Book's goal: to change manager mind-sets

Oct. 1, 2008
Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution: The Truth About Sales, Margins, Inventory, and Expenses, a book by Al Bates of Profit Planning Group, has one

Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution: The Truth About Sales, Margins, Inventory, and Expenses, a book by Al Bates of Profit Planning Group, has one overall goal — to change the way distribution managers think about their businesses. Some of the changes in mind-set include:

  • Replacing GMROI as a measurement tool because it almost always leads to incorrect decisions about inventory.

  • Appreciating that bad debts may not always be bad.

  • Understanding that lowering inventory is often a bad idea.

  • Accepting the fact that sales growth can be too fast as well as too slow.

  • Identifying why most sales force commission plans don't work the way they are supposed to.

Bates gets to the heart of this matter in the premise of this book: both decision quality and decision consistency are influenced by some very bad information. He points out that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the bad information sure looks good on the surface.

In Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution: The Truth About Sales, Margins, Inventory, and Expenses, Bates replaces conventional wisdom with a combination of sophisticated analysis and empirical information.

Access www.naw.org/profitmyths to learn more.