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Volume 1.5 Table Of Contents
- Develop an "early warning system" to detect changes
- Trend Watch: "Information technology is reshaping businesses and markets"
- Digging Deeper: Test assumptions about emerging stakeholder power
- Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Develop an "early warning system" to detect changes
One thing you can count on as you evaluate your year- end results is that your organization and business conditions have changed over the past twelve months. It's easy to notice major, gut-wrenching changes. However, it's the steady accumulation of small changes in employees, customers, technology, your industry and other factors that can have just as profound an effect on both top and bottom line results. Even if your business plan is on target, developing an "early warning system" to alert you to changes in your organization and in business conditions will help you determine whether your company is still on the right track to success.
Here is a checklist of five questions that are at the foundation of an early warning system." Monitoring these on a regular basis through a series of well-placed milestones and checkpoints will reduce the chances of getting blindsided by unexpected problems and position you to benefit from emerging opportunities.
Trend Watch: "Information technology is reshaping businesses and markets"
What started out as a trickle in the 1980s has now become a mainstream phenomenon. According to a December 6, 2004 article in the New York Times (page C17), "The computer and its more recent application, the Internet, are seeping into every nook and cranny of the economy, and are being used by companies across the board for an expanding array of purposes."
While major changes brought about by information technology (such as outsourcing) are readily apparent, other changes regarding how companies make and sell things are more difficult to take seriously because they require leaders to challenge long held assumptions that are at the base of their business model. For example, Eastman Kodak has just stopped manufacturing slide projectors and is struggling to adapt as the filmless digital world slowly but surely made this piece of equipment and other film-based products obsolete.
How can you avoid being blindsided by unexpected changes from new technology in 2005 and beyond? The key is to regularly monitor technology trends, understand their many potential applications for your industry and business, and challenge assumptions about what is and is not important to your stakeholders.
Digging Deeper: Test assumptions about emerging stakeholder power
Just as technology can improve productivity, it can also change the expectations and power of both internal and external stakeholders. For example, in a previous issue of e-Tips, I mentioned that customers now expect to work with companies via Internet to actively shape new products and services.
An important part of every company's "early warning system" is to regularly monitor how changes in the business environment (such as new legislation), in your industry, in your strategy, and in your organization may have created a power shift among your stakeholders. This will help you determine what adjustments need to made to your plan and resources.
Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Q: "How
often should we be checking progress on our strategic
plan?"
A: The answer to this question
depends upon what level of risk your leadership
team is willing to tolerate. This tolerance differs
from company to company, and even within a single
organization over time. The more an imagined situation
makes you cringe, the more frequent and thorough
your checkpoints should be.