This book is about what I call "Fix it or lose it Management" I wrote it to help you do your own turnaround inside your organization, before someone else does it for you - or your organization goes under completely. This book is a compendium of carefully selected good ideas from good books, plus my own experience in nearly 20 years as a management consultant and the 27 years of Military service that preceded it. Like my last book, I wrote it so that you could have straightforward, no-nonsense material, ready to implement. CEOs and other responsible people in leadership positions don't always have time to do their own research. Instead, they throw themselves on the mercy of contractors, who think in terms of yearly contracts. You can do the job better.

Fixes That Last - The Executive's Guide To Fix It Or Lose It Management

By Eugene A. Razzetti

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Eugene A. Razzetti
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-8577-3

Contents

Dedication....................................................................................................vForward.......................................................................................................viiSection I: The Front Office...................................................................................1Chapter 1 Strategic Planning - What do you want to do?........................................................3Chapter 2 Position Descriptions - Who does what and what's in it for them.....................................21Chapter 3 Teams vs. Managers - Which are More Accountable.....................................................29Chapter 4 Metrics and Measures of Effectiveness...............................................................33Chapter 5 Benchmarking - How Bad off are you?.................................................................37Chapter 6 Material and Non-Material Solutions - You May not Need that New Gismo after all.....................43Chapter 7 Synergy vs. Innovation..............................................................................51Chapter 8 Cost - Benefit Analysis.............................................................................57Chapter 9 Risk Management - Disciplined Subjectivity..........................................................61Chapter 10 Courses of Action..................................................................................75Chapter 11 Corporate Responsibility Management - A Good Company and a Good Neighbor...........................81Chapter 12 Internal Auditing - Expect what you Inspect........................................................89Chapter 13 Due Diligence - Just "Due" It......................................................................103Section II: The Front Lines...................................................................................109Chapter 14 A Quality Management System for Your Organization..................................................111Chapter 15 Environmental Management...........................................................................117Section III Contracts and Contractors.........................................................................127Chapter 16 Bringing in Management Consultants - Agree on what you want........................................129Chapter 17 Contract Management................................................................................131Chapter 18 Contractor Management - Are You Paying Twice for the Same Product?.................................141Chapter 19 Summary............................................................................................145Appendix Checklists to Get Going and Keep Going...............................................................173References....................................................................................................255About the Author..............................................................................................257

Chapter One

Strategic Planning - What do you want to do?

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed" Proverbs 15:22

Converting Identified Gaps into Goals and Objectives - The Strategic Plan

CEO Note: A critical consideration in the strategic planning process is the selection of (line and staff) participants; the greater degree of participation, the greater the degree of acceptance and ease of implementation. Also, you need to establish milestones and keep to them. Finally, ensure that your organization is ready for change.

There have been many excellent books written on the subject of strategic planning, and just as many that are trendy rather than excellent, and many consultants have been made rich covering somebody else's conference room walls with butcher paper and ink from magic markers. It is not the purpose of this book to repeat or contradict any of them. Neither is it to recommend your optimal approach to strategic planning (e.g., planning officers/staffs, teams, top down - bottom up). You decide the best approach; just ensure that:

You have a clearly defined mission for your organization

You have a vision of how you want your organization to look to the outside world in general and your stakeholders in particular.

You have identified your gaps.

Then, after identifying your gaps, ensure that you develop:

Goals for your organization covering all pertinent areas of the mission and all areas in which gaps have been identified.

Objectives, in which each of the identified goals is quantified in accordance with established metrics.

A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) from the objectives, assigning personnel/divisions by name and tracking progress.

It goes without saying (so why am I saying it?) that all of this requires buy-in from your stakeholders. The Strategic Plan must belong to them as well as to you.

Who are the Stakeholders and What makes them happy?

The first thing that we need to do is to define "stakeholders". For our purposes, stakeholders are those individuals or groups who have tangible interests in the continued well-being of the organization. They include not only shareholders and employees, but also:

The Board of Directors

Customers and clients

Suppliers and subcontractors

The community

The general public

Regulatory bodies (as applicable)

The Environment.

You may not have thought about some of the above before, and some may not really apply to your organization. However, you should not dismiss any out of hand. Rather, satisfy yourself that whatever interaction you have (with the community for instance) neither harms nor potentially threatens it. We talk more later about being a good neighbor.

Organizations are obligated to discharge their duties to the stakeholders in a responsible manner. Failure to do so is not only bad business but bad citizenship and being a bad neighbor.

Moreover, poor performance eventually limits (or ends) the organization's ability to create or add a value that keeps it in business. At the high end, organizations that pursue excellence in safety and health, environment, and community relations enhance their internal and external success and contribution.

Vision and Mission Statements - Where are you going

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs Chapter 29

An organization's vision statement sets its broad outlines and boundaries, and describes what the organization wants to look like to the rest of the world. Some planners suggest that a vision statement should go out ten years. While general in nature, vision statements should still be clear and robust.

Like a clothes closet, the vision must adequately contain and boundary its contents, but not so tightly as to cram the contents together, rubbing some pieces against each other, damaging some, and allowing others to be lost in the back or on the floor. As the closet contains the clothing for all seasons, so must the vision suitably provide for the changing conditions of the organization. To end...