Up Your Cash Flow / Goldstein 29-30

30 THE BUDGET PROCESS
The main purpose of the budget process is to control expenses and set goals.

...we can never really know how well we did unless we compare it to what we wanted to do.

You should be predetermining the results of operations, then when the results are in, you'll know if you're on the right track.

Intellectual Capital/Stewart 143-145

144 Customer satisfaction is actually declining in the United States.

145 With knowledge the most important component of the value of economic transactions--that is, knowledge being what we buy and what we sell--knowledge is the chief ingredient of customer capital.

The Pursuit of WOW/Peters 45-47

46 Be magnanimous in victory, even more so in defeat--tomorrow is another day.

There are no right answers--don't press your case too hard.

Remember: We are all centers of our own universe--you, and every person whom you address.

47 Remember that business is a human game, and it is so easy so very easy, to unintentionally slight someone. Again: The key is hard work. (And taking such "little" items seriously.)

GOOD TO GREAT/COLLINS 104-108

105 The denominator can be quite subtle, sometimes even unobvious. The key is to use the question of the denominator to gain understanding and insight into your economic model.

108 The only way to remain great is to keep applying the fundamental principles that made you great.

Up Your Cash Flow / Goldstein 26-29

28 "When you spend money...How do you know if you're going overboard or not?"

29 Had Joe and Eric reviewed financial data regularly and compared the data to predetermined goals, Joe would have had a difficult time spending company funds on personal expenditures. The variance from expected results would have been glaring enough to support my concern and would have been easily spotted. More than likely, the theft would not have taken place.

Intellectual Capital/Stewart 141-143

143 Of the three broad categories of intellectual assets--human, structural, and customer capital--customers are the most obviously valuable.

144 customer satisfaction is actually declining in the United States.

The Pursuit of WOW/Peters 41-45

44 Mind your manners.


"You're going to be pushing some ideas that are beyond what people around here want to confront. So make sure you're beyond reproach on the "little stuff:--show up for meetings on time or early, dress conservatively, and so on.

45 If you're championing stuff that's off the wall, you have 2.76 strikes against you to begin with. But if you are decent, if you at least behave decently, your battle is half won.

GOOD TO GREAT/COLLINS 100-104

104 Our study clearly shows that a company does not need to be in a great industry to become a great company. Each gtg company built a fabulous economic engine, regardless of the industry. They were able to do this because they attained profound insights into their economics.

The central point is that each gtg company attained a deep understanding of the key drivers in its economic engine and built its system in accordance with this understanding.

That said, however, we did notice one particularly provocative form of economic insight that every gtg company attained, the notion of a single "economic denominator". Think about it in terms of the follow question: If you could pick one and only one ratio--profit per x (or, in the social sector, cash flow per x) - to systematically increase over time, what x would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine?

Up Your Cash Flow / Goldstein 25-26

26 Design your financial statements. Remember the statements must tell you what is going on. You are the one who is responsible for the success or failure of the business. Therefore, it is essential to design the categories for your needs, your curiosity, your style. It's your money.

ANTICIPATE WHAT YOUR EXPENSES SHOULD BE
Every business operating in today's economic environment must have a budget. You'll never be able to control expenses if you don't know what they should be.

Once you have determined what an operating expense should be and then compared it to what it actually is, you will be in a position to know if you have achieved the goal of controlling expenses.

Intellectual Capital/Stewart 138-141

141 ...the age of knowledge, companies must configure themselves that they can deliver innovation to their customers so fast that they rarely bother to build fancy structure like departments at all. They just act.

The Pursuit of WOW/Peters 40-41

41 This is about the logging those miles to increase your stature and credibility as the person who "talked to the real people in the field...yesterday."

Perception is all there is --manage it! There is no reality. There is only perceived reality.

Write the agenda. Pay attention to something and it's perceived as important.

GOOD TO GREAT/COLLINS 99-100

100 Suffering from the curse of competence but lacking a clear Hedgehog Concept, they rarely become great at what they do.

The Hedgehog Concept requires a severe standard of excellence. It's not just about building on strength and competence, but about understanding what your organization truly has the potential to be the very best at and sticking to it.

To go from gtg requires transcending the curse of competence. It requires the discipline to say, "Just because we are good at it--just because we're making money and generating growth--doesn't necessarily mean we can become the best at it." The gtg companies understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.

Up Your Cash Flow / Goldstein 23-25

25 ...knock-the-world-dead-with-volume-and spend,-spend,-spend philosophy is practiced far too often.

Most people involved in small companies spend a great deal of time attempting to increase sales but do little to control operating expenses. Certainly, I wouldn't abandon the notion of increasing volume. But remember that every dollar saved in expenses results in a dollar more in profit. A one-to-one ratio. It may take $10, $15, $20 or even more of increased volume to produce the same one dollar profit. Thus, when you view the profound impact that controlling expenses has on your profitability, it becomes essential that all efforts be made to control the expenses of your business.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SHOULD TELL YOU A STORY.

What are you spending money on?

Intellectual Capital/Stewart 135-138

136 A fundamental principle of managing intellectual capital is, or should be: Knowledge is valuable, so make'em pay.

138 The Knowledge links.

A manager thinking about outsourcing manufacturing can learn how others have done it and, more important, who has done it.

The Pursuit of WOW/Peters 39-40

40 It's not just that commitment counts in the "real" sense of your willingness to go the extra mile, it also counts in others' perception of your willingness to battle on.

41 This is about the logging those miles to increase your stature and credibility as the person who "talked to the real people in the field...yesterday."

Perception is all there is --manage it! There is no reality. There is only perceived reality.

Write the agenda. Pay attention to something and it's perceived as important.

GOOD TO GREAT/COLLINS 98-99

99 The Abbott versus Upjohn case highlights the difference between a "core business" and a Hedgehog Concept. Just because something is your core business--just because you've been doing it for years or perhaps even decades--does not necessarily mean that you can be the best in the world at it. And if you cannot be the best in the world at your core business, then your core business cannot form the basis of your Hedgehog Concept.