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Managing Your Eggs |
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A recent article outlining the
collapse of Frigrite may hold the key to the old adage "too many eggs in
the one basket".
For Frigrite, a 60 year old commercial refrigeration and air
conditioning business, the two grocery giants Coles and Woolworths were
crucial to their continued success as they constituted 75% of Frigrites
client base, according to the company's 2009 report.
Frigite lost its Coles maintenance contract in 2008-09, then in December
it was handed a Notice of Default by Woolworths. While Frigrite disputed
the default notice, Woolworths had already decided to terminate its
$16.3 million-a-year contract. Them's some big eggs!
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The word
duopoly certainly springs to mind when discussing the
effects Coles and Woolworths have in the Australian Grocery
Industry. But this is not just a story of the little guy
coming up against the giants and losing, there are also
themes of spreading your risk, having in place operational
and management procedures to ensure a healthy continuous
relationship with clients. And the importance of
diversification, sometimes the basket you have so carefully
stored all your eggs in, can come apart at the seems!
A solution to this problem would seem to be fairly
non-intuitive. Having landed such big clients would mean a
certain amount of infrastructure, systems and personnel to
service the contracts. On the other side of this fantastic
opportunity lies an obstacle - how to diversify and insulate
oneself from potential risk. Now that we have all the
wonderful systems, people and "assets" how can we use this
infrastructure to attain the ideal clients, ones who embody
the right mix of scale and profitability, ones who won't be
too hard-nosed. There is no room for complacency in
business, "Yay I've got a really big client" just won't cut
it! |
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They've
Arrived! |
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'Solving
the People Puzzle' Book by Peter Rowe of ProfiTune
Business Systems
Why are so few employees team players? Why is one person in five
actively sabotaging your business? Why do three in five do the
absolute minimum that it takes not to get fired? What does it
take to motivate some people?
Reading this book you'll learn:
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Why, when your people are clear on the values in your
business, they don't need rules to handle new and
challenging situations perfectly.
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The real purpose of your Vision and Mission statements, and
why getting them right is the second item on any leader's
Job Description.
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Why attracting the right people is actually easier to
achieve than finding them, and what you have to do for the
right people to find you.
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There is a real-life Matrix in every workplace which, until
you crack the code and understand it, will frustrate every
attempt you make towards improved people performance.
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The real-world secrets to motivating half the people on the
labour market; the reasons why the other half can't and
won't be motivated by you; and how to tell the difference
between them.
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Solidarity in Egypt |
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On Friday, the holy day for Islam, Christian protesters in
Tahrir Square joined hands to form a protective cordon around
their Muslim countrymen so they could pray in safety.
Sunday, the Muslims returned the favor.
They surrounded Christians celebrating Mass in Cairo's central
plaza, ground zero for the secular pro-democracy protests
reverberating throughout the Middle East.
"In the name of Jesus and Muhammed, we unify our ranks," the
Rev. Ihab al-Kharat told the crowd in his sermon.
Some of the worshipers began to cry as the congregation sang,
"Bless our country, listen to the cries of our hearts."
Afterward, the crowd of both Muslims and Christians chanted "one
hand" - meaning "we are one" - and held up a Koran and a cross.
We really are living in amazing times!
Extracted from an article by Helen Kennedy for
NY Daily News. |
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