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Management

Leadership & Management

When does a Square Peg fit perfectly into  a Round Hole?

Graham Birkenhead, May 10 2022

We often use the term 'a square peg in a round hole' to describe someone that in some way just doesn't fit either in the role, the office, or just the culture.  That interpretation comes from an early 19th-century philosophical treatise* that considered people and their situations as a wide range of shapes - including triangles and oblongs, and...

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Leadership & Management

Tips for Hiring Manufacturing Jobs

Jelena Franco, May 3 2022

So many manufacturers are hiring these days – or at least trying to. Our manufacturing clients are bouncing back after Covid with lots of new business, and their pipelines are full. Some are struggling to find components and materials, and many are wondering where they are going to find the people they need to keep up with the production.

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Leadership & Management

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!' "

Andrew Penny, March 22 2022

In the northern hemisphere spring has sprung. In my part of the world, spring seems to last but a week as we quickly move from snow-covered fields and bare trees to warm summer sun. Leaves burst forth and flowers bloom and, very quickly, we are into summer and the world has found a new equilibrium.

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Market Strategy

What are the 3 Stages of Company Growth?

Andrew Penny, February 15 2022

Eventually, every successful company becomes a customer service company. As a company grows it goes through a number of step changes which require its CEO to think very differently. Take for example a manufacturing company. The first stage of growth is getting to product/market fit. And, often the term ‘minimum viable product’ is used to describe t...

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Leadership & Management

Accentuate the Positive

Andrew Penny, November 4 2021

Each year I mentor a student in the Telfer School of Business at the University of Ottawa. This year the woman I am mentoring has been asked to participate in their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  A truly noble cause. But… I am reminded of the great experiment underway at the moment to encourage the vaccine hesitant to rethink their opp...

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Leadership & Management

Why would anyone ever work for YOU?

Graham Birkenhead, August 12 2021

Unemployment figures continue to improve; we have a little way to go before we are back to pre-pandemic levels, but we are moving in the right direction.   Currently, unemployment in Canada is 7.5% (1.5m) and in the US it is 5.4% (10m).  These figures will include people who are ‘looking’ for work; they won’t include the people who could work but f...

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Leadership & Management

Context IS Everything

Graham Birkenhead, June 29 2021

Whenever the name Thomas Edison is mentioned, people often think about ‘the man that invented the light-bulb’, and most are aware of the many variations of his famous quote about trying to make the lightbulb work: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”.

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Leadership & Management

Risk Joining the Lemmings

Andrew Penny, June 8 2021

Success in business is a rare thing, in fact 70% of businesses fail within their first 10 years. And that number holds true for all types of business. Of those that don’t fail, only a few really soar. Why am I saying this? Simply to suggest that you be careful when you think about emulating your peers or you may well be joining a pack of lemmings h...

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Market Strategy

What Did SaaS Companies Ever do for Manufacturers?

Jelena Franco, May 25 2021

Twenty years ago, Salesforce invented the phrase “Software-as-a-Service” or ‘SaaS”. Since then, the growth of this concept has been phenomenal. A few years ago, I was collating Latvian SaaS companies into a single database to facilitate investors. Now, categorizing SaaS enterprises is not a straightforward activity as they fall into so many differe...

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Market Strategy

The 5 Golden Rules of Pricing

Andrew Penny, February 23 2021

An area that people get wrong all the time is pricing. Some people price high based on the profits they hope to achieve. Some base it on some sort of average industry “cost-plus” rule. Some are afraid to charge too much. Still, others simply add a few percent to last year’s price. So before you set your next price or quote your next deal here are...

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