A Recipe for Corporate Success

By Ken Rogers and Errol Chadwick

Ken Rogers and Errol Chadwick draw on their decades of experience as executive managers, and as consultants to large corporations in this guide to achieving enduring corporate success.
Drawing on their experience with the executives of hundreds of companies across multiple continents, they conclude that with rare exceptions, corporations tend to preserve the status quo – even when it is manifestly not working.
But by following the recipe in this guide, corporate leaders will be able to:
self audit their corporation’s capability to continuously succeed; bolster corporate strategic planning; promote financial discipline throughout the organization; navigate human resources and performance management; motivate employees to succeed; maintain an enviable corporate climate.
The recipe they share—once implemented—will enable a corporation to avoid significant non-productive costs, judicial penalties, and reputational damage. It allows a corporation to remain relevant, cost effective, and operationally efficient.
Whether you’re a top executive or aspiring to serve in that role, the recipe outlined in this guide will help and direct you toward achieving synergies, accomplish corporate objectives, and drive value, and regularly record and report on progress.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781982294359

Ken Rogers

Ken Rodgers teaches and writes in Boise, ID. He has chased sheep across the desert, chased the enemy through the jungles of southeast Asia, run the head gate to capture cattle, pounded the keys of a calculator, pounded the keys of a typewriter, peddled mountain real estate, and tailed off recycled redwood at a finishing mill. An award-winning author and founding member of the Idaho Writer's Guild--an affiliate of The Cabin literary center in Boise--Ken recently served on the board of both Big Tree Arts and True North Creative Learning Center. Along with his wife, Betty, he was a founding member of the Literary Arts Council of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts in Sebastopol, CA, and together they have hosted many classes, workshops, and readings. Ken explores the region where poetry and prose meet. He is available to help you spice up your writing. Whether you are a committed writer trying to start or finish a book, a budding poet, or a businessperson trying to discover better ways to express yourself, Ken's instruction and advice are invaluable. Working with him will bring dramatic changes to your writing.

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Copyright © 2022 Errol Chadwick and Ken Rogers.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-9434-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9435-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  05/02/2022

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of A. G. (Tony) Kelly PSM, who was a true believer and consummate CEO, and to A. J. ‘’John’’ Wyndham, Principal of AJ Wyndham and Associates, a valued mentor in the early days and friend.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Foreword

The Authors

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1     Morale (Organisation Climate)

Chapter 2     Recipe (Formula – Process) Overview

Chapter 3     Inputs (Accountabilities) and Outputs (Performance Objectives)

Chapter 4     Organisation Structure

Chapter 5     Corporate Strategic Planning

Chapter 6     Operational Planning and Budgeting

Chapter 7     Information Management

Chapter 8     Human Resources and Performance Management

Chapter 9     Marketing

Chapter 10   Public Relations, Corporate Image, Government Affairs

Public Relations

Corporate Image

Government Affairs

Chapter 11   Support Business Disciplines

Financial Accounting

Management Accounting

Risk Management

Total Asset Management

Project Management

Chapter 12   Management Practices

Governance

Motivation

Delegation

Internal Communications

Counselling

Ethics

Chapter 13   Role of the Recipe Custodian

Epilogue

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Definition of Terms (Corporate Dictionary)

Appendix 2 – Example Agenda for Team Effectiveness (TE) Session

Appendix 3 – Examples of Inputs (Accountabilities) and Outputs (Performance Objectives) Documents

Appendix 4 – Role of Chairperson, Board Members, and Chief Executive Officer

Appendix 5 – Internal Provider - Purchaser Relationships and Agreed Briefs

Appendix 6 – Example of a Policy for Non Delegated Functions

AppEndix 7 – Example - Inputs and Outputs for the Manager Corporate Strategic Planning. (Head of Discipline)

Appendix 8 – Information Management and Technology Strategy Development

Appendix 9 – Example of an Operational Output for the Marketing Manager (Head of Discipline)

References

Endorsement

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Over the span of time taken by the authors in the writing of this book, they have mutually benefited from the support, guidance and professional help provided by Errol’s friend, Sue Turner. This assistance, through her editorial input and encouragement, has been invaluable, and eased the impost of writing a book on top of her and the authors’ otherwise busy lives.

Throughout the book, the work of others and a number of sources have been referred to or drawn upon. The authors wish to further acknowledge this and hereby proffer their appreciation. The references are detailed in the table of references at the end of the book. Any oversight in this regard, whilst unintended, we apologise for unreservedly.

FOREWORD

The New South Wales Government decided to corporatize the Forestry Commission of New South Wales in 1990. The decision sent shock waves through the organization. I had joined the Commission as an undergraduate trainee in 1960, training at Sydney University and the Australian Forestry School in Canberra. I worked all over the state, and by 1990 was the Regional Forester for the Albury Region, the largest in the state, taking in forests from the alpine ash forests and softwood plantations of the western Snowys, through the river red gum and cypress pine forests of the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys to South Australia.

The decision was profound and stunned the dedicated hard working staff and affected all sections of the Commission. Central to the decision was amalgamation of the Tumut-Tumbarumba and Bathurst- Orange-Oberon softwood plantations into one business unit, in advance of possible privatisation. The 160,000ha estate supplied the biggest sawmills in the nation, along with manufacturers of particleboard, medium density fibreboard and pulp and paper.

The recently appointed Commissioner promptly seconded me to the NSW Treasury, to work with merchant banker consultants on assets, financial structures and the scope of the plantation business, and on organisational arrangements. Fortunately, there was an excellent costing system in place which was to be of enormous benefit in the restructure.

Enter Errol Chadwick who had been engaged to guide us through the difficult process of changing a typical public service culture into a modern-day business. The first meetings with Errol evoked a level of scepticism and disbelief. However, Errol’s process, a recipe for the management of change, had us very engaged, particularly in the areas of accountability, responsibility, and the concept of a senior management team at top level made up of business unit managers, who in turn worked with their own teams on the same basic principles as their general managers. The days of all decision making residing in head office would be over and devolved to where the action was!

Errol’s application of the process, succeeded with the wholesale buy in of leaders at all levels who realised that their skills and professionalism would be recognised and respected, and that a strong level of teamwork could deliver any outcome desired. His training sessions were eagerly anticipated because they presented the opportunity to discuss, dissect and debate his business principles across all parts of the business. During the restructure process I was appointed as GM of the Softwoods Region and the government decided to keep the assets in public ownership. I knew that many of the functional managers at regional level were very interested in Errol’s programs. We introduced many of the staff to the same information and the response was deeply gratifying all round, with a powerful team response.

Building off the back of the pre-existing costing system a financial reporting system was put in place, enabling rapid response management of operating and capital expenditure and sales income.

We took a far more engaging position with our customers, and spent time with them in their manufacturing premises, aimed at listening to their needs and concerns. Relationships rapidly improved. We did the same with harvesting and haulage contractors and brought them under our control. Better products and service for the customers and significant revenue gains. Along the way we explained what the restructure was achieving.

We kept local government informed of what was taking place and being achieved. Constructive engagement with LGA’s became a KPI.

Adopting Errol’s business management principles changed my career and the way I operated. Our regional management team became a dedicated trustworthy professional group, and I delegated with great confidence. It gave me the time to plan and develop the business, and explain its functions, products and economic benefits to all sections of the community, from politicians to school kids.

Above all it gave me the opportunity to communicate Errol’s sound business principles to our people, our most valuable asset.

Peter Crowe OAM.

Former General Manager Softwoods

Forestry Corporation New South Wales

THE AUTHORS

Soon after attending Auckland University, Errol Chadwick relocated to Australia, where he commenced consulting in marketing. Following several assignments undertaken in Australia for a European based multinational, he commenced practice in London, providing multinational marketing advice to various Europe based multinational corporations.

Having completed assignments in more than fifty countries, he returned to Australia in the 1970s, and, initially in partnership with John Wyndham, commenced consulting in organisation development. As principal of Chadwick and Associates he has, over the past thirty years, worked with the CEOs and their Executive of many of Australia’s larger corporations across both the public and private sectors.

A number of these clients have been instrumental in persuading him to undertake, with Ken Rogers, the writing of this book.

Born in Longreach, central Queensland, Ken comes from a working class background. Ken came up through the ranks to become an officer in the Australian Army and retired from the Officer Corps in 1998 with the rank of Captain. The holder of a bachelor’s degree in science, Ken is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

During his career he has worked in both private enterprise and the public sector, including as a manager in a US based multi-national agriculture based corporation, a senior manager in large regional Local Government Councils, responsible for diverse portfolios including commercial, community service, environmental, organisation development and corporate governance.

Ken has served on numerous Boards, including those of educational institutions, and national natural resource management bodies. In addition to his work on these Boards, he has been a member of, and chair of numerous advisory committees. Ken continues this commitment.

Ken’s lifetime of experience, coupled with his work with Errol Chadwick over a span of some 25 years, has been the basis of his contribution to this book.

PREFACE

In writing this book, the authors have at front of mind, Chief Executive Officers, and those aspiring to that privileged position. We are mindful of the daunting scope of their responsibilities, the never ending challenges that they face day by day and the consequences of dropping the ball or worse, failure in any of its multiplicity of forms.

The loneliness of being the one at the top, knowing the buck stops with the CEO; the battalion of people ultimately dependent upon the CEO, and the fear of the consequences of letting them down; the complexities of the product or service the corporation exists to produce or provide, and the plethora of disciplines required to support the corporation’s functioning and continued viability.

We, the authors, know and appreciate the CEO’s working world, we each have been there, we have known and come to appreciate what it is like to live with a myriad of often complex issues, and the weight of relentlessly carrying the never far from mind concern for ‘’what have I overlooked, where are the weak links in the chain?"

We can convince ourselves that we have got it covered. Yet we know there is more the corporation could or should do. No matter at what stage in its evolution, or when the CEO took over the reins, no matter the commission the CEO has been vested with, be that a change of direction, revitalisation. or maintenance of the status quo. Harbouring a belief that one knows it all is, to say the least, fraught with danger.

Given the vital importance, complexity. and onerous nature of the task of a CEO, it is clearly essential that for a CEO to be successful, they must have at their disposal a system or process to guide their corporation and ensure its relevance and capability to continually and successfully fulfill its purpose.

A CEO must have a ‘Recipe’, of which they have a comprehensive understanding and ownership; a recipe that is holistic in form, and which will continually prove its efficacy once implanted, continually maturing, and maintained; a Recipe that will guide their corporation and underpin its relevance and capability to successfully fulfill its purpose, under any scrutiny, whilst under their watch.

The Recipe set out in this book is holistic in its form, that is, each component part leads to and reinforces the next, and continually returns to its beginning. It is self invigorating. It provides the CEO, as its owner and sponsor, with unambiguous evidence of their corporation’s condition, what requires attention, why and what to do about it.

This continuous and reassuring formal and quantified evidence of their corporation’s capability dramatically reduces the stress induced by the uncertainty of not knowing what the next problem or crisis will be, or what has been overlooked.

For this Recipe to be fully effective, it must be driven from the top. The CEO, current or aspiring, must have a thorough understanding of, and rock solid commitment to, and ownership of, the total Recipe.

The CEO will need to delegate ownership of, and accountability for, each of the component parts of this Recipe, as they demand specialised expertise to be properly applied and managed.

The CEO will also need to ensure that the person they charge with oversight of the process, which is required to deliver the Recipe on their behalf as the CEO, will also possess specialised knowledge. This oversight (custodial) role is vital, and to be fully effective, must be a direct report to the CEO and not just something that sits within the HR function.

Finally, should you decide to commit yourself to read on, you will discover this reality:

For a corporation to remain relevant, cost effective and operationally efficient, it must embrace a means, (a Recipe) of ensuring the effective ongoing use of the total people resources of the business and the management of change. You will reinforce the knowledge and experience you already have, as to what needs to be done to motivate and empower your employees, individually and collectively, toward achieving their corporation’s continuing success.

By so doing, you, and they, will set an example for others to follow.

We wish you every success.

INTRODUCTION

In setting out to write this book, the authors’ intention is to provide the reader, as a current or aspiring executive manager, a recipe to enable you to meet that challenge and fulfil that responsibility successfully, and to continually do so.

You may initially assume that adoption and implementation of this Recipe for Corporate Success would be too costly. If this is the assumption, we would invite you to consider the cost consequences of not adopting the Recipe.

It is well understood that in today’s corporations, value is driven more by people (a corporation’s human capital) than by any other factor. How often does the following statement appear? Our people are our greatest asset. Corporations world-wide spend enormous sums on training and development of their people. According to Forbes (Sept 2019): In 2018, over $87.6 billion was spent on corporate training and development across the United States alone.¹

This is a substantial investment. However, in corporations without a robust and strategic training and development plan, based upon and targeting, the enhancement of employee capability specific to their accountabilities (which must flow from the top down), and providing for career path development, this money is largely wasted.

You will also see that there are, a number of examples given in the following chapters, of corporations incurring significant cost, judicial penalties and reputational damage, all of which negatively impact the bottom line. And this is because they have not had in place a complete Recipe for Corporate Success

This Recipe for Corporate Success, when implemented in its totality, and maintained, will enable a corporation to avoid significant non-productive costs, judicial penalties, reputational damage and waste of human and financial resources

This Recipe, whilst underpinning a positive corporate culture, has as its raison d’etre the corporation’s continued relevance, operational effectiveness, and cost efficiency.

An integral component of this Recipe, as will be shown, is the importance of all involved speaking the same language (understanding each other). Therefore, a common language that eliminates ambiguity, underpins each of the recipe disciplines and enhances the effective and efficient flow of work-related information to, from and between employees of a corporation, cannot be overstated.

Therefore, certain words are each given a definition, such that they have the same meaning to a group of people, each of whom have an interdependence upon one another toward the attainment of a common cause.

The same applies with the authorship of this book. If the message it sets out to provide is to be achieved, a shared understanding in common by the authors and all those that read and wish to benefit from their time spent in so doing, is required. For example, to carry its full and intended meaning, the word corporation is defined as:

An entity, made up of a Board of Directors (or their equivalent) with a nominated Chairperson, employing a Chief Executive Officer (senior executive) of the Organisation and reporting to the Board through the Chairperson, and a number of employees specified in a chain of command, (organisation structure) as approved (by the Board) in the Organisation’s annual operational plan and function-based budget.

Using this definition, laboured as it may seem, a reader can make relevance of this Recipe as outlined and specified in this work, no matter what style of corporation or organisation they currently head or are a managerial part thereof. A common language is also integral to the understanding and implanting of this Recipe, which is designed to underpin a corporation’s ongoing success. To that end, a comprehensive Definition of Terms is included as Appendix 1.

The authors believe that the need to be forever relevant applies to both public and private sector entities, large and small, national, or international, for profit or not for profit, no matter the product or purpose.

In fact, there is no valid reason to believe this Recipe does not have applicability to any entity where a group of people are brought together for a defined or indefinite period of time, to work together toward a specified, (hopefully) common, commercial or non-commercial purpose and/or outcome. Given the definition of a corporation as presented above, and the relevance of the Recipe to ensure effective, ongoing use of the individual and collective skills and attributes of a group of people working together toward a common goal, the relevance of such a Recipe, both for the individual owner, stakeholders and, perhaps humanity, is incalculable.

The impact and influence on the daily lives of much of the world’s population is governed by the laws, penalties, products, services and environments forced upon them and made available to them by corporations, both seen and unseen. All but a brief moment’s thought on that statement brings into clear and unambiguous focus the importance of quantified, and therefore measurable, corporate relevance, operational effectiveness, and cost efficiency.

A corporation’s condition, in other words its capability to fulfil its purpose, no matter at what stage of evolution it is in, is determined, in the broadest sense, by one or the other of two conditions:

• Condition one:

The way we operate, ‘the way things happen around here’, has evolved through the effluxion of time, we do things the way we are told, the way it has always been done or what seems best at the time

• Condition two:

There is a process, or perhaps interrelated processes, in place, which is understood to some degree by all within the corporation, that has as its purpose the effective ongoing use of the total people resources of the Corporation and the Management of Change.

The authors of this book have spent their working lives as executive managers, then chief executive officers of, or consultants to, large corporations. Over a combined working life spread, approaching 100+ years, and from first-hand experience gained from their involvement with several hundred companies across several continents, their findings have been unfortunately the same. With rare exceptions, corporations operate with a prevailing environment as specified in factor one above.

The purpose of what follows in this book, therefore, is to provide current and aspiring Executive Managers and Chief Executives, (in particular, those with the desire, drive and fortitude to be part of and to create a continually successful corporation), with a process devolved for the effective ongoing use of the total people resources of the corporation and the management of change. This process is applicable whether that corporation be a government, the bureaucracies that serve them, or an instrumentality, a sporting body, multinational or single owner business, in fact, any entity, reliant upon a group of people effectively working together in harmony and synergy toward a common goal and for an infinite period of time.

The importance of the subject to the employee, the owner(s) and shareholders, the current and prospective customers they serve, the contractors and other third parties they employ, the purchasers and providers worldwide, cannot be overstated.

It is understandable therefore, that since the industrial revolution through to the present day, much has been written on the subject of corporate success and how to attain it. Within and across the generations that have made the corporation the well spring of society as we know it today, numerous concepts, philosophies and theories have come, faded and gone. Some however, and components of others, continue to resonate, as they will into the future. These include but are not limited to.

• Quality Circle

• Six Sigma

• Best Value

• Seven Habits of highly effective people.

Of particular significance are certain important works which inform this Recipe, namely:

• The early work of Peter Drucker². Universally acknowledged as Management by Objectives, which is a comprehensive management system that integrates many key managerial activities in a systematic process and is continuously directed toward the effective and efficient achievement of organisational goals and individual objectives.

• Equally so, and acknowledging Peter Drucker’s work, is that of William (Bill) Redden³. As with Drucker’s The Practice of Management, Redden’s work is universally acknowledged as Organisation Development, a critical and science-based process that helps organisations build their capacity to manage change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, improving and re-enforcing strategies, structures and processes.

While the work of Drucker et al., referred to in this book, may