A few days back I was interacting with a group of management students. I was trying to provoke them by asking why is that the very concept of vision, mission, business philosophy etc. is articulated only after the business reaches a certain size?
What made the discussion interesting was the fact that most of the great businesses of today (Indian or MNC) started either as great innovations or was simply great execution/implementation of a solid business idea.
Also, most successful businesses are started by super-ambitious individuals, who are not just passionate creators but have an unorthodox personal goal and desire in life which when blended with keen business sense and conviction makes their success look like an entire industrial revolution. These individuals went about realizing their dreams, desires and ambitions, riding on their strengths & skills in business. But as a business grows, it ceases to be individual ambition in action. It grows beyond the individual and begins to look more like a network; a network of people, places, processes, principles, goals, dreams, desires and a lot more. With so many nodes and interconnections in this network, the business is now no more than individual ambition in motion.
Thus there is needed a charter; a war cry; a goal that each and every person who is a part of this network can look at and instantly know ‘Where our network wants to be?’ ‘What is that we are trying to do?’ ‘And why are we doing it?
Interestingly employees who have personal goals, dreams and ambitions beyond or different from the states organization goals, vision etc go independent many a times starting their own dream ventures!
The company Vision, mission, charter etc. helps because even if each member of the node cannot reach out to the founder leader as often, the carter can help him stay aligned and inspired.
Something similar to the war cry that a military general used to give to make his troops go after. Even if every soldier could not meet the General personally, the war cry was infectious enough to set his pulse racing.
Vision and Mission statements are the modern day counterparts of those war cries.
Business vision, philosophy, charter, mission etc are like the velvet glove for the iron fist of profit orientation. While it seems that the glove is a good talking point in forums, sales meets, and for some business journalists who might not be as much interested in the figure against depreciation in a company’s balance sheet, it none the less helps in making more handshakes happen and keep the network alive and aligned.
The challenge is to keep the vision fired up not just stuck as an icon on the home page of the company website or a nicely framed artifact at the reception desk!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Business vision @ website and the reception wall?
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3 comments:
Hey...Saurabh Sharma...KV Mathura...1981????
Myself Samir Kohli...connect or miss??? Contact kohlisamir@hotmail.com, +919900210624, samir@bialairport.com....excuse if wrong number.
A Brand is an integral part of business. It lends clarity and a vision of how to develop, strengthen, defend, and manage a business. The most successful companies that have become the most successful brands have articulated their vision very well through their brands and this says a lot to their employees as well as the world at large. A brand does not only define positioning but also a firms core competency. It symbolically conveys what the company wants to stand for.
Firms that stood out because their branding and business philosophy integration are Google, Yahoo, Amazon - and closer home Mind Tree Consultants, and TVS.
I suspect that as the economy grows, and more businesses mushroom - the role of a conventional communications agency with respect to branding will have to expand. Advertising and branding consultants will have to merge themselves into the overall workings of a business and provide more than communications. This is already happening but i think it will have to become sharper and more cost effective.
Do you ever see advertising/ branding/ communication agency businesses - or whatever they may be called in the future! Do you see them pursuing businesses that are volume driven? I am talking about giving advice and services to the hundreds of mushrooming startups and other already existing SMEs who have big aspirations. I am talking about making high quality communication consultancies cost effective and thereby serving a very large number of clients.
I am also aware that the world is heading towards consolidation in the sense that big players rule the roost but how do you see this playing out - as an observer?
I have been hearing this for the past almost 10 years “..scope of conventional communications agency with respect to branding will have to expand. Advertising and branding consultants will have to merge themselves into the overall workings of a business and provide more than communications..”
It has not happened and I do not think it would. Not at least in the medium term till technology takes up many of these functions! (Yes, that is going to happen.)
The reason for this is simple – Specialization. For specialized jobs we need specialists. Or at least that is the how the market thinks – Design house for company logo, Great agency for great ads, great consultancy for market/business planning, Great research outfit for consumer insight. If you also look at the people working in these outfits – they have different skill sets and goals. I wonder if it would be a great idea to bring all of it together and still make it work. Looks a little unlikely though not impossible. Being best in everything looks a little farfetched.
On to your question - I would like to start my response by quoting something that a senior Samsung manager said 2-3 years ago upon being asked “What are your plans for brand building?”
He said “We would first build something worthy of a brand before we do brand building”
I do not know how many people read or remember this but it said a lot about the approach of this company, which was no different from other smaller Chinese or Korean or Asian brands.
Samsung focused on break through product innovation at a great price. They did it rather well and no wonder they are where they are today – way ahead of Japanese brands in the mass-class segment.
Before anything else small enterprises need to have bloody good products or completely differentiated services that are difficult to copy.
Coming back to your question about small companies (and though Samsung was not that small and the companies you want to discuss) but nonetheless. I believe there are two kinds of small companies
– 1. Who will remain small for 5-7 years and then hit escape velocity to break into the big league
– 2. Who will remain small forever (sometimes small size is a conscious company choice)
You are right a lot of big communication outfits do not have their value chain aligned to deliver viable solutions to very small prospects/clients but still some of the smart communication agencies see the ‘Samsung Potential’ of a client/prospect and go after the business.
It is more an investment in resources and relationships than immediate business benefit that these agencies go for. Having said that I must also say there are small clients that no one (not even small communication outfits) want to work with.
I believe that advertising and communication is very flexible in reaching out to clients who have a future potential. Ultimately is all about people in these small outfits that helps the communication partner to decide would be a good idea to work with together.
Anyway a lot of future advertising and communication would not be as much about physical space and size as it would be about virtual clout. With media fragmenting and the control getting decentralized small outfits have never had it better.
I just realized these are rather strong words for my style..
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