Ron Wagner President ACTE

Ron Wagner's Speech

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Just looking at titles of business books on the Internet you don't know if you should

• Reengineer or restructure?
• Do we out source or in source or strategic source?
• Do we start implementing six Sigma or TQM?
• Do we Move the Cheese
• What space are you in?

After a while it all becomes a blur. Change is so accelerated these days that we begin to see the present just as it is becoming the past. It's times like these that you wish you could just reverse the engines!

In no way do I profess to have all the answers to this predicament but, I do know that organizations have been impacted by economic uncertainty, market fluctuations, and technological innovations for decades. And along the way there have been winners and losers.

During my many hours in airplanes, I read a lot of business magazines. I began studying the characteristics that have made organizations successful. I tried to determine what set them apart and why they have survived.

And how does that apply to ACTE. I noticed a common thread that was woven through all of the success stories. That thread is VALUE and specifically,

• Creating value
• Setting values, and
• Valuing relationships

Successful organizations focus on creating value. Regardless of the task, whether it's :

• Financing a new company
• Crafting a new travel program or
• Planning an educational conference

If you're committed to creating value the odds of success are high.

Successful companies like Dell, or Intel or Wal-Mart all have clear strategies focused on the basic values that they're trying to deliver to their customers.

Even when technology changed, their strategy didn't. They never lost sight of the customer.

In other words, what is good for their customer is good for their business.