The right mix for success

IT IS A universal truth that innovation skills play a key role in the success of any effort, more so if it is a business venture. Equally important is the timing of an innovation.

Most managers are fascinated by the intellectually challenging task of building successful businesses and tackling them with tools like technological innovations, leadership and customer focus. However, a "cookie-cutter" approach to building great businesses does not work. It requires the right blend of savvy and intuition.

The thin red line

There is a thin red line between success and failure. One wrong step could turn a well-laid out plan into a flop show. Then, what's the secret of success? Organisations that emerge winners have a mysterious combination of success-promoting elements. Not just that, they have the knack of aligning those elements.

Moving ahead

Avaya, a spin off of Lucent Technologies, has navigated through various changes and responded to market shifts well in time. It has moved further from manufacturing equipment to buying them from low-cost, specialised equipment providers. While others traverse the core speciality business, the pioneer must move ahead to its next value proposition.

For creativity-savvy companies, a single innovation can produce a listless chain of products and services as new applications add to revenue sources. FedEx has reinforced its position by constantly adapting to new market opportunities. They crawled up their fundamental market position to broaden their product portfolio through product and geographic extensions and acquisitions to reach their current successful position.

Acting on opportunity

Customer needs are pivotal to identifying new market opportunities. And, most successful organisations do recognise that. The bottom line is to identify an opportunity! Don't stop at that; act on it, fast!

Employees matter

There is still much more to the success of a business. New technologies and intuition are just one side of the coin. The other side of course is focus on employees. Intelligent managers consciously try to mould the culture of their companies to permit a perfect idea flow with the help of motivated employees. As managers, constantly mine for good ideas from your employees.

Too many to handle...

We often hear companies chant `good people with great ideas' at the time of hiring. Well, in reality, that's only a part of the conundrum. Not quite surprisingly, the biggest challenge these days is a problem of plenty; it is not the question of not getting enough innovative ideas, it is having too many of them! A tip therefore for the managers: Follow the four-step process of identifying, capturing, packaging and disseminating. The first three pose no problem. The last, `disseminating ideas', is however possible only through the right communication to the firm and a structured approach to the process.

One solution to creating balance in the riddle of innovation: Nip the unviable ideas in the bud. Alert your employees to the prospect of losses on continuing with an unviable product or service concept. Know when to back off. The idea is to make mistakes, make them faster than your competitor. If you find a dead-end as you progress, turn back and never look back until you taste success!

BINDU MADHAVI

Courtesy : The Hindu Opportunities