CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS AND SMALL BUSINESS Many people think that cross-functional teams are only successful in large companies. Conventional wisdom dictates that small companies are probably already operating cross-functionally out of necessity – i.e., the company is so small that people have to perform multiple tasks and work together with everyone...
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HOW CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS ENHANCE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The most simple definition of cross-functional teems (or CFTs) is teams that are made up of people from different functional areas within a company – marketing, engineering, and human resources, for example. These teams take many forms, but are most often set up as...
WHY CLUSTERING IS IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies or institutions that manufacture products or deliver services to a particular field or industry. Clusters typically include companies in the same industry or technology area that share infrastructure, suppliers, and distribution networks. Supporting firms that provide components,...
ASSEMBLY LINE METHODS An assembly line is a production arrangement of workers and equipment in which the product that is being assembled passes consecutively from operation to operation, with each station adding to the work of previous stations, until the product is completed. Assembly line methods were originally introduced to...
ELEMENTS OF EMPLOYEE REINSTATEMENT In the past, it was a rare occurrence if an employee left a company and then returned to it at a later date, either in the same position or a completely new one. Many companies strictly enforced policies that discouraged this sort of hiring of ex-employees,...
TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS CHECKING REFERENCES Employee references are the positive or negative comments about an employee’s job performance provided to a prospective employer. In most cases, a prospective employer will contact a person’s current or former employer to seek references as part of the process of considering that person for...
STEPS IN DETERMINING BUSINES HOURS The term “business hours” refers to the “open” and “closed” schedule that every business decides upon for its operations. Small and large businesses adhere to a wide range of business hours, depending on many factors, including target customer expectations and demands, technology, and seasonal fluctuations...
POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS OF CANNIBALIZATION Cannibalization is a phenomenon that results when a firm develops a new product or service that steals business or market share from one of its existing products and services. Thus one product may take sales from another offering in a product line. Although the idea of...
BUSINESS EXPANSION AND RELATED ISSUES All successful small business startups eventually face the issue of handling business expansion or growth. Business expansion is a stage of a company’s life that is fraught with both opportunities and perils. On the other hand, business growth often carries with it a corresponding increase...
WHAT FACTORS DRIVE CUSTOMERS’ PURCHASING POWER? (PART 1) Many companies make the mistake of thinking their customers make purchase decisions based on one or two purchase factors that they think are key purchase criteria, such as price or product availability. But this is rarely the case. Customers usually base their...
