Who Helps your Company Improve?

Every company has owners, stockholders, public or private, many or few. Every company is comprised of all who work within the company as management and/or employees. Owners may or may not work within the company, and management and employees may or may not be owners.

The most improve-able and most valuable help available to a company are the relatively permanent people who "work for the company" as employees and management. Their value and ability to contribute to improvement increases as they "understand the company" and "compete for the company" and "think for the company" and "collaborate within the company" and "act for the company." When their hearts as well as minds and bodies are working for the company, the rewards will be greater for all. Cross training can pay in meaningful ways. No other asset of the company has as great a potential for return on investment than the people inside the company.

Externally, companies get their most vital help from customers and potential customers, in the aggregate the source of all demand for the products and services of the company and therefore the source of all operating cash needed to acquire assets and pay expenses and costs associated with survival and growth of the company.

Companies are customers themselves as they in turn depend on suppliers to provide what they add value to and sell to customers. Suppliers can provide all kinds of help to companies beyond the obvious. And companies can benefit from cross training insights from being both a supplier and a customer.

Companies also make use of other professional service providers, sometimes including a corporate attorney, an accounting firm, an auditor, insurance, public relations and advertising, recruiting and HR services, equipment maintenance, facility maintenance and custodial service, etc.

Most of these service providers are engaged to either help keep the company out of trouble or help attract more customers. As part of the working network familiar with the company, they can often provide helpful insights for improvement.

Another type of service provider that can help improve the value of the company includes management consultants, coaches, and advisers, including members of boards of directors and boards of advisers.

Companies are wise to recognize that all their networked helpers can be of value in improving the company and not neglect potentially valuable insights.