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|In: Industry Commentary|Last Updated:

The Meta Group reports that a staggering 55% to 75% of all CRM projects fail to meet their objectives. Clearly it’s just the latest in a long line of over-hyped technologies.

Or is it? On the average about 70% of all IT-related projects fail to meet their objectives, so CRM’s failure rate, along with the appalling 70% failure rate for ERP implementation projects and the shockingly high 70% failure rate experienced by those implementing supply chain management (SCM) is about as distressing as a 70% failure rate for baseball batters.

Which is to say this is actually good news. Any manager in baseball would be thrilled to have a team batting average of 300, and if CRM and SCM projects are succeeding as well or better than traditional IT projects it’s remarkable. Why? CRM and SCM aren’t like traditional IT projects. They’re the next stage in an ongoing shift in the role of information technology — from solution to enabler.

When I had hair and COBOL was the only programming language used in business, we automated an existing process, and we were done. The new application was the solution.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, in contrast, ship with built-in business processes. They’re more than software, and as a result require far more coordination between IT and business management — something that caught many early ERP implementers off-guard. Businesses usually implement ERP systems to replace obsolete technology and think of the new processes as added baggage, not added value.

SCM and CRM are fundamentally different. Neither is a category of software.

SCM is a business discipline. Its goal (loosely stated) is to maximize the quality of the raw materials used in creating a company’s products while minimizing handling costs. It requires sophisticated manufacturing and distribution processes, along with the cooperation of your suppliers, their suppliers, and the shipping and distribution companies that move stuff from one to another.

CRM is a core business strategy. It refocuses a company around the management of customer relationships, treating them as assets, where ongoing investment yields ongoing returns. It involves personalized marketing and service, mass customization in manufacturing, and sophisticated employees whose good judgment and attitude, assisted by the company’s systems, help turn every customer experience into not just a pleasant interaction, but part of an ongoing relationship between each customer and the business.

CRM is a core business strategy, driving success through the management of customer relationships which become assets, where ongoing investment yields ongoing returns. It involves personalized marketing and service, mass customization in manufacturing, and employees whose good judgment and attitude, assisted by technology, turn every customer experience into not just a pleasant interaction, but part of an ongoing relationship between each customer and the business.

With both SCM and CRM, information technology is just one of many enablers.

And that’s a fundamental change in our relationship with the enterprise.

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|In: Career Management|Last Updated:

One of my dopier career moves was showing up the marketing director at a former employer. I thought I was demonstrating how useful I could be in her organization. She saw me as a potential rival. Blam! I got backstabbed up the yin yang, and if you’ve ever had your yin yang backstabbed you know it hurts like the Dickens.

If only I’d had a copy of Wess Roberts’ new book It Takes More Than a Carrot and a Stick I’d have known better. Right there on page 88, talking about Colleague Slayers it says, “They normally attack only those colleagues who have offended them or present a competitive threat to them in the battle for power and prestige that occurs in virtually all workplaces.”

Carrot and Stick isn’t just about how to handle backstabbers. It’s a veritable field guide to annoying co-workers, only more useful.

The average field guide helps you identify critters, but doesn’t generally give you advice about what to do once you’ve found them. Look up seagulls in your average bird book, for example, and it won’t tell you to move immediately if you find yourself directly below a hovering flock.

Carrot and Stick, on the other hand, tells you exactly how to handle each of the 15 major types of office irritant. Whether your problem is an Imperious Jerk, Empty Suit, Android or Perpetual Victim, Roberts helps you cope. He gives you specific advice tailored to your work relationship, so you know what to do whether you report to the Slougher (yet another species) he reports to you, or you’re peers.

This book isn’t for everyone. I know a guy, for example, who makes his living managing his own investments. He’s actually good enough to earn a satisfactory income this way. He operates out of his home, trades on-line, and has no boss, no co-workers, no staff … not even suppliers in any meaningful sense. He wouldn’t get much benefit out of this book. Neither would your average hermit, I suppose.

If you, like my investor friend, work alone in splendid isolation, don’t bother with It Takes More Than a Carrot and a Stick. Instead, buy Bob Lewis’s IS Survival Guide (hey, I need the royalties just as much as Wess does, and book-plugging does begin at home!).

But if you work in an office and have several nominees for the cubicle farthest from you, Carrot and Stick is just the ticket.

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