It’s one thing for a company to aspire to growing its market share. It’s another thing for a company to have a strategy to grow its market share. Yet, it’s still quite another thing for a company to execute that strategy, evaluate its results and hold its employees accountable for those results.
That follow-through approach is the core principle behind "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done," (Crown Business) a book written by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.
Bossidy is the former chairman of Honeywell International. Charan is a highly sought advisor to CEOs and senior executives in companies ranging from start-ups to the Fortune 500, including General Electric, DuPont, EDS and Colgate-Palmolive. Charan has taught at both the Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Northwestern University.
Bossidy and Charan pooled their knowledge and experience in their book to help CEOs of all companies, large and small, commit to the philosophy of execution – following through on growth strategies.
The authors say business success results from company leaders executing on three core processes: people, strategy and operations.
The leader’s most important job is selecting and appraising people, according to the authors.
Having the right people in the right jobs creates a leadership gene pool that conceives and selects strategies that can be executed. People then work together to create a corporate strategy, brick by brick.
Once the right people and strategy are in place, they are then linked to an operating process that implements accountability.
Many southeastern Wisconsin companies are implementing the core principles of the execution philosophy outlined by Bossidy and Charan.
In this special Small Business Times report, Ventures 2004, you’ll read Charan’s thoughts about the challenges facing Wisconsin companies.
The report also includes exclusive SBT columns on execution and performance.
However, most importantly, you will read about how several local corporate leaders are executing strategies to grow their companies. The companies examined in this report include:
RedPrairie Corp.
Zilber Ltd.
Delzer Lithograph Co.
Hal Leonard Corp.
Grover Corp.
Baensch Food Products Co.
Brevient Corp.
Wauwatosa Savings Bank
Prodesse Inc.
Hurtado Consulting LLC
Schreiner’s Restaurant
Bergstrom Automotive
The companies in the spotlight span a wide range of industries, from high-tech to the restaurant business. Their executive personalities are diverse, from the venerable John Bergstrom to the ambitious Kim Wall of Baensch Food Products Co.
A particular highlight of this report is an exclusive interview with Joseph Zilber, who has plenty of insight to share from his 55 years at the helm of Zilber Ltd.
All of these companies and their corporate leaders highlighted in this report have at least one thing in common: They have executed successful business growth strategies, and they share their secrets of success in this special report.
May 28, 2004 Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI
