CHAPEL HILL, NC, February 23, 2009 – Jonathan M. Estes will sign copies of his new book, Smart Green: How to Implement Sustainable Business Practices in Any Industry and Make Money, after his presentation at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School Monday, March 16 at 6 pm.  The school’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise is hosting the [...]

Proving financial value and profitability is fast becoming a key performance indicator for companies supplying products to industries and facilities; however, this is not often measured for lack of an adequate mindset for the changes required and measurement toolset. With the increasing changes in the global marketplace towards more environmentally sustainable models for products, [...]

At a recent sustainability forum held in Chapel Hill, NC comprised of some of the largest corporations and government institutions in the Triangle, among the greatest needs for the business community is a comprehensive means of communication and networking for ideas via the Internet to accelerate the growth of alternative energy and innovative ideas for [...]

Most organizations today focus on creating value through improving the efficiency of organizational processes. They measure their success through changes in mass-manufacturing economies of scale, savings benefits garnered through hyper-efficient distributions systems, Six-Sigma quality control programs, and so on which all contribute to enormous value creation in organizations. Organizations will get progressively better at designing and managing processes to improve efficiency, but such initiatives no longer have break-through value-creation potential. They are already witnessing diminishing marginal returns when it comes to the incremental value creation possible through improving efficiency.

Facilities Managers have been effective at measuring and improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, what’s needed next is to improve the strategic positioning of FM by demonstrating true business impact and communicating it effectively. It is not enough to pursue iterations of cost-cutting, which will eventually reach a limit before risk increases, but FM professionals must [...]

It’s actually common knowledge. Successful organizations have good strategy alignment. Most leaders in business and any institution for that matter will agree, the degree by which their vision is communicated effectively to each member of the organization in order that their contribution is aligned with the financial outcomes determines the success of that organization. Unfortunately, [...]

In the current climate of a down-turned economy, cost savings is king. Upper management gravitates towards cost containment because of the perceived benefit of saving immediate cash. It may indeed be necessary to maximize profits and downsize in response to economic pressures, but there is an excessive tendency to sustain a “Cost Orientation” throughout the [...]