Tag: management strategy

How to Build a Great Association

April 18, 2011 • Business and Management • 1 comment

ASA Exco Dinner
Association dinners and trips can be good bonding events (ASA Exco 2005)

Through the kind invitation of MCI, a global association management company, I had the privilege of diving more deeply into the world of associations at a recent conference at Suntec City Convention Centre. As the Sec-Gen of the Association of Singapore Attractions, I am always interested to learn about the best practices of running and managing an association.

According to a white paper published by the firm, there are 8 key strategies for associations (whether professional or trade) anywhere in the world to remain relevant in a fast changing future. Key findings from these paper hail from a survey of European associations conducted by MCI, but many of them are relevant to associations here in Singapore. They are:

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The Importance of Closing the Loop

April 15, 2011 • Blog • 2 comments


Courtesy of Computer Technology Review

One of the most fundamental lessons in any professional, personal or social endeavour is to close the loop. Don’t leave things hanging in mid-air or wait until they’re forgotten (and forgiven). Chances are that they might come back again to haunt you if you don’t hit that nail on the head until its well and truly level.

Now closing the loop doesn’t mean that you should try to go for quick and easy wins all the time. Occasionally, one needs to consider if closing a small loop may result in tearing open a larger issue in the long-run. However, the key principle is that you should not leave issues or projects in limbo as far as you can help it.

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Head or Heart? Dilemmas in Management

November 5, 2010 • Blog • no comments


Source

One of the most difficult and perplexing challenge facing leaders and managers today is the trade-off between using one’s head and one’s heart. Should decisions be made purely on a bottom-line basis, or should they be done in the interests of all stakeholders?

As you would have guessed, there are no easy solutions to this, considering the dynamics of the modern organisation and its multiple demands.

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Who Should We Compare Ourselves With?

July 4, 2010 • Blog • no comments


Don’t just benchmark Google for its technology – it also has one of the best corporate cultures in the world. (source)

Yesterday morning, I had an interesting conversation with my wife (an organisational excellence whiz) on the question of benchmarking and best practices.

First, we spoke about how global liveability indicators like this (from Mercer), this (from the Economist), this (from Monocle), and this latest one (conceived in Singapore), are used as top-line outcome measures in the Balanced Score Card – a universally accepted system for strategic management. Such measures provide objective assessments of a city’s efforts to position itself as a beacon of success.

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Why You Should Listen First

February 22, 2010 • Blog • no comments


Courtesy of papershine the art of learning

The fine art of listening seems to be one that is fast becoming lost. It is ironical that in an information overloaded world, people actually has a lower propensity to absorb feedback and act on them.

I suppose that this could be an impact of the numerous digital distractions that plague one. With so much available at the tap of a screen and click of a mouse, who really needs to pay attention to the person in front of you anymore?

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