Articles

From the Atrion Blog Hosted by American School & University Magazine By Robert F. Johnson Many schools and universities are sharpening their focus on financial performance as they struggle to manage rising costs in the face of limitations on growing revenues. With the pool of U.S. high school graduates slowly shrinking, colleges must work harder to attract and retain students and faculty. And recent, less-than-favorable media coverage of higher education forces institutions to move faster. School and university CIOs feel these pressures, some for the first time in their careers. Their industry peers have lived with this situation for some time, especially in sectors that have gone through major changes (for example, the music and publishing industries). Let’s look at a couple of similarities between college CIOs and their industry peers, and takeaways for school and university CIOs: ·Growth vs. efficiency: The recent recession makes growth the top priority for almost every business. Growth can be increased revenues, more customers or increased wallet-share per customer. Regardless of the specifics, the mandate for industry CIOs is for IT to shift orientation and contribute directly  to their company’s growth initiatives. For many, it’s deploying analytics for their companies to gain insights on buyer behaviors and purchasing trends. For example, I know a business services company that’s analyzing its customers’ buying history to identify additional services to sell them in the next few months. Other industry CIOss work with their engineering or R&D teams to develop new technology-based products. For example, a manufacturer of scientific equipment recently introduced a chemical testing device with wireless capability that analyzes chemicals in real-time. The idea for this product came from IT, which spent time meeting with customers and learning product usage. Regardless, industry CIOs are shifting perspectives and redirecting their teams from increasing efficiency towards accelerating growth. ·College CIOs must do the same. Say a CIO in higher education wants to increase student retention. Putting more IT resources to work by using analytics or technology accelerates use of the institution’s intellectual property. And that attracts more research funding. ·Perception of IT as cost center vs. investment: In many organizations, the IT department’s reputation isn’t favorable and perceived as an expensive cost center. There are myriad reasons for this such as the perception of IT saying “no” a lot vs. working to find ways to say “yes” to business colleagues; IT’s use of technical jargon with their non-IT colleagues; the perception of weak IT service levels, etc.  This is a problem for industry CIOs as well as those in higher education.  Today’s dependence on technology forces IT to consider how the department is viewed and take action to be seen as a priority investment space. Most industry CIOs and their teams proactively promote their value (in some cases with help from marketing). They’re use internal monthly newsletters acknowledging recent accomplishments and contributions to their company in business terms. They send weekly “IT tips” or holding frequent “lunch and learn” sessions to help users make better utilize the technology available to them; all of this tactics create good will for the IT department. They announce the successful completion of major projects and they cultivate active, vocal advocates from key influencers in their company. Over time, such efforts generate a favorable reputation of IT and shift the perspective from a cost center to a valuable contributor to their business. School and university CIOs should communicate the value of IT to peers and key constituencies across their institution.  If IT isn’t promoting its contribution to the institution, its reputation may be suffering. And if IT isn’t telling its story, no one is.  Giving brief IT updates at monthly cabinet or trustee meetings isn’t enough since that information rarely is shared by department heads with their teams and subordinates. IT must tell its story frequently and to a broad audience. Many of the communications techniques mentioned above can be employed, for example, by sharing recent academic or research computing accomplishments. Smaller schools aren’t likely to dedicate a full–time resource to IT communications–in which case the communications initiative can be shared across several team members with a single person designated as being responsible. Start small and be consistent; don’t start several efforts and then fade away. Instead, begin by conducting some research on the institution’s current perception of the IT department. This can be evaluated by conducting a brief survey or 1×1 meetings. The results provide a baseline for IT’s reputation and helps the team customize their strategy to address the institution’s feedback. School and university CIOs are more like their industry counterparts than in the past; consider capitalizing on some of the similarities to make everyone value IT at your institution. Robert Johnson is senior director of strategic intelligence at Atrion Networking Corporation where he’s responsible for market analysis and growth strategies.

Dan Cassidy FSA, EA, MAAA, CFA, Managing Director of P-Solve Cassidy, was recently quoted on FiduciaryNews.com in the article “Is the Fiduciary Liability of Self-Directed Brokerage Options Too Great for 401k Plan Sponsors?”

Business Is a Large Target: A Business Owner/CEO’s Complete Guide to Maximizing Results (and Profits) from HR and Employee Benefits

By Jim Edholm

Is it time to find out if you indeed are thoughtleader material? Maybe you’re a thoughtleader already and don’t know it. Or maybe you do know it, or suspect it, but could use some validation. Finally, do you secretly fear that perhaps you’re not up to the task?

There are 917 million Apple shares owned by individuals, institutions and mutual funds. Chances are good that you own a few shares yourself. If so, you might be hoping that the stewards of the company declare and pay out a juicier dividend. I understand your sentiment but I suggest you reconsider your desire to drink from a cup that truly runneth over with cash–roughly $137 billion, or $146 per share.

Just as a rolling stone gathers no moss, a strategic plan that’s actually used will gather no dust. Too often, companies devote time and energy to developing strategic plans, only to never look at them again once they have been printed out. This article explains the critical importance of actually using and implementing your company’s strategic plan, and offers practical tips for avoiding the most common traps that keep a strategic plan sitting, ignored, on a shelf.

Excerpted from Ken’s book The Expert’s Edge as a seven-part series. Is it time to find out if you indeed are thoughtleader material? Maybe you’re a thoughtleader already and don’t know it. Or maybe you do know it, or suspect it, but could use some validation. Finally, do you secretly fear that perhaps you’re not up to the task? We are all thoughtleaders on some level. If you are an expert on anything at all (engineering, human resources, management, Chinese history, bartending, roofing), you are at least on the launchpad. You see, all thoughtleaders are experts, although not all experts are thoughtleaders. Thoughtleaders are experts who have made a commitment to optimizing their expertise and fine-tuning their expert’s edge. So in case your own misconceptions have created “thoughtleader jitters” that have been holding you back, here’s a “Thoughtleading Inventory” composed of seven questions and commentaries designed to help you gauge your personal and professional thoughtleading potential. Perhaps this inventory can put your jitters at rest andget you blasting off and away from your thoughtleader launchpad. This installment explores the first question: 1. Are You an Entrepreneurial Personality? You probably are if you are reading this eblast. Thoughtleading is all about trying something new, and this book permits you to investigate how a thoughtleading strategy might engender in you the expert’s edge. Diving deep into the subject of thoughtleading suggests a learning personality, a prime characteristic of entrepreneurialism. And although the term entrepreneurs is typically associated with people who own and run their own businesses, you can also be an entrepreneur within the structure of a firm that you do not own, but that instead employs you. Traditionally such people have been called “intrapreneurs,” but they can go by other names as well, such as “corporate entrepreneurs.” Susan Foley, managing partner of Corporate Entrepreneurs LLC, writing in her book Entrepreneurs Inside: Accelerating Business Growth with Corporate Entrepreneurs (Xlibris), describes the corporate entrepreneurial personality this way: “Corporate entrepreneurs are independent thinkers that are looking for meaning at work.They see corporate entrepreneurship as a way to test their skills, flex their muscle and push the edge of the envelope. Corporate entrepreneurs strongly believe in what they are doing and are focused on the end goal. They are creative and find innovative ways to solve problems. They are the creators, doers and implementers that make things happen. “Corporate entrepreneurs are dedicated to the project and loyal to the team. They recognize the value of diversity, commitment and trust. They work effectively as an individual contributor and team member. They may not like everyone but they respect them for their contribution. They collectively create a new entrepreneurial culture inside the existing organization. . . . “Corporate entrepreneurs are [also] creative. They are motivated and energized when creating and building something new. They are the early adopters of ideas. They see ideas not for what they are but what they can become. Corporate entrepreneurs are individual contributors that are interested creating value and moving the company forward. As a result they gravitate toward those projects at the beginning of the business development life cycle.” The key to unleashing your entrepreneurial side in your quest to become a thoughtleader, as even the corporate entrepreneurial personality displays, is for you is to eliminate whatever personal “blocks” might be getting in the way of allowing you to think deeply, think creatively, trust and have faith, develop interesting ideas, and firmly commit to a breakthrough result. If, for example, your response is this: “Yes, it all sounds good, but I just don’t have the time,” you may be trapping yourself with so many day-to-day operational details that you will never carve out even small amounts of time to experiment and follow through with thoughtleading actions. If that’s you, you need to make a promise to yourself to spend X hours a day or X days a week undertaking thoughtleading adventures. Obviously, my book is a fabulous starting place. But you can’t let it end here. Dr. Robert S. Litwak, the former chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City, recalls that in his days as a resident, despite the round-the-clock shifts that hospital resident doctors were required to endure in those days, he used to promise himself an hour every 24 hours in which he could study and learn whatever he wanted. That usually meant holing up in the hospital library and allowing himself to read purely for curiosity and pleasure. He recalls a mantra that helped him keep this promise to himself: “That’s 23 hours for the hospital and 1 for Bob!” So declare your own hour or two of free time every day so that you too can pursue what you choose. Use the time to develop your thoughtleading self. Stop telling yourself that you don’t have the time.