Dental | Dental Articles

By: Hanna Hasl-Kelchner
Nobody likes to be sued, especially in a difficult economy where companies are struggling to survive and laying off workers. CEOs and other senior managers spend an average of 20% of their time on business legal matters yet few have any formal training on the subject. As a result, they may be unaware of the legal dominos their business decisions set into motion and they end up learning about the law in the school of hard knocks. Learning the hard way is never desirable. It’s painful. It chews up valuable time and hard earned profits.

All businesses compete on a legal playing field. They also operate within a complex network of business relationships that provide fertile opportunity for lawsuits. Some of those relationships are external to the company, involving customers and suppliers. Some of those relationships are internal to the company, involving employees. The inability to recognize the legal side of those relationships can cause problems. It can escalate contract disputes, aggravate employment disputes, or result in lost patent, trademark, or trade secret rights, to name a few. It can cost companies millions in terms of lost revenue, lost productivity, and lost competitive advantage. Yet with the proper tools, such situations can be anticipated and managed.

It all starts with employees. In legal terms, employees are agents of their employer. They speak and act on behalf of their organization. They have apparent authority. Everything they say and do in their job capacity reflects on their employer and can create legal liability for their organization. From a strategic perspective, the cause-and-effect relationship between employee actions and corporate consequences means that all employees are individual gatekeepers of their organization’s legal liability. They can create liability, or they can mitigate it.

The business documents employees write have added legal significance. Unlike human memories that can fade, documents are tangible evidence that live in computer memories and conventional paper files. Once they are created they have a life of their own, one whose end is by no means certain. They can come back to haunt the company unless they are managed well during their life cycle. Unfortunately, most employees don’t appreciate the pivotal role they play in a document’s life cycle or the role documents play in protecting their company’s legal health. This lack of awareness can turn business documents, such as emails, instant messages, letters, faxes, and memos, into litigation wild cards or “smoking guns.”

Lawsuits are triggered by the breach of duty, supporting evidence, and the incentive or motive to take action and sue. The first two items are the legal requirements necessary for a successful case; the third is the hidden catalyst that sets it all in motion. Put them all together and they converge into a perfect storm. Eliminate or reduce any one of these aggravating factors and the likelihood of successful litigation goes down.

Organizations that don’t plan ahead and consistently expect to be bailed out cultivate a rescue culture. Being reactive instead of proactive affects every aspect of a business. Making a habit out of waiting until something goes wrong increases the odds that multiple legal problems will happen at the same time. Overreliance on this method of risk management can lead to a system overload that traps you with insufficient resources just when you need them most.

In today’s business climate the value of good legal risk management cannot be overemphasized. It can not only help a company avoid legal problems but also enhance a company’s reputation with other companies, employees, and consumers.

Whether you’re a business owner, a senior executive, or a manager working your way up the corporate ladder, it is far better to be proactive and learn what you need to know about business law now rather than learning the hard way later. When it comes to business, what you don’t know can really hurt you. Investing in legal literacy now can help avoid lawsuits and pay huge dividends.
About the Author:

Business lawyer, author, and speaker, Hanna Hasl-Kelchner, helps businesses avoid lawsuits and leverage legal literacy into higher business performance. She is the author of The Business Guide to Legal Literacy: What Every Manager Should Know About the Law. Visit http://www.LegalLiteracy.com for more info.

by: Terry H Hill

An economic downturn is a phase of the business cycle in which the economy as a whole is in decline.This phase basically marks the end of the period of growth in the business cycle. Economic downturns are characterized by decreased levels of consumer purchases (especially of durable goods) and, subsequently, reduced levels of production by businesses.

While economic downturns are admittedly difficult, and are formidable obstacles to small businesses that are trying to survive and grow, an economic downturn can open up opportunities. A well-managed company can realize the opportunity to gain market share by taking customers away from their competitors. Resourceful entrepreneurs capture the available opportunities, from an economic downturn, by developing alternate methods of doing business that were never implemented during a prior growth period.

The challenge of successfully navigating your business through an economic downturn lies in the realignment of your business with current economic realities. Specifically, you, as the business owner, need to renew a focus on your core clients/customers, reduce your operating expenses, conserve cash, and manage more proactively, rather than reactively, is paramount.

Here are best practices that will help you to successfully navigate your business through an economic downturn:

Goals:

The primary goal of any business owner is to survive the current economic downturn and to develop a leaner, more cost-effective and more efficient operation. The secondary goal is to grow the business even during this current economic downturn.

Objectives:

• Conserve cash.

• Protect assets.

• Reduce costs.

• Improve efficiencies.

• Grow customer base.

Required Action:

• Do not panic… History shows that economic downturns do not last forever. Remain calm and act in a rational manner as you refocus your attention on resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

• Focus on what YOU can control… Don’t let the media’s rhetoric concerning recessions and economic slowdown deter you from achieving business success. It´s a trap! Why? Because the condition of the economy is beyond your control. Surviving economic downturns requires a focus on what you can control, i.e. your relevant business activities.

• Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own. It is a difficult task indeed to survive and to grow your business solely with your own efforts. Solicit ideas and seek the help of other people (your employees, suppliers, lenders, customers, and advisors). Communicate honestly and consistently. Effective two-way communication is the key.

• Negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate! The value of a strong negotiation skill set cannot be overstated. Negotiating better deals and contracts is an absolute must for realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. The key to success is not only knowing how to develop a win-win approach in negotiations with all parties, but also keeping in mind the fact that you want a favorable outcome for yourself too.

Recommended Best Practice Activities:

The Nuts and Bolts… The following list of recommended best practice activities is critical for your business’ survival and for its growth during an economic downturn. The actual financial health of your particular business, at the outset of the economic downturn, will dictate the priority and urgency of the implementation of the following best practice activities.

1. Diligently monitor your cash flow: Forecast your cash flow monthly to ensure that expenses and planned expenditures are in line with accounts receivable. Include cash flow statements into your monthly financial reporting. Project cash requirements three-to- six months in advance. The key is to know how to monitor, protect, control, and put cash to work.

2. Carefully convert your inventories: Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Consider returning excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Close-out or inventory reduction sales work well to resize your inventory. Also, consider narrowing your product offerings. Well-timed order placement helps to reduce excess inventory levels and occasional material shortages. The key is to reduce the amount of your inventory without losing sales.

3. Timely collection of your accounts receivable: This asset should be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Offer prompt payment discounts to encourage timely payments. Make changes in the terms of sale for slow paying customers (i.e. changing net 30 day terms to COD). Invoicing is an important part of your cash flow management. The first rule of invoicing is to do it as soon as possible after products are shipped and/or after services are delivered. Place an emphasis on reducing billing errors. Most customers delay payments because an invoice had errors, and therefore, will not pay until they receive a corrected copy. Email or fax your invoices to save on mailing time. Post the payments that you have received and make deposits more frequently. The key is to develop an efficient collection system that generates timely payments and one that gives you advance warning of problems.

4. Re-focus your attention on your existing clients/customers: Make customer satisfaction your priority. A regular review of your customers’ buying history and frequency of purchases can reveal some interesting facts about your customers’ buying habits. Consider signing long-term contracts with your core clients/customers which will add to your security. Offer a discount for upfront cash payments. The key is to do what it takes to keep your current customers loyal.

5. Re-negotiate with your suppliers, lenders, and landlord:

i) Suppliers: Always keep your negotiations on the level of need, saying that your company has reviewed its cost structure and has determined that it needs to lower supplier costs. . Tell the supplier that you value the relationship you have developed, but that you need to receive a cost reduction immediately. Ask your supplier for a lower material price, a longer payment cycle, and the elimination of finance charges. Also, see if you can buy material from them on a consignment basis. In return for their price concessions, be willing to agree to a long-term contract. Explore the idea of bartering as a form of payment.

ii) Lenders: Everything in business finance is negotiable and your relationship with a bank is no exception. The first step to successful renegotiations is to convince your lenders that you can ultimately pay off the renegotiated loan. You must point out to your lenders why it would be in their best interest to agree to a new arrangement. Showing them your business plan and your action plan that includes your cost-savings initiatives, along with “the how” and “the when” of the implementation of your plan is the best way to achieve this goal. Explain to them that you will need their cooperation to insure that you can survive, as well as, grow your business during the economic downturn. Negotiated items include: the rate of interest, the required security to cover the loan, and the beginning date for repayment. A beginning date for repayment could be immediate, within several months or as long as a year. The key is to realize that your lender will work with you, but that frequent and continual communications with them is critical.

iii) Landlord: Meet with your landlord. Explain your need to have them extend the term of your lease at a reduced cost. Make sure you have a clause in the lease agreement that entitles you to have the right to sublet any or all of the leased space.

6. Re-evaluate your staffing requirements: This is a very critical area. Salaries/wages are a major expense of doing business. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work schedule changes, short-term layoffs or permanent layoffs has an immediate cost saving benefit. Most companies ramped up hiring new employees in the good times, only to find that they are currently overstaffed due to slow sales during the economic downturn. In terms of down-sizing your staff, be very careful not to reduce your staff to a level that forces you to skimp on customer service and quality. Consider the use of part-timers or the current trend of outsourcing certain functions to independent contractors.

7. Shop for better insurances rates: Get quotations from other insurance agents for comparable coverage to determine whether or not your present insurance carrier is competitive. Also, consider revising your coverage to reduce premium costs. The key is to have the right balance-to be adequately insured, but not under or over insured.

8. Re-evaluate your advertising: Contrary to the other cost-cutting initiatives, evaluate the possibility of increasing your advertising expenditures. This tactic realizes the advantage of the reduced “noise” and congestion (fewer advertisers) in the marketplace. The downturn period a great opportunity to increase brand awareness and create additional demand for your product/service offerings.

9. Seek the help of outside advisors: The use of an advisory board comprised of your CPA, attorney, and business consultant offers you objectivity and provides you with professional advice and guidance. Their collective experience in working with similar situations in past economic downturns is invaluable.

10. Review your other expenses: Target an across-the-board cost-cutting initiative of 10-15%. Attempt to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Tightening your belt in order to weather the downturn makes practical, financial sense.

Proactively managing your business through an economic downturn is an enormous challenge and is critical for your survival. However, through well-planned initiatives, an economic downturn can create tremendous opportunity for your company to gain greater market share. In order to take advantage of this growth opportunity, you must act quickly to implement the above best business practices to continue realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

Copyright © 2008 Terry H. Hill

You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author’s bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author’s web site, http://www.legacyai.com

Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com

By: Shauna Arthurs

Most of us would say that we want more wealth…more abundance…more prosperity. But who among us has not been bogged down with the chores and hassles of everyday living to the point where we have no time or energy to pursue the prosperity we really want?

everyday-life

The problem with this is that it leaves us vulnerable to waking up 20 or 30 years from now wishing with all our might we had done things differently. If only we had lifted our heads up long enough out of the daily grind to see it, we’ll think…This is the type of regret that can never be undone.

The Good News

Sometimes all it takes to change this pattern and avoid this future disappointment is a little reminder – a reminder that what we want is possible, if only we would start working towards it.

All we need is a little inspiration! Knowing that others have blazed the path of success and abundance can make it easier to take those first few steps. Learning, too, that the people who can serve as role models are not superheroes – they are people just like you and I – can inspire us to take action as well.

If we observe the lives of others who have managed to achieve what we wish for ourselves, we can learn valuable lessons. The most important of these is that what we want is POSSIBLE. We are not alone, and there are others out there who are working through the same issues we are, no matter what they are. Sometimes hearing about someone who has overcome far greater odds than we are facing can be all the inspiration we need to get off our behinds and begin to create change.

Achievement isn’t just for the lucky few; there’s no such thing!

Luck is created. As the infamous saying goes, luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.

Your job is to work on the preparedness. We all have 24 hours in a day and no more. Do you use yours wisely?…

TIP: Since life is short, accelerate your progess with tools like the instantly downloadable ’30 Days to Wealth’ program – now with special bonuses!
About the Author:
This article is written by Shauna Arthurs, author and creator of a network of sites and blogs dedicated to helping you achieve your grandest dreams! For empowering tips, articles and resources, try IncreasingVelocity.com and Live-With-Power.com.

by: Terry H Hill

An economic downturn is a phase of the business cycle in which the economy as a whole is in decline.This phase basically marks the end of the period of growth in the business cycle. Economic downturns are characterized by decreased levels of consumer purchases (especially of durable goods) and, subsequently, reduced levels of production by businesses.

While economic downturns are admittedly difficult, and are formidable obstacles to small businesses that are trying to survive and grow, an economic downturn can open up opportunities. A well-managed company can realize the opportunity to gain market share by taking customers away from their competitors. Resourceful entrepreneurs capture the available opportunities, from an economic downturn, by developing alternate methods of doing business that were never implemented during a prior growth period.

The challenge of successfully navigating your business through an economic downturn lies in the realignment of your business with current economic realities. Specifically, you, as the business owner, need to renew a focus on your core clients/customers, reduce your operating expenses, conserve cash, and manage more proactively, rather than reactively, is paramount.

Here are best practices that will help you to successfully navigate your business through an economic downturn:

Goals:

The primary goal of any business owner is to survive the current economic downturn and to develop a leaner, more cost-effective and more efficient operation. The secondary goal is to grow the business even during this current economic downturn.

Objectives:

• Conserve cash.

• Protect assets.

• Reduce costs.

• Improve efficiencies.

• Grow customer base.

Required Action:

• Do not panic… History shows that economic downturns do not last forever. Remain calm and act in a rational manner as you refocus your attention on resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

• Focus on what YOU can control… Don’t let the media’s rhetoric concerning recessions and economic slowdown deter you from achieving business success. It´s a trap! Why? Because the condition of the economy is beyond your control. Surviving economic downturns requires a focus on what you can control, i.e. your relevant business activities.

• Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own. It is a difficult task indeed to survive and to grow your business solely with your own efforts. Solicit ideas and seek the help of other people (your employees, suppliers, lenders, customers, and advisors). Communicate honestly and consistently. Effective two-way communication is the key.

• Negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate! The value of a strong negotiation skill set cannot be overstated. Negotiating better deals and contracts is an absolute must for realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. The key to success is not only knowing how to develop a win-win approach in negotiations with all parties, but also keeping in mind the fact that you want a favorable outcome for yourself too.

Recommended Best Practice Activities:

The Nuts and Bolts… The following list of recommended best practice activities is critical for your business’ survival and for its growth during an economic downturn. The actual financial health of your particular business, at the outset of the economic downturn, will dictate the priority and urgency of the implementation of the following best practice activities.

1. Diligently monitor your cash flow: Forecast your cash flow monthly to ensure that expenses and planned expenditures are in line with accounts receivable. Include cash flow statements into your monthly financial reporting. Project cash requirements three-to- six months in advance. The key is to know how to monitor, protect, control, and put cash to work.

2. Carefully convert your inventories: Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Consider returning excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Close-out or inventory reduction sales work well to resize your inventory. Also, consider narrowing your product offerings. Well-timed order placement helps to reduce excess inventory levels and occasional material shortages. The key is to reduce the amount of your inventory without losing sales.

3. Timely collection of your accounts receivable: This asset should be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Offer prompt payment discounts to encourage timely payments. Make changes in the terms of sale for slow paying customers (i.e. changing net 30 day terms to COD). Invoicing is an important part of your cash flow management. The first rule of invoicing is to do it as soon as possible after products are shipped and/or after services are delivered. Place an emphasis on reducing billing errors. Most customers delay payments because an invoice had errors, and therefore, will not pay until they receive a corrected copy. Email or fax your invoices to save on mailing time. Post the payments that you have received and make deposits more frequently. The key is to develop an efficient collection system that generates timely payments and one that gives you advance warning of problems.

4. Re-focus your attention on your existing clients/customers: Make customer satisfaction your priority. A regular review of your customers’ buying history and frequency of purchases can reveal some interesting facts about your customers’ buying habits. Consider signing long-term contracts with your core clients/customers which will add to your security. Offer a discount for upfront cash payments. The key is to do what it takes to keep your current customers loyal.

5. Re-negotiate with your suppliers, lenders, and landlord:

i) Suppliers: Always keep your negotiations on the level of need, saying that your company has reviewed its cost structure and has determined that it needs to lower supplier costs. . Tell the supplier that you value the relationship you have developed, but that you need to receive a cost reduction immediately. Ask your supplier for a lower material price, a longer payment cycle, and the elimination of finance charges. Also, see if you can buy material from them on a consignment basis. In return for their price concessions, be willing to agree to a long-term contract. Explore the idea of bartering as a form of payment.

ii) Lenders: Everything in business finance is negotiable and your relationship with a bank is no exception. The first step to successful renegotiations is to convince your lenders that you can ultimately pay off the renegotiated loan. You must point out to your lenders why it would be in their best interest to agree to a new arrangement. Showing them your business plan and your action plan that includes your cost-savings initiatives, along with “the how” and “the when” of the implementation of your plan is the best way to achieve this goal. Explain to them that you will need their cooperation to insure that you can survive, as well as, grow your business during the economic downturn. Negotiated items include: the rate of interest, the required security to cover the loan, and the beginning date for repayment. A beginning date for repayment could be immediate, within several months or as long as a year. The key is to realize that your lender will work with you, but that frequent and continual communications with them is critical.

iii) Landlord: Meet with your landlord. Explain your need to have them extend the term of your lease at a reduced cost. Make sure you have a clause in the lease agreement that entitles you to have the right to sublet any or all of the leased space.

6. Re-evaluate your staffing requirements: This is a very critical area. Salaries/wages are a major expense of doing business. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work schedule changes, short-term layoffs or permanent layoffs has an immediate cost saving benefit. Most companies ramped up hiring new employees in the good times, only to find that they are currently overstaffed due to slow sales during the economic downturn. In terms of down-sizing your staff, be very careful not to reduce your staff to a level that forces you to skimp on customer service and quality. Consider the use of part-timers or the current trend of outsourcing certain functions to independent contractors.

7. Shop for better insurances rates: Get quotations from other insurance agents for comparable coverage to determine whether or not your present insurance carrier is competitive. Also, consider revising your coverage to reduce premium costs. The key is to have the right balance-to be adequately insured, but not under or over insured.

8. Re-evaluate your advertising: Contrary to the other cost-cutting initiatives, evaluate the possibility of increasing your advertising expenditures. This tactic realizes the advantage of the reduced “noise” and congestion (fewer advertisers) in the marketplace. The downturn period a great opportunity to increase brand awareness and create additional demand for your product/service offerings.

9. Seek the help of outside advisors: The use of an advisory board comprised of your CPA, attorney, and business consultant offers you objectivity and provides you with professional advice and guidance. Their collective experience in working with similar situations in past economic downturns is invaluable.

10. Review your other expenses: Target an across-the-board cost-cutting initiative of 10-15%. Attempt to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Tightening your belt in order to weather the downturn makes practical, financial sense.

Proactively managing your business through an economic downturn is an enormous challenge and is critical for your survival. However, through well-planned initiatives, an economic downturn can create tremendous opportunity for your company to gain greater market share. In order to take advantage of this growth opportunity, you must act quickly to implement the above best business practices to continue realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

Copyright © 2008 Terry H. Hill

You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author’s bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author’s web site, http://www.legacyai.com

Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com

To download a copy of this article, click on this link: http://www.legacyai.com/Article_Downturn.html.

By: Charles Bennewith

There’s a few cliché’s kicking around regarding ‘giving up’, ‘failure’, ‘persistence’ etc. As an example, “A winner never quits…a quitter never wins”, “Failure is feedback”. It’s true. Persistence is the key to your success in anything.

You could have the greatest product in the world, the greatest service in the world, all the knowledge needed to make you wealthy and financially free. However, what will you do when things DON’T go to plan, or something goes wrong? What happens if you don’t have persistence? Well, to NOT persist, is to give up, admit defeat, it then becomes failure.

You only fail when you throw in the towel. Persistence is the one and only ingredient that’ll take you to success in ANY endeavour. Zig Ziglar talks about ‘Priming The Pump’. Too many people give up because there’s no water coming out… and what happens…they go thirsty. If only they’d put in those extra 2 pumps, they could drink and bathe for a lifetime.

The ‘How To’ is the easy part. Finding out how to achieve something and following the steps can be simple. What happens most of the time is that people give up too easily. The first ‘set back’ or the first sign of things not going to plan and most people subconsciously find something to distract themselves, usually abandoning their current project and jumping on the ‘Next Big Thing’.

Get your goal clear in your mind, know what you want, be specific, take action and NEVER…EVER…EVER…EVER…EVER give in…EVER.

Go out and create the financial freedom, life and lifestyle you deserve. The ‘How To’ is there for the taking, you can find it at http://www.yoursecretstowealth.com

Keep on keeping on, even in your darkest times and success WILL be yours.

That I can guarantee.

Get a head start on your road to wealth by visting  http://www.yoursecretstowealth.com and watching these amazing 3 FREE videos

About the Author:
Discover the secrets to home based wealth by clicking here and getting your 3 FREE videos. Charles Bennewith is a publisher and creator of high quality information products and is dedicated to helping others realise their full potential.

by: Terry H Hill

An economic downturn is a phase of the business cycle in which the economy as a whole is in decline.This phase basically marks the end of the period of growth in the business cycle. Economic downturns are characterized by decreased levels of consumer purchases (especially of durable goods) and, subsequently, reduced levels of production by businesses.

While economic downturns are admittedly difficult, and are formidable obstacles to small businesses that are trying to survive and grow, an economic downturn can open up opportunities. A well-managed company can realize the opportunity to gain market share by taking customers away from their competitors. Resourceful entrepreneurs capture the available opportunities, from an economic downturn, by developing alternate methods of doing business that were never implemented during a prior growth period.

The challenge of successfully navigating your business through an economic downturn lies in the realignment of your business with current economic realities. Specifically, you, as the business owner, need to renew a focus on your core clients/customers, reduce your operating expenses, conserve cash, and manage more proactively, rather than reactively, is paramount.

Here are best practices that will help you to successfully navigate your business through an economic downturn:

Goals:

The primary goal of any business owner is to survive the current economic downturn and to develop a leaner, more cost-effective and more efficient operation. The secondary goal is to grow the business even during this current economic downturn.

Objectives:

• Conserve cash.

• Protect assets.

• Reduce costs.

• Improve efficiencies.

• Grow customer base.

Required Action:

• Do not panic… History shows that economic downturns do not last forever. Remain calm and act in a rational manner as you refocus your attention on resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

• Focus on what YOU can control… Don’t let the media’s rhetoric concerning recessions and economic slowdown deter you from achieving business success. It´s a trap! Why? Because the condition of the economy is beyond your control. Surviving economic downturns requires a focus on what you can control, i.e. your relevant business activities.

• Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own. It is a difficult task indeed to survive and to grow your business solely with your own efforts. Solicit ideas and seek the help of other people (your employees, suppliers, lenders, customers, and advisors). Communicate honestly and consistently. Effective two-way communication is the key.

• Negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate! The value of a strong negotiation skill set cannot be overstated. Negotiating better deals and contracts is an absolute must for realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. The key to success is not only knowing how to develop a win-win approach in negotiations with all parties, but also keeping in mind the fact that you want a favorable outcome for yourself too.

Recommended Best Practice Activities:

The Nuts and Bolts… The following list of recommended best practice activities is critical for your business’ survival and for its growth during an economic downturn. The actual financial health of your particular business, at the outset of the economic downturn, will dictate the priority and urgency of the implementation of the following best practice activities.

1. Diligently monitor your cash flow: Forecast your cash flow monthly to ensure that expenses and planned expenditures are in line with accounts receivable. Include cash flow statements into your monthly financial reporting. Project cash requirements three-to- six months in advance. The key is to know how to monitor, protect, control, and put cash to work.

2. Carefully convert your inventories: Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Consider returning excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Close-out or inventory reduction sales work well to resize your inventory. Also, consider narrowing your product offerings. Well-timed order placement helps to reduce excess inventory levels and occasional material shortages. The key is to reduce the amount of your inventory without losing sales.

3. Timely collection of your accounts receivable: This asset should be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Offer prompt payment discounts to encourage timely payments. Make changes in the terms of sale for slow paying customers (i.e. changing net 30 day terms to COD). Invoicing is an important part of your cash flow management. The first rule of invoicing is to do it as soon as possible after products are shipped and/or after services are delivered. Place an emphasis on reducing billing errors. Most customers delay payments because an invoice had errors, and therefore, will not pay until they receive a corrected copy. Email or fax your invoices to save on mailing time. Post the payments that you have received and make deposits more frequently. The key is to develop an efficient collection system that generates timely payments and one that gives you advance warning of problems.

4. Re-focus your attention on your existing clients/customers: Make customer satisfaction your priority. A regular review of your customers’ buying history and frequency of purchases can reveal some interesting facts about your customers’ buying habits. Consider signing long-term contracts with your core clients/customers which will add to your security. Offer a discount for upfront cash payments. The key is to do what it takes to keep your current customers loyal.

5. Re-negotiate with your suppliers, lenders, and landlord:

i) Suppliers: Always keep your negotiations on the level of need, saying that your company has reviewed its cost structure and has determined that it needs to lower supplier costs. . Tell the supplier that you value the relationship you have developed, but that you need to receive a cost reduction immediately. Ask your supplier for a lower material price, a longer payment cycle, and the elimination of finance charges. Also, see if you can buy material from them on a consignment basis. In return for their price concessions, be willing to agree to a long-term contract. Explore the idea of bartering as a form of payment.

ii) Lenders: Everything in business finance is negotiable and your relationship with a bank is no exception. The first step to successful renegotiations is to convince your lenders that you can ultimately pay off the renegotiated loan. You must point out to your lenders why it would be in their best interest to agree to a new arrangement. Showing them your business plan and your action plan that includes your cost-savings initiatives, along with “the how” and “the when” of the implementation of your plan is the best way to achieve this goal. Explain to them that you will need their cooperation to insure that you can survive, as well as, grow your business during the economic downturn. Negotiated items include: the rate of interest, the required security to cover the loan, and the beginning date for repayment. A beginning date for repayment could be immediate, within several months or as long as a year. The key is to realize that your lender will work with you, but that frequent and continual communications with them is critical.

iii) Landlord: Meet with your landlord. Explain your need to have them extend the term of your lease at a reduced cost. Make sure you have a clause in the lease agreement that entitles you to have the right to sublet any or all of the leased space.

6. Re-evaluate your staffing requirements: This is a very critical area. Salaries/wages are a major expense of doing business. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work schedule changes, short-term layoffs or permanent layoffs has an immediate cost saving benefit. Most companies ramped up hiring new employees in the good times, only to find that they are currently overstaffed due to slow sales during the economic downturn. In terms of down-sizing your staff, be very careful not to reduce your staff to a level that forces you to skimp on customer service and quality. Consider the use of part-timers or the current trend of outsourcing certain functions to independent contractors.

7. Shop for better insurances rates: Get quotations from other insurance agents for comparable coverage to determine whether or not your present insurance carrier is competitive. Also, consider revising your coverage to reduce premium costs. The key is to have the right balance-to be adequately insured, but not under or over insured.

8. Re-evaluate your advertising: Contrary to the other cost-cutting initiatives, evaluate the possibility of increasing your advertising expenditures. This tactic realizes the advantage of the reduced “noise” and congestion (fewer advertisers) in the marketplace. The downturn period a great opportunity to increase brand awareness and create additional demand for your product/service offerings.

9. Seek the help of outside advisors: The use of an advisory board comprised of your CPA, attorney, and business consultant offers you objectivity and provides you with professional advice and guidance. Their collective experience in working with similar situations in past economic downturns is invaluable.

10. Review your other expenses: Target an across-the-board cost-cutting initiative of 10-15%. Attempt to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Tightening your belt in order to weather the downturn makes practical, financial sense.

Proactively managing your business through an economic downturn is an enormous challenge and is critical for your survival. However, through well-planned initiatives, an economic downturn can create tremendous opportunity for your company to gain greater market share. In order to take advantage of this growth opportunity, you must act quickly to implement the above best business practices to continue realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

Copyright © 2008 Terry H. Hill

You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author’s bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author’s web site, http://www.legacyai.com

Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com

To download a copy of this article, click on this link: http://www.legacyai.com/Article_Downturn.html.

About The Author
An author, speaker, and consultant, Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc., a business consulting and advisory services firm based in Sarasota, Florida. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. Terry is the author of the business desk-reference book, How to Jump Start Your Business. He hosts the Business Insights from Legacy Blog at http://blog.legacyai.com and writes a bi-monthly eNewsletter, “Business Insights from Legacy eZine.”

By signing up for Business Insights from Legacy eZine at http://tinyurl.com/2t4fxs you can keep abreast of the latest tips, tactics, and best business practices. You will, also, receive the free eBook, Jump Start Your Knowledge of Business.

Contact Terry by email at http://www.legacyai.com or telephone him at 941-556-1299.

By: Matt Crick

By most accounts, the term ‘team building’ wasn’t coined until the late 1920′s. So what was happening in organisations before that? What happened in ancient Rome, for example, before gladiatorial combat – did Maximus and co just motivate themselves, avoiding any form of group morale boosting? Undoubtedly not. And, did soldiers before battle not look for unity and strength from their ranking officer? Surely there are countless chapters in history where ‘team building’ (or a concept closely related) has been incorporated to help a group function?

Since the publication in 1927 of the now classic Hawthorne Study (one of the earliest studies of human behaviour in the workplace), the team idea has evolved steadily. Elton Mayo, the Study’s author, realised that the most significant factor to successful team building was creating a sense of “group identity, a feeling of social support and cohesion that came with increased worker interaction”. This formula is just as pertinent today and companies are constantly searching for suitable exercises to create this positive and productive office utopia.

There are many variations of team building exercises that can be used to help improve your company’s internal communications, morale, trust and solidarity. Although these activities are undertaken in the spirit of fun, often they exist outside the office and employers believe that the more elaborate and adventurous actions will be the most beneficial. This can sometimes be the case, but carrying out team building exercises in the office is a much more cost-effective and resourceful way to deliver your message. You really don’t have to scale a mountain while paint balling to achieve cohesion in the work place.

So as a manager, how can you facilitate these internal exercises, and more importantly, what are the options available to get the cooperation of your staff? Having your team members work together in a tangible way is, ultimately, your goal. And the return on investment from this is not something to take lightly. Here are some examples of team building activities that can be carried out in your office. They can help to create an enjoyable work atmosphere, and additionally can also help to improve mental and physical health:

Amazing Secrets is a great, informal icebreaker activity. Each participant writes on a Post It something about themselves that no one else in the room knows. For example they used to play in a band, have appeared on TV, saved a life etc. In their teams/tables each group then guesses which secret belongs to which participant and the winning team gets a prize. This activity reinforces a theme of sharing and discovery and can often produce some surprising information about colleagues that you would never have associated with them.

The Egg Tower is a creative indoor team building activity where teams are issued with a set of newspapers, a roll of Sellotape and an egg. The aim is to build a tower as tall as you possibly can that will support the egg! Teams are allocated two minutes to plan their designs and then the race is on the construct the loftiest tower. Bonus points are awarded for aesthetic design and the best named build. This session can last between five and 30 minutes – be prepared for some toppling eggs!

Crossing the Line is an indoor exercise that introduces participants to the concept of cooperation versus competition. You will need a length of rope approximately 25 foot long (7.5m) and some masking tape. Place the rope in a circle shape and a tape a line down the middle of the circle to create two halves. Then select two volunteers from the group (try to pick the two most competitive individuals as each should have high ego strength). Ask them to enter the circle and face each other; explain that this is an initiative involving power and influence, and that the goal is to use their powers of persuasion, argument and bribery to get the other person to cross completely over the line. The rules are simple in that you cannot touch each other physically and the audience may not contribute suggestions. The duel can last between five and 30 minutes.

Pipe Dreams is not only a fantastic indoor team building challenge, but a good ice-breaker too. It is a rudimentary activity that gets the entire team involved and instantly makes them feel relaxed and united. The teams (can consist from groups of two upwards) have to create something – an interesting or topical object – out of a packet of pipe cleaners, and then give a short presentation of what they have made. The results can be very creative and surprisingly amusing! Expect the assignment to last between 45 to 60 minutes.

Professional team building companies can also offer more tailored programmes. Fresh Tracks is an innovative team building company in the UK that has been providing creative solutions to motivate and develop teams and individuals for Europe’s most forward thinking organisations since 1992.

“The key to successful team building is to make sure that what ever you decide to do there is a reason for it,” says Tom Vaughton, of Fresh Tracks. “At the end of the day the team should come away with tangible and measurable outcomes that will move the team forward and increase motivation, communication and productivity. Quite simply, if a company is going to spend both time and money, there needs to be a return on that investment.”

There are all sorts of resources out there for more ideas and suggestions. The Trainers’ Tookit (www.trainerstoolkit.co.uk), for example, offers downloadable instructions and information on a range of team building activities.

About the Author:
Matt Crick is writing on behalf of Electricshopping.com who have been in the industry for over 35 years and is an established and reputable electrical retailer situated in the UK. They work with the leading organisations and manufacturers around the world to offer you the best electrical goods and products direct. Electricshopping.com use their expertise and market power to give their customers not only discount electrical goods but great service too, ensuring customer satisfaction and security.

By: Gian Fiero

In the business world there is so much discussion around the building of “brands” that the importance of professionalism gets overshadowed and under-emphasized. How successful can a brand be without professionalism as its main ingredient?

As often as we hear and use the word professionalism, we don’t hear it’s definition and expectations articulated. I will do so in this article.

Professionalism is a systematic process of getting desired results while displaying pleasant behavior and conduct that is appropriate and expected in establishing mutually beneficial business relationships. In addition, it provides an inner compass that helps to positively influence one’s actions.

By observing and implementing the principles below, you can achieve professionalism that you will reap the benefits and rewards from for years to come.

1. RESPECT: The foundation of every business relationship is respect. Respect is both a noun and a verb. Business is all about fulfilling needs and solving problems. Having respect means that you honor your role in fulfilling the needs and solving the problems of your employer or your clients. If Often when working relationships go awry, the insidious causes can be traced back to either a lack of focus or a lack of respect which prevents one from recognizing and appreciating the problems that an employer is in the business of solving, or the needs that a client is trying to fulfill.

2. QUALITY ASSURANCE: My mother always said, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.” I didn’t realize that I would be applying that to everything in my life – including professionalism. It’s always a tell-tale sign of how much someone cares about the quality of their work when blatant mistakes or obvious sloppiness is found. Employers and clients expect quality assurance; which means that you care enough about the quality of your work to check it over before submitting it. When in doubt, all work should be evaluated for meticulousness and it’s end use; for example, if you draft proposals, how will that proposal be received, read, and used by the parties for which it was created? Are they conservative? What are their sensibilities? Are they detail oriented? Are they visually oriented? Do they value brevity? Always remember: Quality is in the details. You are responsible for knowing the detailed expectations of employers and clients.

3. PROACTIVE: In business, we are either proactive in anticipating needs and problems, or reactive in fulfilling needs and solving problems. If we are truly successful in being proactive, we save employers and clients time and money in the long term. Being reactive (depending upon the business) is usually a sign that things have been overlooked, and as a result, a problem has arisen which needs to be solved immediately because it was not anticipated. Professionalism entails foresight and an accurate analysis of what the real problems are, or what they may be, before they need to be solved.

4. RESPONSIVE: How easily can people get in touch with you? How quickly do you respond to problems or a change in direction or plans? Surveys reveal that responsiveness is the number one factor in customer retention and job promotions. It includes, but is not limited to, how quickly and efficiently you respond to requests, complaints, or any call to action.

5. TIMELINESS: Getting things done, and getting things done as expected and in a timely fashion, is the difference between good and great. Your ability to meet deadlines, those of others or your own, speak volumes about your professionalism. When deadlines are not met, your professionalism is immediately called into question and trust is lost. If you are attempting to impress your boss or your clients, complete assignments before they are due.
About the Author:
Gian Fiero is an educator, speaker and consultant. He is affiliated with San Francisco State University as an adjunct professor, and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) as a business advisor where he conducts monthly workshops on topics such as business development, career planning, public relations, and personal growth.

By: Peter E. Smith
How To Get The Most From Time Management

There have been many books and articles written on the subject of time management and the reasons why everyone should develop this skill. So let’s go back to the basic’s and develop a plan. Time management made easy!

Time management is really about accomplishing the most out of your day and enjoying it, having fun. Everyday should be a happy day; we only get to go through life once, after all it’s not a rehearsal, so make the most of it. Time management really takes the stress out of life!

Each working day can be divided into three essential parts:

·        Before work

·        At work

·        After work

Think about you schedule, your job and your plan will start to make sense.

The before job planning, you probably do quite well now. This consists of,  “The Routine”, getting up at a certain time to ensure you will have enough time to get yourself ready for the day. At this point you should know exactly what you are going to wear for work, this should have been decided the night before (this comes in the after work section). You should allow plenty of time for breakfast and any other chores that have to be taken care of, such dropping off the children at school etc. Make sure you allow enough time for a smooth commute to work, either driving, car pooling or taking public transport. When you take the time to plan and have a schedule of events, life becomes way less stressful.

At work is an area that generally has a set time frame, say eight hours plus an hour spent for lunch. This of course depends on what you do in your job; some are more structured than others. Looking at your job description (although most workers do a variety of things that are not included) as objectively as you can. Break down the most important things that must get done first; everything else is secondary and can wait. You will always be judged on the most important part of your job. Unless you are new to the company or the job you are doing, you should have a detailed plan on what is expected, a routine. Most new employees when hired are put on a probation period. It is during this time frame that you will have an opportunity to show your boss and the company that they made a great decision when they hired you. One way to accomplish this is to hone your time management skills, develop a routine. Time management allows you to stay completely focused on one specific job at a time, do not get distracted.

When you plan your work ahead of time, you will always accomplish more and you will feel good. When you feel good you have fun and at the end of the day that’s what life is all about.

After work, you are now back at home and should feel good about your day so far. Now comes your time, time with you spouse/family or significant other. This time period can vary, depending on what needs to be done or what you would like to do. Again planning is the key. Before you retire for the evening, make sure you know what you are going to wear tomorrow and what you may need to do before work, have a plan! You plan the work and work the plan.

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.. Andrew Carnegie

If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to pick up a copy of my best selling e-book “Marketing Through Service A Common Sense Approach”. You will find many valuable chapters on marketing, sales, service, branding, networking and more. You and your decision makers will want to use this e-book as a “Business Reference”.

To order your Marketing Through Service e-book go to

www.marketingthroughservice.com and click Buy Now Button.

About the Author:
Peter E. Smith is President of Prospect Ventures Limited, a Management, Marketing and Sales Consulting Company. Mr. Smith has held the position of General Manager for two Fortune 500 companies out of the United States, and has owned and operated several businesses including those in the professional, retail, factoring and wholesale industries. Mr. Smith was educated in Great Britain, Canada and the United States. This book is based upon Mr. Smith’s own observations, experiences, facts and research with many different businesses over the past three and a half decades.

By: Rajen Jani

When an individual manages to influence the minds of several people to behave in a certain way towards the fulfillment of a specific or a general goal, then that individual is said to have exhibited leadership qualities, and is considered as a leader.

Theories of Leadership
Many writers have put forward their own views and formulated their own theories regarding leaders and leadership. Some of the theories are briefly touched below to give an idea of the literature on the subject of leadership.

Great Man Theory – This theory assumed that leaders are born and not made. Leaders usually were members from the aristocracy since they only got a chance to lead; hence, it was considered that good breeding contributed in making great leaders. The concept of a Great Woman was not explored and androcentric bias was never realized. In addition, the theory also states that when there is a great need, then a great leader arises, like Buddha, Jesus, Churchill and Eisenhower.

The Trait Theory – This theory assumes that human beings are born with inherited traits and the right combination of traits makes them a leader. Hence, leadership was a matter of traits whether inherited or acquired otherwise. Stogdill (1974) identified certain traits like adaptability, socially aware, achievement oriented, decisive, dominant, energetic, cooperative, assertive, self-confident, persistent, responsible, and capacity to tolerate stress. McCall and Lombardo (1983) identified four basic traits, namely, emotional composure and stability, intellectual breadth, highly developed interpersonal skills, and the capacity to admit errors.

Participative Leadership Theory – This theory assumes that the conclusion of many minds makes a better decision than the judgment of a single mind. Hence, the leader invites participation from the persons responsible for carrying out the work, since it makes them less competitive and more collaborative, thereby increasing their level of commitment. Participants may be subordinates, peers, superiors, or stakeholders. The extent of participation may vary. The leader may outline the objectives or goals and allow the team to decide how it can be achieved or the leader may allow a joint decision to be taken with respect to objectives and its method of achievement or the team may propose but the final decision is always of the leader. Many varieties exist, like consultation, democratic leadership, Management By Objectives (MBO), power-sharing, empowerment, and joint decision-making. The negative side of this theory is that when a leader asks for opinions and does not find them suitable, then it leads to cynicism, feelings of betrayal, reduced motivation and decreased level of commitment.

Lewin’s Theories – Kurt Lewin along with others conducted experiments in 1939 and came up with three styles of participative leaderships, namely autocratic, democratic, and Laissez-faire. In the autocratic style, the leader took the decisions without consulting others. In the democratic style, the leader took the decisions after consulting others or let the majority decide on what is to be done. In the Laissez-faire style, the leader lets others decide on the decisions to be taken. Lewin et al. discovered that the autocratic style led to revolution, the Laissez-faire style lacked enthusiasm and coordination, while the democratic style proved to be the most effective. Since these experiments were done on children, they still required further study and research.

Likert’s Theories – Rensis Likert (1967) theorized four styles, namely, exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative. In the exploitive authoritative style, the leader uses methods as threats, coercion, and other fear-based methods to enforce conformance. It is always a top-down approach and the views, feelings, of others is given no value. In the benevolent authoritative style, the leader becomes a ‘benevolent dictator’ and uses rewards to motivate performance. The leader listens to ‘rose-tinted’ views from the subordinates as they tell only what the leader likes to hear in the hope of gaining rewards. Trivial delegation of decision is done, however important decisions are always made centrally. In the consultative style, the leader seeks consultations, however, most upward flow of information is still rose-tinted and the decision is almost taken centrally. In the participative style, the leader invites participation across all levels, including the shop floor worker, and attempts to make the employees psychologically closer are made. Dissensions, arguments, feelings of betrayal all take place in this style. The leader becomes a ‘father figure’ and a ‘cult head’, whose saying ultimately becomes the final decision.

The Charismatic Leader Theory – This theory assumes that leaders gather followers simply by their charm, grace, and personality. If a leader is not a natural charismatic leader then that individual takes a lot of trouble in maintaining the image and developing requisite skills. They are usually very persuasive and use their body language very effectively. In a theatrical sense, charisma is played out as exhibited by politicians, religious and cult leaders. Conger & Kanungo (1998) have elucidated five characteristics of charismatic leaders, namely, clear vision and its lucid articulation, sensitivity to the environment, sensitivity to the needs of the members, ability to take personal risks to support their viewpoints, and ability to perform unconventional behavior. Musser (1987) noted that charismatic leaders wanted their followers to commit to absolute devotion to themselves. The charismatic leader may not want to change anything or transform anything unlike the transformational leader. If the charismatic leader is well-intentioned then they can contribute significantly to the growth of the entire group, however, if they are Machiavellian and selfish, then by the creation of cults, they can effectively rape the minds and bodies of their followers. Their own self-belief can lead them into psychotic narcissism and their self-absorption is so high, that their irreplaceability, intentional or otherwise, can guarantee no successors and thus they make a permanent mark in history.

The Transformational Leader Theory – This theory assumes that a leader with vision and passion can achieve great things by inspiring, injecting enthusiasm and energy, and thereby transform the individual or the group towards the attainment of individual or group goals. Transformational leaders have a vision and they sell their vision and themselves in the process of creating trust. They lead by example and are always in the thick of action. In order to motivate their people, they use ceremonies, rituals, and other cultural symbolism. They believe that success comes by deep and sustained commitment and are extremely people-oriented. However, transformational leaders seek to transform, and if the company has no need to transform, then they feel frustrated.

The Quiet Leader Theory – This theory states that actions speak louder than words. The leader leads quietly by his actions and gives credit to others rather than take it all himself. The quiet leader does not always meet with success and is often faced with extroverted individuals whom he simply cannot handle.

The Transactional Leadership Theory – This theory states that people work for reward and punishment. A clear chain of command with loyalty as the primary focus works best in social systems. The subordinate should only do what the leader tells to do without trying to find out the justification for it. The leader creates clear structures and the subordinates are required to follow. For successful completion of the work, they are rewarded whereas for unsuccessful completion, they are punished. The leader uses management by exception, that is, once the operation has defined performance expectations then it does not need much attention. Exceeding expectations gets praise whereas not fulfilling expectations gets corrective actions. The limitation of this approach is that it is assumed that the individual is a ‘rational man’ (a person who is largely motivated by money and hence whose behavior is predictable), which he may not be due to emotional and social factors. In such a situation, other approaches may prove to be more effective.

The Situational Leadership Theory – This theory assumes that the action of a leader depends on a number of situational factors, like motivation and capability of followers, relationship between the leader and the followers, stress, mood, etc. Yukl (1989) has identified six situational factors namely, subordinate effort, subordinate ability and role clarity, organization of the work, cooperation and cohesiveness, resources and support, and external coordination.

Conclusion
Leaders generally do not follow a single approach and they mix and match as per their needs and requirements. In critical situations, they are more dictatorial in nature as they face the prospect of failure. Leaders generally exhibit integrity (alignment of words and actions with their values), dedication (spending whatever time and energy that is required to get the job done, rather than giving it the available time), magnanimity (giving credit where it is due, accepting defeat graciously, and allowing defeated persons to retain their dignity), humility (not diminishing or exalting oneself), openness (ability to understand new thoughts and ideas), and creativity (ability to think differently).

-o-

Few Sources:
(1) Robert R. Blake and Anne Adams McCanse, Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions (Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1991); and Blake and Jane S.Mouton,
The Managerial Grid III (Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1985).
(2) Fred E. Fiedler, “Research on Leadership Selection and Training: One View of the Future,” Administrative Science Quarterly (June 1996), pp. 241–250; Fiedler, “Engineer the Job to Fit the Manager,” Harvard Business Review (September-October 1965), p. 117; Fiedler, A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967); and Fiedler and Joseph E. Garcia, New Approaches to Effective Leadership: Cognitive
Resources and Organizational Performance (New York: John Wiley, 1987).
(3) Robert J.House, “A Path-Goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness,”Administrative Science Quarterly (September 1971), pp. 321–328; and House and Terence R.Mitchell,“Path-Goal Theory of Leadership,” Journal of Contemporary Business (Autumn 1974), pp. 81–97.
(4) Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton, Leadership and Decision Making (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973). Also see Vroom and Arthur G. Jago, The New Leadership: Managing Participation in Organizations (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1988).
(5) Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard,“Great Ideas: Revisiting the Life-Cycle Theory of Leadership,” Training & Development (January 1996), pp. 42–47; and Hersey and Blanchard,Management of OrganizationalBehavior (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1993).
(6) The concept of transformational leadership was developed by James MacGregor Burns, Leadership(New York: Harper & Row, 1978). Also see Bernard Bass, Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations (New York: Free Press, 1985); Noel M. Tichy and Mary Anne Devanna, The Transformational Leader (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1986); and Bass, “From Transitional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision,” Organizational Dynamics (Winter 1990), pp. 140–148.
About the Author:
Rajen Jani is a professional freelance writer with 18+ years of experience.http://rajenjani.wordpress.com/