Signs of impending trouble

Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Assciation for Corporate Growth and heard a presentation by Dan Dooley of Morris-Anderson.  His topic was "The Uniqueness of a Family Owned Business."  He presented 11 signs of impending trouble that I think could apply to any business, no matter what the ownership structure. 

I quote below from his slides and his comments:

1. Monthly financial targets are not communicated to employees.
2. Monthly breakeven point is not known.
3. No "written" action items, which shows a lack of commitment.
4. Senior management is not "hands on."  Someone must watch the little stuff closely.
5. Critical metrics tracked only monthly, resulting in end-of-month surprises.
6. Outdated organizational chart.
7. Operations department has no non-financial metrics.
8. No meaningful accomplishments in last 90 days.
9. Management's financial incentives are meaningless.
10. Facilities housekeeping is poor. [I believe this is the single best indicator of management quality.]
11. Lack of eye contact between senior management and the people on the floor.