Business Optimization

This book proposes a simple but powerful model describing four major levers (prospects, processes, people and profits) present in any enterprise, and what it means for these to be “optimal”, with respect to overall and sustainable organizational health. Using an illustrative real-life business story throughout, and backed by a clear explanation of the theory behind the analysis and action taken, this book provides a route map to better performance for any organization, no matter what its size or type.

Hundreds if not thousands of business books have been written advising businesses on what to concentrate their attention in order to achieve long-term profitability. Suggestions include how best to prioritize focus on any one of a range of business areas including customers, employees, processes, quality, return on investment, etc. Moreover, organizations are often urged to not just focus on functional areas such as marketing, sales, operations, and finance but also to almost obsessively take measurements at every level of the organization for the purpose of more effectively increasing the chances of attaining their goals and targets. These prescriptions for success, some of which are valuable in part, all share one major flaw – they lack a coherent and holistic perspective. That is, the advice tends to pull mainly on only one or, possibly, two of the business levers and ignores other levers in the business that may also need small or large adjustments in order for organizational balance to be maintained. This book aims to break the mold by proposing a simple but powerful model describing the four major levers or realms present in any enterprise and what it means for these to be “optimal” with respect to overall and sustainable organizational health. “Prospects” is the first of the four realms because an organization needs to know where its future sales prospects are coming from. “Processes” are the means by which a business manages its internal operations so as to deliver the product or service it has promised its customers. “People” are the individuals and teams who work in the business, directly and indirectly, on a part- or full-time basis, to appropriately address the prospect, process, and profit realms so that they perform at their best. “Profit,” the final realm, determines whether or not a business not only has enough liquid capital to supply the products or services it sells to its customers but can also earn a profit.

Jon Warner has been a senior leader in many organizations, includ¬ing being CEO in three very different companies. While acting as a management consultant and executive coach for over 20 years, he has gained experience with client companies of many sizes and types and been directly involved in their attempts to optimize their businesses. Jon is also an author of over 60 e-books on leadership and management topics and writes the weekly blog ReadyToManage at blog.readytomanage.com, read by over 3,000 people every week. As part of his extensive experience as a senior executive, Jon has led organizations in a variety of industries through significant transitions to achieve significant bottom-line results. He is an expert in developing and implementing strategies in leadership develop¬ment, operations, marketing, sales, and corporate turn¬arounds. Prior to his role in the BillSwyft e-commerce business, Jon spent seven years as CEO of the Worldwide Center for Organizational Development, an international management con¬sult¬ing organiza¬tion; six years as CEO of Team Publications, a large Australian Human Resource Specialist publisher; and, prior to that, seven years in Mobil Oil (in the United Kingdom, Australia and Nigeria), ending his career as a general manager responsible for multiple functions, a staff of over 600 people, and a budget of over $80 million. His career has spanned a wide range of disciplines including finance, human resource management, engineering, and production with a final position as Deputy MD and Director of Operations. His earlier career was spent in the industrial gas business working all over Europe and the US (mainly in a range of human resource manage¬ment positions). Jon has a degree in philosophy, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in organizational psychology.