jueves, 25 de noviembre de 2010

Management of Change

A while ago I was asked to write a class material on management of change for my students at the FUSEMBA program of the Institute of Lifelong Learning (IL3) of the University of Barcelona. Here is a synthesis of that material.

Change is not only a reality in organizational management but also a necessity. The current turbulent environment requires that an organization and its members have the ability to undergo dynamic changes to achieve high performance levels and be able to maintain their competitive advantages and value contribution.
To be successful in efforts to manage change, managers must be capable of recognizing the forces that motivate change. These forces can come from sources that are internal or external to the organization. Sometimes they originate from a combination of both.
Managers are the main change agents in most organizations. Management’s commitment to change must be visible because its behavior will serve as a model for employees. A shared vision of change must be developed that includes participation of the greatest possible number of employees in the planning process. A careful diagnosis and needs analysis must be carried out before proceeding to implement change.
Because resistance to change is an unavoidable fact, management must plan for its occurrence and prepare to manage it. Timely and complete communication on the background and consequences of change, high levels of participation and empathic support will be very useful in helping an organization’s members during the transitional stage. In addition, the organization’s rewards system must be prepared to reinforce new behaviors and to snuff out the old ones. Finally, to effectively meet the goals of change it is also important to carefully select an organizational development technique.

viernes, 19 de noviembre de 2010

Datos de la semana del 15 al 18 de Noviembre

  • Las sociedades mercantiles disueltas aumentan 0,7%
  • El personal ocupado disminuye un 0,6% en tasa interanual
  • La morosidad baja hasta el 5,49% en septiembre
  • El gasto en I+D ascendió 14.582 millones de euros en 2009
Fuente: Cámara de Madrid

jueves, 18 de noviembre de 2010

Are all leaders managers and are all managers leaders?

These roles are often confused. Since management positions come with some degree of formally designated authority, a person may assume a leadership role simply because of the position he or she holds in the organization. But management is about working with people and resources to accomplish the goals of the organization, whereas leadership is the ability to influence people toward the achievement of those goals. You might say that all leaders are managers, but not all managers are leaders. The formal rights given to managers by the organization do not assure that they will be able to lead effectively.
Characteristics such as inspiration, innovativeness, determination and self-confidence have been mentioned as traits common to good leaders. However, each society assigns unique meanings for most of these characteristics, and consequently their importance varies in all societies. These variations in leadership behavior have been the subject of extensive research, focusing on how leadership roles vary across cultures and how the characteristics of leadership behavior are interpreted across boarders.
In short, managers and leaders are not the same, especially when considered from an international perspective (the sole perspective in a globalized world). In any case, it is important for a manager to strive to be both a good leader and great manager.

jueves, 11 de noviembre de 2010

What does it mean for a hospital to be “market-driven”?

I have posted this question to my students of Business Fundamentals Strategies at The College for International Studies (CIS). As of today, this is an issue embraced by many governments in their efforts to leverage market forces to lower the cost of health care and improve its quality.
Applying marketing strategies to a health system in general or a hospital in particular is the same thing as doing it for a non-profit organization. There are needs and wants to satisfy, there are different segments and there is a specific target to direct our efforts.
To be efficient in the health care industry, as in any other, you need to analyze, think strategically and communicate your added value services to the public.
In fact, just as an example, the same customer relationship management strategies used in the retail industry to generate a customer loyalty base, are being used by hospitals to market their services to patients and physicians. Hospitals are using CRM software to create targeted mailing campaigns and even personalized Web content that gives patients access to their own health information.
Marketing databases are also used to track information on physicians. This data is used to develop closer relationships or target individual doctors for recruiting.
Of course, this market driven approach is no substitute for a high quality clinical care. The goal is attract or educate patients, build brand recognition and recruit or retain qualified doctors.
Here is an interesting article about how hospitals see a promotional tool: 

viernes, 5 de noviembre de 2010

Conferencia en la Cámara de Comercio de Lima (Perú).

El pasado mes de Junio me invitaron a dar una conferencia en la Cámara de Comercio de Lima (Perú) sobre promoción de ventas. La conferencia se tituló: "Nuevas Herramientas para la Promoción y el Merchandising". El objetivo principal era exponer la necesidad de una correcta combinación de las estrategias promocionales y las técnicas de merchandising.
Resumiendo, mientras que la publicidad nos ofrece una razón para comprar, la promoción de ventas nos ofrece un incentivo para la compra. La creciente competitividad, los altísimos niveles de saturación y escaso crecimiento de los mercados, aunados a la imperiosa necesidad de diferenciación, son sólo algunas de las principales razones para poner en el punto de mira a las actividades de aproximación y estimulación de nuestra oferta comercial. Es un hecho que cada vez más las decisiones de compra se toman en el punto de venta, por tanto resulta evidente la creciente importancia de la promoción y el merchandising como herramientas claves de la actividad comercial.