Corporate scenario all over the world has changed, and is still changing further. Marshal McLuhan’s long back concept of the Global Village is now a reality today. The economic and technological revolutions that have taken place in the recent past have made for Visions of companies to be changed, and made contemporary for growth and profitability. Companies have restructured their organizations and business models to the new economic order. Many companies have even outgrown their founders!

The specific methods of building great companies as a result have changed dramatically. Requiring different strokes! From the earlier, as described in the best sellers “In Search for Excellence” and “Built to Last” as I would phrase it today, to “build to grow” and as spelt out in “The World is Flat” and “The Blue Ocean Strategy”. Even the management thinker C K Prahalad has changed his original concept of “Core Competency” to a new concept of “The fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” which is about growth and in tune with the changes taking place in the business world today! Now the corporate strategies, as can be seen around us, are all about necessary “disruption” for growth and progress.

Despite all this change in thinking, ideologies, and actions it is worth noting that great companies still embrace some of the old timeless principles of creating and nurturing. Those that still work and should not be junked in any situation. These are the great principles that made great companies ever great.

The first of these is putting the right people in the right places. Getting people who share their own values and standards and link it to the vision and strategies of the organization. This makes it also easier to steer companies forward in the changed conditions and situations. Organizations will generate more opportunities and abilities for growth with right people identified and networking for it. Today with the Internet and Intranet technologies, we require a set of changes in the way we work, mange and lead people. So if you don’t have the right people you can have problems. It’s the people behind the technology that make the difference – and a competitive difference.

Next, it is the good-to-great CEO’s who make great companies. The CEO factor as I call it! Great CEO’s have two distinct qualities. First they have a firm grasp of basic principles of management, such as getting the right people on board the organization. Second, they are fanatically consistent in applying enduring standards within the company, such as ethics, quality, open culture, empowerment, and discipline at all levels. They make these as the guiding principles of the company that will create wealth for its stakeholders all-round. Making this not an act, but a habit.

As we see, it takes an organization to change its organization structures in the present day context. The need today is for alignment of people to key expected results – to achieve your goals in the present and future. If goals are not clearly defined and communicated, people simply focus on “dong their job” which often falls short of required results.

For building a great company, we have to be proactive and design organizations to be flexible, flat, highly productive and be able to transform themselves fast to meet the needs of the marketplace that is competitive and changing all the time. A clear Vision that employees understand is necessary if you want to make impact and get people to contribute to the organization’s goals. Go for high performance and make your people believe and feel they belong to the organization – attitudinally and physically. The latest in this process is termed as “tipping point leadership”.  It hinges on the insights of the critical mass of employees and outside customers working for you. Overcoming hurdles and seizing opportunities, and delivering results consistently and constantly.

Tipping point growth comes when we start a purpose driven movement in the organization. Unleashing power and potential to create success. Some of the lessons from present day star companies and groups are that they think big, have a distinct identity and economic purpose, create and work on networks, and offer blockbuster products and service. They are evangelists in information and relationships with their stakeholders. It is said we need to lead change with our head, heart and guts! Companies must adapt to cultural, economic and political environment – and find a niche.

Today successful organizations are said to be growing in a global garden. With expanding and competitive markets and opportunities and technology. The question of the fit between and organization and its environment is not new, only it has become genuinely global, and this has given everything a new urgency, and raised the level of risk and penalty for failure. If you fail, its because of a mistaken Vision and values you have set for your journey. It is because you have not understood the marketplace dynamics, opportunities and technology. Today, organizations need to look at windows of opportunity at industry specific level, and in a new way. When the market becomes more and more demanding, success depends on how you are able to adjust your business or organization to the local situation.

 “The culture of an organization is like the soil in gardening. The business is like the tree growing in the soil. And profits (success) are like fruits on the tree. A successful organization will have the same kind of soil, with the same properties, wherever it operates. And it is that soil which offers you growth and success!”