Why Is Canada Great To Undertake Research and Development?

By Geoffrey Tarrance

Canada really believes in the importance of research to its economy and fully supports, via tax incentives most companies that want to undertake research within Canada.

Canada's main tax incentive is called the SR&ED Program or the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program. It is a simple tax that provides tax credits for allowable research and design into technological or scientific advances in products, processes or materials. The tax credits are very flexible and can be backdated up to three years or carried forward for twenty years.

The Canadian government also spends time, effort and dollars in promoting both Canada and the benefits of undertaking business and research within the country.

Canada's SR&ED tax program gave back in excess of $4.5 billion to qualifying countries in 2010. Large companies get refunds according to their taxable income and smaller companies, even small partnerships, receive back up to 35% of their R&D costs. All of the tax credits can be used against other taxes due. Small companies can receive all of these credits as refunds and larger companies (over $500k in revenue) can receive up to 40% as a refund.

Foreign companies undertaking research within Canada can also partake in the SR&ED Program if they have a Canadian subsidiary of their parent company or a Canadian controlled private corporation.

Through the National Research Council (NRC), the Canadian's government organization for research and development research within Canada is both championed and supported. The NRC directly reports to the Minister of Industry and enjoys both close consultation with the government and the ability to make decisions and laws that will affect R&D within Canada.

The NRC has placed itself as the Strategic Partner in Canadian Innovation and employs over 4,200 people all over Canada to support these aims. They provide substantial resources and assistance helping Canada become one of the world's top five R&D performers.

For over 90 years the NRC has helped help turn ideas, concepts and knowledge into new products, processes and services and these have gone forward to change the lives of Canadians and sometimes the world.

Canada has set forward its research and development priorities to be:

• Better health for all citizens.

• More sustainable solutions to the energy crisis.

• Technologies that will protect the environment.

They have also set out a number of national initiatives that respond to problems that Canadians face in their day to day lives.

This combination of innovative, flexible and generous tax credits coupled with a Canadian government backed National Research Council that has real, achievable aims and the ability to champion them makes Canada the ideal place to undertake research.

EVAMAX Group has been in the SR&ED consulting business since 2003. We represent the clients to the federal government of Canada and provincial governments in obtaining SR & ED (Scientific Research & Experimental Development) refunds and credits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Geoffrey_Tarrance

3 Responsibilities of a Sales and Marketing Consultant

By John J Gosselin

The first of 3 responsibilities of a sales and marketing consultant should be for them to be honest with you; simply having a website is not nearly enough to succeed, never mind prosper these days.

Although it is true that you are putting yourself out there into the "online ocean" and positioned ahead of most business owners in your marketplace, the truth at a higher level is that just having a 24 hour brochure type website, (one without the bells and whistles) will get you nowhere and fast in this "new age" era!
Each and every marketplace and industry is getting more and more competitive and when you add changes from the consumer behavior side of this formula, you NEED TO UNDERSTAND how to adapt to this transformation or you will severely suffer. Let's review some rather interesting statistics about marketing online.
Did you realize that 46% of businesses still don't have a website? Now you may be thinking that I read this statistic in January of 2000, but I discovered it while doing market research in 2011. According to an internet research company (The Kelsey Group), 31% of households PREFER USING THE INTERNET FIRST when gathering information about a product or service - and many of those searches are for local business name, zip code or town or city.

As we dive deeper, 67% of all of the local searches on major search engines (Google-Bing-Yahoo) will eventually lead to an offline transaction. And 86% of searches that reach a local website follow their search up with a phone call.

The second of 3 responsibilities of a sales and marketing consultant should be to make sure their clients web infrastructure is set up to maximize the 3 tiers of effective integration in this "new age" era. First, if you have a website or blog that not only is aesthetically pleasing - make its curb appeal more desirable.

To be honest, finding a serviceable web-designer is a not all that difficult, but finding an internet marketer that knows how to market websites is another story.

The second phase of our 3 steps to integration has to do with advertising your message more effectively. Don't let people fool you; there absolutely is an art to being "socially savvy" online! The pivotal point in the "new age" success formula is learning how to most effectively use the science behind the 'tools of technology' in your endeavors that pays the largest dividends.

Now onto item number 3 of what a sales and marketing consultant should be doing for your business. If your website does not have an area to capture a prospective customer's information - BUYER BEWARE!
This is the whole point of being online in the first place. Although driving traffic to your website is a big deal and critical, converting that traffic to sales is much more impactful on bettering your bottom line. Does a grocery store care more about how many customers walk through the door or how many good are in each cart?

As we come in for a landing, I can't express enough how important using social media and video is when marketing to potential clients and customers. If you want to improve your marketing and sales efforts, you need to know how to maximize your presence in the forums where people are hanging around online.

Due to the emergence of video and social media marketing, The Ally Advertising Group requires that all of these 3 responsibilities of a sales and marketing consultant be met for anyone to work on our team. Our sales and marketing consultants do their best to emulate what TheAllyAdvertisingGroup.com is all about. We are an innovative, "new age", multi-channel marketing company that betters your bottom line, while allowing your business to be more findable online. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_J_Gosselin

Know the Basics for Becoming an Independent Consultant

By Will Barnes

As an independent consultant, you must have a marketing mentality focused on generating new business until you're well established and have more business than you can handle. If you are already a well-established consultant, consider becoming a mentor to a new consultant or do some hiring and teaching.

Independent consulting is an area of work in which expertise in your niche is both expected and required.
Therefore, the first step is to identify a niche in which a clearly identified need exists and one in which you have the expertise to fill. Take inventory of your knowledge, skills, and expertise then zero in on an area in which you want to consult.

Second, review your existing clientele. If you have a recent employer with whom you had a good working relationship and from where you were laid off for financial reasons, explore the possibilities there. Look for businesses in a related field and ask for referrals. And, read help wanted ads, but offer to work as an independent consultant rather than as an employee. You don't need more than two or three assignments to get going.

Third, develop your promotional materials - - brochures, business cards, flyers, and press releases for distribution. However, do not send out your business cards, brochures, and flyers to just any company or organization. Make the contact first either from your referral source, phone calls, etc and then follow up with your mailings. With regards to press releases, decide what you want to announce, make sure it has value to the newspaper's and internet news readers and send it out.

Fourth, develop your website and related blog for your consulting business. Do not concern yourself with paying someone to do this for you. You are an independent consultant. Learn how to do this for yourself. You don't want to depend upon someone else for updating and changing your website and blogs when your business evolves and expands. There are many free options on the internet. Use your research skills and find them.  Become self-reliant.

Fifth, on your website, be clear as to what you want your visitors to do. If you want the visitors to call you for a free consultation, make it clear how long it would last. If it's 30 minutes, say so. If it's to subscribe to your newsletter, say so.  Make the call to action appealing and worthy of the customer giving you their e-mail address.

And sixth, offer tons of useful and relevant information on your website. This provides a sample of your knowledge and expertise and shows them what they can expect when they decide to do business with you.

Will Barnes, Therapist and Business-Financial Consultant, for over thirty-eight years has counseled and consulted with individuals and families in the areas of relationship building, personal growth, and making sound financial decisions. Visit http://www.yourconsultantsite.com and click on ConsultantsPage for more articles to help you develop and expand your consulting business. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Will_Barnes

What You Need to Start a Consulting Business

 By Tony Jacowski

1. Special Knowledge

You have to have some kind of information to share that is not commonly known if you want to run a consulting business. You need to have something you know well that others need guidance on to complete their own projects. Think about the different things you have learned over your lifetime so far, and consider whether those subject areas are in demand. You can always learn more if you want to improve your abilities in consulting on a certain topic.

2. Extensive Experience

A consulting business makes its reputation on the depth of understanding for the job that is to be done. Since you will be guiding individuals, companies, or organizations in using technical skills your experience is an important factor. If you have done the work hundreds of times, your great insight into the process will be appreciated.

3. Certifications

If the industry in which you are consulting is one with certification opportunities, take the tests and get officially qualified to do the work. This will not only help to establish your business reputation with potential customers. It may also help you get professional liability insurance at better rates.

4. Tools of the Trade

The tools you need will depend on the type of business work you are consulting on. If you are a consultant for a special type of construction, you will likely need measurement tools like a tape measure and a laser level. If instead you are consulting with a company on their computer systems, you might need special software that you bring with you. Remember that you will not be doing the major work of the company, so you will not need all the tools they use. You will just need the tools necessary to tell them how to do their jobs.

5. Capital

The amount of money you need for a consulting business may depend more on the geographical coverage area you serve than anything else. There are usually few costs in consulting, but you will need to provide your transportation, meals, and lodging. You will also need startup capital for insurance, possibly tools, and proper clothing. If you reach the point where you are working from an office building, you will need to cover office overhead as well.

6. Passion

When you work in consulting, you will get farther if you have an enthusiastic attitude. When you are passionate about your industry, you will encourage the people you work with to take full advantage of the time you spend instructing them. You will also inspire them to have confidence in your consulting abilities.

Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Jacowski

How Lean Sigma Training Can Improve Your Manufacturing Efficiency

By Danuta Kurucz

Any manufacturing company knows how costly mistakes can be, with one defect or tiny error leading to a possible loss of literally millions of pounds through recalled products or wastage that has to be disposed of.

By using the lean sigma process you begin to build a statistical manufacturing process, which allows you to identify just how many errors are being made when it comes to defective products or items that do not pass the normally stringent quality assurance controls of any decent manufacturing company.

A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products that a company manufacturer are statistically expected or required to be free of defects, which equates to around 3.4 defects per million products or items produced. This means that your aim for your manufacturing process should be hitting this mark and by implementing the Lean Sigma process to your company, you can save millions of pounds by cutting down the level of defects in your products, because the more products that are ok to sell, the more money you will make.

Going back to the original implementation by Motorola, they set a goal of "six sigma" for all of their manufacturing operations which we have explained above and with many other firms looking at this giant and wanting to replicate its strategies, this term quickly became established in many engineering and manufacturing processes and practices around the world, with more and more companies taking up the training.

Lean Sigma introduces processes, analysis strategies and quality assurance methods that can help any manufacturing or engineering company to reduce the amount of defective, bad or unsellable products, which in the long run increases efficiency of the businesses and more importantly returns a much higher return on investment, because the more you sell, the more you make.

With wastage and unsellable products costing a company anywhere from thousands to millions of pounds every single year depending on the size of the firm, it makes logical sense to find a process that can help to identify where things are going wrong and therefore cut down on the products that will not be able to hit the shelves or sale point.

Lean Sigma starts at the top of the organisation, company or firm, by training high level employees, managers and senior executives, which then filters down throughout the company to make sure that the process is identified and implemented throughout the whole manufacturing procedure, from the board room right down to the factory floor, Lean Sigma can massively help to improve the amount of money your business makes from its products.

TadSam Ltd was formed in 2005 in response to the need to provide continuous and breakthrough improvement to all areas of service and industry, in both the public and private sectors.

We use Lean Sigma & Design for Six Sigma mentoring and training and promote coaching in leadership style for enhanced personal and business performance.

Lean Six Sigma Training

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danuta_Kurucz

Water Infrastructure - Creative Thinking Creating Better Environments

By Alastair Kent-Johnston

Being a central component in the economic development of all civilisations, water and water infrastructure continues to be at the forefront of governmental and private development. With the increasing pressures being placed on the reliable supply of healthy water due to increases in population, even greater impetus is being placed on the implementation of innovative and cost effective water infrastructure solutions. In developing nations, the infrastructure is often lacking; and where it does exist, it is often rudimentary. However, it is not only transitional economies that are searching for innovative solutions. Developed nations who currently have large stocks of water infrastructure in place are now experiencing issues with degradation and reliability of such structures, with the need for constant and expensive programs of maintenance and upgrading becoming commonplace. For both developed and developing nations, innovative solutions are required to supply clean and healthy water, which is reliable and cost effective.

One of the most critical issues for modern economies in relation to water infrastructure is how to maintain and improve the current stock of water networks. If these are not maintained, the social, economic and health benefits from the supply of clean water will be jeopardised. Issues arising with the current water infrastructure, such as aging pipes and waste water structure, outdated treatment systems and an inadequate capacity to meet the growing demands that an increasing population base places on such necessities, requires large investments by governmental and private organisations to ensure the operation and longevity of water supplies. Along with the construction of new water infrastructure, there is a need to implement cost effective strategies that "think outside of the box" to address the increasing bills associated with the maintenance of the current and future water infrastructure.

Leading engineering agencies are stepping up their efforts to provide innovative solutions to the design, construction and maintenance of water assets. With the importance of this to the economic and social well being of the nation, only the most experienced of engineering firms that instil creative thinking in their projects to create better environments should be employed in such a process. Innovative solutions are required that not only create cost effective solutions for the design and construction of new systems, but their continued maintenance. Only those firms that have a proven track record of implementing such large scale developments should be considered when approving the large budgets required to drive these developments.

Our company, Harrison Grierson, is a large advisory and design consultancy working in four key market sectors; Land and Buildings, Water and the Environment, Utilities and Transport. The Company operates throughout Australasia and the Pacific Rim from two regional bases, New Zealand (Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch) and Australia (Brisbane).

Our Water Infrastructure and environmental specialists develop innovative and cost effective solutions for water, wastewater, stormwater, groundwater and solid waste management.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alastair_Kent-Johnston

Pricing Your Training Services: Use a Simple Rate Plan for More Control and Better Income

By Will Kenny

Whatever the particular line of training products and services you offer your clients, you have probably learned the benefits of pricing your services on a unit or project basis as much as possible. While clients will sometimes press you for some kind of hourly rate, most of what you deliver should be fairly standardized. Whether you offer a day-long seminar, a standard series of coaching system, or self-paced training products, you generally want to charge a set fee for these items.

But it's hard to totally escape the need for having some hourly rate schedule, at least in your own head. What should you charge if you have to customize your seminar content for a particular client? How do you charge for additional time to conduct interviews with employees as part of your coaching service? How do you price some new training your client asks you to create for their specific needs?

Most training consultants estimate the time it will take to handle these non-standard situations, and then apply an hourly figure - perhaps calculated as a fraction of a day rate - to determine what to charge the client.
The mistake too many training consultants make is to have several different hourly rates in their heads when they make these calculations.

Base Your Rate on What You Do Best

You client may ask you whether you charge less for that instructional design, or research and interviewing, or customization of your training materials as you do for your standard products. They may reason that, say, talking to employees is not as demanding of high-level skills and expertise as is coaching them through better practices or appropriate conduct.

And many consultants give in, when this comes up. They end up with a series of different rates for different kinds of activities.

That's a big mistake. The effect of using several different rates to compute your charges to the client is not only to reduce your revenues, which is serious enough, but to reduce the pleasure you take in your work.
And didn't you start your consulting business not just to make money, but to do more of the kind of work you really enjoy?

One Rate Is Enough

Your main products and services, the ones you charge those standard fees for, are most likely the ones that interested you when you set up your business. But if your clients learn to use you for other tasks at bargain rates, you will find yourself spending more and more time on those secondary activities.

That's not what you want to do, in terms of what rouses your passion for your business.

But it is also bad for your bottom line. The time you are spending, for lower fees, doing secondary activities is time that you cannot use to perform your preferred activities - activities for which you would charge your full rate.

You are substituting low-paying, undesirable activities for higher-paying, preferred activities.

Train Your Clients

The solution is simple, although not easy. Use one mental rate - the same rate you charge for your main products and services - for any activity you perform for a client. Do not let them talk you into discount rates for "less important" services.

Your clients will learn either to pay the full rate, or they will learn to use other, less-expensive resources to get some things done, reserving your time for the training that is your area of expertise.

You may temporarily lose some revenue from these lower-paying services. Remember, fear of giving up any paid work of any kind is precisely what leads many training consultants to end up with multiple rates, finding themselves spending more time on less pleasant tasks and making less money.

But holding to your core rate gives you more control over what you do and what you get paid for doing it. And that control is one of the main reasons you run your own business. Instead of chasing after any task your client will pay you for, work at replacing low-paying tasks and services with better paying ones. Do the marketing and selling work to replace undesirable business with quality opportunities.

It takes some determination. But after you have trained your clients, and yourself, to expect every hour of your time to be equally valuable, you will find yourself doing more enjoyable work, and making a better income while you do it.

Will Kenny helps independent training consultants develop content, skills, and strategies for marketing their products and services. With decades of experience as a successful training consultant, he knows the unique needs and obstacles of this business. If you want to take the pain and mystery out of marketing to build your business as an independent training consultant, visit the Best Consulting Practices blog at http://www.BestConsultingPractices.com, or follow Best Consulting Practices on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BestConsulting. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Will_Kenny

How SWOT Analysis Helps A Market Research Company To Analyze The Market

By Tushita Roy

SWOT analysis is a valuable tool in the kitty of a market research company. The company provides detailed market research reports for their clients in a particular industry. It employs various methods and techniques to collect, gather and analyze the information about different companies in a particular market and a particular sector. This analysis determines where a particular company fits between its internal and distinctive capabilities and external opportunities and threats. SWOT stands for Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization.

The SWOT analysis is performed for each organization to assess its strengths and weaknesses and to get required insight in the potential and critical issues that can affect a venture. These processes are comprised of three important phases where it determines the strategic issues, the strategy and the implementation and monitor of the strategies.

Determining the Strategic issues relevant to a firm

A market research company starts this analysis by determining the firm's position in the relevant industry. It also determines the company's position in the general environment. They also determine the internal issues, external issues, opportunities and threats that affect company's prospects. They analyze and rank the external issues according to probability. It also lists other strategic factors, external or internal that can affect the competitive position of the company in the long-term.

Identifying the Strategy

Next important step is the identifying the capability of the firm to fit into its internal capabilities and external environment. In addition, this process also requires designing alternative strategies for addressing vital issues. The market research company makes use of critical SWOT matrix to identify the strategies.

Implementing and monitoring strategies

After identifying the strategies, the next job is to implement and monitor the strategies. It includes assigning responsibilities, allocating budget and then monitoring progress and reviewing the process from the beginning.

Conclusion

Market research offers the great insight about the market and the consumers. In addition, keeps the company updated of changing tastes of the consumers to help it cater to the changing consumer tastes. The market research companies make use of SWOT analysis to develop corporate, product and marketing strategies.

With the help of this analytical tool, the company can work towards improving the strengths of the client's company and reducing the weaknesses. It can help increases strengths by making targeted efforts such as building strong brand name, increase market share and improve the skills. Though the company does not have any control over the external opportunities and threats, by increasing the company's strengths, it can help them grab opportunities.

SWOT analysis helps in situational analysis and can help in analyzing the present situation and make best use of it. The firm can use the forecast given by the market research company in its report to devise the strategies to counteract the problems and exploit the opportunities. Lucintel is among the leading market research companies providing their valuable services to global clients.

The author of this article is expert in writing articles about market research and consulting. Author has also written many articles on Composite Materials and Aerospace market. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tushita_Roy

8 Reasons To Use A Franchise Consultant

By Michael Bevis

When looking at buying a franchise most people will consult an attorney or a CPA or both. However there is one other professional that can help locate the right franchise for you and that is a franchise broker or franchise consultant. A franchise consultant can help find franchises that meet your needs or even help you find a franchise that you may not have known about before. Additionally, a franchise consultant can provide the prospective new business owner guidance throughout the entire process.

Listed below are a few reasons to use the services of a franchise consultant.

1. The services of a franchise consultant are free to the prospective franchisee. The franchiser covers the consulting fees and the use of a consultant does not add any additional cost to the purchase price. The prospective franchise owner pays the same published price regardless of if they use a consultant or not. The consultant helps franchisers by bringing them qualified prospects and saves them time and money, so it is a win - win situation for everyone.

2. The consultant works hundreds of franchises, in dozens of different industries, including full-time, part-time, new units, and re-sales. When most people think of franchising they tend to think of feast food restaurants but franchising actually cover around 70 different industries. Some of those industries include: financial, automotive, business to business, home based and more. To go through all of the opportunities could take several months, but by using a consultant you can cut that time down to days and you will more than likely be presented with options that you didn't even know about.

3. A consultant compiles a profile of the prospective owner that includes your experience, interests, and goals in order to match you with the best opportunities.

4. They can assist you in looking at various types of financing options.

5. Investigation into the most suitable opportunities that are available is done by the consultant.

6. The initial contact with the franchise representatives is part of the service.

7. The prospective business owner saves time and money and aggravation by having the consultant perform research on franchise opportunities.

8. The consultant works with the prospective franchisee through the entire process. The consultant not only helps you locate potential options for your review, but they also contact the franchise on your behalf, help you locate information in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) and help you prepare for your discovery day visit to the headquarters, if you get to that point.

Overall, a franchise consultant will help you determine if franchising is right for you and what type of franchise best suits your experience and interest.

Michael Bevis is a franchise broker with NationalFranchiseConsulting.com which works with prospective franchisee's in the US and Canada. NationalFranchiseConsulting.com also works with hundreds of different franchises in several dozen industries in order to help find the perfect business for you.
For more information please visit us at http://www.NationalFranchiseConsulting.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Bevis

Document Management - An Overview

By Bojan Turk

With the majority of business critical transactions still taking place using documents, there is a great need for document management. Businesses rely on unstructured data to drive their business and their knowledge workers to make the decisions. These users require a solution that will allow them to carry out their work without distractions. At a more granular level, intelligent decisions require the ability to see the document, annotate, distribute internally and externally, collaborate and keep a history, and maintain an audit trail.

The documents which drive business are legal proof of their interactions with customers and other parties and therefore need to be stored and reproducible in a fashion which is legally acceptable. The document management system has to comply with certain rules which guarantee the original document is stored and can be produced unaltered. In reality the document management system is a collection of unstructured data with a structured access method, and this structured layer is what helps create a variety of solutions required for business, it also allows coexistence and communication with other systems to provide a true business solution.
Whilst document management itself can take many various forms, the backbone of any good solution is quick, scalable storage and retrieval to allow efficient use of knowledge workers time. Scalability allows for the solution to maintain good performance regardless of the location or number of users and volume of documents stored.

Document storage is expanding exponentially, but with it is the number of documents needed in today's world. The cost to retrieve a single document may be significantly cheaper than it was ten years ago, however the overall spend on retrieving and storing documents has climbed dramatically. The only way to hold this cost in check is to build solid foundations with strong business rules and processes, then keep only what is necessary, and ensure it is classified and stored appropriately.

With heterogeneous environments reality, any implementation needs to be able to work across different hardware and software platforms concurrently, and add value across the whole business process, not place bottlenecks in it. This is certainly a possibility with the technology available, however it needs to be managed properly in order to receive the benefits.

Automating any business process takes a lot of hard work, the least amount of which comes from the software doing the automation. By choosing an automation package, you have only taken the first step in streamlining business operations, a step on a path which needs to be followed through to the end. Quite a few customers have remained on one document management platform, not because of acquisition costs for new technology, but because of the amount of business analysis, process optimisation and system optimisation which needs to take place before the first case is actioned.

In this regard, it is often highly beneficial to undertake a joint approach to a document management and workflow implementation to gain the most benefit.

Whilst a true paperless office is still something that will not be a reality for a while, being able to automate significantly time consuming tasks does not only improve the efficiency of your staff and reduce manual errors, but can also greatly improve your staff's job satisfaction by converting menial into meaningful tasks.

Bojan Turk works for Documation Pty Ltd - http://documation.com.au
Documation are an independently owned Australian business providing Enterprise Content Management solutions to customers of all sizes and industry sectors.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bojan_Turk

The Future of Management Practices

By A Raoul Nembhard

 

Management practice has evolved tremendously over the last century. Since Frederick Taylor's scientific management approach at the end of the 19th century, there has been a progression towards an increased focus on the human aspect of management. Bureaucracies are becoming less common and firms are opting for more decentralized organizational structures. However, decentralization is not a new phenomenon. In fact, some of the greatest military leaders throughout history have used a flat structure and segmented their forces into independent units. This organizational structure allowed the leader to adapt to changing circumstances on the battlefield more quickly and provided increased flexibility. Similarly, organizations in the 21st century need to adapt more quickly in today's globalized economy.

There are two military leaders that stand out in history: Napoleon Bonaparte and Genghis Khan. Both men were extremely successful in military battle and regarded as military geniuses. However, it was not some esoteric knowledge that led these men to victory. The key to their success was the organizational structure of their armies. Both Napoleon and Genghis Khan broke down their armies into small independent units. The generals of these units were given missions, and they had the autonomy to make decisions on the battlefield. An organizational structure like this allowed the troops to move faster and adapt quicker than the enemy. The structure allowed the two men to deploy their forces, and gave them the ability to rapidly concentrate them on crucial areas of the battlefield. In today's world, the pace of change is increasing, which forces businesses to remain innovative and to adapt to change effectively. A hierarchical, centralized structure is too rigid to be able to keep up with the rate of change. Microsoft is a company that has this rigid structure, which has hindered its ability to effectively take advantage of opportunities and compete in new market segments.

Organizational Structure

The future of management practice lies in rediscovering the methods applied by military greats like Napoleon and Genghis Khan. It starts with the organizational structure, which needs to allow for flexibility and streamlined communication. Flattening the chain of command and giving managers more autonomy within a set of guidelines will help in achieving this. How does communication allow growth? In order to grow, businesses must identify strategic opportunities, assess, and act on them for these ideas to gain momentum, all of which needs to be communicated up and down the line. A flat structure with fast-moving divisions allows for this process to occur more rapidly, which in turn leads to faster growth. Another critical advantage of a structure like this also allows for threats and changes to be communicated efficiently, which improves a company's ability to adapt to change.

In order to implement a Napoleon-like structure, communication flow becomes very important and companies are going to need to find ways to communicate and share information effectively. Flattening and decentralizing the structure will aid in achieving this, but regardless, proper communication channels must be established.

Generation Y

We are in the middle of a transition in the demographic makeup of the work force. Baby boomers are retiring, and are being replaced Generation Y. This is a trend that will have a significant impact on workplace dynamics and on will require managers to tailor their approach to better suit this new generation. Remember organizational structure won't work effectively, if it does not fit your people. Your goal is to take advantage of your people's strengths.

People in this generation seek more variety in their jobs and plan on working in various fields throughout their careers. Providing Generation Y employees with more autonomy and variety will motivate them and entice them to excel. Establishing independent work teams is one way to give this generation the variety they are looking for.

Success Stories

A company that embodies the aforementioned principles of management is Google. Google is very agile in responding to threats, opportunities, and implementing new ideas. Their engineers have a high level of autonomy and are asked to dedicate a certain amount of time to work on their own projects. The company is broken down into small units, which can be self-managed. It is this agility and swiftness that has been the key to Google's rapid growth and sustained success.

The speed at which Google can maneuver allows it to identify the latest trends and establish a presence. Rather than focusing on dominating one business or one market, Google has the flexibility to attack different markets and segments, as well as respond to the latest trends. Let me give you an example: The company recognized the rapid growth of mobile applications and the opportunity they present. In response to this, Google purchased AdMob, a company that provides advertising on applications, which established Google as a major player in the mobile app advertising market.

This type of agility can also be achieved in traditional manufacturing environments, as was demonstrated by Zara and Crocs. Crocs, for example, was able to develop a strategy and organize its production processes in a way that enabled the company to ship products more frequently, which went against the traditional practice of shipping bulk seasonal orders in advanced, and allowed the company to take full advantages of surges in demand by providing additional products. Rapid information flow, frequency rather than economies of scale have played a great role in their success. Zara on the other hand has a remarkable supply chain that keeps up and is ahead of the trends in fashion. It is not luck, but a very well organized structure.

Moving Forward

In today's business environment, most companies are structured to fight a traditional war, but they must be prepared to deal with fluid Blitzkrieg type warfare. A well-trained, motivated workforce in a decentralized organizational structure would better prepare companies to face the challenges of the 21st century. The first step companies can take to achieve this is to analyze the organizational structure, just as Napoleon had done when he took over the French army. Analyzing the very structure of the organization will allow leaders to pinpoint the areas hindering the company from being more agile and adaptable. In many cases the advantages of creating an organizational structure that fit people of the organization will create a strong enough momentum to increase efficiencies in your business and achieve greater success.

In the future, market gaps will be filled faster and barriers to entry will decrease in most industries. Following the advice in this article will give your company the mechanisms to succeed in the long run.

A. Raoul Nembhard is the Managing Principal of Natus Consulting a boutique consulting firm with offices in Canada and the United States providing expertise in Finance, Technology, Clean Technology and Construction industries. You may contact him directly at raouln@natusconsulting.com or by phone 613216251. You may also visit the company's website http://www.natusconsulting.com for a complete listing of services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A_Raoul_Nembhard

Advantages and Benefits of IT Consulting Services

By Ramy Stuart

When you decide to use the services of an IT Consulting firm, you would get assistance with the identification of areas of opportunity which will improve your overall efficiency. In addition, it may also improve your costs. You will be provided with a road-map for change and have experienced help as you transition processes / technology projects. They will be able to act as an independent 3rd party engaged in strategic decision making and provide expertise to complement or enhance client resources.

IT Consulting is a domain that focuses on advising organisations on how to enhance the performance of their existing information technology assets to meet their business objectives.
There are a number of reasons for which you may require the help of an external IT Consulting Services firm, as the services provided cover a number of areas, such as:

• Consulting for business change
• Consulting for infrastructure management
• Building competitive advantage through IT
• Aligning the technology strategy to the business strategy
• Capturing synergy benefits related to technology in a post-merger integration
• Global delivery models - knowledge and transition management
• Establishment of processes and methodology to transform captive units into external service providers
• Reducing IT cost and needless complexity

Projects can be rather complex to design, deploy, secure and manage; therefore, a project requires a strong level of expertise to execute it proficiently. It is a big advantage if the supplier also has the capabilities to deliver IT project management services. A dedicated IT project management team can focus on delivering trouble-free implementation with minimal disruption to your business. They can deliver your requirements expediently, from commencement of your project, or at any stage in the project life cycle.
The advantages that you will gain whilst working with such a provider are as follows:

• Aligning business and technology strategy
• Reducing IT complexity
• Improving overall efficiency and /or costs
• Professional and cost effective transition programmes
• Change management from experienced professionals
• Independent 3rd party consulting will help non-emotional decision making
• Expertise when none is available

These advantages will translate into the benefits of your ability to:

• Evaluate and prepare a comprehensive IT plan to minimise wastage of labour and spend, if time or experience is an issue
• Complement or enhance skills sets where deficiencies are apparent
• Improve efficiencies of your work force, if forced upon the individual or department

One of the top 10 universities in the United Kingdom is an example of a client that required IT consulting assistance. The challenge they faced was that, changes in the university funding made it imperative to improve cost savings. Their IT consultants met with key members of their personnel and identified areas of improvement. Then, a technology audit was conducted, wherein the current delivery landscape was mapped to identify areas where the cost to profit initiatives could be exploited, with a view to further reducing IT costs for the University. This resulted in the University as a whole, experiencing reduced costs and improved efficiencies, which enabled it to take on significant projects, in addition to day to day tasks.

You can read more about how Allied Worldwide helped Sheffield Hallam University achieve greater operational and cost efficiency with our IT Consulting Services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramy_Stuart

340B Program Hospital - Use in a Clinic

By Rob Nahoopii

I recently had the opportunity to switch hospitals in a leadership role within my health-system. The hospital I moved to is a 340B DSH hospital. If you are not familiar with 340B, it is part of legislation that was created to help hospitals who have a disproportionate share of CMS (or medicare, medicaid patients). The help comes from lower drug costs extended to this group of hospitals from the drug companies. This lowered drug cost is supposed to help the hospitals stay afloat with the added load of CMS and uninsured patients as well as provide an opportunity for these hospitals to help even more patients. Below is one example that we have recently undertaken at my hospital. We have not completely figured it out, but we are making progress. We cannot use 340B on all of our patients because of some nuances in the program. The one thing I should note before I get into our example is that the implementation of this well intended legislation is very difficult. If you are eligible to use it, ask as many questions as you can and become active with the community of 340B eligible healthcare related entities.

My hospital's surrounding area has a young demographic and therefore a lot of babies. For instance, our average census in our newborn ICU is 42 (and we have seen our census peak at over 60 infants in the last few months). This translates to a lot of need for Synagis®. Although we typically administer the first dose in the hospital (which is not eligible for 340B pricing), many infants are discharged and need to receive further doses as an outpatient. Many pediatricians do not want to or will not purchase and administer Synagis due to the high cost of drug, marginal reimbursement, and a lengthy prior authorization process. I know, so why in the world would a hospital do it, NOT because we love to create difficult scenarios where the chance of successful reimbursement requires a lot of man power. We do it for the babies. These babies could be protected from a life threatening RSV infection, and so it goes without saying that it is the right thing to do.

What does 340B have to do with a Synagis clinic? A lot really. It is hard to sell administration on a new service if it will lose money. Sure, the insurance companies will cover the cost of the medicine (well, not always), but what about administration, physician time, prior authorization staff time, and everything else that goes into getting a medication from the pharmacy to the patient. Not to mention opportunity cost, could we have seen a patient that would have had better reimbursement for cost? So, this is where 340B comes in. With 340B pricing, we can create a win-win for everyone, which ultimately results in RSV protection for a vulnerable group of patients.

As a reminder, this is what 340B is supposed to do... Help Patients! Yes, it is to help offset costs for hospitals and clinics who take on a disproportionate share of CMS and indigent patients, but in the end we need to help patients.

About The Author: Rob Nahoopii is a hospital pharmacy manager at a large DSH community hospital with about 400 beds. He endeavors to share what he is going through with learning and implementing 340B at his hospital. He has teamed up with a colleague who is a pharmacist/attorney, who works in the same health-system at a corporate level. They hope to share their unique views on implementing 340B, and that you will join in on the conversation. Come visit their site to learn more at 340BProgram.org. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Nahoopii

Effectively Managing Accounts Receivable in a Wholesale Business

By William King

No matter how big or successful your wholesale business is, cash flow is consistently one of the biggest problems that you as a wholesaler will face. All operations of a wholesale business are interconnected with each other and if one link is missing then the whole operations come to full halt. Accounts receivable is one of the links and if the wholesaler is unable to receive the payments then the whole circle of operations will halt because accounts receivables are the amount of money that a customer owes a company for wholesale products obtained on credit.

Therefore accounts receivables are company's sales that have not yet been paid in cash. These days we know about a lot of wholesale businesses that go bankrupt not because they have few clients or market was not good for them but due to inefficient management regarding accounts.

Effectively managing accounts receivables is one of the biggest challenges that wholesalers face. It is very important for the wholesale business to collect the accounts receivable from the clients for the products that the wholesaler has sold. There are some tips on how to effectively manage accounts receivable. Always make the client fill customer details form. It is very important as it contains all information about the customer including physical address, phone number, fax number, verified reference for credit information etc. After obtaining the form maintain the customer detail form. Never forget to explain all the terms and conditions related to billing procedures and options. Also maintain the files of all clients separately and try to bill them before time so that they get enough time to arrange payments.

With the expense of technology, now there are many software programs available in market that make the process of billing and accounting fast, reliable and transparent. There are many benefits of using accounts receivable software as it will make tasks efficient and fast. By use of this software the wholesale suppliers can easily review and analyze a client's accounts history and other information with just one click.

There are many other features of this program as it replaces the work of two or three employees. No doubt the ultimate use of this program needs a trained and experienced person. Wholesalers can also hire services of the companies who offer the services in programs of similar kind. All these measures combined will effectively manage the accounts receivables and doing wholesale business will become simpler and easier. This ultimately leads the organization towards prosperity and growth.

William King is the director of Suppliers, Wholesale Supplies and Wholesale. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_King

Manufacturers Must Learn to Use ERP Software

By William King

The long term focus of any business is to expand itself, to gain and retain customers but currently, the competition is quite intense and customers are more demanding. Due to this everyone is facing tough situation and wholesale manufacturing companies are not exception to this. Wholesale manufacturers need to be unique and put additional efforts for designing and developing wholesale products to cater customers' demands and to beat the competition. To stand out of all, one needs to have a proper system or software that can integrate all the activities within the system. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is one such approach to improve and update the complete system.

Few other benefits of ERP software are given below:

Managing the Diverse Environment

Obtaining raw materials, managing them and converting into final products are common activities of manufacturing company. Most of the operations are versatile in nature and it is quite difficult to manage them altogether. ERP manages all activities such as material sourcing, purchasing management, product planning, product development and inventory handling. It connects all activities so it becomes easy for a manufacturer to monitor and integrate the processes. Once the work flow becomes efficient and unified, the productivity improves.

Lowering the Cost

The biggest advantage of using ERP software for manufacturers is to bring down the overall manufacturing cost. There is less paper work, less data inputs, resultantly less repeated tasks and the input data is available to all departments. Due to open data availability and fast communication, decision making is improved, accurate and based on real information. It increases efficiency and productivity on the whole that lowers down the cost.

Inventory Management

ERP software automates and standardizes the manufacturing processes to improve the outlook. It provides an easy access to manufacturers to the transparent information about inventory and stocks availability and automates the process of buying and managing materials. It becomes possible for the manufacturer to predict the market demand, how much supplies to be purchased and how final products be distributed. It reduces the inventory cycle time and increases inventory turnover as well.

Better Response Time

ERP software is developed for the manufacturers specifically to help them in taking better decisions in terms of time. It integrates the complete data of a company, makes the data available to the manufacturer and supports him to take the right decision based on true information. Data credibility and in-time data availability allows him to take quick actions that can increase his response time.

Providing Proficiency

Every wholesale manufacturer wants to be big but for this he must understand his customers' demand and provide them top quality products by adding value to it. ERP software addresses this situation by guiding the manufacturer to follow the practices that are best. It can improve the manufacturer's relationship with the customers by understanding their interests, giving them good quality products and quick product delivery.

William King is the director of Suppliers, Wholesale Manufacturers and Wholesale. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_King

What Will Happen If the Wholesalers Are Eradicated From the Supply Chain?

By William King

Wholesalers are the first link in the supply chain that performs a number of useful functions besides facilitating manufacturers and retailers. In spite of their useful services wholesalers are loosing some ground in the current era. Dropshipping is a new concept that has eliminated the need of wholesalers from the supply chain. A drop shipper appoints his own distribution staff or opens his own retailing outlets to sell directly to the retailers. This seems to be very beneficial for the large wholesale manufacturers. According to me, a wholesaler cannot be eliminated completely from the supply chain due to the valuable services he provides to the manufacturers as well as retailers.

The question here arises what will happen if wholesaler is eliminated completely from the supply chain? The answer lies in the significance of its services for the supply chain members. First of all, if wholesaler is eliminated from the supply chain, there should be someone to perform his functions. Dropshippers are the ones who manage to perform the functions of wholesalers themselves. But is every producer of wholesale products capable of doing so? Obviously not, as majority of producers are small ones who manufacture a small fraction of the total wholesale supplies. They do not have enough resources to capture clients directly. Most of them have no large resources to perform marketing functions themselves i.e. packing, shipping, grading etc. So, without wholesalers in the supply chain, the business of the small manufacturers gets greatly affected as they are not able to perform the functions of wholesalers alone with small scale of operation and shortage of resources.

Secondly, it is not all about small manufacturers only it is about many other small retail businesses as well which are served by the wholesalers. If manufacturers don't perform these functions, their burden falls on to the shoulders of retailers. Here again availability of resources becomes a major problem for the small retail businesses in performing the tasks of wholesalers.


Thirdly, if wholesalers are eradicated from the supply chain there will be no one to create time utility and to keep the wholesale price steady? Wholesalers buy when the products are widely available and prices are low and sell when the prices are high. In this way, they create time utility and help the retailers to earn high profit margins on resale.

Fourthly, the wholesalers relieve the retailers to hold large inventories and bear their burden of cost. Besides that, they bear all the storage and distribution risk and help the retailers in steady flow of goods from reliable resources. On the other hand, wholesalers give bulk orders to the manufacturers and access the demand of the wholesale products and help the entire wholesale industry to operate efficiently. If they are eliminated from the supply chain, either the manufacturer or the retailer will perform these functions. It becomes very difficult for them to spend extra time, effort and huge cost on these functions. Even if they do so, they would not be able to manage these functions as efficiently as wholesalers do because they have many other things to manage besides performing these functions.

Therefore due to efficient handling of wholesale orders and effective distribution of wholesale products, the wholesalers cannot be eliminated from the supply chain. They are bound to exist since decades and their valuable services can never let them get eliminated from the supply chain ever.

William King is the director of Wholesale, Drop Ship and Wholesale Suppliers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_King

Intelligent Ways to Overcome Overhead Expenditures in Wholesale Business

By William King

Wholesale business like any other business has overhead expenditures which are often not unchecked and they consume the major part of spending. There are two types of expenditures; direct expenses and indirect expenses. Direct expenditures are the ones done on buying, selling, giving pays to employees etc. indirect expenditures are rent, utilities, taxes, licensing fees, insurance of employees, travel, accounting services, extra services given to employees and employees' allowances etc.

In order to generate healthy profits it is necessary to check all the indirect or over head expenditures. There are also some other over head expenditures which are not indirect expenses but if remained unchecked can cause the profits to drain out e.g. lack of time management, transportation problems, surplus or shortage of employees.

To control overhead expenditures the wholesale supplier has to adopt some intelligent techniques. There is no rocket science involved in this process, the wholesaler himself has to take initiative and devise a plan on how to stop or decrease overhead expenditures. In the plan he has to list all those things which are consuming the income (no matter how small or big). After listing, concentrate on the possible ways to cut the expenses to minimum level. Time management is one of the major problems due to which expenses increase. To solve time management problem the manufacturer should intelligently redefine all the duties of his employees according to his new plan. In his newly defined plan he should focus on the consumption of time. This plays a vital role in saving expenses because if the whole process which includes buying wholesale products, storing in warehouse and listing in inventory, is completed in lesser time then obviously the pending orders will also be performed earlier.

Transportation is also one of the main hole from which the income is drained out. Define fixed and shortest possible transportation routes; also try to define them on off traffic hours. It will greatly impact on the overhead expenses as the fuel will be consumed far lesser then before with lesser vehicle maintenance. The managers and other senior authorities in a business sometimes misinterpret the required number of employees to run a wholesale business which in return causes employee surplus or shortage of employees.

Surplus employees are like parasites who are just consuming the income of wholesaler whereas shortage of employees makes it difficult to manage different tasks. So wholesalers should evaluate the duties of all employees and hire the employees accordingly. Also try to minimize the services and allowances provided to employees. If you can easily relocate to a place with lower rent then do it as soon as possible. All these things together will reduce the overhead expenses for wholesalers and they can utilize the amount in growing their business more and more.

William King is the director of UK Wholesale, Wholesale Manufacturers and UK Wholesalers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_King

Business Process Management - A Means to an End?

By Helge Habenicht

I am working as Executive Management Advisor for many years and many clients and assisted them to restructure their organisations and to develop or restructure Business Process Models (BPM).

There are many typically used methods which a Business Analyst may use when facilitating business transformations and they have all got fancy, if not scary names:

. CATWOE: Customers, Actors, Transformation Process, World View, Owner, Environmental (and Regulatory) Constraints;
. Five Why's;
. HEPTALYSIS: Market Opportunity, Product/Solution, Execution Plan, Financial Engine, Human Capital, Potential Return, Margin of Safety;
. MOST: Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics;
. MoSCoW: Must have, Should have, Could have, Would like to have in the future;
. PESTLE: Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental;
. The famous SWOT: Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats;
. Six Thinking Hats;
. Six Sigma;
. VPEC-T: Values, Policies, Events, Content.

All these impressive acronyms help to describe an individual approach; the aim, however remains the same: business process engineering, which is regarded to be the backbone and most important foundation for every well managed organisation - regardless of size by the way. The optimization process requires human intervention and skilled, insightful, ideally experienced professionals.

Interestingly enough though: according to my experience the perfect analyst should not be a specialist in the actual technical or scientific process. I was once asked what I did know about food technology and I replied "basics only", but that I hoped my counterpart who was a Professor with a PHD, would be the expert in our team, as I knew nobody could beat his expertise. I am convinced that a consultant claiming to be an expert on the subject matter not only limits, it actually disturbs the project. A successful business analyst needs be able to understand each organisation, seeing the whole process flow with a neutral bird's eye view.

It is helpful to comprehend a business process as an on-going living cycle which pictures how work gets done. By identifying the particular sequence of work events across time and place, with a beginning, an end and with clearly defined inputs and outputs the analyst identifies shortcomings and saving potentials. Critically reflecting how a business works typically goes hand-in-hand with a re-organisation and can - in my experience - achieve conservatively between 10 % and 20 % savings - without hurting anybody too much.

So this is the ideal set-up: a willing, supportive client, a (group of) skilled business process analyst(s) together with internal process experts forming the project team.

But despite perfect arrangements why do Business Process Management (BPM) projects ever so often fail or at least do not achieve the expected end result? We analyse problems, suggest solutions, accompany the transformation, manage the change and when it fails we feel pointing the finger at the client: "internal politics, nepotism, ignorance, the good people left, incompetence of implementing team, resistance to change."

I won't play the whistle blower. Of course I had similar projects. I had clients who only implemented the processes they dared to change and left out the rest - no wonder the project failed. I was asked to leave prematurely and then the client made all sorts of peculiar alterations. I learned my lesson: if my name is at stake, it is of utmost importance to see the implementation phase through.

My 25-odd years' experience illustrates a more reasonable explanation for failing like this: once we leave, we barely get the chance to see our recommendations life over a period of time. Hardly ever we are hired to act as a permanent advisor; we are kept uncertain about the short, much less the long term success. Pretty much like the tax payers association; they write fancy reports where the tax payers' money is wasted and by next year nothing's really changed. The same with us: we actually do not leave an ultimate and tangible legacy behind.
What is needed? Currently I am evaluating a solution which might fix the problem, which I will share publicly, once done: a simple, reasonably inexpensive but workable solution which ensures that the processes are implemented as defined or if altered remain functioning.

If you need, in the meantime, any help in business process redesign and a workable end result, contact me via my website - the site also gives some nice read-up on past and present project information; you are welcome to comment and share your own ideas there, too.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Helge_Habenicht

Finding a Large Landscape Surveyor By Susette Horspool

By Susette Horspool

Water rates are high these days and growing higher, oftentimes faster than the plants in your landscape. If your organization has a large landscape and is intent on reducing its water bill, you will need to start by finding out how the irrigation system is currently functioning and how you can improve it. You don't want to kill your plants, but you do want to cut back on water wasted.

There are a lot of factors to consider - existing system, plants, climate, soil, equipment upgrades, potential rebates - making a water survey quite complicated, so it's best to start by looking for someone to gather the necessary data. A professional who can conduct a large landscape survey not only knows what to look for, but also knows how a well-functioning landscape and irrigation system operates, and what is available on the market to improve it. There are several ways to locate one:

Check with your water supplier.

Many water suppliers offer special incentives for their customers to reduce water use, including free fixtures, rebates, discount coupons, and free water use surveys. If your water supplier does not offer surveys free of charge, they will most likely know of a professional company that will do one for a fee. This is your best bet for getting a good referral.

Check with friends or organizations like yours.

Let your social and business networks know what your plans are and that you are looking for a referral. If the person you check with first doesn't know of anyone, perhaps they know of someone else who does. Utilize their networks too. If none of them have ever had a large landscape survey done, they might want to see what happens with yours and you can be the one to give a referral afterward.

Search online. Look for good reviews.

If searching online you'll need to define your keywords. "Water conservation consultant" might work. If that is too narrow or doesn't bring in the right results, try "water conservation." To find someone local, add a comma and your area next to it: "Water conservation, Phoenix AZ." List those that look interesting, plus any you found in your local yellow pages, then do a search for quality. This time, key in the "name of the company, reviews" and see what you get.

Call your new list.

Call each company you ended up with and see how you like their customer service. You'll have to deal with them later if you select that company to work with. Tell the ones you like that you'll be sending them a bid request.

How to Request a Bid

Now that you've found a few water use surveyors to interview, it's time to request a bid. Many Homeowner Associations (HOA) and other businesses get themselves into trouble by requesting bids verbally, instead of in writing. Although the initial contact can be verbal, when you send out a written bid request, it helps a contractor to prepare a proposal targeted to your concerns, and later helps the interview to go more smoothly.

Let's say you are a HOA or hotel looking for someone to gather data on how you are using water in the landscape. You want them to recommend changes you can make to become more efficient, and tell you how much you can save on your bills by making the changes. Here is the general format of a good bid request.

1. Project background - The problem you are having with water use in the landscape. What you have tried so far and how it worked.
2. The request - What it is you want from the surveyor. Include the work you want them to perform and a timeline for them to submit their final report after the survey.
3. Related details - Things that will help the surveyor prepare a fair bid: Size and nature of landscaped area (hilly? flat?), number of irrigation controllers and stations, existing water features, main type of landscape (turf and trees, or lots of flower beds and some turf, etc.) These will affect the amount of time it takes for the surveyor to walk the property with you.
4. Restrictions or conditions - Will they need to be let into a gate? Are there dogs? Is it ok to have residents tag along? Is there a landscaping committee to work with?
5. Supporting materials - Proof that they know what they're doing, like resumes, references, and testimonials from satisfied customers.
6. Submission information - These are details about how you want their proposal to look and be submitted. Especially if you are requesting a number of bids, it will be easier to read them if they are all of the same format. Information should include the person and address or email to send them to, how many copies you want, and the submission deadline.

Once you have bids, the next step is to interview the candidates you like.

Susette Horspool is a Business Development Coordinator for WaterWise Consulting, Inc. In addition to networking and introducing the services of the company, she writes articles and proposals for them. Ms. Horspool is dedicated to wise use of earth's natural resources, and spreads the sustainability message wherever she goes. WaterWise Consulting, Inc. provides water conservation services for homeowners, businesses, government entities, and water suppliers to help them become more efficient in the way they use water. WaterWise also offers landscape training programs for homeowners and professional landscapers. See their website at: http://www.waterwise-consulting.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susette_Horspool

The Best Way to Really Help Your Child With Self-Esteem - An Independent Consultant's View

By Will Barnes

Self-esteem is best described as one's estimation of oneself. If someone has low self-esteem or high self-esteem it can be readily identified in his behavior, his appearance, his relationship with others, and his approach to tasks and challenges. Building your child's self-esteem has to be an essential task for you to embrace as your child's parent as well as doing it the right way.

As an independent mental health consultant who observes children professionally, in my opinion, the best way to help your child with his self-esteem is to begin by carefully observing his child's strengths, talents, and abilities.

As he emerges from early childhood you will begin to see him become more self expressive. This is especially so if you have exposed him to a variety of stimulative activity consistently doing his early years. If you have exposed your child adequately and the home environment is conducive to learning, you'll begin to see some talents and abilities associated with his interests begin to emerge.

Your child may then begin to show talent in music, athletics, math, reading, art, or dance. Herein lies an opportunity to acknowledge this talent and legitimately praise and encourage the child to expand on what he seems able to do so easily. This is one of the best ways to build your child's self-esteem. This builds a foundation of belief in himself based on real life abilities and gives your child a sense of self-worth that will carry on into other areas as he is progresses through life.

As self-esteem begin on the inside, this belief in oneself based on real life abilities works to eliminate self-defeating thoughts and statements which is the basis of low self-esteem and causes so much emotional pain. Praising your child is extremely important, but it must be based on reality.

As your child's parent, never become so absorbed in yourself, your relationships, your job, or where you just view your child as a burden and neglect observing your child with the purpose of learning your child's strengths, talents, and abilities. Keep in mind that you are the most important adult in the child's life. In order to genuinely improve your child's self-esteem you must help your child to understand that he can't control what goes on the outside, but he can control what goes on the inside.

Be the cheerleader for your child. Give him the capacity to stand upon his abilities and to accept failures as a learning experience that leads to future successes.

Will Barnes, Therapist and Mental Health Consultant, for over thirty-eight years has counseled and consulted with individuals and families in the areas of relationship building, personal growth, and making sound financial decisions. Visit http://www.yourconsultantsite.com for more articles on successful parenting, personal growth and financial responsibility. Also if you are a single parent, go to the can't miss site for single parents. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Will_Barnes

Steps for Delegating Work to Improve Time Management

By Nancy Nicolazzo

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6092806

Over the years I have coached and offered workshops for many supervisors, all of whom have told me they are too busy to do what they need to do each day at work. When I mention delegating tasks, most supervisors tell me "It is faster to do the task by myself." It is true that we can accomplish known tasks faster than teaching another person how to do the task, however, the initial time we take to teach someone how to accomplish a task pays off in the long run when we no longer have to do the task at all.

Delegating does take time, but it is time well spent and worth every minute in the long run.

Here is a list of steps for successful delegation:

1. Make certain the task is suitable to be delegated and there is someone or a team who have the skills to accomplish it.

Use the "SMARTER" delegation technique:
Specific - steps to complete the task must be specific.
Measurable - there must be a way to measure progress.
Agreed Upon - agreement on how the task will be done and when it will be finished is important.
Realistic - make sure that your expectations of the person you are delegating the task to are realistic.
Timing - allow enough time to teach as well as time for the task to be done.
Ethical, Exciting, Enjoyable - hopefully all of these qualities are inherent in the task.
Recorded - make sure what you have taught as well as what has been accomplished is written down so that there is a written record of expectations, teaching points, goals, and accomplishments.

2. Select the individual or team you are delegating the task to.

3. Assess the person's or team's abilities. Perhaps they already have some of the needed skills or are quick studies. Perhaps there is someone who has been looking for a way to increase their skills or someone who has done more than their share of work and will see the delegated task as a vote of confidence in their abilities.

4. Describe the reasoning behind your decision to delegate the task, the necessary resources, and how the results will be measured.

5. Go over the steps involved to complete the task. Make sure the person or team who will work on the task understands everything that has been discussed. Encourage the person or team to ask questions and bring creativity to the task.

6. Create a timeline, including times to check in on process and progress.

7. Keep lines of communication open and offer positive feedback.

8. Give credit to the person or team when the task is complete.

Delegation is an excellent way to encourage colleagues and manage time.

Nancy Nicolazzo (Saddhamala) has taught supervisory skills workshops for many years. Assisting individuals and corporate professionals to find new skills to improve their professional lives with skillfulness, compassion and mindfulness is the focus of her coaching and teaching. Nancy offers a unique, relevant and valuable perspective to the people she works with. For more information on Supervisory Skills Training, click here: http://mindfulworkshops.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Nicolazzo