Archives | Paul Orfalea's Blog

Jul 1 2009

Don't Overlook Democracy as a Management Model

An organization called WorldBlu was formed in 1997 to champion the growth of democratic organizations. Founder Traci Fenton identifies ten principles of organizational democracy, including transparency, accountability, decentralization, fairness, dignity, and choice.

Principle six on WorldBlu's list, Individual + Collective, was more or less enshrined in the Kinko's Philosophy, which stated, "...we encourage independent thinking and teamwork." This presents one of the great challenges of a democratic workplace, and one of the greatest benefits. The advantage of balancing independent thinking and teamwork comes from the unleashing of individual creativity. The challenge is the balance itself - keeping that creativity directed toward advancement of the organization's goals.

4 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 7:24 AM

Jun 18 2009

GM's Big Dreams

The standout exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair belonged to none other than General Motors. Called Futurama, the display took visitors on a tour through an incredibly detailed - and mostly accurate - model of the continental United States as it would appear in the far-off future of 1960. Considering that the World's Fair took place after ten years of Depression and while Europe was descending into the madness of war, General Motors' imaginative optimism seems all the more impressive.

General Motors recognized the harsh facts in front of them, but nevertheless dreamed big dreams and worked to make them come true - they helped to create America's future. So what happened?

0 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 5:35 PM

May 27 2009

Seeing What Isn't There

I'm often accused of bitterness when I write about the decline of Kinko's after Clayton, Dubilier and Rice displaced the founding partners, but I think incredulousness is closer to my true emotion. I'm a student of business, and I simply cannot believe how many mergers and acquisitions fail because the new owners do not bother to understand -or choose to ignore - the key success factors of acquired companies. Kinko's is the case study with which I am most familiar, so of course I refer to it often.

Here's one example. In the mid 1980s, Kinko's advertised that we offered copies, binding, and passport photos. And every ad promoted the fact that we were open early, open late, and open weekends. Our extended hours constituted a competitive advantage over the quick-print shops offering similar services.

3 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 1:59 PM

May 20 2009

Invent Obstacles

You've just taken the reins of a successful company. It doesn't matter whether it was a merger or a purchase or you simply bested other candidates for the top spot after the founder retired. Now you wonder, "what is the easiest way to destroy this company?" The answer is simple. Since we know it is management's job to remove obstacles that interfere with workers' productivity, the easiest way to derail a company is to invent new obstacles, and lots of them! We see this technique all the time.

5 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 8:57 AM

May 12 2009

Happiness as a Business Model

The Zappos Way of Managing, an article in the May issue of Inc. Magazine, describes how Zappos.com leader Tony Hsieh "uses relentless innovation, stellar customer service, and a staff of believers to make Zappos.coman e-commerce juggernaut - and one of the most blissed-out businesses in America."

The article attributes the online shoe store's success to Hsieh's obsession with customer and coworker happiness. Not satisfaction, or adherence to industry standards, or comfort or efficiency or economy, but personal, individual happiness. This man is a genius.

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 11:39 PM

Mar 9 2009

When Profit Sharing Goes Wrong

bby Dean Zatkowsky, co-author of Two Billion Dollars in Nickels

Managing the behavioral impact of a profit sharing plan is more challenging than designing the financial incentive in the first place. Among inexperienced business people, profit sharing leads to the unintended consequence of excessive scrimping. Frugality fuels profitability, but not when we trip over dollars to pick up pennies. Anyone offering profit sharing to coworkers must ensure they understand the big difference between cutting costs and cutting corners: The former improves profits; the latter eventually destroys them.

1 comments - Posted by Dean Zatkowsky at 2:36 PM

Mar 2 2009

Coworkers and Community

By Dean Zatkowsky

Lately I've been talking to small businesses about strategies for surviving and possibly thriving through today's economic uncertainty. I've been urging owners and managers to stay focused on customers, coworkers, vendors and community, rather than monetary policy, legislation and regulation. By all means, let your representatives know what you think, but remember that if your delivery vehicle has a dead battery, it's highly unlikely that Nancy Pelosi or Timothy Geithner is going to come over with some jumper cables.

One of the strengths of Kinko's original partnership model was the fact that even when we had 126 partners and over 1,000 stores, we continued to operate like small businesses in our communities. I used to joke that we combined all the disadvantages of franchising with all the limitations of sole proprietorship. But it was just a joke: the passion and connectedness of local involvement was good for the business and good for the communities we served.

2 comments - Posted by Dean Zatkowsky at 11:19 AM

Giving

Businessman

Educator

Blog

Categories

Search Archives

Category: Customer Service

PLEASE NOTE

This blog is not longer active, to learn the latest news and information, please visit Orfalea Foundations (www.orfaleafoundations.org) or West Coast Asset Management (www.WCAM.com)