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!”
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