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The great proposal: Solutioning to strengths when faced with a recompete

Lisa Pafe Civil & Government

The great proposal did not start out great. In the beginning, 15 months prior to RFP release, there were the usual problems we faced when preparing for a recompete. Red flags included project startup issues that resulted in mediocre CPARS ratings, difficult client relationships, competing stakeholder demands, customer turnover on the acquisition side, and no dedicated Capture Manager or Capture Plan. Since this recompete represented the company’s largest federal contract, the CEO knew she had to take action.And that’s when the trajectory, which had been turning towards a possible proposal loss, started to reverse course.

When do you owe too much on your credit cards?

Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Putting the title of this article another way, how much can you owe on your credit cards before it lowers your quality of life? There's never an absolute number — if you're living on your Social Security, it could be as little as $5,000 on a single high-interest-rate credit card. If you’re Amazon's Jeff Bezos, currently the world's richest person, there is no such number. But for the rest of us, there’s a point of credit card indebtedness that will cause the credit-rating agencies to lower your credit score enough to make your life more difficult.

Gap analysis improves associations

William D. Pawlucy Association Management

The dictionary defines a gap as an incomplete or deficient area. A gap analysis is what an organization conducts to identify these incomplete or deficient areas in order to move from its current state to its ideal and desired future state. Every nonprofit can benefit from a gap analysis annually and in conjunction with reviewing its strategic plan. So, how do you perform a gap analysis while integrating it into your organization's strategic plan?

The ‘juniorization’ of organizations: Why this idea should…

Roberta Matuson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Blatant discrimination against older workers is illegal. Yet, it happens every day. David Neumark, a professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine, and two other economists published a study in 2017. They sent out 40,000 resumes for thousands of real jobs. The resumes for any given job were identical except for age. "The call-back rate — the rate by which employers contact us and say we'd like to interview you — drops from young applicants to middle-aged applicants and drops further from middle-aged applicants to older applicants," Neumark says.

How the IoT powers predictive maintenance in manufacturing

Joseph Zulick Manufacturing

For far too often maintenance has been treated as expendable. Now, however, the internet of things (IoT) has brought along technology in a useful package to help maintain factories. New sensor technology can measure pressure, distance, temperature, and much more in a smaller package and from greater distances. No longer are you required to modify a machine or tool. You can now use external laser technology to measure quality and keep track of machine maintenance. If you want to know if the machine is deviating outside of its temperature range, you’ll know. If you need to track power usage, you can even see the readout from a beach in Florida.

Business groups react to national-emergency declaration for border wall

Seth Sandronsky Civil & Government

Sixteen states, roughly one of three in the U.S., are suing to block President Trump's decision to bypass Congress and declare a national emergency to access billions of federal dollars to fund a southern border wall with Mexico. Where do business groups stand on this matter? Garrick Taylor is senior vice president of government relations and communications for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The decision is a bad one," according to him. "It sets a terrible precedent and it once again punts to the courts a matter that should be legislated and negotiated with the executive branch."

5 surprising ways to improve your marketing reputation

Lisa Mulcahy Marketing

Consumer trust: it's every company's bread and butter. Yet you may be damaging that profit cornerstone in ways you aren't even aware of, causing unnecessary dips in your bottom line. Subtle mistakes in misreading your audience or larger issues with the way your organization does business can have an unexpected impact on how well you do with the next marketing campaign you launch. Try these surprising strategies to reboot your rep.

Training is an investment, not a cost

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The race to attract skilled labor is on. Productivity may be slowing but it is still moving in a positive direction, and new unemployment applications are still declining. And according to a recent analysis by The Economist, American manufacturing, particularly among "agile smaller firms using advanced techniques" may be expanding. While this tight labor market may look different than the one before the recession, one thing is consistent: the most challenging staffing shortage is in skilled labor. Because of this, organizations across industries must recognize that training is an investment, not a cost.

Check that behavior at the door

Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk Management

As a manager, how do you respond to behavior you don't approve of, whether it's because it violates company policy or company culture? Perhaps that behavior isn't terribly offensive but just a little annoying that you can almost ignore it. For example, one employee clocks in three minutes late without a compelling reason. That’s not so bad, is it? Yes, it is that bad, because of human nature. The old adage, "give an inch, take a foot,” applies. That three-minute tardiness, unaddressed, insidiously and chronically morphs into 10-minute tardiness, or 30-minute tardiness, or one hour.

Amazon scraps plans for HQ2 in New York City

Michelle R. Matisons Civil & Government

Amazon, which reported $11.2 billion in profits last year while paying no federal taxes, pretty much does what it wants, doesn't it? Well, not quite. In November, when the company announced its expansion plans, known as HQ2, to include Long Island City in Queens, residents, community activists, and those taking on Amazon immediately mobilized opposition. In the end, local character and vehement opposition to corporate welfare won. Amazon announced last week that it was no longer considering New York City as the location for its grand headquarters expansion.

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