1. TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2023 (2:00pm EST)
Most manufacturers keep expanding their SKUs and Customers to keep on growing. But, as complexity accelerates and incremental profits diminish or fade, it’s time for downsizing both the marginal SKUs and customers. Coke, by example, announced on 10-22-22 that they would axe 200 (50%) of their brands that totaled only 2% of their total sales to re-focus on their better brands. Webinar one will focus on:
“More From Your Core”
2. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023 (1:00pm ET)
To solve two problems with one - downsize, upgrade, renewal – program you will need best employees. How will you attract, (re) engage, retain, and crosstrain them to achieve best economics for all stakeholders? You can’t execute nimbly without them. The latest-variation solution is the: “Good Jobs Strategy”. This system-thinking solution was pioneered by FedEx at its outset in ’73 with their - “people, service, profits”(PSP) strategy. Costco from its founding in ‘83 adopted this same – pay the most; to get the best; to retain and cross-train; and to achieve best, operational-excellence and flexibility. Webinar two will be on:
“How to Migrate to a High-Performance, All-Win, Good Jobs Company”
3. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024 (2:00pm EST)
Going forward, our world and the US economies will be continually challenged by “perma-crisises”. Besides renewing their core, best companies will win with agile execution to: turn surprise negatives into positives leaving laggard competitors behind; and partnering with top 5% best supply-chain players (“Gazelles”). Webinar three will focus on:
“Agility and Earned, Partnering-Possibilities With Gazelles”
WHO IS BRUCE MERRIFIELD?
Bruce has been a consultant to the world of independent-distribution channels since January, 1980. Before and concurrent with his consulting, he was involved in buying, turning around and operating distribution companies in a number of channels.
In 1983, Bruce bought Clark Security Products, a San Diego distributor which then had $7 million in sales. He turned around Clark, installed a high-performance culture and then recapitalized it to put a younger brother in charge in 1989. Clark grew organically to over $150MM in sales and about 350 employees and was sold to Anixter Corp. in December, 2010.
Over the years, Bruce has given countless speeches to well over 100 trade associations (including ABMA) and internally to many of the world’s largest corporations. He has written: countless, trade-magazine articles; a three-printings book -“Electronic Commerce for Distribution Channels” (’99) - published by the National Association of Wholesale-distributors (NAW); and presently, regular posts on
LinkedIn.
Bruce has been and currently is a formal advisor or board member for many firms and provides strategic advice to many more on a regular basis. More, can be found at
www.merrifieldact2.com which supports an analytics business he co-founded in ’09 (Waypoint Analytics).
Bruce has four, wonderful kids, lives in Aspen, CO, and stays fit playing tennis and skiing. In a previous life, he graduated from Princeton with a BA in biochemistry and Harvard Business School with an MBA.