Nearly every successful middle-market company eventually faces a swarm of competition. When their core business contracts, single-product companies can find themselves fighting for their lives. But the companies which plan highly-related diversifications before such downturns grow in good times and bad.
David Gensler, Executive Director of Gensler first faced the challenges of operating worldwide back in the 1980’s: he’s had a few decades’ head start on most of us. Read how the company’s experiences in China became a global strategy.
CEOs aren’t in sales, but they have a critical role to play. Dennis Raefield of Mace Security International (OTCQB: MACE) shows us that the proactive CEO is key in landing and retaining key customers.
Who has greater moral authority, the classy start-up or the established brand? Small companies are presumed to possess integrity and higher quality. But is this conclusion always valid?
Does innovation fundamentally differ when you’re talking small firms vs. big firms? Lisa Noble, CEO of Farmhouse Foods, provides some insights into what makes a company successful for more than a century.
Building a supply chain is one thing. Cross-linking three existing supply chains in new and unique ways is quite another. CEO Neal Gutterson of Mendel Biotechnology shows how it’s done.
For years, global operations have been the province of the large firm, but this is changing. The experience of Raju Reddy, CEO of Sierra Atlantic, shows us how going global can become a strong driver for growth even with a small firm.
Changing economic environments can kill business predictability. High level executives may have to work cross-departmentally when needed to galvanize the right combination of efforts. But they must do one thing for sure: stop thinking about it and get out there.
Salmon are destined to die after swimming upstream. Downturns can make businesses feel like they’re nearing the end too. But companies and their CEOs have the potential to re-invent themselves, depending on their environment. Here are five forces that determine whether your environment is “structurally favorable.”
The market and your competition are changing all the time. Similarly, the sales and marketing function of your business needs tending all the time. But which principles apply to business aspects that are 80% science and 20% art?
Robert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, a consulting firm of former chief executives that improves the leadership infrastructure of midsized companies seeking to accelerate their performance. He was chief executive of Bentley Publishing Group from 1984 to 2006 and steered the firm to become a leading player in its industry (decorative art publishing).