M. Uhrich and Associates - Paris & Boston

Introduction - About M. Uhrich and Associates

 

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

 

 

 

Mark Louis UHRICH

M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128

 

[email protected]

 

 

    ➤ NEW: "Being International"                                               ➤ NEW: "Another one Bites the Dust"  

 

RETIRED

Retired developer of competency in people and organizations

Retired professor of management

Retired professional trainer

 

I have retired and have closed my professional practice.  Although retired, I continue to think and, with that, continue to write and occasionally publish.

This web site is now maintained as point of reference for my work and to host blogs and articles that I may post from time to time.

 

About M. Uhrich and Associates

 

M. Uhrich and Associates, was an independent professional practice in consulting and training — both in companies and in higher education. The areas of work included:

Corporate, International, and Commercial Strategy

The Successful Management of People and Teams

       Organization Effectiveness and Revitalization

Business-to-Business Marketing and Sales

Cross-cultural Business and Teamwork

In essence: functional expertise in international business, marketing, and sales with specific competencies in people management and training and a passion for helping organizations succeed.

Based near Paris France, Mr. Uhrich worked in conjunction with international collaborators in France, the United States, and other countries. The slogan that was adopted years ago with the creation of the activity is “Helping organizations achieve their objectives”. This continues as the central theme today.

 

You may contact me if you have questions or seek additional information.

 

On Twitter  and   Facebook

 

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST*

>>home <<

 

Observations following the collapse of Thomas Cook

 

So, another one bites the dust.  This time it is Thomas Cook, the pioneer and icon in the travel industry after 178 years.

There will be a lot written and even more said about this event.  For me, it is very simple:

• A failure in strategy.
• A failure in management — at the top.

People will try to put the blame elsewhere.  They will blame the government, taxes, unfair competition, globalization, … whatever.  No, the blame is at the top.

What should we take away from this unfortunate event?  I see two fundamental points.

 

Firstof all, it is important for any manager to understand the nature of the environment in which they are operating and how it is evolving.  All industries, all business sectors operate in an environment.  It is this environment that sets the rules, the constraints, and defines the rules for success.  Whatever business you are in, you need to clearly understand the environment that you are in and the rules — the critical success factors — for your business, regardless of size.

Furthermore, the industry environment evolves (much like the famous product life cycle).  As the industry life cycle evolves, the nature of the industry, the rules, and the opportunities for success change.  It is the job of top management to understand the environment of the industry that they are in and how it is evolving.  The industry environment that gave you opportunity and success when you started has changed.  Things have evolved and are now different.  Any company that stays with a business model that was the root of their original success and does not evolve with the change in their environment fails. The list is verylong.

What about those other things that people will want to blame — the government, taxes, unfair competition, globalization, … ?  Those are all simply part of the environment of the industry that you are operating in.

So, what is the nature of the industry that you are in? How is it changing?  How will you respond?

 

The secondpoint is the critical importance for liquidity.  As the expression goes; “Cash is King”.  When you run out of cash, you are dead.

There are financial experts who will tell you that you should be highly leveraged.  (Cary a large amount of debt.  Use other people’s money and less of your own.)  Yes, being highly leveraged can yield a higher return on investment — at least on paper and ifall goes well.  But, what if all does not go well?  What if there is a “bump in the road”?  Then what?  We have seen the consequences of this in every financial downturn.  We are currently seeing this with several other companies in the same industry who have taken on too much debt in a rush to expand.  Those companies are also bankrupt or their future is currently uncertain.

Remember, your strategy needs to have flexibility — what I call “wiggle room”.  Regardless how well your strategy is developed, things will never go exactly as planned.  If your strategy (especially your financial strategy) is so highly tuned that it depends on everything going just right, know that you will likely fail.  Things never go exactly as planned.  You will need the flexibility and available resources (cash) to respond.

 

The failure of Thomas Cook is unfortunate — especially for the customers, employees, and suppliers.  But, let’s put the blame where it belongs.  The blame belongs at the top.

And, from this, let’s take some key lessons to apply in both our businesses and in our personal lives.

 

*Note:  Title inspired, of course, by the famous song by Queen.

 

Mark Louis Uhrich

Maisons-Laffitte, France, 23 September 2019

©Copyright Mark Uhrich

 

In Management Training

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

  

Mark Louis UHRICH
M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128
[email protected]

 

In Management Training

 

 

My professional experience was in the sectors of marketing, sales, and international business. In these areas, I had achieved notable results.

When I speak with my collaborators and managers — both current and former — it is my skill in managing people that is most mentioned.  They speak of my ability in aiding organizations that are experiencing difficulties. Possibly, my greatest competence is in managing people. They also cite my related abilities in coaching and explaining.

I learned management first as a practitioner and then by specific study of the topic and as a professor of organizational behavior and management in major schools of management and further refined by training professionals in companies.

In brief, with the functional skills in marketing, sales, and international business, my passion is bringing out the best in people and organizations.

This is a skill and passion that I shared with others in my training activities for my clients. These training activities focused in the related area of:

Managing people and teams

Organization improvement

Marketing and Sales

 Topics include:

Line and Middle Management

Strategic Management

Management of Change

Sales Management

Strategic Use of Goals

Strategic Marketing

This work was provided both directly to clients (a registered professional trainer in France) and through collaboration with other professional training companies — depending on the situation. 

 

Sample Clients: (Either direct or as subcontractor)

Aelia
Groupe Bull
Gemalto
EURESAS
Total

  

 

I am pleased to have helped my clients in achieving their objectives and improving the performance of their organizations.  I am especially pleased with the work that I did with the participants in my programs — some of who keep in touch.

Thank you all.

In Education

 

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

 

Mark Louis UHRICH
M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128
[email protected]

 

In Education

 

Mr. Uhrich taught at several business schools in France, Europe, and the United States. Experience includes (partial listing):

➢    Skema Business School - Masters programs    (www.skema.edu)

• Corporate Strategy
• Strategy Business Game
• B2B Marketing
• Essentials of Marketing Management
• Dissertation Tutor

➢    AUP: The American University of Paris - Business programs    (www.aup.edu)

• Information Technology for Competitive Advantage

➢  EMLV  - Ecole de Management Léonard de Vinci 

                            (www.emlv.fr   or  www.devinci.fr )
        Retired Associate and Coordinating professor:

• Coordinating Professor responsible for the program in B2B Marketing - created and managed.
• Also drives several other initiatives.  Coordinated the development and implementation of a completely revised 3rd year program — totally in English and focused internationally. 

➢    ESSEC     (www.essec.edu)

• International Marketing
• B2B Marketing
• Dissertation Tutor

➢   IPAG Ecole Supérieur de Commerce - Paris & Nice     (www.ipag.fr) 

• Business Simulation
• International Marketing

➢    NEGOCIA       (www.negocia.fr)

• International Marketing and Export Techniques, Global Marketing and Communications
• B2B and Services Marketing

➢    Laurea University of Applied Sciences – Finland  (www.laurea.fi )

• International Sales Negotiations
• Sessions in B2B marketing and strategy

➢    Weller International Business School – European MBA  (www.weller.fr )

• Strategy

➢    CNAM/Institut International du Management (Ceprim - Executive MBA)

• B2B Marketing

➢    ESCP Europe (Paris)   (www.escpeurope.eu)

• Diagnostic and management of strategic change
• Past instructor in Strategy and Organizations

➢    Suffolk University, Boston & Dakar (www.suffolk.edu ): Adjunct professor

• International Marketing
• B2B Marketing
• Cross-cultural business and management

➢    ESLSCA – International Graduate Programs:  Former professor

• Strategy
• Strategic Marketing
• B2B Marketing and Sales

➢    Douai Business School:  Former professor

• B2B Marketing and Sales
• Cross-cultural business and negotiations
• Strategic Marketing

➢    I.A.E de Paris (DESUP International):  Université Paris I Sorbonne - Former instructor

• International Marketing
• Driving Strategic Change, Innovation
• Cross-Cultural Bssiness

➢    ISUGA - Institute Supérieur de Gestion Asie-Pacifique:  Former instructor

• Managing Sales

➢    The Open University - MBA Program:  Former Associate Lecturer

• International Business
• Strategy 

 

I am pleased to have worked with these institutions — to be part of their teams and to participate in the development of their students.  I am especially pleased to observe the professional progress of the students who I have worked with.  Thank you for our time together.

About the work performed

 

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

 

Mark Louis UHRICH
M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128
[email protected]

 

  

About the Work that was Performed

 

The work performed fell into three broad categories:

• Management training in companies
• Education in schools of business & management
• Consulting for organizations

The specific areas of expertise included:

• International, Corporate, and Commercial Strategy
• Business-to-Business Marketing and Sales
• Cross-cultural Business and Teamwork
• Organization Effectiveness and Revitalization
• The Successful Management of People and Teams
• Pedagogic Engineering and Coordination

In essence; functional expertise in international business, marketing, and sales with specific competencies in people management and training and a passion for helping organizations succeed.
This work is provided both directly and through collaboration with organizations who are active in the appropriate sectors of activity.  This is detailed more specifically in the pages relating to those activities.

I am pleased to have helped my clients and to have helped them achieve their objectives.

About Mark Uhrich

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

 

Mark Louis UHRICH
M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128
[email protected]

  

About Mark Louis Uhrich

 

Mark Louis Uhrich, French-American, has more than 35 years of professional experience in international business, marketing, sales, and management plus many years of experience in teaching, consulting and professional training — helping organizations achieve their objectives.

Originally from the United States, he worked in several companies and industry sectors - notably 18 years with Digital Equipment Corporation where he held a variety of successful positions in marketing, sales, and management in both the domestic and international operations of the company.   In these positions, he was frequently responsible for starting new businesses or rebuilding existing businesses.

Located in the Paris region since 1992, he had a practice in consulting and training — both in higher education and in companies.   His areas of expertise include:

• International, Corporate, and Commercial Strategy
• Business-to-Business Marketing and Sales
• Cross-cultural Business and Teamwork
• Organization Effectiveness and Revitalization
• The Successful Management of People and Teams

In essence: functional expertise in international business, marketing, and sales with specific competencies in people management and training and a passion for helping organizations succeed.

He has taught at several business schools in France, Europe, and the United States — and continues teaching in the Masters programs of  Skema Business School.

Mr. Uhrich is retired Associate and Coordinating Professor at the Leonard de Vinci School of Management in Paris (EMLV) where he constructed and managed the very successful program in B2B Marketing as well as drive several other initiatives.  This included coordinating the development and implementation of a completely revised 3rd year program — totally in English and focused internationally. 

Following his retirement from EMLV, Mr. Uhrich continued to teach at the Skema Business School as part of the teaching team in the Masters programs at the Paris and Lille campuses.  He taught several topics — notably Corporate Strategy.  He continued teaching at Skema until his full retirement

Additionally, he has taught at ESSEC, ESCP Europe, ESLSCA, IPAG Business School, AUP Paris, Cnam/Ceprim, Negocia, Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Suffolk University of Boston where he taught in both the Boston and Dakar campuses.  A more complete list of schools and courses is given on the page In Education.

In management consulting the emphasis was on aiding clients in their development of their strategy to achieve success – especially in international development, improved effectiveness in sales, and organizational improvement.

The company training activities focused in the related area of managing people and teams.

• Line and Middle Management
• Strategic Management
• Management of Change
• Sales Management 

He was a registered professional trainer in France.

Professional memberships included the French marketing association ADETEM and the American Chamber of Commerce in France where he is Past Co-Chair of the Training and Education Task Force.

An accomplished public speaker, he is recognized with the "Advanced Communicator Gold" award in the Toastmasters International program of public speaking.  

Mr. Uhrich holds a MS degree from Northeastern University in Boston and has studied business management in both the United States (Babson) and in France at INSEAD.

Now retired from his professional activities, Mr. Uhrich continues to be active in several associations.  He continues to write on a variety of topics.

In Management Training: Endorsements from Participants and Clients

Experience and Dependability yields VALUE

 

Mark Louis UHRICH
M. Uhrich and Associates

13 ter Avenue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France

Tél: +33 6 6061 5128
[email protected]

 

In Management Training

Testimonials and Endorsements

 

I frequently receive feedback from the participants in my training programs - and from their management.  Here are a few of the comments that I have received.

 

 

 “Thanks Mark, you are a great trainer and I would like to thank you for the training. I came with doubts and left empowered to lead a team of competent marketers in the near future.”

LAT, Program participant 

 

            “It was a pleasure meeting you and sharing your wide experience.”

FT, Program participant

  

             “Thanks a lot Mark! You did a very good job!”

BL, HR and Admin Manager

 

  “The content of the program is very good. You helped clarify fundamentals of management in a simple and understandable manner. I thoroughly enjoyed the role plays that we did, I felt they were effective.”

HM, Program participant

 

            “And thanks Mark for your insights into leadership and management.”

MK, Management Committee member

 

            “I would like to take the opportunity to thank you very much for your efforts with us on the training course , which added a lot to my personal knowledge and I ‘m sure that it will help me a lot to develop my career and interpersonal skills.”

MS, Program participant

 

            “I would like to thank you for the valuable information in the training course.  Really I enjoyed working with you in the whole week.”

WEK, Program participant

 

            “…the participants often refer to their experiences and lessons from the training. The team cohesion is certainly greater.”

SM, Human Resource and Administration Manager

 

 

It pleases me that the participants and management find value in my work helping people advance in their ability as managers - and in helping the organization to gain success.

  

 

I invite you to contact me to discuss your needs and how we, myself and my associates, might be able to help you in achieving success in your objectives.

Rejoice in your Competition

>>home <<

 

We do not like competition. They are annoying. They give us trouble. They are a real 'pain in the neck' (or elsewhere).

At least, that is what people say.

I do not know the top management at Apple or at Boeing. However, I suspect that they are not especially happy that they have strong competition. But, they should be.

“That's crazy”, you say. “I don't want competition. I want to squash them. I want to win.”

But, it is precisely because of competition that you can win (maybe). Competition validates what you are doing right. Competition pushes you to do better. Competition gives you ideas.

Take the example of the smart phone. Apple comes out with the iPhone and makes a success of it. With that, others see what can be done and come out with their own offerings – some not so good, some rather good. Each different in some way. Each showing what can be done. The competition is showing what can be done and pushing Apple to do better. The result is the advancement of technology and the development of better products.

The same is happening in the commercial aviation industry. Boeing is, maybe, not very happy about Airbus. (I drafted this while on an A380.) The competition is really tough between the two companies. But, it is precisely this competition that pushes Boeing to differentiate and to develop the B787 'Dream Liner'. That development was not easy. However, the result is a stronger product family for Boeing – and better choices for us.

When we do not have competition, life is too easy. It is too easy to stay with what we have and not work on advancements. We saw this in the companies of communist 'managed economies'. Without competition, they just stayed doing what they were doing. There was no reason to do otherwise. It was the people – the customers – who suffered with increasingly obsolete products and poor service.

This competition can come from new technologies. The Internet and electronic media is causing an upheaval in the publishing industry – newspapers, magazines, and books. This is showing what can be done. The established companies need to react. We have seen the same thing with the radical change in the music and film industries.

Yes, there is the risk that the competition might win – especially when we come out with a new product idea and there are sleeping competitors who have stronger capabilities and more resources. You may remember the story of Snapple Beverages. They built a business and a reputation with their funky fruit mix drinks. Then they perfected the process of bottled flavored ice tea. Consumers liked it and their business took off. However, with that, the company that had been a niche player and too small to be noticed by the big guys suddenly got attention. With their success in bottled ice tea, they essentially poked a stick in the ribs of two sleeping bears – Tetley and Nestlé. The market entry by Tetley and Nestlé validated the idea that Snapple had launched. (However, Tetley and Nestlé had much greater resources and took the market.)

When you gain market success in a new area, be you Snapple or Apple, you have proved the concept. Your success gets attention from others and they jump into the market. The race is on. May the best team win.

This is all normal – regardless of the industry that you are in and regardless if you are in a physical product or service business.

So, even though you may not be happy with the moves of your competitors, I say rejoice in their moves – and especially their successes. (Yes, I know that you are gritting your teeth.) Their competitive moves are validating what you are doing. Their competitive maneuvers are testing new ideas – some of which will work while some may not. Their competition is pushing you to do better and that will be better for you.

Yes, rejoice in your competition. It is because of them that you will be better. And, that will be better for all of us.

 

 

 

Mark Louis Uhrich

Maisons-Laffitte, France, 28 August 2012

©Copyright Mark Uhrich

 

Market Share: How much do you want?

>>home <<

 

How much market share do you want for your business? 30%? 50%? 80%? All of it?

Gaining market share for your business has advantages. As you build share, you are more known and your reputation increases. People chose to do business with you because you are so well known and “obviously” must be the best. Selecting to do business with the market leader gives customers a sense of security of making the right choice – the safe choice.

Having a large market share also gives you the advantage and makes life more difficult for the competition. A large market share probably means that you have more revenue and, therefore (presumedly), greater resources that your weaker competitors do not have. Given enough advantage in market share, you set the rules and your competitors are squeezed into increasingly weak positions.

And, the argument goes, higher business volume gives scales of economy — lower costs which then lead to higher profit margins.

But increasing your market share is not always easy. And, in fact, it might not be desirable. 

Gaining market share is easy when your current share is relatively small. Increasing that share from 5% to 10% to 15% is relatively easy. You “merely” need to target the right customers (or segments), communicate a well focused value proposition, and service them well. So far so good.

But at some point, gaining more market share starts to become more difficult. Your competition fights back. (Life was easy when you were small and they did not notice you.) And, as you seek to win increased numbers of customers, it becomes more difficult to satisfy their differing needs. You begin to need to be “all things to all people” — not easy to do. (I know that I can't.)

And the cost of each increase in market share goes up. Yes the higher business volume does give you better economy of share and, hopefully, better margin. But each additional percent increase in share becomes more difficult – both in effort to win and potentially the need to lower your price in response to competitive counter attacks. 

You can reach a point of diminishing returns. Although your profit may increase with increased market share, you reach a point where the cost to gain additional share approaches (or exceeds) the profit that you gain. The cost and effort required is not justified by the incremental increase of profit that you might obtain. You can actually get to the point where your overall profit goes down with increased market share.

So, how much market share do you want? What is the 'optimum' amount? That depends on your objectives and strategy. Only you can decide that. The 'optimum' market share is where you get the maximum profit return for each additional amount of money spent. It is probably where the effort and incremental cost is beginning to approach the incremental gain in profit that you gain. You certainly do not want to go to the point where you get no increased profit for an increase in share — or where profit decreases.

In the end, it is you who is running the business and you who decides.

And, remember, having competition is good. You want to have competition. More on that topic in another posting.

 

Mark Louis Uhrich

Maisons-Laffitte, France, 23 February 2011

©Copyright Mark Uhrich

 

What is Marketing?

>>home <<

It is the start of a new academic year and I am preparing a marketing basics course for an incoming group of masters students. It is an intensive (4 day) pre-semester course intended as an introduction or review (depending on their background) to bring everyone up to level.

This brings to mind the question “What is marketing?”

When asked that question, many people will respond: “advertising” or “merchandising” or “analysis” or “phoning” or “selling” or something else. Those are components of the field of marketing – tools to achieve objectives. But they are not, in themselves, “marketing”.

Marketing is connecting the capabilities of your organization with the needs & wants of a selected group of customers – hopefully for mutual gain.

The components include:

• Understanding your organization — what it can do, what it is good at, and its objectives,

• Understanding the market — groups of potential customers, characteristics, needs and preferences, and the size of the market segments,

• Understanding competition — what they are capable of and good at, their objectives and strategies, and their positioning in the market,

• Designing the market strategy for your organization — company or other entity:

  • What markets you select to serve,

  • What value you will bring to your customers,

  • With what product — physical or service,

  • How you will position yourself in the market — your differentiation and why customers will chose you,

  • What objectives you seek to achieve,

  • How you chose to produce your product and deliver it to customers, and then

  • The marketing programs to achieve the objectives. This will include your use of the tools — product, price, promotion, and sales/distribution methods.

A number of years ago, Regis McKenna published his classic article “Marketing is Everything” (HBR, Jan-Feb 1991). In it, he concluded that marketing encompasses all the activities of a corporation (read entity) and is the job of everyone. Indeed it is.

But mostly, marketing is how to understand customers, connect the organization to customers, and bring value to both.

Are you adding and building value? Are you really marketing? Or, are you simply engaged in marketing tactics?

 

 

Mark Louis Uhrich

Maisons-Laffitte, France, 31 August 2010

©Copyright Mark Uhrich

 

Being International - 3: My Contribution: "On Being International" - Abstract

Being International - 3   (previous page)  (start of series)

My Contribution: “On Being International”

I am very pleased that my paper "On Being International" has published in the book " "Glocal" Working - Living and working across the world with cultural intelligence", Bertagni, La Rosa, Salvetti, Editors, published by Franco Angeli.


Here is the abstract for my contribution. Many of you may identify with what I have written. Likely many have had similar experiences and could equally contribute your observations on the subject. My hope is that people will find my experience and the insights that I have gained to be useful.


In subsequent postings, I will continue with thoughts on the subject of being international – some extracts from my paper and development of new material. I won't post everything from my paper, of course. (For that, you will need to buy the book.)

On Being International

Reflections on living an international life – with observations and suggestions

By Mark Louis Uhrich

 

Abstract

 

Being international can run the range from traveling to different countries, to being on assignment in other countries, to immigrating to another country and becoming integrated into that other culture.  In all variations, it can be immensely enriching.  But, at the same time, there are risks of failure – both personal and professional.  Accordingly, it can be important to develop an understanding of the risks and the factors for achieving success in “being international”. 

This paper explores the dimensions of being international.  In it are profiled aspects of the experience, an examination of reasons for difficulty, and a development of what is involved in achieving success in the international environment.  These are related to personality factors, skills, and environmental factors.  The insight is developed from the perspective of the personal experience of the author, study on the subject, and observation of numerous people in several countries.

Using what has been learned, the author presents practical guidelines for both individuals involved and for organizations seeking to have people succeed in the international environment.  He also presents the richness of being international and offers encouragement to those who have an interest in being so.