Just how big is the national debt and does it really matter?
The UK national debt is fast approaching one trillion pounds and will exceed that number next year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. For most people, big numbers like this are pretty...
View ArticleThe calm before the storm; hope for the best, plan for the worst
The Government has made no secret of its commitment to start cutting the country’s budget deficit this year. Even with these cuts our eye-wateringly big national debt will continue to rise for several...
View ArticlePlanning for uncertainty; building in resilience
Ask two economists where the economy is heading and you may well get three answers. In uncertain times such as these, organisations need to hope for the best while planning for the worst. So what can...
View ArticleFree money, but you need to move fast
Train to Gain will soon be history. As I suggested nine days ago, this was an obvious target for the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Train to Gain has been of enormous value to SMEs,...
View ArticleStrategy or Plan; what’s the difference and does it matter?
Strategy is long term; it’s about the direction of an organisation and how it will meet customer needs profitably. Like a journey, you need to know your starting point, where you want to go and how...
View ArticleKodak’s moment of truth
It’s a great shame that Kodak joins household names such as Saab, Woolworth’s, Readers Digest, Ferranti, Sinclair and giants of British motorcycle industry. Kodak and “Kodak moments” have been an...
View ArticleA checklist for marketing orientation
The subject of marketing orientation prompted some lively debate last week in Zurich. The occasion was a Marketing Colloquium which I ran for the Zurich University of Applied Sciences’ International...
View ArticleAchieving a marketing orientation
Yeah, yeah, I know; developing a marketing orientation does sound a bit academic and perhaps even irrelevant in the context of a double-dip recession. But believe me, now it’s more important than ever....
View ArticleCorporate governance and the credit crunch – five years on
9th August 2007 is generally accepted as the start date of the credit crunch, when BNP Paribas froze two funds due to a “complete evaporation of liquidity”. Few would have predicted the ensuing...
View ArticleBoard Evaluations and SMEs
We’ve seen some spectacular large-scale failures of corporate governance over the last decade or so including Enron, Northern Rock, RBS, Olympus and Kodak – to name a few. There have been the...
View ArticleWhy smart people often struggle with strategy; avoiding common mistakes
Smart people often struggle with strategy. I know because I’ve seen it many times. They may lose their way in the mechanics, get bogged down in detail or simply end up with a document which gets dusted...
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