may have taken over, or the company may have expanded or changed direction as time passed.
• Times may have changed. New ideas, new technology may cause a company to change its outlook. Where once it valued those managers who ran production centers or developed new products, now it may save its smiles for its financial or marketing managers. Or, vice versa. Read the rest of this entry »

You have been aware of the situation for some time now. Bits and pieces of overheard conversations, some rather telling comments from your boss, cryptic glances from some employees. Putting it all together, it seems to add up to one thing: One or more of the people who report to you are going behind your back, taking ideas, complaints, whatever, directly to your boss while bypassing you.

But though you are aware of what is happening, you don’t know why it is. “And that’s something I’m going to have to find out,” you tell yourself. “I’m getting it from both sides—and I have to find a way to put an end to it.” Now you wonder, just what is the best approach to take in a situation of this kind? Read the rest of this entry »

You have a subordinate who you feel has the makings of greatness. If developed and encouraged, this person could climb to the very top. But with a department or division to run, plus your own responsibilities, it’s not always that easy to give your potential star the support and encouragement that’s needed. It’s a universal problem most managers have to contend with.

Some managers think that talent will win out in the end and that nothing need be done to help promising rookies along. With luck and initiative, they’ll make their talents known eventually.

There is some validity to this contention, yet many experts—like James Clawson, an associate professor at the Colgate Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia—feel that managers ought to take an active role in helping subordinates make their mark. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you elevate a staff member only to discover that the person is not up to snuff. In over his or her head, the newly promoted employee can slow the output of your department, unsettle customer relations, or call your judgment into question.

Letting the employee go may be a quick way of handling the problem and saving face, but it can hurt your standing with the rest of your staff, particularly if the person was a good performe

r in the past. Here are some alternate strategies:

• Be on the lookout for potential trouble. “During the initial honeymoon period, managers often overlook the person’s shortcomings, but doing so means mistakes can reach even greater proportions before they’re caught,” says Dr. Chester Schriesheim, distinguished professor of management and the Rosa R. and Carlos M. de la Cruz scholar in leadership at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. Read the rest of this entry »

The advantages and disadvantages of network marketing over conventional selling

Direct selling, network marketing, person-to-person, door-to-door, party-plan selling and other variants have certain advantages and disadvantages over conventional selling:

Advantages

• The customer is seen in the comfort of her home. No effort is required to get to a shop.
• The goods are often delivered directly by the distributor.
• Old and frail people who cannot get about are easily served.
• There is a considerable degree of personal attention.
• Direct selling is often made to friends, so it is a warm and enriching experience, not a sales experience. Read the rest of this entry »