This is the story of the fall of Anton Schlecker’s empire of seven thousand shops with thirty thousand employees, but I would not write this article if I did not believe that Schlecker’s empire could be rescued. There is no question about the urgency of a rescue plan: currently, Schlecker loses about €20 million every month, so deep cuts will have to be made, as it is too late to adopt a strategy that simply avoids further declines in profits or market share. It is also too late for heavy investments and higher credit lines. It is time to determine what went wrong, what can be rescued, and what makes economic sense.

Experienced management is one of the most important factors behind the success of any business. Many managers have ample enthusiasm and energy, but often lack the knowledge and experience needed to sidestep easily avoided mistakes. As a result, far too many companies get into trouble and can die before ever reaching their potential market value. [...]

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king’s horses and All the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again This past week I attended a conference of business leaders desiring to take their business to the next level. On the second day, I met a leader who [...]

Leading industrial and manufacturing companies around the world are today confronted with a range of new and increasingly complex challenges. Along with the risk of truly global competition comes the risk of remaining static and unbending in the face of serious market challenges. Increased customer expectations of value may also be moving one’s competitors to change [...]

What is the difference between a Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process that makes a modest difference in a company’s operational and financial performance and an S&OP process that, year after year, enables a company to achieve its operational, business, and strategic goals? You don’t have to look beyond the senior leadership team for the answer. [...]

Leadership is quite simply “the greatest thing in every operation that makes any demand on the labour of man”. If leaders are made in the sense that they can acquire the authority of knowledge, are they born as far as his capacity to inspire is concerned? It is tempting to conclude that this is the [...]

Successful entrepreneurs know that building a business process, leadership skills is not an option, it is a must. As an entrepreneur, develop your leadership skills is all about developing your mindset and the way you handle people or situations. I with you some tips that can help you improve your leadership skills, but before I, [...]

There is nothing as wasteful as a leader in a position and is ignorant of his/her priorities. I have always shared the notion that in every human being is the craving and desire to lead. Everyone is potentially a leader. However, some are very successful at thwarting and suppressing the leadership potential through various well-crafted [...]

“Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter F. Drucker Peter F. Drucker Undoubtedly, he’s talking about the leader who walks the path which others fear to tread. Of course, the leader who walks the path that others fear to tread is talking about. So how are these people [...]

Upon completing a recent project I took my client to lunch to thank him for his business. We reminisced about how we first met at my End Procrastination NOW! Workshop and how he realized at that time he was tired of tolerating things in his business. Among the problems with which he was becoming increasingly [...]