Kathy Mast Consulting

Roles & Responsibilities for Innovation

I've been speaking frequently on the topic of innovation since the beginning of the year, and I continue to be excited and thrilled with the opportunities. The responses that I'm getting from the engagements and in reviewing leading industry and academic research indicate that innovation is still THE most important and urgent business topic today. If innovation is not the #1 priority for a chief executive, it remains in the top 3 priorities making it critical to most everyone's business plan. Whether my audience is composed of executives from large firms or a group that contains people in non-management roles, the top questions I receive are "how can I contribute to innovation," and "how do we create a more innovative environment?"

Executive Leadership Insights

I've been privileged to attend several meetings hosted by SMU in the past few months that featured outstanding CEO presentations. They've included:

• James Donald, president, chief executive officer and director of Starbucks, co-presenting with David Pace, executive vice president, Partner Resources
• Alan Boeckmann, chairman of the board, chief executive officer of Fluor Corporation, jointly hosted by SMU and Ernst and Young
• Myron (Mike) Ullman, chairman of the board, chief executive officer of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., co-presenting with Mike Theilmann, executive vice president, chief human resources and administration officer

The sessions including the HR executives talked about the importance of HR as a strategic contributor to the business. Starbucks is hiring 400 people per day, according to Mr. Pace, and HR management is core to their global success as a business. Both Startuck's executives spoke of the life changes that Starbucks careers have made for many of their employees. One very notable and commendable commitment made by Starbucks is to offer health care benefits to all employees. That benefit is their largest corporate expense, and they continuously pursue effective ways to enhance the benefit while reducing the cost.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Leveraging Hidden Assets to Obtain A Higher ROI

When buying or selling companies, executives often overlook assets and investments that, when properly documented and utilized, can represent greater value, to either buyer or seller, and thus achieve a higher return on investment.

Gartner Symposium '06

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since the last Gartner Symposium. Here we are again, polishing our crystal balls to get a clearer view of future trends and directions for I/T. Although my consulting practice focuses on business strategy and innovation, my goal is to use my I/T expertise to also help clients enhance their returns on I/T investments. The Gartner conference is a good opportunity to hear about global trends and see some of the latest technology, like Microsoft's long-awaited Vista product - it does exist and is very impressive.

Happy 4th of July

To our soldiers everywhere:

THANK YOU! You are in our hearts & prayers!

To all Americans, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer:

God Bless America.
Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America
My home sweet home.

God Bless America,
Land that I love
Stand beside her,
And guide her,
Through the night
With the light from above,
From the mountains,
To the prairies,
To the ocean,
White with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.
God bless America,
My home sweet home.

Irving Berlin

Speaking of American Global Competitive Advantage

Monday night I attended an SMU Cox School of Business and Bank of Texas Business Leaders Spotlight presentation. Featured speaker, Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large of "Fortune" magazine, talked about some of my favorite subjects--global competitive advantage, how American businesses are performing in the global marketplace, the changes that are occurring and why the changes are occurring now. Though about 100 business leaders attended, I came away motivated to share with others what he had to say because of the insight and clarity of the message.

Building a High Performance Workplace

"It had to happen: Globalization’s pressure is turning the screws on even the best U.S. companies, making it tougher than ever for them to treat employees well. The good news is that some companies are doing it anyway," writes Geoff Colvin in Fortune Magazine's "The 100 Best Companies to Work For, 2006."

Global Competitive Advantage

Global Competitive Advantage is THE business headline today, and it’s on the mind of every CEO. The question is how to achieve it and sustain it once you’ve attained it. As a refresher, just what is competitive advantage? Here’s how Gordon Walker, Professor of Strategy at SMU defines it: “To achieve the goal of competitive advantage, a firm must offer value to customers at a cost that produces economic performance superior to rivals. The firm must then defend this position from the competition.” If that’s not challenging enough, complexity increases when we add the word “global” at the beginning and consider the risks inherent in a growing, but fragile, economy.

This blog is all about sharing great ideas and examples for establishing a future-focused foundation for achieving and sustaining global competitive advantage for American businesses. It’s designed to foster creativity, quick results and a sense of fun that releases us to do our best at work. Let’s collaborate on winning the global competition by focusing on our strategy, innovation, I/T investments and the people that make them successful.