by Stacy Jackson (@StacyatAnswers)
While reviewing the feed from our Foodservice list on Twitter, I came across an article tweeted by Jeff Cattell (Twitter handle: fooddude4life) from Harvard Business Review website entitled, “Why Best Practices Are Hard to Practice.” It caught my eye because here at Answers Systems, we talk a lot about best practices in the area of trade promotion management.
The article in HBR by Ron Ashkenas points out that many organizations fail at implementing best practices due to two main factors:
- Lack of adaptation: a process can’t simply be lifted from one company and placed into another. It takes study, understanding of the principles behind the best practice, and hard work to adapt a best practice to your own corporate environment. What works in one company may not work in the exact same way in your own organization.
- Lack of adoption: full leadership adoption and support to drive the change throughout the organization is required for any change effort, especially implementation of best practices. Without that leadership support, your efforts are likely an exercise in futility.
Check out the full article at HBR blogs, and be sure to check out more great insights and pass-alongs from others in the foodservice Twittersphere. Don’t forget to follow us online at twitter.com/AnswersSystems.
If you would like more information about how Answers Systems works with foodservice manufacturers to implement trade promotion management best practices, please drop us an email or give us a call at (800) 225-6127. As we approach our 25th year serving the foodservice industry, we have seen and learned a lot about what works when implementing trade promotion management best practices—we’d love to share that expertise with you and your organization.