A
two-day market planning, product planning and financial planning
seminar. This business seminar is a practical, and cost-effective
version of the multiple-week, multiple-thousand dollar executive
MBA programs, offered by some of the major business schools.
We
have also conducted this seminar on-site for major companies,
including IBM, Sony, Sharp Electronics, Mentor Graphics, BMC Software
and many other companies, both large and small. Consequently,
we would be happy to discuss an in-house seminar, either standard
or customized, for your company.
The
participants can attend the first day only ($299.00 per person)
or both days ($399.00 per person). We have priced the seminar
to make it cost-effective to register groups of people.
Due
to the fact, that we conduct this seminar regularly, you can reschedule
a seminar date at anytime, and not forfeit the seminar fee.
All
seminars begin at 9:00 am and end at 5:00 pm each day.
The
locations and dates for our upcoming seminars are:
Boston,
MA/Chelmsford, MA • Radisson Hotel •
January 18-19, 2006
Chicago,
IL • Marriott Suites Chicago O'Hare Airport •
November 9-10, 2005
Dallas,
TX • Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Radisson Hotel
South • February 15-16, 2006
Los
Angeles, CA/Costa Mesa, CA • National
University Orange County Airport • December 7-8, 2005
Newark
International Airport, NJ • Marriott Hotel Newark
Airport • October 19-20, 2005
San
Jose, CA • National University San Jose Airport
• September 21-22, 2005
We are not affiliated with any university
or college. We are a private business consulting company.
The seminar's topics are linked together by two overarching business
methodologies:
I.
Value-Based Financial Management Methodology
A.
To provide a return on investment (ROI) to stockholders, management
has to continually increase the value of the business, through
producing significant profitable annual sales growth, which
generates a sufficient level of free cash flow.
Although,
profitability is the necessary condition of a business or a
new product, it is not sufficient, because, contrary to conventional
business wisdom, profits are not cash. The necessary and sufficient
condition of a successful business or a new product is free
cash flow, which is the real measure of generated economic value.
B.
In addition, the free cash flow has to be at a sufficient minimum
level to cover the weighted average cost of capital, the risk
adjusted cost of capital or the opportunity cost of capital.
In other words, before a company can generate a satisfactory
level of free cash flow to increase the value of the business,
the company has to invest capital and achieve a ROI greater
than the cost of the capital itself.
Hence,
looking upon a business as a collection of investment projects,
for example, investments in new or existing products, new manufacturing
equipment, sales programs, information technology software and
systems, etc., the goal has to be to have every investment project
generate or save a significant level of free cash flow, and
thereby, achieve a sufficient ROI. Accordingly, every investment
project can, and has to be measured on a free cash flow basis.
C.
To accomplish the above, companies have to measure the correct
financial value “drivers,” with the correct “tools.”
In addition, the companies have to use the same “tools”
to measure all the various types of investment projects, as
well as, measuring the business as a whole, and utilize the
identical “tools” employed by professional investors,
to assist them in making their investment decisions vis-à-vis
the company.
Consequently,
companies cannot use standard accounting methods to measure
ROI, like return on equity (ROE) or return on assets (ROA),
which measure substandard value producing activities. Additionally,
ROE and ROA cannot be used to measure all the various types
of investment projects, and professional investors cannot use
them to make successful equity and/or debt investment decisions.
II.
Value-Based Product Marketing and Development Methodology
A.
Optimize products and prices between buyers, competitors, and
internal financial requirements, using an externally driven
development process, that is, 1) identify the buyers' problems,
needs, and/or the benefits required by the buyers; 2) determine
the value to be delivered to the buyers, with emphasis on incremental
value delivered via competitive advantages; 3) set prices based
on the value delivered, pricing segments analysis, pricing leverage
analysis, pricing strategy and/or the marketing strategy; and
4) determine the product development investment and manufacturing
costs that can be justified.
B.
Identify the business value creating market segments, and the
product line development sequencing, through the development
of a strategic product marketing plan, that identifies the market
segments, price segments, optimum prices, product configurations,
product development investments, manufacturing costs, targeted
marketing and sales programs, and unique product positionings.
C.
Identify the value delivered to the buyers through price segments
identification, pricing leverage analysis, competitive value
analysis, and classifying features and benefits based on the
value they deliver to the buyers, that is, required, persuasive,
and preemptive features and benefits, and detrimental, dissuasive,
and preemptively dissuasive features.
Amongst,
the specific topics
presented are: 1) how to identify the value producing market segments
for a product, 2) how to quickly evaluate new product or business
opportunities, before performing a detailed evaluation, and 3)
why you should, and how to calculate the free cash flow, and the
return on investment (ROI) generated from a new or existing product
investment, a marketing or sales program, an information technology
system or a manufacturing automation investment.
On
our web site, we list the major product
and financial
questions answered in the seminar. These questions are especially
informative in respect to the overall content presented in the
program. If you or your associates can answer these questions
today, don't attend the seminar. However, if you or they cannot
answer these questions, please register
for one of our sessions.
This
seminar has been extremely well received by over 10,000 professionals
from large, and small companies. As affirmation, see the letters
from Sharp Electronics, Manugistics, Advanced Micro Devices, Verizon,
Sony, IBM, Varian Associates, MDL Information Systems, and RISE
Technology.
In
addition, to marketing and financial professionals, the seminar
attracts sales, scientific, manufacturing, and engineering managers,
who want to deepen their understanding of the subjects covered.
It helps them to design and manufacture value-producing products,
and to communicate more effectively with their counterparts in
the marketing and financial functions.
The
seminar provides the participants with “real” business
skills that can be applied to their everyday work tasks. One of
the major skills being the ability to think “concretely”
about ROI, and to actually calculate it for all types of investments,
for example, new or existing products, new manufacturing equipment,
sales programs, information technology software and systems, etc.
In
addition, although, the participants will learn how to evaluate
the balance sheet, income and cash flow statements, the financial
focus is not on “debits and credits” or “accounting
mechanics.” The emphasis is on understanding financial objectives
and analysis techniques.
If
you want to improve your or your people’s ability to think
as product marketing savvy and financially adroit business people,
then please register
yourself or them for one of our seminars.
We
would also be happy to discuss an in-house seminar, either standard
or customized, with the associated reduced fee per attendee versus
the above fee for our public seminars.
We
also conduct an all financial version of this seminar called The
Financial MBA Seminar. However, we only conduct this seminar as
an in-house session.
Additionally,
send us an e-mail
, if you would like us to e-mail you an Adobe Acrobat PDF File
containing all the information on our web site.