Book Published:  “Learn to Whisper” by Robert F. Amter

Posted by on June 13, 2023 · Leave a Comment 

Organized into 101 successful management lessons and separated into 17 subjects, “Learn to Whisper” is everything a CEO needs to know not just to manage, but how to write and execute the turnaround plan to fix distressed manufacturing companies. “Learn to Whisper” is available on this Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/ya3sttmk Tweet

Category "Learn to Whisper", A Worthwhile Management Book, Avoiding a Common Manufacturing Problem, Broken Business Model, CEOs, Chief Executive Officer, Effective management and employee communication, Leadership, Management, Manufacturing, Turnarounds, turnarounds of manufacturing companies · Tags

Work at Home or in the Office?

Posted by on December 5, 2022 · Leave a Comment 

There are obvious benefits to the employee of working from home. However the negatives to the company are too significant to ignore. In every turnaround of a distressed company I have fixed, the absence of face-to-face cross-functional communication was glaringly absent. Cross-functional communication is defined as employees from every function meeting as a group on […]

Category American Management Association, Avoiding a Common Manufacturing Problem, Books, Broken Business Model, Business failure, CEOs, Chief Executive Officer, Cross-functional communication, Effective management and employee communication, Leadership, Management, Turnarounds · Tags

Broken Business Models: Sears & Kmart

Posted by on March 28, 2017 · Leave a Comment 

The NY Post’s article and others seem surprised that Sears Holdings may not be able to continue as a going concern. Clearly sale of its Craftsman brand was a signal that Sears was in serious financial straits. The acquisition of Sears and Kmart was completed ten years ago. But twenty years ago, before e-commerce became […]

Category Acquisitions, Bankruptcy, Broken Business Model, Business failure, Management · Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Chief Executive Officer

Executive Chairman

Turnarounds & Operational Restructurings

Adviser to creditors, board of directors or owners

Pre-acquisition & troubled company due diligence evaluations

Develop strategic and operating plans - including Court required plans of reorganization

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Reason I wrote my book “Learn to Whisper”

Click on this link for a more complete description of “Learn to Whisper”

The reason I wrote “Learn to Whisper”:

My conclusion after operating as a Turnaround Chief Executive Officer for more than twenty-five years is that the majority of this country’s top management is far from first-rate. In fact top management, particularly at the chief executive officer level, is at best average with a large number that can be rated mediocre. This lack of management competence has seen this country’s market leaders lose sizeable market share to foreign manufacturers able to export better quality and lower cost products to the USA. It has seen manufacturing and service operations unnecessarily moved to foreign countries. All of which has negatively affected the economy, severely damaged former blue-chip corporations and seen quality jobs lost.

It is quite common to discover that companies struggling with this inability to compete with foreign companies have been simply mismanaged. The once successful business deteriorated because of an incompetent chief executive officer and weak senior management

Why doesn’t this nation have first-rate management? Inadequate training. Chief executive officers and vice presidents learn “on the job”. A number get promoted based on personality, political connections and drive – not merit. They are not carefully screened for the potential to become successful at managing. For some all that is needed is a well-written resume, the right interviewing style and the inability of a new employer to accurately assess skills, performance and potential.

Compare this to the process doctors go through. From medical school to internship to residency to a senior role after years of education, experience and continuous training their progress and capabilities are constantly monitored even after they become senior in the profession. Generals and Admirals go through a similar protocol. They must prove themselves in low-level assignments before they are judged qualified for senior positions. Unqualified applicants in both professions are culled out. What can be done to improve management competence? Education, on-the-job training and job performance monitoring. My book will educate people on the subject of managing. Its 101 management lessons are separated into the 17 subjects managers need to know.