www.forbes.com: outside-in & competitiveness
“.. Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati writes:
Those companies built around an inside-out mind-set—those pushing out products and services to the marketplace based on a narrow viewpoint of their customers that looks at them only through the narrow lens of their products—are less resilient in turbulent times than those organized around an outside-in mind-set that starts with the marketplace, then looks to deliver creatively on market opportunities. Outside-in orientation maximizes customer value—and produces more supple organizations. Embracing an outside-in perspective—focusing on creatively delivering something of value to customers instead of obsessing over pushing your product portfolio—builds an inherent flexibility into organizations”.
A paradigm shift in management“Achieving continuous innovation and customer delight lies outside the performance envelope of firms that are built on hierarchical bureaucracy and focused on short-term gains and the stock price. It requires a fundamentally different way of leading and managing—in effect, a paradigm shift in management. It means:
- a shift from controlling individuals to self-organizing teams;
- a shift from coordinating work by hierarchical bureaucracy to dynamic linking;
- a shift from a preoccupation with economic value to an embrace of values that will grow the firm; and
- a shift from top-down communications to horizontal conversations”.
Full article here.
My thoughts: A focus on Values beyond economic value alone, Trust & Policies: Trust-relationships with employees and simple, straight forward policies, that together encourage self-organizing teams and horizontal conversations. The company as a Complex Adaptive system.
