Happy Thanksgiving! In early autumn of 1621, the 53 surviving Pilgrims gave thanks and celebrated their successful harvest, as was the English custom. During this time, “many of the Indians coming… amongst the rest their great king Massasoit, with some ninety men.” That 1621 celebration is remembered as the “First Thanksgiving in Plymouth.” Best wishes […]
I’ve talked about regulatory compliance costs before but… wow. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) just released the results of their study on the macroeconomic impact of federal regulations. It’s very sobering. The average cost per employee per year is nearly $10,000. But the average cost for small business is a whopping $34,671 PER EMPLOYEE […]
Any reasonable assessment of the current state of U.S. business leadership would at least conclude that it’s struggling. A look at the data tells an even bleaker tale. American business leadership is in a dark place of its own making and many in the leadership development industry are in the dark with them. Gallup’s State […]
Ok, I’m on vacation so this blog is a bit of a rush, but have you noticed how Hormel is thinking about growth? In January, 2013, they bought Skippy peanut butter and now they’ve just announced their intent to purchase CytoSport, makers of protein drink Muscle Milk and others. Common theme? Protein Make sense when […]
I spent 30+ years at Oscar Mayer and parent company Kraft Foods. At that time, Kraft was the largest food company in the Western hemisphere and the most profitable in world. Kraft was a new products juggernaut introducing thousands of new or changed products every year. Much of my career had something to do with […]
The intent was to fuel earnings growth by using technology to transform a part of the innovation process. The business had spent months and significant resources developing a strategy and detailed business case for the major initiative. They even went so far as to make sure senior leaders signed off on it showing their understanding, […]
Madison, WI (for immediate release): Process Excellence Network has selected a business transformation article written by Larry McManis, President & CEO of ThinkWay Strategies, as this week’s Editor’s Choice. The article, Is It Time to Transform Business Transformation?, identifys three key areas where leaders and teams of strategic initiatives need to transform their own thinking in […]
Several years ago, a marketing group we were working with was complaining about all the busywork that was keeping them from doing the difficult, more important work of growing the business. An assessment of where they were spending their time confirmed their assertions. So, one action we took was to automate the administrative task of […]
In only one brief interview with a new product creative designer, it became clear the consumer products company was going to have significant problems with a strategic transformation. Hearing the reactions of senior leaders to the anonymous interview results only confirmed suspicions: they were on track for failure. It was a high priority strategic initiative […]
ThinkWay Strategies, LLC has been retained by Q Energy™ Systems, a division of Dane Manufacturing, to provide strategic advisory services as they roll out their portfolio of world class residential and commercial geothermal heat pumps. Q Energy™ systems are designed, engineered and manufactured to set the standards for home comfort, quality, reliability, affordability, and environmental […]
