Apr
27
Written by:
host
4/27/2010 6:23 PM
A typical CEO of a company would be worried about the customer and competition. A closer inspection will reveal that both these very critical variables are beyond the control of an organisation. The best-fit solution would be to in-corporate these variables in order to realise the value for a customer.
Before we go any further, let’s first understand the very complex and an ever changing customer space of modern economy.
Customer is Supreme – Most businesses are driven by commodities (98% according to an estimate) and the customers have plenty of choices in today’s market to make a selection from. No matter how much loyalty a customer has for a brand and how much differentiation an organisation can offer, let’s face it in the end the decision to buy or not lies with the customer. In order to buy a product the customer will have to make a choice. Customer needs and demands can’t be ignored.
Un-predictable Customer Landscape – The current customer landscape is extremely un-predictable. It changes very rapidly and erratically at times. This requires for an organisation to have a quicker TAT, agility and dynamism to adapt to a constant change. This can only be achieved in a Process Based Organisation by designing a process across functions, horizontally and end backwards.
Relentless Competition – The competitive landscape is pretty relentless too as everyone is trying to adapt to an ever-changing variable of a customer. Quicker responses to address competition will gradually give Competitive Advantage to organisations. This can easily be achieved in a Process Oriented model and culture of working.
Our Product must be sold – Further we would like to make an organisation believe in itself totally. An organisation in order to grow must have the mindset that if a product has to be sold in a pool it has to be ours. This mind-set becomes even more crucial when the customer has a large pool to choose from. Industry share may fall in a year or a quarter but an organisations revenue should not fall based on this argument. This claim was substantiated last year when during GFC Coke had its sales increased by about 36%. It will only happen if the responsiveness to customer demands is quicker and the needs are taken care off. A process based organisation would be able to meet these very demanding tasks rather easily.
Process based organisation and an end backwards mind-set will be the way business and organisations will run. If you are not prepared or ready for this massive change then it will be very difficult for you to operate.
The change is here and a futuristic organisation will adopt it. Please make no mistake about it this is the way forward. Embrace process world and gain competitive advantage or perish. The choice is yours and the one that needs to be made rather quickly.