Business
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Why You Should Keep Marketing in an Economic Downturn
- August 5, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation, Management
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One of the biggest mistakes executives make during an economic downturn is to make cuts to their sales and marketing staff. Those are the two departments that actually make the money that your company runs on, which means there are fewer people helping you make money, which means you make less money. Sales have to
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How Do You Replenish a Decimated Workforce?
- July 22, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
With unemployment up and the economy facing some serious difficulties, many companies have furloughed or laid off their workforce, if only to protect their assets and hope for a recovery when they can bring those associates back. In the meantime, one of two things has happened: 1) the furloughed staff have been receiving unemployment for
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Employers May See Lawsuits Filed by Associates Who Become Sick
- June 17, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Safety
We’re going to see a surprise growth industry as employers being calling their associates back to work: I think we’ll see more lawsuits filed by people who become sick. Given the litigious nature of our society, I have absolutely no doubt we’re going to see more plaintiff lawsuits and retaliatory lawsuits. Because of our tort
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Five Strengths Every Leader Needs as We Resume Operations
- June 10, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
I read a recent article in Industry Week — Five Strengths Every Leader Needs as We Resume Operations — that discussed what leaders at every level need to bring back to their manufacturing operations even as states open up and try to return to normal. As the author, Jay Richards said, “where some see doom
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Billie Traywick: Lessons Learned From a Career in a Male-Dominated Industry
- May 13, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old colleagues to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. Billie Traywick was the Controller at Duoline Technologies and VP of Operations at
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How Do You Quickly Pivot During a Crisis?
- April 25, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
When you think of an aircraft carrier, you tend to think of them as slow-moving, unwieldy vessels that are best suited to going in a straight line and needing half a day just to execute a turn. But you would be wrong! A Nimitz-class aircraft carrier can make a 180-degree turn in a matter of
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What Goes into a Contingency Plan For Your Operation?
- April 11, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
As we’re rolling into the coronavirus shutdown, and companies are working from home, or even furloughing workers until we can all go back to work, many companies are thinking about, dusting off, or even writing their contingency plan and disaster recovery plan. A disaster recovery plan is the (very large) document that tells you what
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What Goes Into a Disaster Recovery Plan?
- February 26, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management, Safety
We’ve had enough natural disasters over the last several years, that any company that doesn’t have a disaster recovery plan is just begging for a company-ending problem to hit them. A disaster recovery plan is the way your company can survive terrible tragedies, like a fire that sweeps through your building, a tornado or hurricane
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How to Work With a Manufacturing Consultant
- January 26, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Manufacturing, Productivity
Manufacturers that want to work with a manufacturing consultant can easily find someone who will walk into your business, pick your pockets, and leave, never feeling a sense of ownership of the outcome. But very few consultants can actually deliver on the improvements they promise, so the best way is to pay a manufacturing consultant
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Don’t Fall In Love With Your Deals
- December 24, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
As a manager or a salesperson, you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to make all kinds of deals, partnerships, and financially-beneficial arrangements with other parties. Whether it’s a project you’re going to sell, services you’re going to buy, or even the purchase of, or merger with, another company. The problem is that many of