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SSRN

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September 24, 2024
Article

4 Steps That Can Optimize Your Sales Process

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Scott Peterson and Daniel Weinfurter

Sales is a performance art where outcomes matter, so most advice here focuses on closing the sale. But a close is the result of actions and choices that occur earlier in the process: how much time and effort to spend on customer discovery (understanding what and to... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage

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09 Dec 2021
News

Andreessen Horowitz Founders Begin Slow Process of Stepping Back

August 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Background Note

Steps Toward Self-Assessment

Provides an overview of the self-assessment process and data-generating instruments employed in the course Self-Assessment and Career Development. The major steps in the outlined process are: gathering data through the instruments; reacting to the data and instruments;... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career

Find at Harvard

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 8 Rationalizing Flow Processes

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the value structure of flow production processes and to explain why it is necessary to rationalize flow processes using the tools of systematic management. I first explain the problems facing managers of multi-step flow... View Details

Keywords: Flow Processes; Bottlenecks; Systematic Management; Production; Management; Problems and Challenges

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November 1995
Background Note

Reengineering a Business Process

By: Richard L. Nolan and Thomas H. Davenport

Describes the six steps included in most reengineering initiatives: selecting the processes for reengineering; identifying change enablers; developing a business vision of process objectives; understanding and measuring existing processes; designing and prototyping the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Change Management; Measurement and Metrics

November 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Process Control at Polaroid (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes the initial efforts at a film production plant to shift from a traditional QC inspection mentality to a worker-based process control mentality. Students can prepare SPC charts, propose actions needed, and combine steps into an overall action plan. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems; Operations; Quality; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Processes; Change Management; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

20 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Tackle the First 90 Days of Your Next Role: A 5 Step Process for Success on the Job

Detail What, Why, and How Step 1 in the “slow down to go fast” five-step process is to detail the first 90 days by communicating openly with your manager about: What you plan to do to learn your new role and... View Details

14 May 2013
Blog Post

The Self-Discovery Process

that helped me build my résumé. I had countless cups of coffee with people in different industries to hear first-hand about them and the company they worked for. It was a very busy two months, but very productive. The process of... View Details

Keywords: Consulting

October 1987 (Revised January 1989)
Background Note

Purchasing a Business: The Search Process

Describes the steps necessary to purchase a small to medium size company. Provides an eight-part analytical framework. Issues covered in the framework include the following: the self-assessment, deal criteria, deal sources, resources necessary to purchase a business,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Framework; Resource Allocation; Negotiation Deal; Business Processes; Valuation

August 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Background Note

Process of "Going Public" in the United States, The

Summarizes the process of going public: the steps for SEC approval, the role of the SEC, and the roles of major players such as underwriters and printers. View Details

Keywords: Going Public; United States