DO’S and DON’TS of EVENT Management

Event Management is a tough task and can get on your nerves when the plan is not clear and precise. Here, I would be specifically highlighting Corporate Event Management. It could be in the form of seminars, workshops, or a cluster of miscellaneous events organized for more than a day. The situation can get gruesome if the communication among the event owners is not clear and the owning of responsibility is not defined. Below are some do’s and don’ts of Event Management.

Do’s of Event Management:

1.Define the Hierarchy: The biggest flaw in the failure of any event is the improper communication flow and reporting. Before the start of event management, select the event owners and specify a clear cut hierarchy of how the communication should flow and who will report to whom. Once it’s done, assigning of tasks is done.

2.Assigning Tasks: How do you assign tasks?? A verbal communication and assigning of tasks always proves to be a reason of confusion in the later stage of Event. Have a plan ready for each event and if there are different event owners assigned, they should take the responsibility for their event right from preparing the plans, listing the pre and post events, allocating tasks to volunteers, communicating their plan to other event owners etc.


3.Allocating Volunteers: Finding and allocating volunteers for each event is a Herculean Task. This should be done even before you plan is ready on papers. An estimation of volunteers should be completed before your concrete plan is ready. Instead of running around the bush during the event, its better to get your volunteers ready and prepare them for the tasks.

4.Handling Volunteers: Once your volunteers are finalized, the immediate action is to communicate your plan with them and allocate tasks to them. Always keep buffer volunteers ready incase some of your volunteers don’t turn up during the event for any reasons. Ask your volunteers to include the updates and prepare a MOM for every meeting that is organized pre event so that the volunteers are responsible for their tasks and everyone included in the event are aware of the proceedings.

5.Handling the Event Owners: The Event Head should be prepared to handle the event owners. Sometimes, there are so many tasks to do that there are heated discussions and arguments which occurs among the event owners. That’s the time when Event Head should play a pivotal role in stabilizing the situation. The success of an event always depends on the coordination among the event owners, event head and the volunteers.

Interesting?? Well, I will post the Don’ts of Event Management in my next post. Till then, keep reading STRATEGYAAN!!!!

Reconceptualization of ACAP

If Firm 1 has a low efficiency factorcompared to Firm 2, it is still possible that Firm 2 may have a higher RACAP than Firm 1, in spite of Firm 1 having a higher PACAP. Firms that achieve or maintain a high RACAP-to-PACAP ratio would be well positioned to gain value. This point underscores the importance of separating potential from realized ACAP in order to account for the contributions of this construct. Thus, distinction between potential and realized ACAP provides an explanation of why certain large firms, in spite of their greater investments in developing their ACAP, may lose out to smaller firms that can more efficiently convert their potential capacity to realized capacity. This discussion suggests the following two propositions:

Proposition 1: A firm's absorptive capacity is composed of potential and realized
capacities wherein PACAP is a function of acquisition and assimilation capabilities, and RACAP is a function of conversion and exploitation capabilities.

Proposition 2: A high realized-to-potential absorptive capacity is positively associated with future value creation.

It has been observed that companies do not always foster the sharing or integration of knowledge. Structural, cognitive, behavioral, and political barriers may stifle the effective sharing and integration of knowledge. Integration can take place informally (e.g., communication) or formally (e.g., use of coordinators). Informal integration is useful in building bridges and exchanging ideas. However, more formal ways to integrate knowledge have the advantage of being more systematic. They can be more useful in distributing information within the firm, gathering interpretations and identifying trends. Firms that use formal integration are, therefore, likely to be better equipped to make their members aware of the types of data that make up their PACAP. This can expedite the process of converting and exploiting knowledge and make it more efficient. Sharing and integration of knowledge can increase efficiency factorby reducing the gap between PACAP and RACAP. These observations suggest the following proposition:

Proposition 3. Knowledge integration reduces the gap between potential and realized ACAP, thereby improving the efficiency factor.

Exploiting technologies (or technological knowledge) requires different skills from those that constitute ACAP. These skills are termed “transformative capacity,” defined as “the ability to continually redefine a product portfolio based on technological opportunities created within a firm.” This capacity centers on selecting different technologies, nurturing and developing these technologies over time, and synthesizing these technologies as needed to accomplish the firm’s strategic goals. These activities differ from the acquisition, assimilation and conversion of externally acquired knowledge.

Proposition 4: A firm’s transformative capacity reduces the gap between potential and realized ACAP, thereby improving its efficiency factor.

ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY

Absorptive Capacity or ACAP as it is widely known as is a “less- heard” term. This is because the definition of ACAP and the measurements are still a matter of arguments for most of the researchers. Organizations view ACAP from different perspectives but what remains a matter of discussion is the true meaning of ACAP and its value addition to the organization.

CAP is an organization's capability (or set of capabilities) required to manage knowledge for the purpose of value creation. These capabilities involve the abilities to acquire, assimilate, convert, and exploit knowledge. It also highlights value creation as the dependent variable or outcome of ACAP, which can help explain a firm's motivation to develop and maintain these capabilities. Now the question comes, how to measure ACAP? The measurement is quite simple, you have a potential ACAP and then you have a Realized ACAP.

Potential ACAP makes the firm receptive to acquire and assimilate external knowledge developed elsewhere. It corresponds to the ability to value and acquire external knowledge but does not necessarily guarantee the successful exploitation of this knowledge. The ability to acquire is a function of three factors: experience, assimilation and effort Realized ACAP centers on converting and exploiting the same knowledge.

PACAP * h = RACAP; where PACAP >= RACAP, h is the efficiency factor, and h<= 1
The efficiency factor denotes the difference between potential and realized capacities.
Interesting?? Keep reading, I will continue on APAC in the next posting….

CRM for Financial Institutions..Continued

As promised, I will discuss the remaining parameters that the financial institutions should give importance to successfully get the benefit of CRM.

Innovative Product Management: Product Managers must adopt a modular approach to product development, creating products and services that can be combined to become personalized offers for the customers. This will deliver maximum flexibility to the segment owners, the channel organizations and customers in creating a package of financial services that meets the customer’s needs.

Process Leadership: Financial Institutions must commit to ongoing process management and disciplined execution. Process Executives must be assigned to manage end-to-end process performance, especially with customer facing processes. Their role is to ensure the process is performed consistently, reliably and delivers value to financial institutions, its customers and its employees.

Customer Interaction: Gather and use customer information effectively and streamline the integrating processes from the customers’ perspective.

Customer Profiles: Identifying customer information necessary to manage customers’ needs and drive value-added customer relationship management strategies. Unify the customer data to create profiles of the customers which will act as a roadmap for capturing and retaining relevant customer information.

Customer focused Processes: Financial Institutions must redesign their processes from their customers’ perspective, mapping processes end-to-end across the financial institutions. The outside-in process view will create insight into the gap between financial institutions is delivering and what customers require. Once this is known, financial institutions can redesign their processes to meet customer needs.

Courtesy: Van De Laar

CRM for Financial Institutions

How can financial institutions ensure that they get a return on their CRM investments? It has been observed that in most of the financial institutions, there is a gap between the strategic intent of financial institutions, their CRM infrastructure and their operational reality. In order to realize full potential of CRM and the customers, financial institutions must restructure their organization and invest in professionalizing their customer interaction to close the gap. Financial institutions need to look at these parameters to successfully implement CRM and get the benefits out of it. They are:
1. Customer Advocacy
2. Customer Behavior Management.
3. Innovative Product Management
4. Process Leadership
5. Customer Interactions
6. Customer Profiles
7. Customer focused Processes.
I will highlight the first two parameters in this post and will write about the other parameters in my next post.

Customer Advocacy: CRM must have dedicated leadership at board level, naming a single executive to be responsible for creating the customer-centric culture. This person will be responsible for financial institution’s customer relationship vision and must define the strategy, restructure the organization, develop the channel capabilities, manage KPIs, and build the technical CRM infrastructure to realize the vision.

Customer Behavior Management: Behavior Management Strategies define key customer benefits and behavior objectives for a specific customer segment in order to drive the desired behaviors, such as:

1. Buy new products and services
2. Increase overall investment.
3. Make appointment
4. Use internet instead of branch
5. Feel good about their choice of financial institutions.

By defining behavior change strategies financial institutions can leverage the power of their CRM technology to effectively integrate and manage messages, offers and results.

DIRECT Marketing

As promised,I am posting an article on Direct Marketing.Direct Marketing is any advertising activity which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your customer as an individual.The purpose is to isolate your prospects and customers as individuals and build a continuing relationship with them to their greater benefit and your career profit.The advantages of Direct Marketing are:

1)Treating Clients as Individuals:By isolating your prospects as individuals,you can find out what makes them tick and use the knowledge you gain about them to help you select the ones you feel confident you can serve and ignore those who are less likely to want to work with you.You need to understand and calculate the likely income you could gain from each prospective client and likelihood of being able to win that business.Then a decision of which individuals to invest can be taken.

2)In Control: With Direct Marketing,you are in control.You can test your message, change it for each person you are addressing.You can contact your prospects at times you think will be likely to elicit the best response.If you record every communication and its response on your database, you also then have the data that is necessary to make good decisions and you can learn from each promotion.

3)Cut down on Risks: Most of the consultants are success oriented and record their wins effectively but fails to understand the failures.However,to make the most of the investment, you need to find out exactly why you did not win and make sure that the lessons learnt are incorporated into your planning for future pitches. Direct Marketing helps you to understand the failures and work on it so that it does not affect your future endeavours.

HUMAN Behaviour in BUSINESS Schools

Should the business schools teach HUMAN BEHAVIOUR as a subject?? Quite interesting and a relevant question posed by one of my friends in Linkedin.It inspired me so much that I decided to write a post in Human Behaviour.

Human Behaviour is often considered as one of the important traits to test during HR interviews. It includes they way a person talks, his body language, his views about the people and organization and a lot of factors which influences him to act/react in a certain way.But,as a matter of fact, human behaviour is not stable. The way a person portrays himself during an HR interview might react in a different way under different situations.This gives rise to two important questions:
1)How to train business graduates on "Human Behaviour"? Whether there should be a different subject for them the way they learn about organizational behaviour?
2)How the HRs can use this aspect to hire the best talent?

One of the effective ways to access a particular person and make a person understand human behaviour is Case Studies.There should be case studies on various situations and how a particular person should react given a particular role and situation.This might vary from organization to organization and one role to other.Framing of right questions is important.The case studies should be categorized on the basis of fields chosen by the candidates like Sales/Marketing,Customer Support,Client Interaction/Presentation,Client Interviews in Business Analysis or Business Consulting etc.

Human behaviour can be altered or measured using stress tests.For example,the reaction of a particular employee can be monitored putting pressures on him in different levels.It will give an insight of the employee's stress taking abilities.The same could be applied to the managers in the organization.

Culture of the KNOWLEDGE based Company

A knowledge based company values knowledge workers rather than employees who work from 9-6.Most of the knowledge based companies send their employees to seminar,workshops conducted by creme B Schools and other associations.The employees in a knowledge based company just not focusses on his work rather takes interest in different roles so that he can swap roles if ever the organisation demands.A knowledge based company conducts training and workshops and encourages their employees to take training that can enhance their skill sets and knowledge benefitting the organisation. Apart from that, the Senior Management/Manager conducts meetings where he discusses the initiatives of the organisation with their.his employees and ask their feedback thus involving them in the whole process and make them responsible for their organisation.Carrying this activity,they make sure that the lower level employees are aware about their organisation and are taking keen interest to work in the organisation. Sometimes,knowledge sharing presentations are conducted where the employees are asked to prepare a presentation on different topics and share it with their respective teams.Such initiatives makes the employees more confident and enhance their communication skills.

First Ever CONSULTING MEET in Mumbai

I am thinking to organize a Consulting Meet in Mumbai where like-minded people can gather and discuss topics on Business/Strategy/Management Consulting. The idea is to gather people from varied backgrounds under one platform and organize Consulting Meets in Mumbai once a month where we can know each other,discuss topics related to business consulting and do some business networking.If anyone is interested, reply to the topic and if we have substantial number of people,we can decide the venue and time for Consulting Meet. People nearby Mumbai or outside Mumbai can also join and attend the Consulting Meet.

Well,the common mail id for all the interested participants is
consultingmeetmumbai@gmail.com

and the Password:consult11

All the interested,please drop a mail to this e-mail id or add yourself to the Contact List.

Please do share your views.

CONSULTANCY Marketing Strategies

How do we define the term "Marketing" in Consultancy language.Put in simple words,Marketing is a way of looking at doing business,promotional activity and a location.Infact, most consultants would associate the marketing approach as being able to understand the clients point of view-the issues they have in their industries,in their companies and in their own roles.The marketing concept involves meeting three requirements which are:
1.decisions about what your business should do are based on your clients' needs and wants.
2.you select the best way to meet the needs of your clients and prospective clients.
3.your organizations' performance objectives are achieved by meeting clients' needs in a way that satisfies them.

Generally,in a Consultancy,the consultant enters the client's domain to learn all there is to know about the client's fears and desires and then uses that information to design and supply the service.Marketing in the consulting language is being able to createa product or service that fits the client so it will sell itself.

I would post on one of the most important aspects of Consulting i.e. "DIRECT MARKETING" in the next post...So keep reading