Anna Engstromer shares an article on service design with key points to help get it right. Just because it happens all the time, all over, strategy implementation isn’t easy. It may appear so judging from corporate communication, but it is a special type of team effort that needs energy and effort. The trick is to both carry forth with planned changes and pay attention and adapt. Change as Part of Life Change is part of every organization’s life. It is…

Ramon Saravia shares an always useful post on how to improve the bottom line by reducing purchasing costs.  In many companies, the purchasing area is only seen as a transactional function, attached to the routine . In these companies, purchasing is just another function to acquire what is necessary for the company’s operations. Typically, one, two, or three quotes are requested for each order for products or services, and the area chooses the supplier with the lowest price. This brings…

  Andrew Hone shares a post that highlights the reasons strategies fail and what to do to implement them successfully.  Developing the strategy is the easy part You’ve just put the finishing touches to your business strategy. You’ve spoken to customers, researched the key market segments, and projected the financials. The Board and shareholders are aligned and agree on the priorities to take the business forward. That was the easy part! Translating a strategy into action is a significant challenge….

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Peter Costa with Capman Organizational and Leadership Excellence, LLC.  Pete leverages his extensive global experience as a Leader and General Manager to help organizations implement transformational strategies and leaders achieve their potential. In addition to his time at McKinsey, where he was an Engagement Manager in the operations practice, he has served as an Officer in the US Navy, a change leader at GE, and held P&L responsibility at Honeywell and Jensen Hughes (a PE-backed…

  Anna Engstromer shares a post that identifies what goes wrong with strategy implementation and what needs to be applied to ensure successful adoption. The Everyday Value of the Right Design in Services Just because it happens all the time, all over, strategy implementation isn’t easy. It may appear so judging from corporate communication, but it is a special type of team effort that needs energy and effort. The trick is to both carry forth with planned changes and pay…

  If your team has difficulty moving strategies from thought to action, take advantage of 20 years of experience in strategy consulting from Andrew Hone’s company by clicking through to this comprehensive guide on strategy implementation. You’ve just put the finishing touches to your business strategy. You’ve spoken to customers, researched the key market segments, and projected the financials. The Board and shareholders are aligned and agree on the priorities to take the business forward. That was the easy part!…

  Robbie Kellman Baxter writes about her experience as an online subscriber to Disney+ and whether Disney will deliver on their forever promise of family connection through membership. This weekend, my family watched Hamilton on Disney+. We weren’t the only ones. I’m guessing a lot of the 54 million (as of May) subscribers were also singing along as part of a “shelter at home” Fourth of July holiday. Like many others, we subscribed last week, specifically to watch the musical….

  Robbie Kellman Baxter identifies what ‘freemium really means’, how it can be used as a tactic, and the role of freemium in both ordinary and extraordinary times.  Lots of organizations, particularly subscription businesses, are changing their rules about what is free and what is paid, in response to the coronavirus. The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News are a few of the many publishers that have removed the paywall in front of coronavirus-related content. In other words,…

  Robbie Kellman Baxter shares a story about her favourite bookstore and how it provides a great example of the Membership Economy in action. When a Menlo Park bookstore was economically threatened, the community stepped in and created a membership program to improve long-term sustainability.  Founded in 1955 by peace activist Roy Kepler, Kepler’s Books is a large independent bookstore. After its founding, it quickly became a center for intellectual thought and community discussion for the people living in the…

Subscription businesses were a big deal in 2019, so what’s the forecast for 2020? Robbie Kellman Baxter shares her expertise on what lies ahead.  I’m no fortune teller, but something about the beginning of a new year and a new decade makes me want to start spouting predictions. Actually, this isn’t the first time I have taken a crack at predictions. The final chapter of my new book THE FOREVER TRANSACTION is all about the future of subscription and membership…

Robbie Baxter explains why companies need to prioritize their mission over their products to take advantage of new technologies and services and build a new kind of relationship with today’s–and tomorrow’s–members. As association leaders, many of you are Membership Pioneers. Membership is something you probably have been thinking about for years. But in the last 10 years, membership has reinvented nearly every industry. Companies like LinkedIn, Amazon and Salesforce have created forever transactions of their own with their customers by using many…