Author Archives: Mark Jacobs
July 2020
Supply Chain: Re-Shoring, On-Shoring, and Buffer Options
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” -Attributed to Winston Churchill. For the last few decades, “off-shoring” (basing some of a company’s processes or services overseas, to take advantage of opportunities to lower costs), “vendor simplification”, and “just-in-time” (reducing stocks of raw-materials, work in progress, and finished goods within operating processes […]
June 2020
PowerPoint Tips to Nail Your Presentation
It’s hard to communicate ideas simply. In the right hands, PowerPoint can be a great tool to help you get your points across in an effective and easy way. If you want to make sure your next PowerPoint presentation to gets your point across effectively, try applying a few of these tips: THINK BEFORE YOU POWERPOINT Before […]
June 2020
Working With Private Equity
Reading an article about Kansas based Payless Shoes this weekend, I was reminded of a presentation I recently gave to local financial executives about what they needed to know when working with Private Equity (PE) firms, challenging perceptions versus reality. The article portrayed Private Equity firms in a very negative light, telling a story of […]
June 2020
Cash Management Post Lockdown
I don’t know about you, but if I hear another talking head on the TV using the phrase “new normal,” or read another newspaper article or blog post that suggests that anyone truly knows how business will change in the medium to long-term, I think I will explode. I plan to just build on my previous post […]
April 2020
Six Steps to Conquer Complexity
People yearn for simplicity. Whether it’s inside or outside work, contending with a multitude of obligations, considerations, opportunities and challenges can be overwhelming. When we feel bogged down and are greeted by more complexity around every corner, simple answers are alluring. This is a phenomenon that’s not gone unnoticed by people who want to make […]
April 2020
CORE CATALYSTS Rapid Cash Management (RCM) Assessment
We’re all in uncharted territory with the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies that last through this crisis will have Executives who rapidly assessed these new circumstances, recognized patterns and opportunities, and acted with urgency to take immediate action to pivot and financially secure their companies. Those that don’t may not survive. Right now, your company’s responsibility as […]
March 2020
Are You Scenario Planning Around the Coronavirus?
Without wanting to further add to the concern and hysteria around COVID-19 (aka the Coronavirus), fears that there might be a widespread epidemic here in the US are causing widespread business uncertainty (just look at the swings in the stock market the last few days). This raises questions on how well prepared many business are […]
March 2020
Inside the Mind of a Consultant
Once you understand what is going on in the mind of a Consultant, it becomes a lot easier to make sense of what they are doing and why. So why not take a moment and come step inside a Consultants brain (don’t worry, it’s a bright and fun place to spend some time). Editor’s Note: […]
February 2020
Three Reasons Why It Pays To Have An External Perspective
People sometimes ask me, “Why do companies hire consultants like you?” There are many reasons, but the one I most often point to when answering why companies hire (and get high returns on their investment from) consultants is this: because they want, like, or need an external perspective. Think about it like this: you […]
June 2019
Change is hard! Here’s what to do about it!
Change Management has been a hot topic since the dawn of time. Yet, despite the huge investment that companies have made in tools and training and the thousands of books available (over 183,000 on Amazon), we still see a 60-70% failure rate for organizational change projects. A similar proportion of projects do not deliver the […]