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Brian Chamberlain

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ERP and IT Strategy Consultant and Trainer, Answers 4 Business

248 points

I am an owner of a professional services firm focusing on Supply Chain and Enterprise Resource Planning services for food, pharmaceutical, Consumer Packaged Goods and automotive industries. We assist with business process reengineering, application architecture and system implementations. We're interested in delivering breakthrough value for clients.

Feb. 16, 2012

Brian Chamberlain and 10 other people answered this question

What is the best advertising campaign you have ever seen?

The Molson Canadian I AM CANADIAN rants. Hee's a YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg and a link to the Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Canadian. The brand defined a nation. Sadly, the brand was purchased by an American company and killed. But that's politics, not advertising. more

Advertising Campaign

Brand Awareness

Feb. 3, 2012

Brian Chamberlain recommends this answer by Andrew Mosson

What is procurement?

Based on the tags you've given this question, I assume you are referring to the procurement department of a company.
The procurement department is responsible for the legal and operational aspects of a companies purchasing. The department typically approves vendors (to make sure they are ... more

Jan. 26, 2012

Brian Chamberlain and 9 other people answered this question

Should you let customers know that you offer a less expensive option to the one they currently own?

Laurie,
Ask yourself this question. Do you trust the vendor (Sprint) who called you to tell you about the lower-priced offering more than the vendor you had to threaten with leaving to get the best deal? I suspect the answer is obvious.
Yes, caveat emptor ... more

Customer Service

Customer Service Best Practices

Sales Practices

Jan. 24, 2012

Brian Chamberlain recommends this answer by Matt Heinz

My CEO won't blog or tweet. How can I get him to do it?

It's not for everybody. For many CEOs and others in leadership or influential positions, getting them to participate (if not lead) via the social Web may be an ongoing, uphill battle.
But I'm talking with more and more CEOs that truly want to give it ... more

Content Marketing

Jan. 23, 2012

Brian Chamberlain recommends this answer by Art van Bodegraven

How can large companies innovate when risk is not rewarded & doing the 'same old' is the standard?

Short answer: They can't. Longer answer: They can invent and patent innovation, and put the good new stuff on the shelf while doing business as close to the same old way as possible (see Kodak).
Sometimes, infrequently, it is possible to re-invent and re-energize a ... more

Jan. 23, 2012

Brian Chamberlain and 4 other people answered this question

How do you encourage institutional knowledge sharing?

Interesting question Charlie. In your layout of the situation, it is interesting that your supervisor (or manager) is not mentioned. Presumably, the company had some reason for hiring you, and depending upon the position, you actually have some responsbilities for activities to be done. I ... more

Human Resources

Institutional Knowledge

Oct. 31, 2011

Brian Chamberlain and 31 other people answered this question

What will be the next big consumer product to become obsolete?

Not sure if this qualifies, as they are most likely already obsolete, but watches of any variety are on the hit list. We all carry electronics that know the time - why wear one? more

Information Technology

Consumer Behavior

Oct. 31, 2011

Brian Chamberlain and 14 other people answered this question

Is it possible to run a 100% virtual office?

Very good point. I should have mentioned the person devoted to technology adoption in my notes. If you're going to be virtual, remaining "current virtual" as opposed to "old-school virutal" is very important. Too easily, the technologies we think are great (and continue to use) ... more

Oct. 27, 2011

Brian Chamberlain recommends this answer by Dana Craig

Is outsourcing a one-way street?

When price is the primary or sole consideration, the one-way street is almost a sure bet. But if other factors are in the mix, then it's likely that work can come back in-house over time.
In addition to cost issues, one other key reason for ... more

Human Resources

Information Technology

Oct. 27, 2011

Brian Chamberlain recommends this answer by Jeffrey Josephson

What do you consider as the top 5 needs of small businesses today?

The top needs we see with small businesses are:
1) Capital. Most SMBs are used to tapping their home equity to fund growth. That's gone now, and there's nothing to replace it. Bank financing isn't available if you don't have liquid assets to repay immediately.
2) Demand. ... more

Oct. 27, 2011

Brian Chamberlain is now following Shane Madigan

Oct. 19, 2011

Brian Chamberlain and 5 other people answered this question

During a recession, how do you convey the message that your services are worth investing in?

Services are unlikely to be worth investing in - it's the outcomes that result from those services that justify the investment. Work to demonstrate guaranteed (or almost guaranteed) outcomes by beefing up your communication of past successes and, potentially, offering to co-invest in some of ... more

General Management

Business Development

Oct. 12, 2011

Brian Chamberlain and 26 other people answered this question

What is the one business characteristic that you would like to mimic of Steve Jobs?

He said "Create Without Constraint". That is something that very few actually do. It's extremely hard to think completely out of the box. I give Steve a lot of credit for having done that. more

General Management

July 12, 2011

Brian Chamberlain and 8 other people answered this question

How can ERP projects that finish on time and on budget still fail after going live?

Mike, Art and Steve all make valid points. Poor user adoption, as a result of ineffective change management or training and/or inability to address required scope are big typical culprits. Additionally, poor system technical performance (due to lack of stress-testing) comes up more often than ... more

Information Technology

Enterprise Resource Planning

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