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The Schleifer MBA
This year, it is my mission to discuss the science of business. When financial transactions are small and simple the commonsense entrepreneur can make artful choices that propel the firm forward. But when construction companies achieve scale, they become the most...
Decision Tree Analysis
Decision tree analysis is not a scientific way to make decisions but rather a visual representation of the decision-making process that goes on inside the head of decision makers. At first, a decision tree appears as a tree-like structure or graph with different nodes...
The Decision Tree
The human mind is a problem-solving machine. It takes in data through the 5 senses then stores and classifies the data as either good or bad for survival of the entity. The brain then amplifies the "good" classification with neurotransmitters like serotonin and...
Two Roads
"Two roads converged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." ~ Robert Frost Every mature industrial company is nothing more than the net result of the management choices made from the beginning. Put yourself in the mind...
2025 to 2026
Even as the New Year has dawned, I offer these final thoughts on the year just passed. If I could sum up this past year’s dialogue into one overall theme I would say, "Managing a construction business is a completely different activity from managing a...
Budgeting vs. Forecasting
In my experience, construction firms do not operate under firm budget disciplines like most other industrial concerns. Contractors usually craft project budgets in advance but rarely use them as a management tool. Because of the complexity and variability of each...
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