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For each module I decided to choose the most intriguing topic and find an article related to it so I could expand on what I've learned this semester.

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Technology in business:
Technology in business can be defined as the application of of science and engineering skills to solve production and organizational problems. Technology can play a huge role in advancing any business' success if used effectively. It can be the best way of improving profits while reducing expenses by improving productivity and efficiency. There are many more positives than negatives to introducing more advanced technology into any business. One huge aspect is improved communication. The sharing of information is vital for the success of any business and technology only improves the process of doing so. This allows for increased collaboration internally and externally in a business setting. Another huge role that technology plays in business is through employee assistance. One great example of this was proven during the COVID-19 pandemic. As regulations were placed on employees attending work in person more opportunities were explored to allow the freedom for work from home and remote jobs.

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Importance of Technology in Business - Digital Marketing - Them You & Me

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At Them You & Me, we believe that digital technology can transform businesses. Learn about the importance of technology to leverage it for business growth.

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Running an ethical business:
I think that ethical codes in business are very important in order to ensure fairness and justice. Besides encouraging the common good for the employees of a company a code of ethics also should provide simple guidelines and training to follow these rules. This ensures that employees will want to work for your company by creating a positive work environment that holds everyone accountable. There should be a balance between ethics that ensure individual rights and those that encourage what is good for the majority. These clearly outlined ethics with rules including consequences for breaking them can guarantee that everyone in a company is treated in a way that encourages them to want to continue to work there. There can be many problems that occur from not implementing a proper code of ethics in a business. For this reason it is important to use a code of ethics in order to create a culture of open and honest communication. Management should have the responsibility of setting an example to their employees and allow open and honest communication

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Globalization:
Globalization is known as the process which a business develops global influence and starts to operate and compete on an international scale. This includes importing and exporting product globally to reduce costs for both sides. The increase in global interactions among businesses helps with growth in international trade and the exchange of ideas, beliefs, and culture in the business world. People have feared globalization in the past especially because it includes outsourcing. Outsourcing means sending jobs outside of the U.S. Outsourcing has become a natural result of the globalization of markets. If a business is able to send jobs to another country where the same work can be done for a fraction of the cost then they will do this to maximize profits. However this causes less jobs for people in America and they may wind up being unemployed or working lower paid jobs. Therefore globalization and outsourcing can be a double edged sword so to say because although there are many benefits there are obvious negatives as well. Although it can be disadvantageous for individual people or businesses it is overall beneficial for our country and other struggling countries as well.

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Globalization is the tendency of investment funds and businesses to move beyond domestic and national markets to other markets around the globe, allowing them to become interconnected with different markets.

Proponents of globalization say that it helps developing nations "catch up" to industrialized nations much faster through increased employment and technological advances. Asian economies are often highlighted as examples of globalization's success. Critics of globalization say that it weakens national sovereignty and allows rich nations to ship domestic jobs overseas where labor is much cheaper.

What is the real story on globalization? It largely depends on your personal perspective.

The View From The Penthouse

For business leaders and members of the economic elite, globalization is good. Cheaper labor overseas enables them to build production facilities in locations where labor and health care costs are low, and then sell the finished goods in locations where wages are high. (For related reading, see " What Is International Trade?")

Profits soar and Wall Street rewards big profit gains with higher stock prices. The CEOs of global companies also get credit for the profits, and are rewarded with generous compensation packages, in which company stock and stock options figure prominently. Institutional investors and wealthy individuals also take home the big gains when stock prices increase.

The View From the Street

But globalization doesn't only affect CEOs and high-net-worth individuals. Competition for jobs stretches far beyond the immediate area in a global marketplace. From technology call centers in India to automobile manufacturing plants in China, globalization means that workers must compete with job applicants from around the world.

Some of these changes arose as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA sent the jobs of U.S. autoworkers to Mexico, a developing country, where wages are significantly lower than those in the U.S. A few years later, some of those same jobs were relocated to third-world countries in East Asia, where wages are even lower. In both cases, the auto manufacturers expected U.S. consumers to continue buying those products at U.S. prices.

While critics of globalization decry the loss of jobs that globalization can entail for developed countries, those who support globalization argue that the employment and technology that is brought to developing countries helps those populations toward industrialization and the possibility of increased standards of living.

The View From The Middle Ground

In the globalization battleground, outsourcing is a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, low wages in foreign countries enable retailers to sell clothing, cars and other goods at reduced rates in Western nations where shopping has become an ingrained part of the culture. This allows companies to increase their profit margins.

At the same time, shoppers save money when they buy these goods, causing some supporters of globalization to argue that while sending jobs overseas tends to lower wages, it may also lower prices at the same time.

Lower-income workers also enjoy some of the benefits of stock price appreciation. Many workers have mutual funds holdings, particularly in their 401(k) plans. When companies outsource jobs and get rewarded with rising share prices, mutual funds that hold those shares also increase in value.

The Effects Of Globalization

The ever-increasing flow of cross-border traffic in terms of money, information, people and technology isn't going to stop.

Some argue that it is a classic situation of the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. While global standards of living have risen overall as industrialization takes root in third world countries, they have fallen in developed countries. Today, the gap between rich and poor countries is expanding as is the gap between the rich and poor within these countries.

Homogenization of the world is another result, with the same coffee shop on every corner and the same big-box retailers in seemingly every city in every country. So, while globalization does promote contact and exchange between cultures, it also tends to make them more similar to one another. At the market level, linked global financial markets propel local issues into international problems, such as meltdowns in Southeast Asia to Russian debt defaults.

What Lies Ahead?

Deviation from the status quo on this issue is likely to be minimal. The massive outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs that began decades ago continues today. White collar jobs, such as call center workers, medical technicians and accountants, have also joined the outsource parade, leaving many to argue that those profiting from the arrangement have little incentive to change it, while those most impacted by it are virtually powerless.

Politicians have latched onto the idea of the disappearing middle class as a political issue, but none of their income redistribution schemes are likely to have any immediate substantial impact. (For related reading, see "Losing The Middle Class.")

Conclusion

Public scrutiny of CEO compensation has encouraged business leaders to begin to see that a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats. In many cases low-wage workers get hurt the most because they don't have transferable skills. The concept of retraining workers is on the radar, but it's easier said than done and decades too late for the American manufacturing industry. (To learn more, see " Evaluating Executive Compensation.")

Until a better solution is found, education, flexibility and adaptability are the keys to survival. So far, the only answer that politicians and business leaders agree on is the value of an educated, flexible, adaptable workforce. (At the individual level, you can take action on this issue if you Invest In Yourself With A College Education.)

Send comments and questions to newsletters@forbes.com.

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Globalization is the tendency of investment funds and businesses to move beyond domestic and national markets to other markets around the globe, allowing them to become interconnected with different markets. Proponents of globalization say that it helps developing nations "catch up" to industrialized nations much faster through increased employment and technological advances.

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Avoiding conflict in a business partnership:
There are many things that business partners can do to avoid conflict in business relationships. One thing partners can do before starting a business together is to thoroughly compare their values and goals. Many underlying problems can be solved early on by ensuring that you and your partner have similar value systems and views on how to solve different issues that may arise. And making sure that your long term vision on where you see your business going and how you’ll get there is a primary discussion that should be had by partners in the beginning. It is essential to make sure all partners share similar goals. Important aspects of your plan as partners can be the type of growth strategy you want to employ, the leadership style you want to implement and the kind of work environment you want to create. Another good strategy to avoiding conflicts among business partners is to draft some sort of formal agreement. Often partners can go into a business just trusting each other’s personal relationship and seeing that as enough. However when issues arrive if there is no sort of rules or agreement to follow then different opinions can create harmful conflicts. This should be an agreement that clearly defines each partner’s role and ownership within the company. This could also provide an exit strategy for any partner and an attorney should be consulted for any issues with this agreement.

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4 tips for preventing business partnership disputes | R3M Law, LLP |

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Business partners may avoid future disputes by comparing values and goals, planning for difficult situations and drafting a partnership agreement early on.

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Advantages of starting your own small business:
Small businesses for a long time have been a huge part of our American economy and The National Federation of Independent Businesses reports that 85 percent of Americans view small businesses as a positive influence on American life. This is because of the many benefits that come along with starting your own small business. The best reason to start your own business in my opinion is Independence and a better lifestyle. This has been a very interesting topic in this class so far introduced in other previous modules too. Having control over your own business as opposed to working for or being tied to a big corporation has many benefits. Being able to make your own decisions and being the sole purpose, in most cases, for the success of your business is very appealing to many people. Corporations nowadays care less and less about their employees and often downsize or lay off even those who have been employed there for a long time and put in a lot of hard work. It is very devastating when this happens which is why many young people, especially, these days are leaning towards becoming entrepreneurs and starting their own small businesses. This comes with the ability to control their lifestyle in the most independent way possible. There also is a personal satisfaction from knowing your own hard work and persistence is the source of your success. The goal of owning your small business is usually to do something you love to do or at least something that you enjoy. This gives you the motivation to want to work every day especially because you know your success is all up to you and the work you put in. If you’re not succeeding you know it isn’t because of your boss or your company or their guidelines it may be because you, personally, are doing something wrong. This means you can research and learn from your mistakes and learn how to perfect the operations of whatever business you choose to get into. And you get the ultimate satisfaction if you’re able to grow and succeed.

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With a strong American economy, it's a good time to be starting a business, says Steven Bulger, regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). "It's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in America," he says. "Being a small business owner is one of the most satisfying career choices someone can make. It has risks, but it comes with numerous potential rewards, both personal and financial."

Owning your own business is the American dream, but here's what Bulger says it really means to get up every day and be both the boss and the employee.

1. Do What You Love

This is the No. 1 reason why people start their own businesses, and it makes sense: When people have a passion for a product or service, it gives them the drive to work hard at being successful. While it's hard to put a value on, being paid for doing what you enjoy can lead to greater job satisfaction.

Tip: In addition to passion, of course, you need to have knowledge of whatever you're selling, whether it's a service or a product. If you need a specific kind of knowledge or skill, consider taking classes or finding a mentor.

2. Set Your Own Schedule

With your own business, you decide how many hours you'd like to work-and what those hours will be. Of course, that depends on what kind of business you're in. Most small outfits need to operate during regular business hours in order to interact with other businesses. Some, however, may not-especially those that are online, which may allow for greater flexibility of workdays and hours.

Tip: Know what your clients' normal hours are, as well as their expectations of being able to reach you, and always stay flexible.

3. Feel Pride

It's gratifying to have an idea for something, then strike out on your own to make that vision a reality. Those long hours could be easier to bear when, at the end of it all, you realize that you've been the catalyst for something new.

Tip: Take time to celebrate small accomplishments along the way. Every step you take in building your business is worthy of recognition.

4. You're The Boss

As the owner, you set the rules and answer to yourself. Of course, the fate of the business also falls on your shoulders; if it's just you, you may make all of the decisions that have to do with the day-to-day operations and the larger issues as well. But no matter what your business happens to be, you're still accountable to your clients; and if you have employees, you're accountable to them, too.

Tip: Keep in mind that even when you work for yourself, you still have people you need to keep happy. It pays to nurture all of your work relationships so they'll continue to grow-and keep you in business.

5. Build Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is a key aspect of small business ownership, along with a commitment to the business and a faith that you'll see it through. Don't let a fear of failure overcome your belief that you can make your business succeed. If you're afraid, use it as motivation to drive you. Every small business is going to face challenging times, and you have to have the confidence that you will overcome them.

Tip: A mentor is a great resource when problems arise and you're unsure what steps to take. The SBA's resource partner SCORE is a free mentoring service available to all entrepreneurs.

6. Opportunity To Create

Providing something unique is a big reason people start a new business. Of course, it doesn't have to be truly one-of-a-kind-but if it is, be aware that anything successful doesn't stay one-of-a-kind for very long. Success breeds followers, which is something to always be on the lookout for.

Tip: No matter what kind of business you're in, a successful small business owner will continue to change with the times. Try to stay one step ahead of your competition by looking for innovative new solutions and products. (And for your own truly innovative ideas, help protect them with patents or copyrights.)

7. You Can Take Time Off

It sounds great to be able take a long weekend whenever the mood strikes-and it is! Just know that starting a small business means long hours and likely little time off, at least until you get things humming along.

Tip: Especially if you work out of your home, the boundaries between work life and personal life can become blurry. Carve out time to recharge, even if it's just an afternoon away from the computer.
Starting a small business requires making a lot of decisions. Here's an easy one: Business Owner's Insurance through the GEICO Insurance Agency. Get a quote now!
Read more: 6 Smart Tips For Starting A Small Business

By Ellise Pierce

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With a strong American economy, it's a good time to be starting a business, says Steven Bulger, regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). "It's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in America," he says. "Being a small business owner is one of the most satisfying career choices someone can make.

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Management and leadership:
In this module we focused on management and leadership styles. We were asked to discuss the principles and roles of a good manager. Key functions of a successful manager would include planning, leading, organizing and controlling. Planning would include setting objectives, determining the resources needed for said objective as well as alternatives and creating the strategy to reach your mission goal. Leading means motivating employees to accomplish organizational goals and leading by example. It also mean communicating with employees and resolving conflicts. The third key function of managing is organizing which entails creating organizational structure through assigning jobs and specific tasks.  It also includes organizing work activities, allocating resources and setting policies in the workplace. The last function would be controlling. Controlling means measuring and comparing performance standards, while taking necessary steps to improve performance wherever needed. In this module we were also given then freedom to think about which key function we would enjoy the most if we were a manager. I think the capacity that I would enjoy working in the most would be organizing. This key function of a manager would play to my strengths and be something I would naturally excel at. I enjoy planning and organizing the most efficient way of doing things. I love the saying work smarter and not harder and I think that is key to creating a successful and thriving work environment. A big part of doing this is designing a structure with specific jobs and how each employee would perform them. Then making sure you allocate the necessary resources for these jobs and hire qualified employees to complete them.

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UAGC | University of Arizona Global Campus

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Bill Davis, MA, CM, core faculty and program chair for the online degree programs in the Forbes School of Business and Technology® at the University of Arizona Global Campus, shares his key management principles.

According to Steve Jobs, "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple." By understanding and learning to apply these universal principles, you are more likely to excel as a manager in any organization. Read this blog to learn the five principles of great management.

Principle No. 1: The Functions of Management

While managers often view their work as task or supervisory in orientation, this view is an illusion.

At the most fundamental level, management is a discipline that consists of a set of five general functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. These five functions are part of a body of practices and theories on how to be a successful manager.

Understanding the functions will help managers focus efforts on activities that gain results. Summarizing the five functions of great management (ICPM Management Content):

1. Planning: When you think of planning in a management role, think about it as the process of choosing appropriate goals and actions to pursue and then determining what strategies to use, what actions to take, and deciding what resources are needed to achieve the goals.

2. Organizing: This process of establishing worker relationships allows workers to work together to achieve their organizational goals.

3. Leading: This function involves articulating a vision, energizing employees, inspiring and motivating people using vision, influence, persuasion, and effective communication skills.

4. Staffing: Recruiting and selecting employees for positions within the company (within teams and departments).

5. Controlling: Evaluate how well you are achieving your goals, improving performance, taking actions. Put processes in place to help you establish standards, so you can measure, compare, and make decisions.

Principle No. 2: The Types and Roles of Managers within the Organization

Organizational structure is important in driving the business forward and every organization has a structure. No matter the organizationally specific title, organizations contain front-line, middle, and top managers. Above the top management team are a CEO and a board of director levels. To see this structure even more clearly, visualize a pyramid model. The more you move toward the top of the pyramid, the fewer managers you have. All of these management roles have specific tasks and duties. According to Jones and George, "A managerial role is the set of specific tasks that a manager is expected to perform because of the position he or she holds in an organization." These skills can be gained with a degree in organizational management.

All great managers play important roles in this model. One important thing to remember is from Henry Mintzberg, a management scholar who researched and reduced thousands of tasks performed by managers to 10 roles (ICPM). His model points out that there are three main types of roles all managers play; they are decisional, interpersonal, and informational. In the decisional role, managers can perform in an entrepreneurial manner, as a disturbance handler, resource allocator or negotiator. In an interpersonal role, managers may be figureheads, leaders, and liaisons. In the informational role, they monitor, are disseminators or spokespersons, and they share information.

Principle No. 3: Effective Management of Organizational Resources

An essential component of operationalizing the organization's strategic plan is allocating resources where they will make the most impact. In fact, Dr. Ray Powers (2015), associate dean in the Forbes School of Business & Technology, argues that it is the most important thing to do.

"I define resources as people, time, money, and assets - and of course the basic definition of a project is to have a goal and a start and end date - for pretty much any activity we do," he explains.

Managers participate in operational planning and budget planning processes and, in doing so, actively determine what should be done, in what order it is to be done, and determine what resources are appropriate to be successful in achieving the plan. Keep in mind that this is not a personality contest. The strategic plan and its specific objectives determine what is important and what may not be as important.

Principle No. 4: Understanding and Applying the Four Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in Maximizing Human Potential

Effective managers understand the context and culture in leadership situations. What helps these managers succeed? It is simple; they understand EQ (the competencies in each dimension of emotional intelligence).

Those four dimensions are: a high self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and good social skills. All of these competencies are important, and they lead to great connections with people. They lead to stronger and more effective managerial performance. EQ is a very important component for excelling as a supervisor.

The job of the manager is to find a way to turn a team member's skill and talent into a higher level of performance. This idea doesn't suggest manipulation at all. Instead, it is about maximizing human potential, one team member at a time. It is as much art as it is science.

Dr. Diane Hamilton, program chair in the Forbes School of Business & Technology, recently described a candidate seeking a position on the faculty senate with having a high EQ. Dr. Hamilton, a highly skilled professional who possesses knowledge and skill in the area of Meyers Briggs Type Indicator, recognizes the importance of EQ.

"He demonstrates emotional intelligence and exemplifies the high caliber of candidate I would like to represent the FSB," she said about the candidate.

Principle No. 5: Know the Business

A common axiom in management is that a qualified manager can manage any business. This point is only partially true. It is true that most managers are generalists rather than specialists; however, many very successful managers began their careers in specialist roles. What most successful managers bring to their work in leading crews, departments, divisions, and companies is both a solid knowledge of the business (they are very experienced) and a solid knowledge of the principles of great management. Manager aspirants must first learn the characteristics of the business by doing, working in the trenches, and discovering how the various pieces of the organization work together to become a universal whole because very good managers discover what is universal in the business and capitalize on it to advance the business and improve performance.

Conclusion

Remember, as a manager, for greater job satisfaction and career success you should align to your organization's vision, mission, strategies, leadership, systems, structure, and cultures. In all you do, treat people fairly and honestly and do your best to follow and embrace your organization's ethics and core values as well as your own. Talk the walk and walk the talk, and remember, people are watching and seeing how you walk it. Give your very best to your teams, organizations, and customers. Be an effective manager to get the performance results for your organization and build trust and positive relationship with your people.
Written by Bill Davis, MA, CM, core faculty and program chair in the Forbes School of Business and Technology® at the University of Arizona Global Campus and Dr. Michael Reilly, PhD, a professor in the Forbes School of Business and Technology® at the University of Arizona Global Campus.

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5 Principles of Great Management | UAGC | University of Arizona Global Campus

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Bill Davis, MA, CM, core faculty and program chair for the online degree programs in the Forbes School of Business and Technology® at the University of Arizona Global Campus, shares his key management principles. According to Steve Jobs, "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple."

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Managing new employees:
I think when training employees the first priority should be training the employee to a high degree in the single position they will be performing. In the link provided I looked at the many benefits related to cross training new employees however I believe there is a slight counterpoint or caveat to this idea. There may be basics employees need to know about other positions in order to help them perform successfully in their own role, but I believe it is better to teach new employees to be an expert in what they are specifically doing first. A general orientation is usually required for this sort of purpose so that new employees are familiar with how the company works, who performs which task and why. However training them in other roles, depending on how complicated they could be, can often lead to an overwhelming experience at their new job. It is important to not stress out a new employee too much by unnecessarily introducing them into other roles before they can become an expert in their own. That being said employees that have been with their company for a while and are comfortable with their role in the company should be encouraged or required to learn other roles to make them a more diverse worker. This gives the company a better return on their investment in an employee because they perform different tasks when needed. In addition this is usually beneficial to the employee because learning new skills can help build their resume along introducing new potential opportunities that may peak their interest.

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Corey Bleich

🍿 5 min. read

Cross-training isn't just adding a little yoga to your daily running routine. Cross-training employees can provide a major boost to your workforce's productivity (and your bottom line!). Here are six major benefits of cross-training employees.

What does it mean to cross-train an employee?

Cross-training employees goes beyond showing everyone how the copier works in case your administrative assistant is out for the day. It starts by identifying the major tasks and skills in a specific area of your organization and then training each employee on these skills so that they can step in for support when needed.

Think of a small accounting firm. Right around tax time, things get hectic, and the more hands on deck, the better. If everyone in the office can be trained in certain intake procedures, then the accountants can focus on their highly specialized and complicated jobs.

Cross-training employees in healthcare is also common and valuable. It may be something as simple as training the office manager to prioritize (triage) certain types of cases that come into the office. Or, it could be giving physician's assistants training on common insurance questions so they can help patients during their consultations.

As you'll notice, neither of these examples require weeks spent in boardrooms with training manuals and assessments.

Cross-training simply aims to build the skills of everyone in the company so everyone better understands exactly what it takes to run the business. The idea is to empower employees to provide support from within the company instead of outsourcing or overloading one group of employees during hectic times.

6 benefits of cross-training employees

The benefits of cross-training in business are numerous. Here are six great examples of the benefits of cross-training employees:

Great return on investment

Better collaboration

Increases employee motivation

Increases workforce sustainability

Improves efficiency

Makes your company more agile

1. Great return on investment

It is important to hire employees that can do their jobs well, but looking at the talent you already have on staff can really boost your bottom line.

For example, if you are in education and need a curriculum developer, who knows the content and curriculum better than the teacher with the Master's degree in curriculum design who is already on staff? Done well, cross-training empowers employees to share their knowledge without bringing in additional employees. This saves employee onboarding costs (and time!).

2. Employees are better able to collaborate

Tim Brown, the CEO of award-winning design firm IDEO, focuses on creating "T" shaped individuals in his companies. "T" shaped employees are experts in one particular aspect of the company (this makes up the leg of the letter) while still having a broad, working knowledge of other aspects of the company (the arms of the "T").

In contrast, "I" type employees have extensive expertise in one area but because they are hyper-focused lack the ability to really collaborate with other people in the company.

3. Increases employee motivation

Nothing stops employee initiative faster than the perception of a dead-end job. If your medical receptionist can't see any place for movement within your medical practice, they may start looking elsewhere.

If employees know there are opportunities within the company for growth, their motivation to seek out those training opportunities (and the corresponding increase in pay) grows. More motivated employees will gravitate towards additional opportunities for career growth and mobility.

4. Increases workforce sustainability

Imagine the three legs of a stool. If one leg falls off, the stool is useless. Now imagine a company in which only one employee knows anything about a process or a procedure. What happens if that person takes maternity leave or becomes ill and needs time off?

Cross-training employees holds up the seat of your business, even when your resident expert steps away. This makes your business more sustainable, even in times of transition.

5. Improves efficiency

If each department has to identify valuable skills to add to a cross-training program for employees, they will be forced to look closely at what's important and how best to pass that knowledge along.

This activity in and of itself increases efficiency, especially in small businesses where each employee already has multiple layers of responsibility. Honing the skills needed and figuring out how to efficiently and effectively transmit them can help streamline every aspect of your business.

6. Makes your company more agile

Cross-training employees may entail on-the-job training that can help reveal hidden talents, increase employees' skillsets, and provide a springboard for advancing the goals and objectives of your company.

This necessarily makes your company more agile and responsive, no matter the size or industry. It also makes you more flexible with scheduling and filling last-minute vacancies.

Are there any disadvantages of cross training employees?

Yes, but they can be avoided with some advanced preparation.

To start, some employees may view cross-training as an added responsibility with no added pay. It's important to make sure that while leveraging each employee's strengths you balance their workload as much as possible.

Sure, you want to get the highest level of productivity out of your employees while still protecting your bottom line, but the risk of burnout is high when you add too much, too fast. You want employees to know that you value their abilities, not that you think of them as beasts of burden.

Another potential risk is building a company filled with generalists. These are employees that know a little bit about a lot of things, but not too much about one.

While this can be very helpful to fill in gaps when an employee is out sick (especially in a small company), you run the risk of appearing to be a mile wide and an inch deep in terms of expertise in your field.

Imagine if a doctor in your medical practice was also responsible for checking in patients and dealing with the complexities of filing insurance claims. While it's important for doctors to have a working understanding of the ever-changing landscape of insurance, having an expert in the office is crucial - both for the doctoring and for dealing with insurance companies. Let your specialists be specialists, even as they dip a toe into other aspects of the company.

Learn more
Get in touch today to learn more!
There is a fine line between overloading your employees and reaping the benefits of cross-training employees. Let EdgePoint Learning help you review all of your options to find balance. You can learn more about our approach in our post on running a training needs analysis.

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6 Major Benefits To Cross-Training Employees | EdgePoint Learning

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Corey Bleich 🍿 5 min. read Cross-training isn't just adding a little yoga to your daily running routine. Cross-training employees can provide a major boost to your workforce's productivity (and your bottom line!). Here are six major benefits of cross-training employees.

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Customer satisfaction:
Customer satisfaction is an important part in the process of effective production and operations. In the past manufacturing and production has always been inwardly focused. There was very little interaction between operations management and the customer. This means that business decisions made by upper management were rarely impacted by how it would directly affect the opinions of the customer. Business decisions were mainly made based off of what would be the smartest and most profitable for the management of the company. After losing out in foreign competition in the past many American companies nowadays consider quality and customer satisfaction of paramount importance when making important business decisions. A business must be geared towards the customer’s needs if it wants to have the most success. It is extremely important nowadays for a business to be outwardly focused and consider the needs of the customer and customer satisfaction. Especially with social media a company that is not customer focus can often be scrutinized publicly. This plays a huge role in today’s society because a huge part of a company’s brand image starts with the public opinion. If a business is not geared towards quality and putting the customer first they can get bad reviews or be called out on social media. If a business were to be left purely to make decisions on their own behalf of course they would always chose the most profitable means of production and manufacturing but no one will buy your product in the first place if your public image is bad so being outwardly focused is imperative in today’s market. However as the article linked states, there must be a balance between being outwardly focused and inwardly focused and a culture of achieving this must be created within your business.

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Nowadays, customer centricity is a fashionable topic. It is essential that organisations are sensible towards their customers through maintaining an effective and continuous dialogue. This is of crucial importance to facilitate customers with value and maintain a strong competitive position. Although we fully underline the importance of an 'outward focus' in being or becoming customer centric, a more 'inward focus' tells us that an organisation's culture should also be in place in order to be fully customer centric. This article advocates a 'customer centric culture' in which we will explore aspects of an organisational that should be in place to be (success)fully customer centric.
What is customer centricity from an outward focus?
Customer centricity is usually known as a mindset where customers are at the centre of everything an organisation does. As an organisation, being sensible towards your customers and other relevant stakeholders is essential importance to effectively facilitate them. Creating and maintaining dialogue with customers in their entire journey is of crucial importance to properly comprehend their experience and needs. Through this, organisations are able to offer compelling offerings and facilitate customers over time.

A good example of a company paying attention to customer centricity is Slack. Some argue that the usability of their communication platform is key but in this case it is more about the voice of the customer. Slack continuously maintains dialogue with customers and translates this to their offering. Founder and CEO Stuart Butterfield stated, "When key users told us something wasn't working, we fixed it - immediately." This shows how devoted Slack is to put the customer at the centre.

Another example is Amazon who explicitly states it wants to be Earth's most customer centric company. They aim to meet this goal by keeping in close contact with customers at every layer of the organisation. CEO Jeff Bezos for examples visits the customer service desk two days a year to 'know what is going on'. This illustrates the devotion and priority customer centricity has at C-level. Also, they place customer driven innovation at the forefront. All innovations are designed and initiated in such a way that it facilitates customers with value. Another example is when Amazon made a mistake with selling books they were not allowed to sell. Jeff Bezos reacted and apologised customers personally at the Amazon's forum.

Combining an outward and inward focus
This article makes a distinction between an outward and inward focus. An outward focus refers to the more strategic aspects of customers centricity (e.g. maintaining dialogue, understanding customer experience and making resonating offerings) where the customer forms the focal point. Despite its importance, one should also reflect upon itself. Therefore, an 'inward focus' for being successfully customer centric is necessary.

An organisation's strategy can be in place, but an organisation's culture and processes are also essential. In the case of customer centricity, internal processes and people's mindsets should be aligned with its strategy to effectively contribute to a customer's well-being. An organisation's culture is so strong that it acts as an 'invisible force' that shapes how employees behave and act. These factors tell us exactly what an inward focus means. Therefore, besides the outward focus, an inward focus is of equivalent importance.

The importance lies in the fact that the human capital of organisations practise customer centricity. If organisations have strong ambitions to be customer centric, employees are the one who should realise these goals. Without paying attention to an inward focus, there is a danger that employees are not aligned. As such, full customer centricity cannot be successfully practised in the long run.

Making the customer smile: Coolblue as an example of combining an outward and inward focus
Customer centricity is never an end-state. Therefore, organisations should realise that they need to develop themselves and recognise customer centricity is a process and not an end-state. Still, a good example who combines an in and outward focus is Coolblue, a Dutch retailer which has a strong position in The Netherlands and Belgium. They do everything to 'make their customer smile'. From ordering a washing machine, having it delivered and installed in your house between 24 hours to extremely easy return policies, everything is centred around the customer's well-being. In their case, the recruitment process of employees is strict in such a way that they look for people who have the 'Cooblue DNA'. This might not seem surprising and new, but there are a couple of aspects that makes Coolblue unique. Their whole culture is centred around their vision 'making people smile'. They reason that without the right people, they never can achieve what they have achieved so far.

What does it take for organisations to combine an outward with an inward focus?
When advocating for combining an outward with an inward focus in customer centricity, one should also know what it takes. Therefore, we lay out a couple of essentials that should serve as a starting point for organisations in paying to an inward focus.

Make a customer centric culture top management priority
Higher management should recognise the importance of both sides of the coin (outward and inward focus). It is only through incorporating the inward focus with the strategic goals of an organisation success can be achieved.

Incorporate it in people's mindsets
Do everything that contributes to a customer's well-being should be entangled in employees' mindsets. Acting on behalf of and for customers should become their second nature.

Make customer experience a cross departmental concern
Not only marketing or customer service departments should consider customer experience as their responsibility. Rather than making it a 'project' or someone's task, it should have cross organisational priority. To make this easily comprehensible for every employee, things such as 'golden rules of customer centricity' could be a good initiative. Another suggestion is to incorporate customer centricity as a KPI at an organisational, departmental and individual level. This stimulates the entire organisations, at different levels, to make it a priority. Besides that, KPIs serves as a monitoring and incentive tool.

Taking the employee's journey into account
To prevent an overkill over following only a customer's journey, organisations should also take care of an 'employee's journey'. Higher management should know what it is like to be an employee, in every level of the organisation. To bring this a step further, in the best-case scenario, every employee should know other colleagues' journeys too. This helps every individual to act upon other colleagues. As such, an R&D department knows what Customer Service departments do and the other way around. This helps each individual employee to better understand what their colleagues do and take this into account when helping customers. Internal processes will be better aligned without customers taking notice of it. This will eventually better serve customers.

Make it a mission, not a concept
A final remark, organisations can only succeed in becoming fully customer centric when they walk the talk of customer centricity and make it a mission, not a concept!

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What it takes to be fully customer centric: combining an outward with an inward focus - The Next Organization

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Nowadays, customer centricity is a fashionable topic. It is essential that organisations are sensible towards their customers through maintaining an effective and continuous dialogue. This is of crucial importance to facilitate customers with value and maintain a strong competitive position.

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Market Segmentation:
The most intriguing part of module eleven in my opinion was the topic of market segmentation. There are four types of market segmentation listed in the above article that can each be used to attract consumers in different ways. Demographic segmentation uses categories such as age, education, gender, income, and household size to differentiate among markets. This form of market segmentation is the most common because demographic information is easy to obtain. This form of segmentation is simple yet effective. Psychographic segmentation is market segmentation that groups people together based on their overall personality and lifestyle. This type of segmentation is very intriguing because it is the hardest to maintain, yet the most valuable. Geographic segmentation is simply grouping consumers together based on where they live. Although this may seem like a very vague way to group consumers a great example of when it is the most important is because people who live in the same area can tend to have similar needs. For example those that live in colder climates are more likely to purchase heavy sweaters. The last segmentation listed in this article is know as behavioral segmentation which includes grouping customer based off of the common behaviors and habits they exhibit when they interact your brand. This form is much more specific as you gather data based off of people who are interacting with your website for example to predict their future purchase habits. All these forms can be used in unison to effectively attract the right consumers to your brand that will be more likely to buy your product.

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BLOG

Published: Dec 6, 2022

Market segmentation is the foundation of any successful long-term marketing strategy.

To get maximum value from your marketing budget, get to the heart of your customers' shopping motivations by splitting your market into subgroups - then you'll be in a stronger position to serve your customers' unique needs.

According to research from SALESmanago, 77% of marketing ROI comes from segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns. So, if your marketing campaigns are falling flat, do more market research to understand what makes your customers tick across each segment.

One of the reasons market segmentation techniques drive more revenue for your business is because they can help you deliver personalized customer experiences. That's why the best personalization tools let you segment your audience so you can:

Drive more email and SMS leads

Lift website conversion rates

Improve average order values

Increase customer lifetime value

In this blog, I'll walk you through the four main types of market segmentation:
1. Demographic 2. Psychographic 3. Geographic 4. Behavioral
And I'll also cover:

What is market segmentation?

Market segmentation is a technique you can use to divide your customer base into subgroups based on shared characteristics, such as age, income, hobbies and location. The aim of segmentation is to tailor marketing efforts to your ideal customer profile (ICP), i.e. the customers most likely to buy your product or service.

For example, a customer at an organic food shop is likely to have some or all of these characteristics:

Gender: Male or Female

Age: 25-44

Income: $100,000+

Life stage: Home owner, no children

Interests: Healthy eating, sustainability, sport

Rather than wasting your budget on campaigns that target a broad section of the market, use messaging that resonates with a market segment made up of customers with those attributes. You should also consider which channels are likely to drive the highest engagement.

For this hypothetical organic food shop, a Pinterest campaign marketing products with sustainable ingredients would be a strategic way to appeal to potential customers. Why Pinterest and not another social channel? Well, not only do 9 out of 10 Pinners browse the social media platform for purchase inspiration, it's also used by up to 80% of Millennial women and 40% of Millennial men.

Why is a market segmentation strategy important?

According to Bain and Company, businesses that tailor strategies to customer segments generate yearly profit growth of 15% vs 5% for businesses that don't. In short, market segmentation can drive significant growth.

Segmentation techniques are major profit drivers because they help you define your target market and qualify customers as users of your product or service. You can then provide the personalization that 73% of shoppers now expect from brands - sending the right message, through the right channel, at the right time.

Market segmentation also helps you to:

Enter new markets

Build products that solve customer pain points

Streamline sales processes

Drive more revenue from email marketing

Drive more revenue from social media marketing

Increase eCommerce customer retention

4 Key market segmentation types & examples

1. Demographic segmentation: The who

Widely used by D2C ecommerce brands, demographic segmentation is one of the most simple yet effective kinds of segmentation. You can use demographic segmentation to split your audience and create customer personas based on objective information, such as:

Age

Gender

Income

Level of education

Religion

Profession/role in a company

For example, if you segment your audience based on your customers' income, you can target them with products that fall within the constraints of their budget. If you're a small business or new to ecommerce, this is a straightforward type of segmentation with three key advantages:

It's easy to collect information

It's simple to measure & analyze

It's cost-effective

Luxury goods manufacturer Montblanc worked with Yieldify to present a selection of offers across their website. They lifted conversions by 118% with a Father's Day deal offering a free gift to customers spending over £200 - a threshold that took the spending expectations of Montblanc's target audience into account.

2. Psychographic segmentation: The why

Psychographic segmentation is the process of grouping people together based on similar personal values, political opinions, aspirations and psychological characteristics.

For example, you can group customers according to their:

Personality

Hobbies

Social status

Opinions

Life goals

Values and beliefs

Lifestyle

Because these characteristics are subjective, psychographic is a harder segment to identify - but it's also the most valuable. The best places to gather data for psychographic segmentation are through your audience analytic tools and social media, but you should also use surveys, interviews and focus groups to strengthen your customer understanding in this segment.

Through psychographic segmentation, you can get a deep insight into your customers' likes, dislikes, needs, wants and loves. You can then create marketing campaigns that resonate with their psychographic profile.

Yieldify's personalization technology helps you create on-site experiences that capture more psychographic information about your customers. For example, Heidi, a leading online travel agency, collected information about their customers' preferred skiing style with layered lead capture experiences.

3. Geographic segmentation: The where

Geographic segmentation is the process of grouping customers based on where they live and where they shop. People who live in the same city, state or zip code typically have similar needs, mindsets and cultural preferences.

The real advantage of geographic segmentation is it provides an insight into what your customers' location says about a number of geo-specific variables, such as their:

Climate

Culture

Language

Population density - (urban vs rural)

As with all market segmentation methods, you'll need to analyze your data to understand how each factor influences your customers' shopping behavior. For example, people living in colder climates are likely to be in the market for winter clothing and home heating appliances.

You can also use geographic segmentation to solve practical problems. With Yieldify, global fashion brand Nautica used geo-targeting to show different customers when they could guarantee Christmas delivery. Customers in rural areas had to order earlier than urban areas, so Nautica's delivery countdown timers adapted according to the customer's location.

4. Behavioral segmentation: The how

Behavioral segmentation is the process of grouping customers based on common behaviors they exhibit when they interact with your brand.

For this type of segmentation, you can group your audience based on their:

Spending habits

Purchasing habits

Browsing habits

Interactions with your brand

Loyalty to your brand

Product feedback

Gather this objective data through your website analytics and you can identify patterns in your customers' behavior that help predict how they'll interact with your brand in the future.

Then you can leverage this hypothesis to provide personalized recommendations that address your customers needs. For example, Spotify provides its users with curated daily mixes based on the types of genres and artists they've listened to previously.

At Yieldify, we use behavioral segmentation to deliver highly relevant and targeted campaigns based on behaviors including:

Number of sessions to your website

Number of pages visited

Time spent on site

URLs visited

Page types visited

Exit intent

Inactivity

Shopping cart value

Campaign history

Referral source

For example, Petal & Pup tailor their email lead generation messaging for visitors arriving from Facebook.

Other types of market segmentation with examples

Demographic, psychographic, geographic, and behavioral are the four pillars of market segmentation, but consider using these four extra types to enhance your marketing efforts.

Technographic segmentation

Technographic segmentation groups people based on the technology they use and how they interact with it. For example, you could segment early adopters of new tech and target them when you launch a new product to market.

Alternatively, you could present customers with deals depending on what device they use to shop online. For example, you could show Apple products to consumers who use Safari.

Generational and life stage segmentation

Generational segmentation expands on demographic segmentation by grouping customers based on their generation - Boomers, Gen Z, Millennials, etc.

You can also segment customers by factors including marital status, home ownership and number of children.

For example, Bank of America successfully incorporated life stage segmentation in their digital marketing strategy. They invited customers using their Family Life Banking program to specify their life stage circumstances when they signed up. From there, they directed customers to a microsite designed specifically for that segment.

Transactional segmentation

Using transactional segmentation you can group customers based on their previous purchase interactions with your brand, including:

Source of brand discovery - e.g. social media, organic

Date of most recent order

Total number of transactions

Average order value

Firmographic Segmentation

Most of the market segments I've discussed focus on D2C brands, but firmographic segmentation is a tool B2B companies use to create more impactful marketing campaigns.

Firmographic segmentation is the process of analyzing and classifying B2B customers based on shared company characteristics, and is similar to how D2C marketers use demographic segmentation.

Use these 7 factors to create firmographic customer segments:

Industry

Location

Company size

Status

Number of employees

Performance

Executive title

Sales cycle stage

8 Benefits of Market Segmentation

1. Better ROI from marketing

According to research from SALESmanago, 77% of marketing ROI comes from segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns.

2. Set your omnichannel strategy

The deep insights you glean from a strong market segmentation process will help you set an omnichannel strategy that better addresses your customers' needs. For example, if a high percentage of your customers are from Gen Z, tailor your messaging across all channels to speak to their cultural and social reference points.

3. Build customer loyalty

Market segmentation helps you build the personalized journeys your customers are craving. According to Accenture, 79% of consumers are more loyal to brands that use personalization tactics.

4. Reach new markets

Segmentation helps brands identify gaps in the market. For example, world-renowned camera company Canon took a 40% share in the low-end digital camera market by spotting an opportunity to sell cameras to children without smartphones.

5. Reduce customer acquisition costs

The insights you glean from creating segmented customer personas will make your marketing campaigns more effective. That can be said for both D2C and B2B brands.For example, insurance giant Metlife set annual savings targets of $800 million after streamlining its sales process to consider the behaviors and attitudes of each customer segment.

6. Build better products

With a clearer understanding of who your customers are, you can create products that better serve their needs, desires and expectations.

7. Higher quality email & SMS leads

You're more likely to get leads into your email and SMS databases by adapting your opt-in form according to customer segments. With Yieldify, American footwear company Rockport drove 30% more revenue per lead using a segmented approach to lead capture.

8. Drive more revenue from email marketing

Marketers have increased open rates by 14.3% and revenue by up to 760% using segmented email campaigns.

Build your own market segmentation strategy

I hope this blog has given you a clear understanding of how you can use market segmentation tactics to optimize your market strategy. If you want more information about how you can leverage market segmentation on your ecommerce website, check out this page on Yieldify's audience segmentation capabilities.

Market Segmentation FAQs

What is meant by market segmentation?

Market segmentation is the process of dividing the market into subsets of customers who share common characteristics. The four pillars of segmentation marketers use to define their ideal customer profile (ICP) are demographic, psychographic, geographic and behavioral.

What are the advantages of market segmentation?

Market segmentation helps you qualify customers of your product or service and serve them with more personalized marketing campaigns that speak to their unique needs. A good market segmentation strategy will help you:

- Drive more marketing ROI
- Reach new markers
- Cut customer acquisition costs
- Build better products
- Increase brand loyalty

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4 Types of Market Segmentation With Real-World Examples | Yieldify

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BLOG Published: Dec 6, 2022 Market segmentation is the foundation of any successful long-term marketing strategy. To get maximum value from your marketing budget, get to the heart of your customers' shopping motivations by splitting your market into subgroups - then you'll be in a stronger position to serve your customers' unique needs.

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Supply chain management:
Supply chain management means making sure your business runs smoothly on the distribution end. Your supply chain management directly dictates two of the most vital parts of customer satisfaction: price and delivery. The delivery of a product is crucial to customer satisfaction. Distribution centers must ensure accurate order filling and billing. Distribution centers must also make sure orders are delivered on time and everything is correctly together. The success of a product is contingent on all these aspects coming together which means supply chain management is a crucial part of keeping a customer happy. The reason why amazon is as popular as it is, is because of the way their distribution centers are ran. This includes consistency to get the product to the customer on time and in good condition. Everyone continues to order from amazon to buy anything and everything because of the consistency of their supply chain management. This proves that having an efficient and high performing supply chain means you can beat out other competitors and retail price and maximize profitability.

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Your supply chain performance can be your hidden weapon to boost customer satisfaction and to increase your profitability. No other part of your business can have the supply chain's impact on reaching the customer, lowering retail prices, and improving service levels; meaning effective supply chain management creates value for both your customers and your business.

The Importance of the Supply Chain in Customer Satisfaction

The customer expects great service. They're giving you money to perfectly satisfy their needs to get a product on time and in one piece. If a problem does arise, they want your company to have the transparency to show why it occurred, and what you're going to do for them to fix it. Especially in the modern climate, where a customer can blast your company publicly on social media, your brand's reputation is more susceptible to damage from preventable supply chain mistakes than ever before. " Any supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A company can move a product from China to the United States, clear it through Customs, move it to a distribution center, and fulfill it in record time. But if it doesn't deliver the product to consumers quickly enough, they are not happy, and the company's supply chain has failed. - Inbound Logistics Magazine

Your supply chain is far and away your most effective customer service tool. It directly dictates the two most vital parts of customer satisfaction: price and delivery. Having an efficient supply chain means you can beat your competitors on retail price and improve your profitability. Having high performing operations also means you'll be able to meet or exceed your customers' expectations on delivery of their product. Giving your customers what they want when they want it and at the cheapest price is key to keeping them satisfied.

Effective supply chain management allows you to do just that. By choosing the right systems, approaches, and partners within your supply chain, you're giving your customers, be they individuals or businesses, the great service, transparency, and visibility they crave. You have complete control of your products' journey from conception to delivery, implementing systems to reduce errors and increase inventory efficiency. The more optimized your supply chain is, the better the customer experience, the happier they'll be, and the more likely they'll be to make a purchase from you again. No other part of your business can come close to matching the supply chain's direct impact on creating return business.

Customer Satisfaction Metrics to Track

While tracking traditional metrics that show supply chain effectiveness will give you a good idea of how well you're treating your customers, you need to go further to continually enhance your customer satisfaction.

How many new customers are coming in every day?

How much is every individual customer worth to you?

What are the 5 most common reasons for a customer to leave you?

What areas of your business receive the most complaints?

These metrics will allow you to uncover one of the secrets to business growth: connecting changes in profitability to changes in customer experience and satisfaction. In order to do this, you need to integrate your analytical and accounting systems to the point that you can clearly view the entire supply chain progression for every client. What step in the life-cycle of that client is causing them to complain most? Is a part of a specific supplier consistently failing? Is one of your distribution centers slower than the rest? Is the last mile responsible for damaging packages? Fixing any problem areas will keep your customers loyal and allow you to grow.

Connecting all the dots can find the areas of your supply chain that cause the highest levels of dissatisfaction among your clientele, so that you can optimize it to improve your overall profitability.

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Supply Chain's Role in Customer Satisfaction

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Your supply chain performance can be your hidden weapon to boost customer satisfaction and to increase your profitability. No other part of your business can have the supply chain's impact on reaching the customer, lowering retail prices, and improving service levels; meaning effective supply chain management creates value for both your customers and your business.

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Managerial accounting in a small business setting:
Managerial Accounting can be very important in a small business setting. Managerial accounting focuses on financial information that managers inside the organization can use to evaluate and make decisions about current and future operations within their company. Financial accounting focuses on preparing external reports that are used by outsider who have an interest in the business but are not part of the company’s management. Financial accounting reports can be useful to managers or small business owners they are mainly for lender, supplier, investors and others who will assess the financial strength of the business. However there are many more reasons why managerial accounting is much more useful for small business owners in particular. Sales reports that are reported by managers are used to evaluate how well market strategies are working as well as how good their sales are during a specific period of time. Small business owner can use this to change future marketing strategies which can be very important for getting their business off the ground. Production reports can help small business owners control costs and provide adequate labor. This can be vital for small business owners because they generally are not working with as big of a budget as big company and must budget their costs. All of these reports and analyses used in managerial accounting are hugely beneficial to smaller business owners. Managerial accounting is used to provide the big picture and decide which areas of your small business are growing and are profitable. This can allow managers of their small business to determine which areas of their company need to be streamlined or improved.

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The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb wants our readers who are small business owners to understand exactly what management accounting is and what it can do for your business. Management accounting allows decision-makers to get data-driven reports that reveal significant trends, strengths, and weaknesses of the enterprise.

For many small business owners who don't have an accounting department, however, it can seem as if the information provided by setting up a management accounting system is not time well spent. After all, the odds are that management and the chief accountant at a small firm are one and the same. Is it worth it to generate a separate set of reports if only one person is looking at them? It might be if an easy way to organize and sort data makes decisions a lot easier.

In conventional accounting, every incoming check and expenditure are recorded so that they can be reconciled. Using management accounting, however, it becomes easy to spot major trends that may affect the business. For a business owner who can quickly get bogged down with the minutiae of the day-to-day, being able to take a step back and see the overall health of a company is essential.

It is critical to start with very accurate financial data. While most accounting software programs can produce reports that use management accounting techniques, these reports are only as good as the data that is provided to the program. That data, viewed in management reports, can pinpoint areas for analysis and review.

With management accounting techniques, a small business owner can get a clear picture of how his or her business is doing as a whole. Instead of focusing on every individual expense associated with a client, a management accounting approach would look at the total amount spent and earned from a client in order to determine if the work being done is truly profitable. Reviewing detailed data on overhead costs might be necessary in order to pay all the bills, but considering the total cost of office space over a period of several months is the report that a business owner needs in order to make a decision about renewing a lease. It is this analysis of relevant costs that can steer a small business owner toward sound decisions.

It is important to realize that management accounting is designed to provide the big picture. From that, it is possible to see if areas of a company are not profitable, which ones are making money, which ones are growing, and which are shrinking. For example, these techniques can identify which specific clients are most profitable, which areas of the operation need to be streamlined or improved, and which capital expenditures might be most useful.

Similarly, management accounting tools can be used to make decisions about the future of a company. While financial accounting will tell a business owner how much he or she spends on personnel costs, management accounting will compare the theoretical cost of a new employee to the expected benefit gained from his or her work. Future budgeting, financial statement projections, and identification of productive areas on which to focus improvements are all activities that can be assisted by management accounting techniques.

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What Management Accounting can do for Small Businesses

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The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb wants our readers who are small business owners to understand exactly what management accounting is and what it can do for your business. Management accounting allows decision-makers to get data-driven reports that reveal significant trends, strengths, and weaknesses of the enterprise.

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Planning your life:
The last module in this class was a bit of a different one because more so focused on our personal goals. The topic in this module included a self reflection portion that aimed to set goals to plan for different aspects of your life. In the text this included goals related to career, relationships, lifestyle, self and finances. For this last portion of my learning project I wanted to reflect my takeaways from a different article also related to life planning. The first tip to creating a life plan doesn't involve writing out your goals or what you want out of life but instead reflecting on your life so far and why you would want the things you do out of your future. The second tip is to assess your life satisfaction related to the areas such as career and relationships that were outlined in the textbook. Instead of rating my satisfaction with each area though I decided to picture what I want out of each aspect of my life. For example in my career I want to get a bachelors degree and to get a job that will provide stability for the future by fleshing out my resume and continuously trying to move up. I want to maintain my relationships and build on them as well as create fulfilling ones. I want to continue to live a healthy lifestyle through exercise and a nutritious diet. Lastly I want to continue the hobbies that I love in life. The last tip which I am still working on to this day is to create specific goals related to all these different aspects of my life that will allow me to achieve the most satisfaction and be proud of the person I am.

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Key points

Life planning is a process of creating a general guide of your life's purpose, what you hope to accomplish, and how to work toward those goals.

Life planning helps keep your priorities in check and serves as motivation.

Tips for creating a life plan include reflecting, assessing your life satisfaction, and creating goals.

Cowritten by Sukhman Rekhi and Tchiki Davis.
Remember when we were younger, when people asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up? It may seem silly to ask an eight-year-old what they hope to do with their life. Maybe this small talk was also a way to get us to think about what we wanted from life. Most of us confidently answered this question, revealing our hopes and dreams.

However, as we grew older and learned how to manage the curveballs life threw at us, we might have lost sight of what we once hoped to become and achieve. So take a moment now and ask yourself what you want to be. It doesn't have to be what you hope to achieve five or ten years from now-what is something you want to do next week? Next month? Next year?

Planning out your life doesn't mean having every minute of every day mapped out. Instead, life planning is a process of creating a generalized guide of what your purpose(s) in life is, what you hope to accomplish during your lifetime, and how you aim to work toward those life goals (Smith, 1999). Life plans often include an estimated timeline of when you hope your goals come to fruition and also take bumps on the road into account. Ultimately, life is full of surprises, and we cannot possibly predict unforeseen events. As such, life plans are often works-in-progress, should be amended as life goes on, and preferably, are flexible rather than rigid blueprints.

Why Might You Want a Life Plan

Even if you are someone who enjoys going with the flow and taking life one step at a time, you may still find the following information useful or at least insightful. Let's take a look at why life planning can be beneficial for you (Miller & Frisch, 2009).

Life planning keeps your priorities in check. As humans, we have several life aspects to think about-families, friends, jobs, health, finances, and hobbies. And yet, there are only 24 hours in a day to complete what seems like a never-ending to-do list. Creating a general life plan can allow you to list your priorities and rank which ones are most important. Of course, as life goes on, priorities often change. Having a flexible and amendable life plan lets us revisit our priorities and focus on those requiring the majority of our attention.

Life planning outlines your big dreams and goals. Life plans allow us to put our dreams and goals on paper rather than just in our heads. When we see our dreams and goals listed in a life plan, they can serve as important reminders of our purpose and why we do the work we do. This may also enable us to make decisions that are in tune with our dreams.

Life planning serves as motivation. Motivation ebbs and flows. Some days we wake up and feel determined to accomplish a week's worth of tasks in one afternoon. On other days, we may procrastinate for hours to complete a chore that would take fifteen minutes to complete. Life plans can help motivate us on the days we lack the inspiration to chase our dreams and create a life that we love for ourselves.

Tips to Create a Life Plan

Do you feel like making a life plan would be useful for you? Try walking through some of these steps to create a life plan, or at least start thinking about making one.
1. Reflect
Whether you write your answers down or ponder these questions in your head, take some time to reflect on your life. Here are some questions to consider:

Where do you come from?

Where are you now?

Where do you hope to be in the future?

Which aspects of your life are you satisfied with (e.g., family, social relationships, career, finances, recreation, health, etc.)?

In which aspects of your life would you like to see improvement?

What are your priorities right now? How do you see them changing in the future?

2. Assess Your Life Satisfaction
I am going to provide you with a list of categories in your life. You may find it beneficial to rate your satisfaction with these categories on a scale of 1-10. This activity may help you figure out what works well and what needs to be improved in your life. This is not an exhaustive list, and I invite you to incorporate any life categories that are relevant to you as you complete this activity.

Motivation Essential Reads

Family

Career

Social Relationships (e.g., friends, community members, neighbors, etc.)

Love and Romance

Mental Health

Physical Health

Financial Security

Nutrition and Fitness

Self-Growth and Learning

Environment

Hobbies

Recreation and Fun

Self-Love

Community Involvement and/or Civic Engagement

Religion and/or Spirituality

Once you finish rating, think about whether you can create a ranked list of which categories are top priorities and which can be momentarily left on the back burner.
3. Create Goals
Maybe you looked at this list and realized you hadn't visited your parents in a while, didn't take a vacation last year, or missed participating in a hobby that you loved. Once you have made a list of your top priorities, you may find it helpful to create some goals that can help you increase your satisfaction with these different life aspects.
A version of this post can also be found at The Berkeley Well-Being Institute.

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Life planning is a process of creating a general guide of your life's purpose, what you hope to accomplish, and how to work toward those goals. Life planning helps keep your priorities in check and serves as motivation. Tips for creating a life plan include reflecting, assessing your life satisfaction, and creating goals.