A business newsletter with Pizzazz!

"We help leaders become better marketers
using a holistic business approach!"

March 9, 2004
St. Patrick's Day & Doris' birthday is March 17th

holistic, adj. dealing with wholes or integrated systems rather than their parts.

People often ask what "using a holistic business approach" means. I'll use this issue of Insights & Joy to explain myself and contrast the approach with strictly functional responses to business issues. 

I always look forward to St. Patrick's Day each year, because it is also Doris' birthday. My lovely and vivacious wife and I have been married for 43 eventful years and I have now been present to celebrate 46 of her birthdays (I knew her for three years before we were married). Doris starts celebrating on March 1 and thoroughly enjoys her whole birthday month, so you might say she takes a "holistic" approach to birthdays while I take a holistic approach to business issues!

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IN THIS ISSUE

►Using a holistic business approach

►Smiles make the day!

►Amazing facts...

Using a holistic business approach

Big picture perspective
Business owners and CEOs generally look at a business as an integrated system, not as a bunch of parts or individual functions. It is their 'big picture' perspective that often sets them apart from middle management and others within their organization. Owners and CEOs involve themselves in all aspects of the operation. They must watch cash flow and the firm's financial structure while getting and keeping customers. They must maintain the physical resources to serve clients while satisfying the needs of employees, suppliers, government agencies, and the public. The owner/CEO must always keep an 'eye on the ball' and maintain the correct direction.  

Balancing act
Each day, the owner/CEO must cope with multiple issues and attempt to keep the company balanced. The owner/CEO recognizes that a firm that balances marketing, operations, and administration (along with physical, human, and financial resources) can grow and prosper. An unbalanced firm will usually have difficulty maintaining profitable growth. The owner/CEO will feel frustrated when supervisors take actions that benefit their individual departments, but hinder the overall progress of the firm. Middle management is well-meaning, but often fails to consider how their actions will affect other functions within the company. For example, marketing and sales people often are unaware of the impact their ideas have on cash requirements, physical resources, or other people in their company. Another example would be a plant manager who strives for a high volume of low-profit production units, ignoring or delaying orders for extremely high-profit items that take slightly longer to produce.

At issue is the difference in perspective that often exists between the owner/CEO and just about everyone else in an organization. Poorly designed compensation methods often contribute to conflicting goals and general confusion of purpose. 

Outside advisers
The same difference in perspective can apply to outside advisors. Consider the lawyer who advises a course of action based solely on legal precedent without considering the financial consequences to the client firm. Imagine the CPA who recommends changes in customer or employee policy with no thought to the effect on turnover or market impact. Think about the insolvency caused by a marketing consultant who blindly helps to generate significant new business without considering the new investments required in inventory and receivables! 

Practical answers
I have been a marketer, general manager and mentor with both large and smaller firms in a wide variety of business-to-business activities. My experience indicates that a holistic approach delivers practical answers to issues that keep an owner/CEO awake at night. Owners and CEOs are well-advised to seek managers and advisers who share their holistic perspective and can demonstrate their ability to contribute to the firm's progress in a balanced manner.  

        

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Smiles make the day!
TRUISMS TO PONDER...

► A conclusion is the exact place where you got tired of thinking.

► For every action, there is an equal and opposite...criticism!

► The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required upon it.