Integration of Leadership and Management
21st Century Operational Excellence

 
The traditional definition of Leadership and Management is that Management is about arranging and telling and Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.
This may have been the correct definition and organizational model in the past, however company's operating in the 21st Century cannot afford to have managers that have difficulties in leading or leaders that cannot manage.
Some important facts about the status of manufacturing in the U.S. Manufacturing is driving productivity growth in the U.S. economy, increasing at two and half times the rate of the service sector.
Companies with fewer than 100 employees make up more than 94 percent of all U.S. manufactures.
These facts make it obvious that manufacturing is still thriving in the U.S. However, a key to its continued success is their ability to become agile in all aspects of the organization.
Driving this agility is not only automation, specialized software, or new product innovation. It is the unrelenting drive for operations excellence through a combination of leadership and management skills.
Today more than ever building the manager/leader model is a critical component for the achievement of company goals, visions, and strategies.
The manager/leader needs to be involved in energizing people to do new things, to take up new challenges and learn to see the value vs. the non-value in every process from "Quote - To Cash".
Companies cannot afford to have organization levels not consisting of excellent  manager/leaders; they need to start with dynamic top-level leaders that establish a culture and business climate, which is transferable throughout all levels of the management team.  
The existing rules for what a manager is vs. a leader is insufficient for the new-millennium workplace and just as important how companies need to address the new 21st century business challenges.
The manager/leader needs to focus on collaboration, agility, providing value and internal and external customer service.
Daily the manager/leader should ask the question:

• What have I done today to delight my customer
• Did I demonstrate a positive or negative attitude, and how did that affect my credibility and the credibility of my company's mission and values.  
• Did I assist my team in achieving their personal and business goals
• Have I acted fearlessly today

Companies need to insure that every manager has both leadership and management skills necessary to meet individual and company goals.
Can you imagine if in every level of your organization you had an exceptional manager/leader, the dynamics would be fantastic.
Companies should concentrate on working with every manager at every level adding the following leadership skills

• Treat people based on the company culture
• Create and excellence visions based on department goals and how it aligns to the overall goals of the company
• Enthuse and stimulate a shared vision with your team and get them to see the possibilities of becoming excellent
• Challenge the status quo
• Enable your team to work independent of a micro managed condition
• Share the victories
• Challenge/Challenge/Challenge

As a leader and a manager there is a need to get deeply involved with process, issues, improvements and change. I don't mean attending a meeting or two I mean deeply involved with the day-to-day issues become a part of your team not just a casual observer.
This is difficult, the manager/leader will need to prioritize their day, work to a plan have consistency in their schedule and one very important point is learn to say no to request to attend meetings that are time wasters or to become involved with time wasting activities.
Showing this type of dedication to your team and their issues will demonstrate a sense of importance, teamwork and it will demonstrate the dedication necessary to achieve excellence.
The challenge for the manager/leader will be:

• Developing the desire to seek knowledge about yourself and to seek self-improvement

 

• Developing technical proficiency in all aspects of your specific organization

 

• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions

 

•  Most important for a leader is, that you need to be trustworthy and be able to communicate a clear vision and goals.

When your team members are deciding if they respect you as a leader, they do not think about your attributes, rather, they observe what you do so that they can determine who you really are.
I believe that a leader needs to continually search for the "Rallying Cry" what issue, change, or need can he or she use to motivate a team into action that stimulates a driving desire to achieve results, which in turn instills pride and a senses of accomplishment throughout the organization.
Once the "Rallying Cry" is establish the leader then becomes an entrench manager working not at the thousand foot level but at the one inch level.
Companies are continuously working on improvements; they may be in the process of implementing Lean principals, implementing new software, acquisitions, plant relocations etc. With these efforts taking place, it becomes imperative that they transform the key members of the organization into a combination of a leader that can create the correct vision of the future, can motivate people to engage in that vision, and assist in the management an delivery of the vision.
Developing and changing an organization is not a simple process.  It takes time, training, convincing and rewarding. People transformation is very difficult. Some can easily make the transformation some will need to be coached and developed.
Dan Marino
Senior Partner
Marino Associates, LLC
860-623-2521
Call and schedule a Process and Organization Assessment, this assessment will assist in development of an agile and profit driven company. 
 

Senior Managers responsible for achieving their company's goals and objectives, must have an answer for the continuously ask question, "What is it going to take to get ahead and stay ahead of your competition and increase profitability"?
The answer to that question is of course, "Excellent Results in all phases of your operation".
Most companies today are face with domestic and global competitive pressures. To compete in a new world economy companies are forced into strategies that continue to put downward pressure on their prices, which in turn puts equal pressure on their profits.
Pricing becomes a key profit driver in today's economic environment. Business can use a variety of pricing strategies when selling a product or service. Pricing can be used to defend an existing market from new entrants, to increase market share with a market or to enter a new market. Business may benefit from lowering or raising prices, depending on the needs and behaviors of customers in a particular market. Finding the right pricing strategy is an important element in running a successful business and maximizing profits.
It is all too common that companies leave considerable money on the table due to miss guided discounting strategies, neglecting to charge for specials, expedited deliveries, and by no real strategy for pricing individual customers and products.
Companies should consider a pricing assessment exercise, they need to review the competition from a pricing advantage or disadvantage standpoint, review and price their advantages in technology, advantages in their service level, advantages in their quality and ability to delight the customer.
This is not an easy process; companies may lose customers shopping only for low cost suppliers. However, with pricing set at new levels the remaining customers and new customers will add more to a company's bottom line and provide a more consistent revenue stream.
If pricing is set at, the correct levels companies must then strive to uncover ways to reduce cost as a weapon against profit erosion.
One of the most aggressive approaches in reducing cost is to implement a Lean approach to running and managing your business, this Lean Thinking needs to be throughout the complete value chain from Sales through to the delivery of the product.
Best in class Lean companies are realizing financial and operation advantages over their competition. They are:

• More responsive to customer needs

• More responsive to market changes

• More effective in controlling cost

• More Profitable

A Lean Business Approach is a major shift in how an organization manages their business from Quote to Cash. It is a comprehensive and aggressive study of all your current processes and the alignment of these processes.
Marino Associates assist companies with the process of rethinking, radical redesign, and alignment of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in the critical measures of performance such as:

• Speed

• Agility

• Cost

• Quality

• Service

Our process starts with a detailed and comprehensive 5 - Day Assessment, during this assessment we will:

• Review your key processes
• Interview all key employees and managers
• Review you existing pricing strategy and CRM system
• Review the alignment of these processes on key product lines.

We also review your ERP system to see if it is optimized, and contains the most effective business rules that allow you to meet your business objectives.
This assessment results in a comprehensive report outlining our findings and suggestions for improvement. We then spend a day reviewing this report with the senior management team and outlining a path forward.
During the assessment, we often uncover areas that can immediately be improved. These improvements can generate savings that cover the cost of the program.
Once the assessment and report out is complete a company has a road map they can follow to begin the development and implementation of a Formal Lean Manufacturing Program.
No Company is safe, there is no such thing as a solid, or even substantial, lead over one's competitors. Too much is changing for anyone to be complacent. Moreover, the "Champ to Chump" cycles are growing even shorter."
Let Marino Associates take the mystery out of Lean Manufacturing, let us assist you in customizing a program that is right for you and fits your budget and culture.
There is a great deal of detail, planning, organizing, measuring, education and change that must be done to achieve Lean Business Excellence let our seasoned and experience consultants assist you down the Lean Path.
For additional information about our Lean Assessment Process and workshops contact Dan Marino at Danam333@aol.com; phone 860-623-2521 or visit www.dmarinoassociates.com

Presentation focuses on the following

• ​Sales/ Marketing
• Order Quotation
• Order Management
• Fulfillment Distribution
• Finance Returns, Corrections, Etc.

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ERP will continue to expand in all directions, offering additional capabilities and functionalities as the user community continues to require specific facilities.

ERP will expand readily into the World Wide Web in many ways: Web-based application delivery, Business-to-Business Applications, Business intranet Information Sharing

​ERP systems will undoubtedly evolve with a new name (for example, ERP II) as it expands​

ERP systems are designed to:
To learn more about ERP Systems, visit our ERP Systems Implementation overview.

• Manage information
• Integrate functions and data internally and externally
• Organize data
• Analyze information
• Prompt timely activities
• Project conclusions of plans
• Provide, share and integrate information to partners in the Supply Chain
• Store historical data
• Simulate results of a variety of scenarios

While other lists are possible, we have determined seven that are crucial. To learn more on software selection, please visit our Software Selection section to learn more.
1. Proper assessment
2. Well-defined project organization
3. Clear roles and responsibilities
4. Defined system requirements
5. Extensive education program
6. Aggressive education goals and measures
7. Detailed project planning
 
"How do I get started?"
"What software is out there?"
"What will it cost?" 
"Are we ready for ERP?" 
"Can we modify existing legacy systems instead?" 
"What is this E-commerce stuff - what do we need to do and when?" 
"How big is this thing called ERP? Does our senior management team know what resources will be necessary throughout the duration of the project?"
​Our experts will provide ERP overviews, discuss all aspects of the project, and answer project and organization questions. Call for a free one-half day ERP - Supply Chain presentation.