Announcements

June, 2008. Mary Adams’ recent webinar on “Leveraging Intellectual Capital for Growth and Profits” for IT Decisions Coaching is now available on the web (scroll halfway down the page to see the replay screen).

May, 2008. Marilyn Edelson of IT Decisions Coaching will be hosting Trek Principal, Mary Adams, in a webinar entitled "How to Leverage Your Intellectual Capital for Growth and Profits" to introduce IC Rating™ and talk about the connection between the intangible side of business and the tangible results on the bottom line on May 29th from 1:30 - 2:30 pm EDT.

For all our Trekking subscribers that have been reading our ideas about intangibles and intellectual capital, here is an opportunity to get a much better feel for how we help our clients build better businesses by focusing on their intangibles. The webinar is open to all.

Learn more about it or register now.

April, 2008. Mary Adams will lead an interactive, case-study discussion at this month's Society of Professional Consultants monthly dinner meeting entitled, "Test Your Ethical Skills." This meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waltham from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm on Monday, April 14, 2008.

To learn more about this event, visit the Society of Professional Consultant's web site.

For more info, visit the Financial Executives International Web Site.

April, 2008. We are very pleased to announce that Trek Principal, Michael Oleksak, has received the designation of Certified Management Consultant (CMC) from the Institute of Management Consultants. The CMC is earned through a process that includes client evaluations, written and oral business examinations, and ethics tests. This is the only globally-administered certification process available in our industry.

For more information on the CMC, visit the Institute of Management Consulting USA.

February, 2008. “Financial issues are symptoms, not causes,” was just one of the quotes by Trek in an article entitled, “Four Financial Fairy Tales You Shouldn’t Believe.” by Phil Perry in a recent issue of Self-Employed, a member publication of the National Association of the Self Employed (NASE). The fairy tales include:

• My bank will bail me out in a cash-flow crunch
• More capital will solve all of my financial problems
• If I raise my prices, I’ll lose customers
• My personal credit doesn’t affect my business credit

Learn more about NASE.

December, 2007. Mary Adams was featured in a recent issue of Lead-Zine in a piece entitled, “The Best Leaders Leave Something Behind”:

American business culture values strong leadership. We tend to assume that it is the vision and force of personality of strong leaders that creates truly breakthrough performance. This ethos is reinforced by current practices of astronomical CEO pay in many companies–which basically assumes that leaders are miracle workers that alone make all the difference and do work hundreds of times more valuable than that of the average worker.

But the best leader, and this is the ultimate metric of leadership, is just the opposite…

Read the full article.

November, 2007. Mary Adams was recently interviewed by Gail Carson on the IMC Radio program. Mary discussed the power of making the intangible tangible, with an example that is directly relevant to this issue’s discussion of getting paid for what you know.

Hear the full interview, or hear all the recent interviews at the IMC Broadcast Center.

November, 2007. Join Trek on Thursday, November 15th! At the IMCNE (Institute of Management Consultants New England) dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waltham, Mary Adams will be introducing a panel discussion on how to profit from authenticity, led by Cliff Hakim, author of Rethinking Work.

Read more about this event.

October, 2007. Mike Oleksak has accepted the role of a Team Captain in SBANE’s CEO dialog. CEO Dialog participants meet monthly to discuss the issues that only affect top managers and business owners including cash flow, human resources, finance, marketing, business expansion via new strategies or acquisition, and exit strategies.

For more information, visit SBANE’s web site.

September, 2007. Mary Adams will be leading a roundtable discussion this Friday, September 14th for the Institute of Management Consultants entitled, “What’s Wrong with Targets.” Feel free to join in the discussion!

Learn more about this roundtable discussion.

September, 2007. Michael Oleksak is one of the organizers of a new effort called the Exit Planning Exchange (XPX) Group.  The XPX Group is for professionals involved in helping business owners achieve successful exits. The group’s second event will take place on Tuesday, September 25th at 7:15 AM at the Dedham Hilton.  The speaker will be Tom Brady, Sr. who consults to firms on ESOPs.  He will be in town from California to watch his son quarterback the Patriots on Sunday, Sept. 23rd against Buffalo.

Learn more about this event.

August, 2007. The Business Edge just published an article by Mary Adams entitled “Will CFO’s Lose Their Seat at the Strategy Table?”

“The financial statements produced by CPAs have been the gold standard for objective, consolidated information about the health and outlook of a business. But with the rise of the knowledge economy, this standard is losing its sheen. CPAs face greater challenges in trying to account for many of the knowledge resources that are driving competitive advantage in a “flat” world; many of these resources being intangible assets. As the value of intangible assets eclipses that of tangible assets, there is a growing information gap at the corporate strategy table. Companies need information about intangible resources to make the best decisions in this new era. Will CFOs have the knowledge to close this information gap to keep their seat at the table?”

Read full article.

June, 2007. Mary Adams’ presentation at ConsultingWorld last month was a big success. Her message about the growing, but often unrecognized, importance of intangibles to the future success of American corporations resonated with many in the audience and led to a lot of interesting conversations with consultants from around the world. If you are curious about the presentation, you can download a copy of the handout.

May, 2007. Trek Consulting was recently featured in an article by Lori McLeod of the Financial Post in Toronto, “Betting on the Equity All-Stars: Investors Must Learn to Assign a Value to Managers as Private-equity Firms Prepare to Go Public.” McLeod took a fascinating look at the role of intellectual capital in the analysis and valuation of the Blackstone IPO.

Read this insightful view of this blockbuster transaction.

April, 2007. Trek Principal Mary Adams will be delivering a general session speech at Consulting World in Orlando on June 25th. Mary will be speaking on “The Intangible (But Very Real) Opportunity for Consultants.” Visit the Consulting World web site for more information.

January, 2007. Mary Adams’ article, “The Intangible (But Very Real) Opportunity for Management Consultants” appeared recently in Management Consulting News. The article explains the growing importance of information about intangible resources to the success and growth of American corporations. It also explains why management consultants have an opportunity and an obligation to help their clients generate better information about this critical class of assets.

You can read the article at managementconsultingnews.com.

December, 2006. As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Financial Executives International, the Editor of Financial Executives wrote an overview entitled, “What Does the Future Hold for Finance and CFO’s?” that included a section on intellectual capital, featuring Trek Principal Mary Adams:

“The greatest change that has to occur in the finance role involves the intangible assets of the corporation. As we have shifted to a knowledge-based economy, the drivers of competitive advantage are resources like people, processes, knowledge, external networks and brands. Today, only 20 percent of corporate value can be explained through the book value of tangible assets. The rest is in intangible, intellectual capital. The implications of this are widespread.

Financial reporting doesn’t give an accurate picture of a corporation’s productive “assets” (as was the original intention of the balance sheet). New approaches to performance measurement need to be adopted to help management, and new approaches to assessing the strength, outlook and risk of the corporate portfolio of productive resources also need to adopted.

Failure to adopt new approaches will relegate financial executives to be truly bean counters, in charge of the income statement but having little input into the future capacity of the organization.”

The full article includes thoughts from leading CFO’s and academics (you have to register to read it, but it is free).

October, 2006. Mary Adams was recently featured in a discussion of “Benchmarking Do’s and Don’ts” on the website of the Society for Human Resource Management:

Determining the metrics most relevant to a client requires a thorough understanding of the company’s strategic objectives and goals. In considering the organization’s strategic direction, Mary Adams of Trek Consulting LLC in Winchester, Mass., stresses a forward-looking approach. Adams is founder of the IC Knowledge Center and works with companies to establish key performance indicators and benchmarks for effectively managing their operations. Consultants “need to broaden their thinking beyond ‘what are we doing today?’ to ‘what are we capable of doing?’ ” she says.

To read more about this discussion, visit the SHRM Consultants Focus Area.

August, 2006. In a recent article in the IndUS Business Journal about intellectual capital tools for the private equity market, Michael Oleksak asked the question:

"Venture capitalists are key agents in the development of today's knowledge economy.  Their investing has put venture capitalists and private equity investors in the vanguard of analyzing and valuing the potential of knowledge-based businesses.  But are venture capitalists taking advantage of new tools available today to improve investment decisions and returns?"

Read the article.

August, 2006. Mary Adams has received the designation of Certified Management Consultant, or CMC, from the Institute of Management Consultants. The CMC is earned through a process that includes client evaluations, written and oral business examinations, and ethics tests. This is the only globally-administered certification process available in our industry. For more information on the CMC, please visit www.imcusa.org/certification/.

July, 2006. Trek will be featured at this month’s meeting of the KM Forum, speaking on “Knowledge Assets: Can You Measure the Intangible?” We will lead a discussion about measurement of knowledge assets that will address questions such as:

• Can/should knowledge assets be measured?
• What are the available measurement options?
• How do intellectual capital assessments work?
• Can measurement information catalyze change?
• How can you avoid measurement pitfalls?

The discussion will also review case studies of how assessments have been used as a catalyst for innovation, change, and improved corporate valuations. Come and join the conversation on Thursday, July 20th from 4-6 PM in Waltham. Registration and additional information can be found at the KM Forum web site.

July, 2006. One of our partners was quoted in an article about mission statements:

“Engage your employees in the process,” suggests Mary Adams, a management consultant in Winchester, Mass. “Listen to what your people say” urges Adams, who says their words should help generate the next draft of your mission statement. The more a mission reflects the prevailing attitudes of the workers, the more likely they are to embrace it.

A key warning: If your employees don’t buy the mission, it’s wasted breath. Don’t say. “We work hard to be the best management firm in our town” unless that is true every minute of the work day. “You cannot manage by slogan” Adams says. “Employees won’t buy a mission if it isn’t true to their daily work lives.”

Read the full article.

June, 2006. Mary Adams has been elected President of the Institute of Management Consultants New England Chapter. For more information, visit www.imcne.org.

June, 2006. Mike Oleksak is ending his two-year post as President of Winchester A Better Chance, a program that hosts and educates young men from less-advantaged communities. For more information, visit www.winchesterabc.org.

June, 2006. Mary Adams spoke recently to a gathering of real estate executives convened by the Bulfinch Group on the topic of “Developing and Implementing an Effective Business Plan in Changing Times.” Bulfinch plans other activities for the real estate industry, so let them know if you are interested in receiving more information. Visit the Bulfinch Group's website to leave your feedback.

May, 2006. Mary Adams was quoted in an article entitled, “Your Bank: A Partner in Profit,” on how bankers think. “There is always a Plan B, so be able to answer the basic three questions: 1-What is the money for? 2-How will you pay it back? and 3-If that doesn’t work, how would you pay it back then?”

February, 2006. Trek announces the creation of a community of users for IC Rating™ in the U.S. As part of this, Trek is actively recruiting other consultants to join the community and enhance their consulting practices through the use of the powerful information generated by IC Rating. Read the press release.

December, 2005. Trek announces the launching of two websites related to our practice: www.icrating.com and www.icknowledgecenter.com These sites reflect our commitment to a relationship signed earlier this year with Intellectual Capital AB of Sweden to develop the U.S. market for the IC Rating ™ assessment tool.

November, 2005. Trek announces its new IC Rating™ offering. This is a system used to assess organizational intellectual capital. It is a powerful and unique information source about the resources critical to the future: your people, your market networks, branding, intellectual property and business processes.

September, 2005. Trek kicked off the first of five seminars on Strategic Thinking that will be presented to Teradyne executives. These seminars are part of a series of professional development courses organized by Northeastern University’s Corporate Education Program.

August, 2005. Mary Adams was quoted in Aqua Magazine (www.aquamagazine.com ) on managing relationships with your bankers, “Any surprise is bad for a banker. Even if it’s a good surprise, bankers worry that if they were surprised by something good, they could be surprised next time by something bad.”

June, 2005. Michael Oleksak has been elected President of Save Popponesset Bay, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Popponesset Spit and keeping safe and navigable the waters in and around Popponesset Bay.

May, 2005. Mary Adams has been designated President Elect of the Institute of Management Consultants New England for the coming year.

March, 2005. Michael Oleksak and Mary Adams have been invited to teach a seminar at Printing Industries of New England (PINE) that will help owners of commercial printing companies to develop an action plan for increasing the value and success of their businesses.

January, 2005. Mike Oleksak has been asked to join the membership committee of the Association for Corporate Growth.

September, 2004. Come see Trek at the annual Trade Fair sponsored jointly by the Commercial Finance Association and the Turnaround Management Association at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

September, 2004. Trek will be part of a multidisciplinary team presenting a seminar on “Maximizing Value and Achieving Liquidity for the Closely-Held Business”. Other presenters will be joining us from Consillium Partners, Merrill Lynch, Pepe & Hazard and UHY Partners.

June, 2004. Michael Oleksak has been elected President of A Better Chance in Winchester, MA.

June, 2004. Mary Adams has been invited to join the Board of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants.

March, 2004. Announcing our new name, Trek Consulting LLC, and the launch of our monthly newsletter, Trekking.

November, 2003. Mary Adams and Michael Oleksak will be speaking on how to “Maximize Your Value!” at the Institute of Management Consultants New England.

March, 2003. Mary Adams will be participating as a panelist at the MassWIT Women’s Leadership Conference in a discussion of “Surviving and Thriving in High Tech.”