Archiv der Kategorie: Strategy

Strategy consists of vision, mission, SWOT, Critical success factors, Value disciplines, strategic direction, strategic goals and strategic core.

Purposes, their means and unwanted partners

Wheels first appeared on a Sumerian drinking cup as early as 5 millennia ago. The wheel was not known in America and Australia until the Europeans brought it in. The outer surface has always the same distance from the center and serves one purpose, namely to be round. Thus, the wheel offers the revolutionary property of being able to roll – and it is getting better and better over the millennia. Only in combination with other parts, besides the beauty of the wheel, its far-reaching benefits are revealed – especially the transport of goods and people. Is the roundness enough or does it need more for creating an effect?

Diverse purposes make a higher sense in the interaction with other things.

  • The purpose
    The raison d’être is the reason for the existence of something or someone. The purpose of a wheel, i.e. being round, has inspired inventors to further develop the rounding and construction again and again, up to ideas like the spokeless wheel in the Cyclotron.
    In the company, delivers the purpose the answer to the question Why does the business exist? – It provides the polar star of the organization, which ensures that the leaders and the employees develop their decisions and actions in a common direction. If the actual events no longer fit the common purpose, the efforts of the many activities mutually rescind each other and the enterprise loses its momentum.
    On the one hand, an assignment consists of the mission, the question What has to be done? and, on the other hand, of the purpose, the Why? – Therewith it is not only clear, what to focus on, but you also get reasons for developing passion. You not only learn how to saw, screw and sew, but you also develop a yearning for the vastness of the sea – while building a boat.
  • The purpose of the purposes
    The example of the wheel shows that the purpose can be very special – like flawless roundness. Impact is achieved when the wheel is connected to other parts that also have a purpose in its own right – the load compartment, the axle, the drawbar, the cab, etc. And thus a vehicle evolves that can transport goods and people from A to B. The overarching purpose arises from several ones on the higher level – for example, the transport from A to B. If you add a cannon to the vehicle and the chassis is made bulletproof, we get a tank that is used as a weapon in battle. As soon as weapons are used in an attack, we are in a warlike conflict with the purpose to win.
    This nesting of purposes is particularly confusing, if they are not openly stated. Again, if the purposes at the different levels do not fit together, they undermine each other and generate idle performance.
  • Means to an end
    The speed with which the purpose is sought determines the means required. These are the resources needed along the way: e.g. people, materials, finances, buildings, equipment, logistics, etc. Since resources are always limited and everyone is seeking for the scarce resources, it is always necessary to consider, where it is most useful.
    As soon as a purpose is merged with a greater one, it becomes a means to the superordinate one. The means always have an additional, separate purpose that is incorporated into the overall purpose.
  • Unintended purposes
    However, the activities do not only lead to the desired results – for example, when a truck becomes a weapon by being turned into a military mount. Often, effects occur that are not intended and in the worst case have not even been foreseen. These unintended consequences have the disadvantage that the original purpose fades into the background and the new consumes the sparse resources and you suddenly have responsibility for something that you never wanted.
    The unintended consequences are the surprises that make the best plan obsolete. For this reason, unintended side effects should always be taken into account, when considering the purpose, as they may have a major impact.

Bottom line: The purpose is an important aspect of all action. Especially in business, it offers a great boost, as the parties involved draw from it their intrinsic motivation for the realization. The difficulty lies in the multiplicity of purposes that clash and result in unforeseen effects. Different purposes are competing with each other at the same and different levels. The overarching purpose is the guiding star that shows the direction to those involved. Taking into account the available resources, the probability increases that the desired results will be achieved. If you then look beyond the box, you quickly recognize obvious, unintended purposes to which you should react with appropriate measures. Perhaps it is now easier to understand how important it is to consciously consider the purposes, their means and the unintended consequences.

One value discipline at the expense of the others

It is not a question of feasibility, if you wish for your deliverables to have full customer intimacy, the best product AND the smartest procedures. On closer look even the desire as such is unrealistic. Who actually wants what? Usually the customers decide for one of the three sides. The company’s decision-makers are those, who want to convey their priorities to the employees. However, the shot goes backwards, if they go to max in all dimensions. With such a direction they miss their duty as a leader to decide. The usual saying is: Do one thing and don’t let the other. Nevertheless, a preferred value discipline must be selected, because it can only be implemented at the expense of others.

Of course, you can wish for the impossible. Nonetheless that doesn’t help anybody. Far from it. Maximizing all value disciplines at the same time can cost the company its life, because it will fail in any case. Those who now feel an objection arising, should definitely read on. Let’s take a look at the three dimensions.

  • Customer intimacy
    Jones, Smith, Williams – of course you know your customers. At least their name, address and, with the smart reporting system, also their sales. Customer intimacy only emerges when you respond to the personal needs of the customer, which leads to individual goods and services tailored to each customer.
    However, this is only possible at the expense of the best offers, which would deliver the latest technology and design, as well as through lean processes that would be characterized by standardization and restriction to the essential.
    The tailor-made suit is the result of the close interplay between tailor and customer.
  • Product leadership
    A world-renowned brand sets the benchmark for other suppliers in the respective business field. Therefore it is always necessary to include the latest technical and design options – before the competitors will. This fosters higher prices and the necessary hype with the appropriate marketing.
    However, this is at the expense of the wishes of individual customers, whose needs are shaped above all by their past experience, as well as at the expense of improved processes that would always lag behind innovations.
    Apple provided with the Macintosh a computer that was created by the ideas of the Apple programmers and the designers of Frogdesign out of the Black Forest, Germany.
  • Process leadership
    The procedures determine the quality of the execution of the real tasks. The focus here is on the interplay between the involved departments, the avoidance of unnecessary activities and the reliable repeatability of the work steps in order to be able to generate a large volume quickly and timely with the least possible use of means.
    However, this is at the expense of the wishes of individual customers, who could delay the entire procedure and at the expense of the latest state of goods and services.
    The food discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl, are able to offer the best prices through the prosaic sale directly off the pallet.

Bottom line: It is clear, of course, that the decision for one value discipline does not mean that the others can be completely disregarded. Customer intimacy does not take place, if the article does not provide a certain maturity and the customers cannot rely on the fact that the procedures lead to a fail-safe delivery. Product leadership without a sufficient understanding of the customers and consistent procedures damage the reputation of the products and services. Process leadership requires the consideration of the needs of the customers as well as deliverables, for which the customers are willing to pay. What is not possible is a top position in all three dimensions, because

  • Customer intimacy that excludes the for many people attractive products and standardized procedures,
  • Product leadership does not take into account the individual customer wishes and procedures, and
  • Process leadership does not succeed to satisfy every customer request and does not provide the most original product.

This is valid even if today the Internet improves the direct interaction with the customers, new services can be delivered faster to the people and workflows become more flexible in real time. The determined value discipline that defines success at the expense of the others is the difference that makes the difference.