2004 | The Wiglaf Journal

Fulfill an Unmet Need – QAS

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | May 26, 2004

What will drive success at your company? I asked seven executives charged with generating revenue in business markets this question on May 17th at the Retail Systems Conference held in Chicago. The range of their answers crossed many aspects of business marketing. Their business cases confirm and expand many of the suggestions made within The…

Executive Behaviors for Entrepreneur Success

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | May 12, 2004

In May of 2002, the first edition of The Wiglaf Journal was launched, marking the inauguration of our entrepreneurial activity. Coincidently, May 2002 also was marked by the publishing of Walter Kuemmerle’s “A Test for the Fainthearted” in Harvard Business Review, discussing attributes of successful entrepreneurs. In the two years since we began navigating the…

A Follow-up with Kuemmerle

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | May 12, 2004

After composing the review of Executive Behaviors for Entrepreneur Success, we reached out to speak directly with Walter Kuemmerle, author of “A Test for the Fainthearted” and professor at Harvard Business School. He graciously shared his thoughts on the subject of entrepreneurship and the points made in the article. We asked him what has developed…

Today’s Drivers to Entrepreneurship

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | May 12, 2004

Entrepreneurship is an economic activity. The levels of entrepreneurship are correlated with economic factors. A growing economy, as measured by GDP growth, is correlated with increased entrepreneurial activity. Likewise, rising unemployment drives increases in entrepreneurship out of necessity. Firms established out of opportunity versus necessity are equally likely to succeed, but take on very different…

Tapping Salespeople’s Market Knowledge

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | April 28, 2004

During the past few decades, the job of selling has been professionalized. What was once seen as a transaction oriented task best accomplished by hustling, has become a consultative and value-added job function requiring individuals that have the business acumen along with their performance motivation. The time is ripe for the organizations that deploy these…

Are “Best Practices” Yielding “Worst Results” in Pricing?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | April 28, 2004

Executives favor using “Best Practices” when managing business activities. For the most part, these “Best Practices” enable businesses to deliver the optimal performance. Yet, an unchecked deployment of “Best Practices” for managing prices is setting some companies up for disaster. By considering attitudes towards price variances and sales incentives, we find that many companies are…

Relevancy of Market Research in Business Markets

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | April 14, 2004

Competitive Advantages and Results from Implementing Researched Information Market segmentation in business markets is an underutilized tool. The subject of pricing readily gets executive attention because every business wants to ensure that they get the best price for their products and services. Likewise, the subject of increasing the sales force to create more customer relationships…

Metering Billing CRM/CIS Americas

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | March 31, 2004

The Metering Billing CRM/CIS Americas 2004 conference organized by Spintelligent was distinguished by a depth of information provided through speaker sessions, development of professional relations created during refreshment breaks, and identification of opportunities and possibilities through the matching of needs. Entering with the voice of reason, Compos Mentis clarified the importance of this meeting and…

Blood Lust over AMR

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | March 31, 2004

In spurts and fits, industries change rapidly. The conversations and sessions at the recent Metering Billing CRM/CIS Americas 2004 organized by Spintelligent once again indicated how fast this industry is evolving. The opening session kicked off a fury of concerns over who would be paying for the deployment of Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and Demand…

Where are you going CIS?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD | March 31, 2004

The Utilities Customer Information System (CIS) industry appeared to be in a funk at The Metering Billing CRM/CIS Americas 2004 Conference. In many ways, this industry is tracking with that of the CRM and ERP industry cohorts. Worrisome Market Prospects Even during the Pre-conference Executive Workshop presented by Warren B. Causey, Ltd, it became suspect…