Sat.Oct 26, 2019 - Fri.Nov 01, 2019

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Business Strategy Lessons from Mad Men

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

Set in 1960’s New York City, AMC’s Mad Men features Sterling Cooper, a fictional advertising agency on Madison Avenue, while detailing the everyday lives of its members at work and at home. A winner of several Emmys and Golden Globes, the show is widely praised as historically authentic, well written and stylistically appealing.

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M&A deals – benefits and drawbacks

Tom Spencer

Many consulting, corporate strategy, and corporate development roles require the interviewee to go through an M&A case study. Depending on the firm and specific role this case could be very strategic and operational like doing a market entry/growth-type case or very technical (i.e. building financial models like DCF, accretion/dilution, LBO, etc.).

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We REALLY Need to Stop Talking About Lean

Markovitz Consulting

Lean advocates—and I consider myself one—might do better if they stop talking about lean. Let’s face it: When executives and workers hear “lean,” not a lot of good happens. They think it’s yet another short-term management fad. Or a cost-cutting program that will lead to layoffs. Or some Japanese thing that only works for car manufacturers. But when you look at many of the tools and concepts from the lean playbook, they’re really just good management that any leader would want to embrace.

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The mythology of the consultant

The Source

Suppose I were to tell you that there were a group of professionals out there who spent every working day travelling to clients and proselytizing the gospel of innovation and transformation. These people can lecture you for hours about how you need to digitise; if you don’t adapt your business model in the face of new technology, they preach, you can expect to be disrupted out of existence.

Travel 58
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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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How Your Consulting Firm Should Deal with Clients that Cross the Line

David A Fields

When you, your consulting team and your client all stay on task and positive, consulting is a fun, challenging and rewarding profession. When consulting work veers off the rails, though, how should you respond? Lines are confusing. Let’s say you want to engage in outreach to your prospects. Rupert, SVP of Everything is next in … Continued. The post How Your Consulting Firm Should Deal with Clients that Cross the Line appeared first on David A.

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How Widening Skills Gaps Require More Re-Skilling of Employees

Clarity Consultants

Luckily, re-skilling is a fairly straightforward concept. If you want to elevate the capabilities of your employees, here’s what you need to do to embrace this training trend. The post How Widening Skills Gaps Require More Re-Skilling of Employees appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Training Development.

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Power Outages and Mindsets

The Fearless Marketer

Here I am sitting in my 54-degree frigid office, typing with numb fingers. . The power has been out since Saturday evening and we’re not sure when it will be restored. But thanks to my trusty new WEN generator (above), I have power to my computer, Internet and refrigerator – the essentials for survival! And strange as it may seem, I’m having a blast!

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Breaking down the M&A Case Study

Tom Spencer

M&A case framework. Now that you have a high-level understanding of why companies buy each other in the first place (refer to M&A deals – benefits and drawbacks ), let’s discuss the framework you should use to analyze the transaction. Firms typically look at four areas when working on M&A cases. Let’s step through them one by one and list the questions you’d want to answer in each. 1.

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Applying to McKinsey from a Non-Target School

CaseInterview.com

Question: I wanted to thank you for your excellent materials, specifically the LOMS program. Using your frameworks and guidelines, I was able to recently secure offers from Oliver Wyman and McKinsey (I accepted the McKinsey offer). My school is a non-target and I am not sure if anybody from my school has received a non-MBA position at McKinsey in the past 10 years.

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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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Say No to Mandatory Fun

Johanna Rothman

I keep encountering managers and consultants who want to make work “fun” for people. As a goal, “fun” is a bunch of hooey. Before I was a consultant, I held various Director-level positions at local companies. Each organization had mandatory fun days. In one organization, we played softball. Yes, everyone—especially the managers—had to play softball as part of a team.

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Communicating Well in Spite of a Difference in Opinion

Rick Conlow

Today it appears that your opinion on whatever subject, it’s either black or white and no in-between. Many of us feel compelled to tell everybody how right we are in our views. Consequently, a difference in opinion is less and less tolerated. Have you noticed that? Check out this prose, Differences of Opinion, by Wendy Cope, a contemporary English poet.

eBook 62
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Overcome Speaking Fear Like Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts and Samuel L. Jackson

Henry DeVries

Some of the world’s most famous celebrities have overcome their fear of speaking in public to achieve great success.

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The Six-Minute Hypothesis Rule

CaseInterview.com

Email: I am an MBA student at a leading Indian B-school and successfully secured offers following my AT Kearney interview and BCG interview for their [ City in India ] office last week. Thanks a ton for all the help in case interview preparation through LOMS and the regular posts sharing others' interview experiences with all the leading firms.

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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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21 Biggest Content Marketing Mistakes

Chad Barr

One of the key attributes of the most successful global thought leaders is the fact that they are prolific publishers of remarkable content and they do so provocatively, consistently in a large variety of media formats and online platforms. In other words, they leverage content marketing brilliantly and become game changers in their respected industries.

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The role of thought leadership in the client-consultant relationship cycle

The Source

Not the pithiest of titles, we grant you, but bear with us. Research we did a couple of years ago with marketers in consulting firms and the partners they worked with highlighted two areas of agreement between these groups. One was that thought leadership matters, the other that almost no other marketing activity does. But why does it matter? And more specifically, when does it matter?

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How Understanding the Employee Brain Will Make You a Better Leader - Interview with Josh Schneider

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

In this episode of our Strategy and Leadership Podcast , we were joined by Josh Schneider , Director at the Millennial and Employment Engagement Institute. Josh spends his days traveling, writing, and speaking at conferences, and has developed this institute to fund research that matches the stories and examples that were being seen in the workplace, along with topics such as meaningful and fulfilling work.

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Lacking Confidence

CaseInterview.com

I was recently holding office hours for my Inner Circle members. One of my members asked me what to do about lacking confidence in his financial modeling skills. He was concerned that his insecurity around this area would hold him back. I asked him a simple question. Are you good at financial modeling in Microsoft Excel? He said, “No.”. I said, “You don’t have a confidence problem.

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TOOLS and METHODOLOGIES for developing DECISION SUPPORT PACKAGES

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

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How We Cope: Food and Eating Disorders at Work

Harvard Business

Work is a part of our daily lives — as is food. Disordered eating and diagnosed eating disorders can be tricky to deal with at the office, but they can be common in high achievers and are closely tied to anxiety and mental health. Host Morra Aarons-Mele speaks with Melissa Gerson, director and founder of the Columbus Park treatment center for eating disorders, about the relationship between anxiety and eating, and how it can play out at work.

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The Business Roundtable Creates a Snit Attack

Martinka Consulting

The Wall Street Journal (and I’m sure others) sure had a snit attack last week after the Business Roundtable came out with their latest report saying companies shouldn’t emphasize shareholder return over taking care of employees, customers, suppliers, and community. Taking care of people sounds like a good subject for Labor Day week. And what the Roundtable is suggesting sure sounds like the Costco model.

Journal 40
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Your report meets spec … here’s why that’s a problem

Rod Burkert

Greetings from Big Bend, Texas. The RV is parked for the winter as another travel season (our 10 th ) has come to a close. In case you missed last week: Why you should charge a price that scares you – and then add 20%. If pricing is difficult for you, this information will help you re-frame your clients’ problems and your conversations with them. Big takeaway: to get more business, don’t decrease your price … increase the experience you offer.

Report 40
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The Perceived Detour

CaseInterview.com

Sometimes life throws us an obstacle. In the moment, most people’s reaction (mine included) is to get irritated at the obstacle and at the detours needed to overcome it. To paraphrase the late Steve Jobs, looking back, all the “detours” (my word choice, not his) make sense in hindsight, even if they don’t in the moment. Through the arc of my career to date, I’ve come to appreciate the truth and wisdom in this sentiment.

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Why You Need to Use Case Studies in Sales and Marketing (and How to Start Now)

Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c

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Stop leaking leads

Kai Davis

The other day I realized I didn’t have a Standard Operating Procedure for “A Lead Appeared In Your Inbox, Kai!” I immediately went to work to remedy this oversight and stop leaking leads. Lead intake can be challenging and confusing. There are a lot of moving parts: your webpage, lead form, reviewing the lead’s information, writing and sending your reply email, and booking your initial call with that lead.

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158: Peggy Smedley—What Lies Ahead For The Construction Industry?

On the Brink Podcast

Hear how blockchain, IoT and big data are transforming our world ! This spring, I was a guest on Peggy Smedley’s ConstructechTV , a highly influential TV show about technology, blockchain and the construction industry. It was such an enjoyable interview that I asked Peggy to share her ideas about technology and construction with our On The Brink listeners.

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Did the Houston Astros do the right thing, the wrong thing, or both?

Martinka Consulting

A female reporter with Sports Illustrated reported about how the Astros assistant general manager directed loud and profane comments towards female reporters in praise of an Astros pitcher whom they had recently acquired after he was on suspension for a domestic violence issue. When confronted on this the team first fought it. But it turned out to be a true story and the assistant GM and the team did the usual insincere apology along with the customary language about their commitment to the issu

Sports 40
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McKinsey Offer vs. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Offer

CaseInterview.com

Question: I think your site is wonderful, and I really appreciate the work that you do. Yesterday I got the call from McKinsey and BCG and both have accepted me for positions. Now it comes down to weighing the options! Thanks so much! P.S. Do you have any thoughts on McKinsey vs. BCG? My Reply: Congratulations. Sounds like you had one really good day.

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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.