Published Articles
Scenario Planning
Growing Business Magazine
Think of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Montgomery – all are real world strategists who have used anticipatory planning techniques – battle scenarios – to arm themselves for victory. Using the same principles as Alexander the Great, organisations can use scenario planning as a strategic management tool to make flexible long-term plans for the future. Square Peg examines the techniques of scenario planning and how businesses can use these to anticipate and evolve in a rapidly changing world in order to keep ahead of the competition.
A New View of Strategic Leadership
Strategy Magazine
Strategy Magazine is the regular publication of the Strategic Planning Society, an organization which fosters research and best practice in strategic thought and action, aiming to provide a link between academic research and practical implementation of strategy. In a recent article for this publication, Doug Ross discusses how strategic leadership needs to adapt to a world of continuous and rapid change.
Diversified Growth Strategies for Entrepreneurs
Growing Business Magazine
The business environment is never static: the most consistent demand on management is the ability to read change trends and adapt the organisation to survive them. A really good management team will not only survive change, but use it to the organisation's benefit. Diversification is one way to take advantage of change to grow the business, taking on new products, markets, skills, techniques or facilities. While this strategy can be risky it has the potential to reward the brave with rapid and expansive business growth. In this article Doug Ross looks at various diversification strategies, their risks and potential rewards using an amusing parallel with poultry farming and in particular looking at the successes and failures of the diversification strategy of Mrs Tweedy, the famously evil chicken farmer in Aardman Production's hilarious 'Chicken Run' animation film.
Intrapreneurialism: What it can do for your business
Growing Business Magazine
Imagine having the entrepreneurial drive, enthusiasm and brilliance of someone like Henry Ford, Estée Lauder, or Richard Branson at your disposal. Enter intrapreneurialism, the development of entrepreneurs within a business. A company that needs to take advantage of synergies, economies of scale and shared risk-taking for its success can benefit immeasurably from encouraging this discipline. Doug Ross explains how you can go about harnessing your employees' entrepreneurialism for the benefit of your business.
The perils of outsourcing ... and how to avoid them
Growing Business Magazine
Call centres and IT support leap to mind at the suggestion of outsourcing/offshoring, but in fact almost any business function, product or service can be offshored or outsourced. This brings many advantages to the organisation, not least freeing up resources to focus on the company's core business, but there are also many risks to consider. In this article, Doug Ross looks at how to get the best from outsourcing.
M&A deals: getting the people factor right
Growing Business Magazine
In May, our regular column in Growing Business: the UK’s most popular magazine for entrepreneurs was launched with ‘M&A deals: getting the people factor right’. Despite the risks, M&A is increasingly popular. In the first of a series of articles, we reveal how to minimise potential risks and maximise the value of deals through careful management of people and cultural factors.
Beyond Lip Service
Benefits & Compensation International
Article by Doug Ross on ‘Beyond Lip-Service’ which takes a look at the way organisations pay lip-service to their people issues without really understanding their real impact. The article was written for a Compensation and Benefits Manager audience.
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