An in-house accountant or finance manager plays a critical role in any business. SME business owners are typically entrepreneurial characters, primarily looking at the big-picture focus of growth and new ventures. This mindset is important for success, but balancing this with a finance business partner focused on sustainable growth is critical. The right business partner should be the wise voi

A key question posed by any business turnaround or profit improvement specialist, when they are asked to assist a business, is: “what is the exit strategy for the owners and directors?” We’re astounded that some business owners don’t have a clear idea or strategy about what they should do, and when, to achieve their exit strategy. That is, if they have an exit strategy at all.

The transition from a large enterprise to a smaller one has been blamed for many career and corporate failures - but what is it that seems to cause this?...

Top executive recruiters agree the only three true job interview questions get at strengths, motivation, and fit.

Leaders make it a mission to both FIND THE RIGHT TRACK and then to STAY ON IT!! Leaders also know that this is sometimes more challenging then...

The worst thing Australian businesses can do during the “new GFC” conditions they will face over the next year is batten down the hatches and just try to survive. Signs of economic slowdown in China, combined with a predicted poor retail result over Christmas and concerns over carbon tax impact, mean 2012 will be an incredibly challenging one for many businesses – I believe tougher than the ori

How can you leverage supply chain principals to improve business performance and achieve operational turnarounds? In my last post, “Supply Chain Performance – a lead indicator for business success”, I noted that Supply Chain Management is all about optimising activities across various partners, to satisfy a customer’s needs in the most effective and efficient way. I also provided a few charact

In a skills shortage, how do you compete with other organisations to attain the right candidate for your next critical hire? Obviously you need to determine if the candidate has the right skills for the job. Interestingly, recent research also suggests that hiring the right attitude and providing a streamlined recruitment process is equally important.

A central theme of great leadership is facilitating a driving team to achieve the steps that will ultimately realize a change vision. What makes these

Culture isn’t just a warm fuzzy thing that you can promote to prospective employees. Great culture yields commercial value and positively impacts your bottom line. One of the most common responses when I ask people why they love their job is - ‘the culture’. Organizations with great culture produce highly motivated and engaged staff. Research shows that organizations with high employee engag

ON 361 mining complexes all over Australia, workers and their mammoth machines are operating around the clock on a scale never before seen in this country's history.

With the economy teetering close to flat growth, there is increased pressure on change management to not only maintain but also improve margins and profits sustainably. As part of any change management process the ability to influence a “step change” in how things are done is critical; particularly when implementing new processes and behaviours in large organisations. This step change can on

Occasionally, leaders create a glass ceiling that limits their team's ability to achieve its objectives. In my observation, this typically occurs when...

This is the last in a four part series that looks at four of Australia’s core industries – Mining Services, Transport, Retail and Manufacturing. In Australia, the manufacturing sector has grown at an average rate of 0.9% p.a. for more than a decade. Companies within the manufacturing sector employ almost one million people and account for 8.7% of GDP. The manufacturing sector is now the sec