Commentary
Comment
daleste
Very few companies have innovative products. Most are minor derivatives of ...
wilber_xbox
Change is imminent for business otherwise monopoly will rule. Those companies ...
Managing change
Maheen Hamid
5/24/2012 8:28 PM EDT
John F. Kennedy, the oft quoted and inspiring 35th President of the United States, once wrote: "Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." How fitting for technology companies. Gone are the days when superior quality or the best-of-breed product was a sufficient barrier to entry and solid protection for market-leading positions.
Nowadays, companies are relying more heavily on the softer aspects of business. Those include building brand awareness and brand loyalty through marketing communications strategies, establishing strategic partnerships and keeping product features fresh, new and relevant, all-the-while leveraging evolving platforms such as social networking and other emerging communications channels.
In this fast pace of innovation, the need for instant gratification and labor market mobility, organizational change––dare I say, upheaval––is a way of life. This change could mean any number of things, from shifting organizational culture, to changing operational processes and strategic directions.
Entrepreneurs and seasoned executives need to learn to expect it, plan for it and manage it. The Microsoft industry dominance, for example, offers a plethora of examples about companies on the decline that did not prepare for change. Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect were industry leaders when little-known Microsoft entered the market with Windows/Office. These companies underestimated the competitive landscape and now are scant memories from the Information Age.
Entrepreneurial and smaller businesses can be particularly at risk, as information-savvy consumers will gravitate toward competitors able to offer the best value for money and/or a differentiated buying experience, which is often hard to implement for a fledgling business.
In order to protect the financial bottom line, executives need to understand the rhythm of the market, separate out the urgent from the important, and build enough flexibility into the system to be able to change with market needs. Flexibility matters.
Without a destination, it is difficult to know which road to take
I love this quote. When an executive––entrepreneur, C-level or anywhere in between––knows what to change, putting the plan in motion is easy. Some change will be a result of growing pains, such as the evolution of the product, mission and direction, while some of it will have to be driven by the changing competitive landscape. Small business growth has exploded as laid-off workers strike out on their own. As a result, it's becoming a busy and noisy marketplace.
With consumer sophistication rising, it is imperative to understand competitive positioning to be able to react and change direction when needed. Monitoring competitors' pricing, product features, sales strategies and anticipated strategic directions are critical components to managing and prioritizing areas of change.
Urgent versus important
As an entrepreneur, I've learned to separate the urgent from the important. Business execution and putting out daily fires is necessary, but not always efficient. Companies' executives could be inhibiting growth as it becomes difficult to anticipate opportunities, let alone prepare for it.
Enabling employees to take on lower-priority tasks gives an executive the ability to focus on the strategic direction of the company. This means establishing well-understood processes that give employees some degree of freedom to make responsible decisions. A great rule of thumb is to hire smart, experienced employees and give them the authority and responsibility to do the job.
Of course, their resolutions may not be ideal, but if it gets the work done, let it go and move on. This will bring efficiency and will help build a loyal workforce ready to react.
Need versus want
Cash-strapped small businesses—and there are many in our industry today—are often forced to run a lean operation, leaving little financial wiggle room to react to necessary changes. This can be managed through the discipline of differentiating between a "need" versus a "want."
Questioning the simplest of things, such as the purchase of an extra stapler, can make a difference. A fine line exists between being seen as being miserly and being seen as focused on creating good business habits, but it sets a good example with employees. Absorbing the entrepreneurial culture will set the stage for sustainable processes.
Creating a contingency plan, such as financial and operational buffers, investing in business development and creating strategic partnerships at all layers of a company, is important. Having the ability to react constructively to change is an intangible asset. It is not more important than developing a feasible product, but companies with a maturing product must focus on these areas to build in flexibility into the organization poised to steer it in a direction of opportune growth. After all, change is the law of life.
Maheen Hamid is the chief financial officer and a co-founder of EDA startup Breker Verification Systems.
Nowadays, companies are relying more heavily on the softer aspects of business. Those include building brand awareness and brand loyalty through marketing communications strategies, establishing strategic partnerships and keeping product features fresh, new and relevant, all-the-while leveraging evolving platforms such as social networking and other emerging communications channels.
In this fast pace of innovation, the need for instant gratification and labor market mobility, organizational change––dare I say, upheaval––is a way of life. This change could mean any number of things, from shifting organizational culture, to changing operational processes and strategic directions.
Entrepreneurs and seasoned executives need to learn to expect it, plan for it and manage it. The Microsoft industry dominance, for example, offers a plethora of examples about companies on the decline that did not prepare for change. Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect were industry leaders when little-known Microsoft entered the market with Windows/Office. These companies underestimated the competitive landscape and now are scant memories from the Information Age.
Entrepreneurial and smaller businesses can be particularly at risk, as information-savvy consumers will gravitate toward competitors able to offer the best value for money and/or a differentiated buying experience, which is often hard to implement for a fledgling business.
In order to protect the financial bottom line, executives need to understand the rhythm of the market, separate out the urgent from the important, and build enough flexibility into the system to be able to change with market needs. Flexibility matters.
Without a destination, it is difficult to know which road to take
I love this quote. When an executive––entrepreneur, C-level or anywhere in between––knows what to change, putting the plan in motion is easy. Some change will be a result of growing pains, such as the evolution of the product, mission and direction, while some of it will have to be driven by the changing competitive landscape. Small business growth has exploded as laid-off workers strike out on their own. As a result, it's becoming a busy and noisy marketplace.
With consumer sophistication rising, it is imperative to understand competitive positioning to be able to react and change direction when needed. Monitoring competitors' pricing, product features, sales strategies and anticipated strategic directions are critical components to managing and prioritizing areas of change.
Urgent versus important
As an entrepreneur, I've learned to separate the urgent from the important. Business execution and putting out daily fires is necessary, but not always efficient. Companies' executives could be inhibiting growth as it becomes difficult to anticipate opportunities, let alone prepare for it.
Enabling employees to take on lower-priority tasks gives an executive the ability to focus on the strategic direction of the company. This means establishing well-understood processes that give employees some degree of freedom to make responsible decisions. A great rule of thumb is to hire smart, experienced employees and give them the authority and responsibility to do the job.
Of course, their resolutions may not be ideal, but if it gets the work done, let it go and move on. This will bring efficiency and will help build a loyal workforce ready to react.
Need versus want
Cash-strapped small businesses—and there are many in our industry today—are often forced to run a lean operation, leaving little financial wiggle room to react to necessary changes. This can be managed through the discipline of differentiating between a "need" versus a "want."
Questioning the simplest of things, such as the purchase of an extra stapler, can make a difference. A fine line exists between being seen as being miserly and being seen as focused on creating good business habits, but it sets a good example with employees. Absorbing the entrepreneurial culture will set the stage for sustainable processes.
Creating a contingency plan, such as financial and operational buffers, investing in business development and creating strategic partnerships at all layers of a company, is important. Having the ability to react constructively to change is an intangible asset. It is not more important than developing a feasible product, but companies with a maturing product must focus on these areas to build in flexibility into the organization poised to steer it in a direction of opportune growth. After all, change is the law of life.
Maheen Hamid is the chief financial officer and a co-founder of EDA startup Breker Verification Systems.
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
chanj
5/27/2012 3:39 AM EDT
The magic of business is there is no success formula. There is only example to follow. You can only learn what not to do but not what to do to build a successful business. In general, putting a team together, building up processes are a few important things that shall be done sooner rather than later. Proactively innovating the business model to react to the market dynamic is key to bring the company to the future. Dealing with uncertainty and creating the future are part of the job of an Entrepreneur and C-level executives.
Sign in to Reply
resistion
5/27/2012 6:27 AM EDT
Too often change is based on repeating history. Hence the destructive cycles this industry is facing.
Sign in to Reply
wilber_xbox
5/27/2012 11:04 PM EDT
Change is imminent for business otherwise monopoly will rule. Those companies who are flexible to changes in the business environment do survive. I think that most time executives and their decisions are more crucial in saving a company than the innovation itself.
Sign in to Reply
daleste
5/28/2012 10:00 PM EDT
Very few companies have innovative products. Most are minor derivatives of existing successful products. This keeps the risk to a minimum and reuse high. Apple is one of a few companies that will launch a new product that is out of their comfort zone with less reuse.
Sign in to Reply