End of year is coming. I’m sure you’ve noticed. Christmas shopping is in full swing. I enjoy the end of year pause. Its a great time to reflect. Sometimes a great opportunity to reflect on the big issues of life that take a back seat during the rush of the urgent daily events that occupy our time.
End of year in the business world has its own peculiarities. I’ve gotten a couple of notices from motion control equipment vendors. Spend your budget before the year ends. Special pricing available.
The rationale is to spend the funds you have been allocated so that you don’t get shorted in next year’s budget cycle. Use it or lose it. This may not be the best logic for purchasing something, but it is sometimes a reality in our business processes.
I have been a part of this process in the sales division of a couple of large companies. A directive comes out that we need to pull in every order we can in December to make the sales revenue for the year as large as possible.
But the one-year business planning and evaluation process leaves something to be desired. Frequently driven by stockholder perception about our business, management is compelled to achieve performance. Is this reality, or someone’s wish of what reality should be? Are financial analysts running the business, or are the stakeholders running it?
How do we integrate long term strategic objectives in an environment where monthly sales goals are all that matters? How do we insure adequate investment in new product development so that sales revenue can grow? How do we insure timely product development cycles when revenue growth is at stake?
Let’s take some time this end of year and think about new ways to run things, let’s figure out different ways to plan for, and measure success. And let’s take time to reflect on all our blessings.
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