Michelle May M.D. Profile and Articles

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1). Planning And Post-Mortem Are Essential In Corporate Turnaround
Planning tells you what is going to happen, post-mortem tells you what has happened Both planning and post-mortem are essential management tools needed to achieve corporate objectives, as well as to prevent the recurrence of the same mistakes.

2). If You Need Surgery, Call in the Surgeon
When you need a heart by-pass, you call in a cardiologist rather than a general practitioner. When you are in legal troubles, you consult a lawyer. When you have tax problems, you seek advice of a tax consultant. Yet many troubled companies make the fatal mistake of not approaching the right professional for help.

3). Change Your Attitude About Exercise
Although exercise is one of the most powerful tools available for improving health and managing weight, even the word “exercise” can conjure up negati

4). Myths in Transformation and Turnaround
Welcome to the real business world where troubled businesses abound. Distressed business owners and executives need to understand turnarounds and transformations in order to face the challenges in this competitive global market.

5). Prevention, Early Diagnosis, Proper Treatment - Three Steps to Corporate Turnaround
As the adage goes: Prevention is better than cure. In medical practice, prevention of the disease before its onset is better than giving medication when it is already malignant or full-blown. Getting it right early is much better than subsequent expensive treatments.

6). Company is Already Bleeding Badly When the Financials are Red
There are many important imperatives and factors which are not quantified or measurable by the traditional accounting system.

7). Just As Heart Ailment Is A Major Killer, Competition Is The Silent Killer
Competition is a silent and sudden killer like heart attack, it can creep up on you without warning. However, just as an individual can prevent this disease by adopting a healthy lifestyle, a company can stave off competition by remaining alert and adopting appropriate strategies to combat it.

8). Cost Control Is An Important Antidote in Corporate Turnaround
Unnecessary cost is always your Number One enemy. You must attack every cost item, justify and challenge it.

9). Litigation Can Put You Out Of Business In A Heartbeat
Many companies underestimate the potential gravity of getting into litigious situations. Lawsuits, especially in cases where one does not have strong legal legs to stand on, are potential minefields for disaster.

10). When the Company is Sick, Call the Corporate Turnaround Expert
Many troubled companies make the fatal mistake of not approaching the right professional for help. Many try to get out of their conundrum using the internal management. Others rely on their lawyers, auditors, etc. These troubled businesses need to bring in turnaround experts and specialists.

11). People - Life and Death Matters
It is no use having all the correct strategies and resources when you do not have the right people to do the job. To compete successfully externally, you need to have people perform successfully internally

12). The Second Step In Corporate Turnaround - Early Diagnosis
This is the second step on the principles of Corporate Turnaround. The focus is on early detection and diagnosis.

13). Why Talent Management Functions Like the Kidney?
The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines and process the blood to filter out the wastes and extra water. Similarly a good talent management system will hire the good personnel, retain them and remove the bad ones.

14). Panaceas for Corporate Turnaround - Proper Treatment
Companies do fall sick and die; However, there are panaceas that can turn a critically ill organisation around into a healthy one. Proper treatment is necessary as the remedies can sometimes be worse than the disease.

15). The Greatest Lesson Is To Learn Faster Than Your Competitors
David Kearns former Chairman of Xerox in 1989 said: "We realize that we are in a race without a finish line. As we improve, so does our competition." But having done that, one has to quickly outpace your competitors in learning.

16). Do Not Play The Game Of Blame And Shame
In Singapore, some business people could be heard saying at the coffee shops: "Blame your parents when you have no food and blame the government when your business is bad." Such wrong attitude provides a bad start to solving your problems. Shame and blame are not justifiable. Take responsibility.

17). A Company In Crisis Is In A Nightmare
Crisis is visibly recognised when the company faces credit squeeze, negative profitability, cash flow problems and collection concerns.

18). Cash is Oxygen During the Restructuring Process
Though cash is not everything, its level of importance is the same as oxygen. Without it, you will certainly perish.

19). There Is A Strong Parallel Between Physical And Fiscal Health
There is a strong parallel between corporations and medical science. Companies fall sick just as people do. Contrary to the common view, a company is not an inanimate object.

20). Clone Your Successes by Planning your Succession
Many once successful companies have failed because of poor succession planning. Many entrepreneurs want their children to succeed them and take over the reins in their businesses

21). Think Rationally Before You Decide
Many companies often let their success and euphoria gloat over their heads and forget to do their homework.

22). People Work Hard for Money, But They Will Die for a Cause
Most people will work hard for money if properly motivated. Though it may help, more money is not the key to making your employees more passionate.

23). Be Paranoid About Healthy Growth
Company should not just be paranoid about survival, it should also be paranoid
about healthy growth.

24). If You Find a Rat on the Top of the Pole, Somebody Must Have Placed It there
Troubled companies are often the result of incompetent management. The rot at the top will fester downwards as they also hire incompetent sub-ordinates.

25). The Key To Successful Turnaround Is Early Intervention
Most diseases including cancer and heart problems are easier to cure if detected early. Similarly, most sick companies can be turned around if the problems are discovered early.

26). The First Step to Health is to Recognise that You are Sick and Need Treatment
Proper medicine can only be administered after the acknowledgement that there is pain.

27). To Understand The Disease - Learn To Be The Patient
Usually, the patient knows very well about the disease that is afflicting him. Besides researching about the disease, he will also strive to find a cure for the ailment as he is suffering from the pain of the disease.

28). People Tend To Do What You Inspect Rather Than What You Expect
Expectation sets the height of the bar, but it is regular inspection that resets the height of the bar so as to ensure it is achievable.

29). Life Is Simple And In Business - The Simpler The Better
Indeed Ralph Waldo Emerson captured the essence of simplicity superbly when he remarked: "Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great."

30). The First Step In Corporate Turnaround Is Prevention
There are workable, preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic steps to treat and restore the health of sick companies. Below are the six principles starting with Prevention.

31). You Can Have Performance And Quality But You Better Have Pricing
You can have wealth and wisdom, but you better have health. Similarly, you can have performance and quality but you better have pricing.

32). Do You Know That Rumours In Corporate Are Like SARS?
Troubled companies are often plagued with negative unverified information, otherwise called rumour mongering. This is extremely unhealthy and can be deadly and infectious like the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus.

33). The Tongue is the Window of Your Corporate Health
The doctor often examines the tongue to determine the general state of health of the patient. The tongue is the organ used by the body for communication. Similarly, we determine the morale level and state of mental health of the company by examining the manner of its communication.

34). Companies Should Go For Regular Health Checks
Many companies have annual medical examinations and health screening for their employees but are negligent when it comes to their own corporate check-ups.

35). Your Low Cost Competitors Want To Eat Your Lunch
Many industry leaders are faced with a sea of changes in the marketplace, particularly the onslaught of many low cost competitors. They are minnows and will grow to become sharks if they are not nipped in the bud.

36). When You are Thirsty, You are Not Going to Argue Over the Temperature of the Water
Many troubled businesses are the result of petty quarrels and disagreements amongst partners and major shareholders. There are also many family-run companies where the family members soured their relationships ruining the business.

37). Relevance of Medical Metaphor in Corporate Turnaround
Medical metaphors are applicable in corporate as people can comprehend their medical and health conditions much better than corporate matters.

38). Core Values Are Invaluable
Turnaround managers have to operate under very tough environment. In some instances, he or she has to make bold decisions based on very little information. All decisions will result in consequences, whether these are positive or negative. His decisions are based on his value system that is his personal beliefs, connections and other influences.

39). Do Not Depend Solely on the Doctor in the House to do the Surgery
Many business leaders are good at starting a business or maintaining one that has already been well established. However, they are not good at fixing a seriously sick business. Avoid bankruptcy by hiring the turnaround experts.

40). A Sick Company Needs to Concentrate on its Core Competence
During the turnaround phase when the company is on the brink of bankruptcy, there are time and resource constraints. The company needs to concentrate all its resources on doing a few major things right.

41). Accomplish Your Dream, Have A Good Team
Having a good team is fundamental in accomplishing your dreams. In this complex corporate world, no single person can have all the answers. The world is changing so rapidly that even a team comprising internal experts is overwhelmed in trying to follow and monitor the changes.