Author Archives: Whittaker

When I am on vacation or travelling, I often pick up a new business book to learn more about management, marketing or leadership.  This time I decided to pick up a book and read for sheer pleasure.  As I walked through LAX, a book called Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson caught my eye. The book

Hopefully, your family business has chosen a great successor. But if you’re in the midst of training your successor — or even beginning to hand off the reins — and regretting your choice, how can you take a bad situation and turn it around? There are several options you might want to consider. Bring in

All businesses can benefit from outside advice. But it can be especially valuable to family businesses, which tend to be more insular. After all, in many cases management is made up of family members who’ve worked in the business for decades, perhaps never having been employed elsewhere. In addition, family dynamics can create conflicts that

This month I’ll focus on ‘Revenue Streams’, the fifth section of the business model canvas based on the book Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.  ‘Revenue Streams’ represent money the company generates from customer relationships and customer segments.  There are a couple of key questions to consider before we review the specific

This month, I’ll discuss ‘Key Resources’, the sixth part of the nine building blocks in the Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. I happen to really enjoy this building block because it speaks not only to the financial assets that a company owns, but also to the non-financial resources as well.  Many

This month, we are covering ‘Key Activities’, the seventh of the nine building blocks in the Business Model Generation as developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.  ‘Key Activities’ refers to the most important things a company must do to makes its business model work. Key activities focus on operations.  While a CEO focuses on

This month we are covering ‘Cost Structure’, the last of the nine building blocks of the Business Model Generation developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.  ‘Cost Structure’ describes all the costs incurred to operate a business. Here are three things to consider: What are the most important costs inherent in your business? Which key

I have studied organizational management and leadership for more than 25 years.  For the last 20 years, I have seen it in action with my own teams and clients.  I have come to understand that successfully led organizations are led from the top down and can be characterized as fostering some form of servant-based leadership. 

As many of my readers know, I enjoy reading the Harvard Business Journal and the research that comes from their organization.  This month, I read an article about the eight leadership lessons of Sir Alex Ferguson.  Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the most decorated coaches in all of professional sports and was the manager