Welcome to 2011! As the New Year begins business leaders will be faced with reenergizing their organizations and setting the proper tone and goals for 2011. An important, yet often overlooked corporate resolution is ensuring stakeholder simplification; and in an increasingly complex world it has become even more critical for companies to become simply effective in order to successfully meet their goals as well as the challenges in years ahead. To provide guidance on best practices surrounding simplification we have spotlighted the below thought pieces on how to combat complexity. We hope you enjoy.

Interested in learning how to cut through complexity in your organization? Then read the brief yet valuable overview offered here by Get Abstract spotlighting key takeaways and simplicity strategies from Ron Ashkenas’ book Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Sharing with readers the steps necessary to create an “architecture of simplicity” within their own organizations, the abstract will clue you in on how to take back control of your business, your workload, and your bottom line by simplifying how work gets done. Want more tips and tools for staying simple in the ...

Over the past several years, the Rapid Results Institute has been demonstrating how leaders in developing countries can leverage short-term results to unleash untapped capacity for implementation and change. The Institute, with support from Schaffer Consultants, has helped local leaders make a difference in health care, education, and community development in Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea, Mozambique, Madagascar, Rwanda, and Jordan. The Rapid Results Institute is now shifting its focus towards creating partnerships with local institutions to embed the Rapid Results Approach in developing countries. We will feature stories of the work that the Institute helped create ...

As the largest logistics company in the world it’s not surprising complexity is a challenge for Deutsche Post DHL. So when the company made it a goal to combat its clutter, it placed the priority on developing a simplification strategy for its customers. Wanting to ensure that the company was easy to do business with it took a number of steps, from surveys to interviews, to garner constructive customer feedback. Leveraging the information obtained the company was well armed to develop a simplification approach very much tuned to the needs and requirements of its customers. To learn more about ...

Wondering if you can get your suppliers and subsidiaries in developing countries to do more to protect the planet, their workers, and your brand? Many multinational managers struggle to strengthen supplier compliance with international standards for environmental performance, quality assurance, and worker safety. In their recent IndustryWeek article, Patrice Murphy of Schaffer Consulting and Daniel Manitsky of the Rapid Results Institute explore best practices from the world of international development. The experiences they share from Africa, Latin America, and Asia demonstrate that it is possible for organizations to support environmental and worker safety efforts very quickly and inexpensively by using ...

Ron Ashkenas will present a Harvard webinar on Wednesday, March 2, focused on how to stay simply effective in communication and execution. He will share with attendees lessons on countering complexity and getting real results. To learn more e-mail us.

We work with organizations around the world to create innovative leadership development programs - ones with Schaffer Consulting's characteristic focus on learning while delivering outstanding results. In these turbulent times, it is all the more imperative for leaders to have the skills to build high-performing organizations.

When Siemens was developing a leadership development program for its 10,000 plus managers, it partnered with Schaffer Consulting to create something that went beyond traditional "classroom" learning - an opportunity for groups of participants to work together in six-month engagements aimed at creating improved business results and providing insights into key strategic objectives. For ...

We work with organizations around the world to create innovative leadership development programs - ones with Schaffer Consulting's characteristic focus on learning while delivering outstanding results. In these turbulent times, it is all the more imperative for leaders to have the skills to build high-performing organizations.

The Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley) has worked with Schaffer Consulting to pioneer a unique approach to building real-life innovation and leadership experience as a cornerstone of its curriculum. The hallmark of this effort is Haas@Work, a program where students work intensively to develop solutions to client business challenges in ...

In BusinessWeek.com's special report, "Focus on Risk Management," Rick Heinick - head of Schaffer Consulting's M&A practice - outlines how to beat the odds and make a corporate marriage succeed by following three steps - knowing the level of risk, keeping the integration process versatile and staying focused on the real value drivers.

Overcoming Merger Risks

Businesses can beat the odds and make a corporate marriage succeed by following three steps

By Rick Heinick

All mergers involve risk—and carry no guarantees of fulfilling ROI expectations. It is commonly believed that less than half of corporate marriages succeed in ...