The Manager's View

Most of you know that I am a Clayton Christensen fan. The video link below talks about market creating innovations and the limitations current financial ratios puts on innovations that create and expand markets. It is about 16 minutes long and, I think, worth the time. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=clayton+christensen+-+innovators+dilemma&&view=detail&mid=4247C90E8FBA22CD8C0C4247C90E8FBA22CD8C0C&&FORM=VDRVRV I believe Christensen's theories can lay the ground work for innovations that can change the world. Consider a project that focuses on housing for the very poor and creating a business model that would be sustainable and built on capitalistic principles. The idea stems from the belief that housing is a fundamental economic endeavor and can be the impetus for real economic growth. That is, housing drives other industries that provide materials and support services. Housing and the associated industries create jobs that create deman...

Earlier this year I accepted the challenge of creating an executive education program at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Up until this point, Bauer had no formal strategy for executive education. It did, however, have an outstanding faculty and was engaged with a number of high profile companies in developing custom curricula for developing managers and executives. My job would be to continue with the custom programs already in place and to add classes that could be used by individuals or companies that had a need for only one or two classes. This would require engaging the faculty and community experts in developing classes for the program, creating a format to for communicating the class topics and qualifications of the faculty and designing a website that would be user friendly. That’s just the beginning. The next steps include developing a winning marketing campaign and developing enough demand to fill the classes at a rate that covers the cost ...

In August of 2013 I wrote a blog on how to save newspapers ( http://gwrresearch.blogspot.com/2013/08/how-to-save-newspapers.html ) . This blog described the differences between print and digital editions of a newspaper and their websites. The article focused on creating a symbiotic relationship between the newspaper and the website. I see that newspapers are trying to create a business model that relies on inputs from electronic and print components but I don’t see much symbiosis.   Most of newspaper efforts still seem to be driven by the old model and its strengths.   News stories are printed in the paper and digital editions with reference to those stories being repeated in a different format and different timing on the website.   I saw, in one newspaper, a large photo (half page) of an event with a caption telling the readers they could learn more about the event on the newspaper’s website. Now there is a synergistic effort gone bad. The folks getting the ...

I have used a framework to guide my consulting projects and internal corporate projects for years. The approach has kept me focused on project completion and has helped in providing data driven solutions for complex problems. The approach to designing a consulting project framework is based on starting with the mission and vision of the organization I am working with and understanding how the objective of the project fits with the mission and vision. Before next steps are taken there needs to be an assessment of the organization’s current position vis-à-vis the universe in which it exists. Only then can you move forward to developing a strategy, its tactics and an execution plan. An exercise that should help in gaining clarity for your project relates to the acronym: M ission – How does the organization service a universal need? This is why the organization exists. As you consider your next consulting project it is always good to consider how the client’s organization...

For those of you that are looking for a simple process for launching a new product or entering a new market, I have developed a checklist below that can be used for either. Checklist 1.      State your company mission – This is why the business exists or will exist. Coca Cola is a good example, their mission talks about refreshing the world, creating value and inspiring happiness and optimism. Note there is nothing said about selling Coke. 2.      State your company vision – This is how the company will create value for the company, the customer and collaborators. Again, Coca Cola is a good example. The coke vision talks about being a great place to work, building a portfolio of quality beverage brands, nurturing a winning network of customers and suppliers, being a responsible citizen, being a profitable company and being a lean, effective and fast moving company. 3.      Does the new product or new market fit wit...

When I worked as a newspaper executive we had a special sales group called print specialists. This group typically was comprised of the more senior and gifted sales personnel. These specialists had knowledge of ROP (in-paper) advertising, preprints, commercial printing, direct mail and production processes. This group sold the more complicated products and assisted sales people selling more traditional lines of newspaper products in broadening the scope of sales opportunities. A print specialist was able to set down with an advertiser and develop an advertising program that best suited the customer’s needs. The program could include ROP ads coupled with a direct mail campaign with customized brochures reaching targeted audiences. Sales commission programs encouraged all sales groups to use the expertise of the print specialist. Using this approach all sales personnel had an opportunity to increase their income while improving the newspaper’s profits and providing real valu...

Disruptive Innovation theory holds that disruptive innovations result from a new industry entrant finding a way to better serve the industry leader’s least profitable customers. After the new entrant has captured the least profitable customers from the industry leader it begins to pursue the next level of customers that are underserved by the industry leader. This process continues until the new market entrant displaces the industry leader. This is well researched and there is a large body of evidence to support this theory of market disruptions. It does not, however, explain disruptions that seem to take place at the top of the customer value chain. For example the disruption of the nylon tire business by the steel belted radial tire was not due to unprofitable customers being underserved by the industry leader (DuPont). Rather it was the need for a superior tire that was sought by the most profitable customers. For newspapers, the first segment of business to be lost was...

Value creation is a phenomenon that is much discussed and is the basis for all economic activity. That is, for a product or service to be sold it must be viewed as providing some value for the purchaser. In some instances, value is based on long-standing measurements and is tied to supply and demand. The more some thing is demanded when there is a limited supply results in an increase in its value. For individuals with new products or services, determining value is critical to the success of a new venture. In these situations there is no history to gauge value that might be based on supply and demand. There is only anecdotal and (at times) research based evidence on the potential value of the new offering. In the early 1970s Gerald Zaltman (Processes and Phenomena of Social Change, Wiley Interscience, 1973) conducted research based on social change. In these studies he determined that there were several factors that caused societal change. In the late 1970s I used thes...

In order to develop any marketing strategy, a strategist must consider how value will be created for the company, the customer and the collaborators. Pictured in the graphic below, the highest strategic value is created when the value for each of the participants (customers, collaborators and the company)  coincide or overlap.  The larger the area of common value, the greater the chance for strategic success. As the overlapping areas decrease in size the more difficult the strategy will be to execute successfully.   As discussed in earlier blogs value is created by using the 4 Ps of marketing: Price, Place, Product and Promotion.  In the grid below a strategist can address the value for each of the four Ps as it relates to the customers, collaborators and the company. Each of the four Ps must be in alignment with each other and create the intended value for each of the participants. When the area of the participants'  common value is ...

There is a process for developing a successful Marketing Strategy. The steps outlined below describe that process: I.                State the Mission   - This is a description of the purpose of the quest. For example Coca Cola’s Mission is to: refresh the world, inspire optimism, to create value and make a difference. II.              State the Vision - This is a description of how value is created for all who participate in the quest or a business. For businesses, the Vision describes how value will be created for the customers, the collaborators and the company. III.            State the Objective – This is a description of the desired outcome of the strategy. The objective must have a quantifiable and a timing element.   An example would be “to increase sales 5% in 6 months”. IV.  ...