The benefits of agile management techniques are now well appreciated. There is a substantial reduction is costs by up to a fourth or even a third, as per a study conducted by business consulting giant BCG. There is also an improvement in quality, by a factor of up to a fifth. The same study also confirms that the delivery of new services and products doubles or even triples. To ensure this happens, commitment is needed right from the top. CEOs must begin each transformative journey by questioning the need to go agile. The principles and practices need to be adopted after due diligence is conducted. The leadership too needs a periodic change. The entire team across the levels, must feel a sense of empowerment. One needs to learn quick. And adapt at pace too.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/featured-insights/how-to/agile.aspx

Uploaded Date:24 June 2019

The truck makers in Europe are trying out innovative ideas to break out of the so- far set pattern. A high interest is being shown towards electric and hybrid vehicles. Interestingly, for most Europe- based truck makers, it is the total cost of ownership that seems to matter most to them, while making their purchase decisions. As per a report by management consulting giant Bain, this aspect far overpowers others factors, such as the truck performance, its features, service quality, truck image, or dealer relationship. Many European truck brands are struggling to differentiate themselves, due to the threshold of quality now achieved by most. The key touch points of the sales process, need to be identified by the dealers and manufacturers to help the buyers make informed decisions. Over a period of time, these truck makers will need to develop unique business models, to meet customer demands for alternative options.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/how-europes-truck-makers-can-break-out-pack/

Uploaded Date:22 June 2019

To separate the very best companies, from the others, one needs to consider its ability to initiate revenue growth. Private equity is now proving to be the best bet towards this kind of organic growth. It involves a lot of hard work, but the payoffs are also substantial. Significant value may be derived out of commercial acceleration. To do this, one needs to increase the share of wallet by prioritizing on the top clients, to help reach full potential. The channel programmes and incentives need to be revisited. The most profitable segments need to be identified, while one has to stop over- analyzing the laggards. Formal corporate training can be made use of for helping the sales reps to be reinforced certain behaviors. Controls too need to be brought in so that price leakage may be limited. Top line acceleration is known to produce a ten to twenty percent improvement, while a similar growth may be from margin expansion. The sales model must involve transactional sales, technical solutions sales and handshake sales.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/how-commercial-excellence-jump-starts-growth-in-private-equity/

Uploaded Date:22 June 2019

The definition of an agile organization is now well known. But fewer people still understand how a transformation towards that path may be achieved. Such firms should be able to combine adaptability and velocity. But the process has to be efficient and stable. The strategy to execute such teams needs to be four- pronged. It needs to include a structure, technology, processes, and of course, the people. The structure involves the use of certain reporting standards, a governance stream and proper roles defined for all involved. The workforce size also needs to be defined in advance. People involves the talent management, company culture and communication networks, which may be informal as well as formal. There must be adequate management training to ensure a leadership pipeline. The third part of this has to involve technology. This includes the IT, architecture, support systems, tools and a delivery pipeline. Finally, there are processes. This partakes performance management, planning processes, team dynamics and the linkage mechanisms. Agile pilots too need to be identified who can make this transition possible. They need to be further empowered by the provision of a capability accelerator.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-journey-to-an-agile-organization

Uploaded Date:22 June 2019

Anyone who wants to develop and then execute the best of corporate strategy, needs to have a broader outlook than others. This holistic approach needs to be via the use of four different lenses. These are in effect, four different viewpoints. The first of them is the financial lens. Fir this, proper benchmarking is required, so returns may be mapped against set standards. Next up, is the marketing lens. The different markets may be assessed as per this, to study where profitability or growth could be the highest. Trends and disruptions too need to be put within this lens. Digital marketing can be one way of fending off such upstarts. The existing value chains need also be scanned for adjacent markets. The operating- model lens, which is the third one, is a lot about resource allocation, funding sources, performance management and scouting for talent. All these three lenses combine to bring in the fourth, which is the competitive- advantage lens. The ownership advantages and market positions are analyzed against a portfolio of options.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/seeing-your-way-to-better-strategy

Uploaded Date:15 June 2019

New technologies that have hit the market, are having an impact on the organizational effectiveness. A number of problems have existed since long, but are now being solved the right way, using digital technologies. This is also helping in providing a multifaceted view, necessary for drafting any firm’s corporate strategy. A digital twin concept is energizing the field of design. Any enterprise can now be viewed using different viewpoints, thus providing a more holistic picture. The first is the organizational viewpoint. Another is the culture and behavior. This in turn is further affected by the existing workforce. So, the talent recruitment efforts have to be planned in such a way that the new recruits can mingle with the existing company culture. Of course, all of these discussion, go out of the window, when costs are not put in consideration. Real- time results need to be tracked for all such parameters, so that improvisations can be conducted for each.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Organizational-effectiveness-goes-digital?gko=56fab

Uploaded Date:12 June 2019

Profit margins are slimming down for industrial manufacturers. That is why such companies are exploring new technologies to boost up their business offerings. The automotive industry is one in particular which is set to observe substantial amounts of disruptive technologies hold sway. Industrial producers are thus now investing heavily on business research and development. In order to step up this entire process, companies need to have the proper system in place to track customer inputs. One this crucial business intelligence is captured, companies must think big, and place strategic bets. The product development process has to abide by agile methods. One’s own ecosystem has to be curated, to leverage all the inputs gained. Finally, companies must have their go- to market capabilities, so they may launch their developments at pace. The right monetization model is a must so that proper value may get captured. The business model needs to also be data- enabled. One of the best sources to glean insights from nowadays, are through connected services and products.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/tech-enabled-disruption-of-products-and-services

Uploaded Date:12 June 2019

The next few years could be of much excitement to high- tech, middle- market companies that are based in emerging economies. EB Capital could be the catalyst for growth in Brazil. This is the opinion of its founder Eduardo Sirotsky Melzer, who has himself finished his MBA from the Harvard Business School. Grupo RBS is another such media conglomerate, poised for growth. RBS has always been known for its talent management and strategy skills. So, whichever company has gotten itself acquired by RBS, has ended up improving its processes instead. Warehouses and logistics is another part the company excels at. RBS primarily invests in high- growth sectors. A number of technology startups have also been acquired, as it is an important area for growth. The growth of the middle- class in particular in Brazil will have major impacts on its consumption, and consequently the investment scenario.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Start-Small-and-Think-Globally?gko=9553f

Uploaded Date:08 June 2019

Online retail giant Amazon has now come up with a new initiative by which it sells airline tickets as well. As of now, this option is only available for India. The American company has tied up with an Indian travel firm Clear- trip. Amazon will also then install its booking engine at more than only the six largest airports of the country as is the case now. While the airline’s penalties will need to be levied, Amazon has reiterated that it does not plan to charge any penalties of its own for tickets’ cancellations. This business innovation is a clear sign of how Amazon sees itself as more than merely in to shopping, but now also in to travel.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/sale-of-airline-tickets-through-amazon-news11071

Uploaded Date:08 June 2019

Some methods have been inspired from the US military, that can best help test the features mentioned in the corporate strategy. One of them is to build Situational Awareness (SA). This will help employees understand what to do in certain real- world situations. Another is to build an outside- in perspective. An honest view of the company’s strengths or weaknesses may be assessed using this method. The third such strategy is to “game it out”. This suggests simulation. Games can be best management training methods, to test how to respond at various situations. Teams must be curated with diversity as a central tenet.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/10/4-ways-to-pressure-test-strategic-decisions-inspired-by-the-u-s-military

Uploaded Date:08 June 2019

Health systems all over have improved their performance and efficiency by making use of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Unfortunately, for several of these cases, the successes couldn’t be sustained after the propagating leaders quit. One such was Theda Care, based in Wisconsin. To ensure that the TPS can be a long- term success, teams must utilize the system during succession planning, as done by the Ontario- based St. Mary’s General Hospital. Lean behaviours must not be the prerogative of the top management alone, but needs to be incorporated at each level. Management training sessions need to specifically focus on this set of behaviours. Each company needs to create its own success stories, and then build on them. To ensure that the functions run smooth, a TPS operating system needs to be kept in place.

Source:https://hbr.org/2019/05/creating-a-culture-of-continuous-improvement

Uploaded Date:08 June 2019