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Emerging Trends in Business Strategy
Dr. Kabaly P SubramanianFaculty of Business Studies Arab Open University
Transient Advantage
Transient Advantage
Sustainable Vs Transient Sustainable : Creating a strong position
and defend it for extended periods of time
GE, IKEA , Unilever,… Transient : Constantly start new strategic
initiatives building and exploiting many competitive advantages at once.
Milliken&Company (Chemicals), Cognizant (IT), Brambles (logistics),…
Anatomy of a Transient Advantage
Launch Ramp up Exploit Reconfigure Disengage0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Anatomy of a Transient Advantage
Stage Nature People Comments
Launch Identifies an opportunity and mobilize resources to capitalize on it
Capable of generating ideas, comfortable with experimentation and iteration
Ramp up Business Idea brought to scale
Capable of assembling right resources, at the right time, at the right quality and deliver on the promise
Exploitation Captures profits and share and forces competitors to react
Capable of analytical decision making, M&A and efficiency
Traditional companies have plenty of talent
Anatomy of a Transient Advantage
Stage Nature People Comments
Reconfigure Keep the advantage fresh
Capable of radically rethinking business models or resources
Disengagement Resources are extracted and reallocated
Candid ,tough minded and can make emotionally difficult decisions.
Facing the brutal truth
Companies shore up an existing advantage for as long as possible, until the pain becomes so obvious that there is no choice.
IBM,Nokia,Sony,Kodak,…
Assessing the current advantage I don’t buy my own company’s products or services. We are investing at the same or higher levels and
not getting better margins or growth in return. Customers are finding cheaper or simpler solutions
to be “good enough”. Competition is emerging from places we didn’t
expect. Customers are no longer excited about what we
have to offer. We are not considered a top place to work by the
people we’d like to hire. Some of our very best people are leaving Our stock is perpetually undervalued
Seven Dangerous Misconceptions
Deeply embedded assumptions lead companies into traps
1. The first mover trap2. The Superiority trap3. The Quality trap4. The hostage-resources trap5. The white-space trap6. The empire building trap7. The sporadic innovation trap
first mover-trap
Belief that first to market and owning assets create a sustainable position.
In some businesses like aircraft engines or mining it may be true.
But most industries a first mover advantage doesn’t last.
Example : Motorola , Ford,…
Superiority trap
Early-stage technology, process or product won’t be as effective as something that’s been honed and polished for years.
Example : Kodak , Barnes and Noble
Quality Trap
Many businesses in exploit mode stick with a level of quality higher than customers are prepared to pay for.
When a cheaper , simpler offer is good enough, customers will abandon the incumbent.
Nokia
Hostage-resources trap
Nokia developed a product that was remarkably similar to today’s iPad in about 2004.
Nokia never capitalize on this groundbreaking innovation.
Companies emphasis was on mass-market phones, and resource allocation decisions were made accordingly.
White-space trap
When opportunities don’t fit their structure , firms often simply forgo them instead of making the effort to reorganize.
Foe instance a product manufacturer might pass up potentially profitable moves into services because they require coordination of activities along a customer’s experience, rather than by product line.
Empire building trap
Bureaucracy building and fierce defense of status quo.
It inhibits, experimentation, learning and risk taking.
It causes employees who like to do new things to leave.
Sporadic-innovation trap
Many companies do not have a system for creating a pipeline of new advantages.
Vulnerable to swings in the business cycle.
Strategy for Transient Advantage-Eight ways
1. Think about arenas, not industries2. Set broad themes, and then people experiment3. Adopt metrics that support entrepreneurial
growth4. Focus on experiences and solutions to
problems5. Build strong relationships and networks6. Avoid brutal restructuring : Learn healthy
disengagement7. Get systematic about early-stage innovation8. Experiment,iterate,learn
Think about arenas , not industry
Untraditional competitors take companies by surprise.
Google’s move into operating systems
Wal-Mart into healthcare Arena : combination of a customer
segment, an offer, and a place in which that offer is delivered.
Customer’s jobs to be done.
Set broad themes and then let people experiment
Interpretation of weak signals in the environment to set broad themes.
Within those themes , they free people to experiment with different approaches and business models.
Adopt metrics that supports entrepreneurial growth
Conventional metrics can effectively kill off innovation
Focus on experiences and solutions to problems.
Many companies are so internally focused that they are oblivious to the customer’s experience.
Australia’s Brambles : Company realized that one of grocers’ biggest
cost was the labor required to shelve goods delivered to their stores.
Brambles designed a solution : plastic bins It has cut labor costs significantly Fruits and vegetables arrive in better shape This lead to substantial profits, appreciation
and growth.
Brambles Innovation : Plastic Bins
Build strong relationships and networks
Evidence indicate that the most successful and sought after employees are those with the most robust networks.
Infosys , for instance is choosy about which customers it will serve , but it maintains a 97% retention rate.
In GE, the senior leaders spend inordinate amounts of time building and preserving relationships with other firms.
Avoid brutal restructuring; learn healthy disengagement
Netflix’s efforts to get out of the DVD shipping business and into streaming movies is an interesting lesson in the wrong way to do.
Two decisions that infuriated customers.
Massive price increase across board and split the DVD and streaming business.
Get systematic about early stage innovation
To have a process for filling your pipeline with new ones. Your innovation process needs to be carefully orchestrated.
Experiment,iterate,learn.
Planning new ventures with the same approaches they use for more established businesses.
They need to focus on experimentation, iteration and learning
Leadership as orchestration Difficult to handle the complexity Figure out some key directional guidelines Putting in place good processes for core activities
such as innovation Use their influence over a few crucial inflection
points to direct the flow of activities Initiates conversations that question, rather than
reinforce, status quo. Seeking contrasting opinions and honest
disagreement. Involving broader constituencies in strategy process Recognizing the need for speed Fast and rough vs slow and precise
Conclusion
Defining where you want to compete How you intend to win How you are going to move form
advantage to advantage is critical
References
Transient Advantage : Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review (June 2013)
Thank YouEmail : [email protected]