2nd Best Company to Work For
Fortune Magazine’s 2017 “100 Best Companies to Work For” rated Wegmans Food Markets as the second best company to work for. As Inc. Magazine’s article reports, Wegmans does not pay the highest wages compared to many of the other companies on Fortune’s list. However, it does have some attractive perks for tuition reimbursement and health care insurance but, in comparison to others on the best to work for list, it falls well short. Why the... Read More
A Worthwhile Management Book
Thomas E. Ricks’ book, “The Generals”, is the history and essentially a performance evaluation of more than a dozen US Army Generals from World War II through 2012. It is not very flattering for some generals. It is a well-written management and leadership book. Although not intended to be a textbook its examples of what led to successes and failures may be helpful for civilian business managers – including members of Boards of Directors... Read More
My Leadership Excellence magazine article “Seven lessons from a turnaround CEO”
Leadership Excellence magazine published my article: “Mastering Leadership – Seven lessons from a turnaround CEO” By Robert F. Amter There are many theories about what it takes to be an effective Chief Executive Officer. Most are based on observation and research. They lack the hands-on, in the trenches experience of what it really takes to lead a company – especially one that is experiencing bad times. When I enter a company... Read More
Steve Jobs compared to Peter Drucker
Steve Jobs built Apple Computer into one of the most successful and valuable companies in history. He had a distinctive management style. How would his management compare to the advice Peter Drucker would give a CEO? Steve Jobs’ practice of management: Heavy stress on innovation. He did not have all the innovative thoughts that proved successful but he quickly recognized a potentially successful idea or product. Since he was not risk averse, he... Read More
Peter Drucker’s Tenets
Peter Drucker, a writer of 39 books and a management consultant, was considered the “father of modern management”. An avid student of managing complex businesses, he was the advisor who helped mold many corporations into industry leaders which forged this country’s ability to become an economic super power. A Sampling of Mr. Drucker’s Tenets: “In most business failures, the board was the last to realize that things were going wrong.” “Managers... Read More
The Netflix Culture & Mistake
Netflix’s culture was described in a recent edition of the Business Insider. It makes an interesting read. At more than one hundred pages, it is quite long and detailed – but worthwhile. While it is described as a statement of its company culture, it is more of a guide and blueprint for its employees on how the company operates or, perhaps more accurately what is expected of its employees. Netflix’s culture document has three principal themes... Read More
What Leads to Business Failure?
Donald Keough’s book “The Ten Commandments for Business Failure”is an interesting, creditable book useful to Chief Executive Officers with a company culture that needs improvement. Donald Keough is the former President of The Coca-Cola Company. The book is a short, easy read that covers all the elements of a positive culture. Some of it is self-evident. But if officers, second and third tier managers all read it, it would contribute to a re-focused... Read More
Outsourcing from China – Avoiding this Horror Story
A recent article in Manufacturing News described the outsourcing horror story that has engulfed Fellowes Inc. The large paper shredder manufacturer has suffered a significant loss in China. A Chinese joint venture partner stole Fellowes Inc.’s proprietary assets and forced the operation into bankruptcy. The estimated cost is valued at a $100 million. Now the former Chinese partner is planning on entering the shredder business independently,... Read More
China to surpass USA as World Leader in manufacturing?
The headline in a June 2010 Financial Times article was bothersome. It chronicled “US Manufacturing Crown Slips”. In summary, the article reported: “The US remained the world’s biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production.” “Last year, the US created 19.9 per cent of world manufacturing output, compared... Read More
Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”
Sun Tzu’s book “The Art of War”was written in 400BC. Peter Drucker’s and Sun Tzu’s management tenets for success are essentially the same. Sun Tzu was China’s first professional General. Prior to him the Sovereign led his army which was frequently disorganized, under-funded and unsuccessful. He developed strategy and tactics of war but also detailed financial budgets, manpower required, basic training and logistics (e.g., the number of... Read More
