Redundant employees. Storerooms full of extra stock in case we need it. Marketing money sprayed in all directions in the vain hope it will create customers. Duplicate IT systems. HR policies that fatten the corporate waistline rather than keeping it trim. Budgeting exercises that result in more of the same, plus 2%. Nearly every corner of most established businesses harbors waste--wasted money, time, effort, or all three. As any runner can tell you, a lean body runs faster and wins races. The same goes when it comes to the competitive race all businesses engage in. Lean companies innovate faster, market more effectively, operate more smoothly, and achieve greater profitability. Eliminating Waste in Business: Run Lean, Boost Profitability highlights common ways that businesses across all industries waste money without realizing it. Taking an analytical, hands-on view, this book challenges universally accepted business practices--some even taught in business schools--by pointing out how these practices drive waste, and then showing how to eliminate it and reap the benefits. In seven meaty chapters, operations expert Dave J. Orr, and sales and marketing authority Linda M.Orr tackle some of the obvious and easy-to-get-rid-of organizational fat and time wasters (meetings, anyone?) that for whatever reason many managers are blind to. They'll also show you how to employ lean six sigma and other methods to improve improve operational processes, inventory management, and more. But this book goes beyond these things and covers such areas as marketing and advertising spend, headcount and personnel administration, finance, and the many categories that make up what is in many companies a bloated monster: overhead. With an emphasis on employing technology and smart management to drive down costs, this book will take a comprehensive view of the broad spectrum of money and time wasters and show you how to get rid of them once and for all.What you'll learn * The areas in which companies waste the most resources * How established practice drives businesses and business leaders to waste money * How to distinguish waste from value * How to avoid cutting bone and muscle along with waste * How to use various analytical and technical tools to eliminate waste * How to use technology to drive down costs in all areas * How to calculate ROI in each business category and improve it by doing more with less Who this book is for Eliminating Waste in Business is designed for any business leader from basic supervisors to C-Suite executives. The concepts will apply to all managers, including those in nonprofit and government positions, and those in any industry or sector. A secondary market for this book is MBA students. Students often learn commonly accepted business and human resource practices in MBA courses, but they have no idea that, in the real world, many of these practices create waste.

When to Hire--or Not Hire--a Consultant: Getting Your Money's Worth from Consulting Relationships is a hands-on, practical guide for anyone thinking about hiring a consultant to set strategy, solve problems, increase profits or revenue, develop new products, open new markets, or improve efficiency. Consulting is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States. According to the U.S. government, there were 719,000 consultants in the U.S. in 2010, and you can expect an additional 274,000 by 2020. Cloaked in expert status, consultants might seem to be the answer to many business problems. You call someone in to solve a particular problem or develop new markets, then send them away once the job is done--while reaping the benefits of their expertise. Consultants sometimes do work miracles, but once in a while they wreck a healthy business. And far too often, the benefits gained by calling in consultants disappear far too soon after they leave.Yet as return on investment (ROI) and accountability for results become bigger and bigger issues, business professionals in search of answers to performance or strategy challenges are turning more and more to outside guidance for help. Indeed, few businesses do not use some kind of consultant at some point in their existence. But how can you leverage the skills consultants can bring to the table without adding undue risk to your operations? How can you effectively manage the consultant relationship to get the greatest benefit for the least cost? What metrics can support your decision to hire--or not hire--a consultant? When should you use home-grown talent to solve problems instead? That's what this book is all about. While there is a multitude of books on how to be a consultant, this is the first to help an executive determine when to hire one. You will learn strategies to decide when a consultant is needed and how to support that decision with hard evidence, how to select the right consultant, how to set clear expectations, and how to know when a consultant is either a valuable resource or a hindrance to the company's success.The authors of this book bring together two opposing perspectives. Linda Orr has served as a consultant in many companies and situations, while Dave Orr has hired consultants many times. Together, they can help you make the most strategically and financially sound business decisions. This books shows you how to: * Work through ROI and other issues to support a decision to hire a consultant. * Maximize the benefits consultants can provide. * Explore options other than hiring a consultant. What you'll learn * Where consultants come from and what qualifications you should look for. * How to compute ROI for consultants. * When consultants can be effective and when they cannot be effective. * How to select the right consultant, then set expectations. * How to negotiate a consulting contract. * How to form an effective consulting relationship. * How to fire a consultant who is not adding value. * Your options besides consultants to solve business problems.Who this book is for When to Hire--or Not Hire--a Consultant: Getting Your Money's Worth from Consulting Relationships is designed for owners and managers who need help navigating the decisions to be made and the choices faced when they need--or think they need--outside help. Most companies use consultants occasionally, but many executives have not had the experience of dealing with consultants and using them profitably and effectively. It's also for those who have had a bad experience with consultants and need a better process for ensuring a successful relationship with a consultant. A secondary market for this book is MBA students. Giving that the consulting industry is so large, a basic part of strategy training should be when do you outsource your management decisions. (Linda Orr plans to use this book in her MBA classes.

In a marketplace increasingly defined by customer categories with high expectations for service, quality, and responsiveness, companies are discovering that traditional mass marketing approaches are giving way to more targeted approaches that communicate directly with their customers. But to many consumers, direct marketing has a bad reputation, associated with intrusive door-to-door salesmen, dinnertime phone solicitations, junk mail, and, most recently, e-mail spam. In Direct Marketing in Action, a team of experts in the field dispels common myths and misconceptions about direct marketing and showcases the most current practices, principles, and techniques. The authors cover the full range of issues that must be considered in developing an effective direct marketing strategy, including competitive analysis, information and data management, media and channel selection, building brand loyalty, and measuring the results of campaigns. Bridging the gap between research and practice, clearly defining terms and concepts, and featuring numerous examples, Direct Marketing in Action will serve as an essential handbook for marketers and a comprehensive overview for students, teachers, and researchers. From the dentist who sends check-up reminders to his patients to the hotel chain that customizes room amenities based on their guests' profiles, direct marketing is infused with the idea that the best allocation of our marketing dollar is one that focuses on and communicates with our particular micro market—and reinforces the distinctive benefits that we provide to those customers. In Direct Marketing in Action the authors cover the full range of issues that must be considered in developing an effective direct marketing strategy, including competitive analysis, information and data management, media and channel selection, building brand loyalty, and measuring the results of campaigns. Bridging the gap between research and practice, clearly defining terms and concepts, featuring numerous examples, and presented in a format that can be read cover-to-cover or in modular fashion, Direct Marketing in Action will serve as an essential handbook for marketers and a comprehensive overview for students, teachers, and researchers.