Learning to Succeed

Jason Wingard, Thomas Nelson

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780814434147
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Organisational Behaviour
• Index: Business

Learn why rethinking corporate education in a world of constant change is crucial to establishing a foundation for long-term business success.

Frequent market shifts...The rapid pace of technological change...We're all familiar with the old saying, "the only constant is change, " but this has never been as true for business as it is today--nor have the penalties for companies who fail to learn and adapt been as high.

Learning to Succeed insists that an integrated model for corporate education--one that links development programs with strategic goals--is critical to building agile and resilient learning organizations that will survive in our fast-evolving business landscape. Companies need to:

• continually assess where they need to go in relation to where they are now
• use educational training to bridge the gap
• work on strategic plans and action projects tied to key objectives
• design new education initiatives to advance concrete corporate goals

Learning is reinforced and ROI is optimized. For companies ready to embrace what it means to be a learning organization, to welcome the CLO to the C-Suite, to weave strategy and learning tightly and continuously into the fabric of their businesses, the opportunities are limitless. Complete with practical guidelines and illuminating case studies, Learning to Succeed puts them on the path to long-term success.

CHAPTER 1

The New Normal

In today’s context, organizations are constantly at risk of failing. Using learning as a strategic weapon is not only necessary, but the ultimate tool for competitive advantage.
—Ken Hicks, CEO, Foot Locker, New York

The global landscape for business has changed. Many of the operating models that held true for generations no longer apply in the fast-paced world of contemporary commerce. From day-old startups to centuries-old brands to the new giants of information technology, the impact is the same: Survival requires keeping up with the pace of change. Any business that wants to win has to exceed that pace.

While the depth of the transition of current business thinking is in flux, the warning signs have been out there for decades. Twenty years ago, in the McKinsey Quarterly, William W. Lewis, Hans Gerbach, Tom Jansen, and Koji Sakate, wrote:

Whether in the food industry in the U.S. or the auto industry in Japan, managers and engineers do not arrive at . . . innovations because they are smarter, work harder, or have a better education than their peers. Rather, they do so because they must. They are subjected to intense global competition, where constantly pushing the boundaries of productivity is the price of entry—and of survival.

Is survival the new success? For an increasing number of global companies, the question is not where they will land in the rankings of their industries on an annual basis, nor whether profits will rise or fall. It is whether they will simply fall out of contention completely, either as a result of wholesale failure or because their business is subsumed by a more successful global competitor. It is getting harder and harder for companies that need to stay ahead of the competition in order to maintain their market share each year. Cheaper, bigger, faster, and newer are the goals that drive business more than ever. Strategic planning, coupled with an acute knowledge of the markets, keeps companies competitive. Attention to customer service in this age of instant feedback through social media bolsters growth. Responding to change quickly and effectively is vital to survival.

In order to keep pace with change, smart companies depend on communication and information management. Staying on top of best practices in their industry and instituting them effectively in their organizations gives them an edge. Regular reevaluation of in-house systems and personnel in light of market shifts helps prioritize the distribution of resources and increase profitability. Clear, concise, and efficient training initiatives strengthen the communities of the organization and maintain increased productivity and innovation. For any business organization to be successful, it needs to be an organization that learns from both its own mistakes and successes, as well as from those of its competitors.

Corporate learning is the key to success in today’s data-driven, hyperintegrated world.

New Business Environment

What are some of the most powerful forces in today’s business environment, and how can corporate learning help businesses overcome the challenges those forces pose? How can learning organizations harness these forces to their advantage? The answers to these basic but important questions require knowing what the forces are and how they affect the current business environment (see Figure 1-1).

Expanding Global Market

Reach and Structure. A new, highly competitive global reality is dominating the business marketplace. For the first time in history, companies are facing tectonic shifts in the competitive landscape, as the pool of potential resources, strategic partners, customers, and competitors expands dramatically.

No longer can businesses expect to “own” a regional or domestic market to which they provide products or services. Cheap garlic from China has all but replaced the domestically grown garlic that used to dominate kitchens throughout America. Quintessential brands, such as Goodyear and IBM, must now compete for market share with competitive products from Asia and South America.

No longer can companies rely on the dominance of a centralized corporate structure in one of the commercial centers of the developed world. Companies seeking global reach must have large satellite offices in major markets throughout the world. The top six accounting firms have offices in every major financial capital. Information giants, such Google and Microsoft, have expanded their presence to meet competition in growing markets in Asia. Retail conglomerates, such as Amazon and Walmart, have operations throughout the globe.

No longer is competition confined by geography. Communications technology, Internet marketing, and increasing efficiencies in distribution channels enable any company to compete globally. A marketing strategy firm in London may see competition for domestic customers from agencies in Mumbai, India, or Lima, Peru. That same firm may form a new partnership with a social media provider in Auckland, New Zealand, to secure business with a retail chain in Cape Town, South Africa. Manufacturing takes place in remote areas of the globe, often closer to the source of raw materials or processing plants. Globalization of both management and service has become the new standard. Learning to adapt to global expansion through structural alignment and outreach is critical to gaining a competitive advantage.

Figure 1-1 Dynamic Business Enviroment

Communication and Culture. In the past, one of the obstacles to entering new international markets has been how to communicate ideas, proposals, and strategic directives to clients, vendors, and partners. With the advent of high-speed methods of sending information around the globe and the pervasiveness of Western business and cultural practices, a common language needed to be adopted. That common language is English, and it serves to facilitate global business. While many companies still rely on local languages to communicate with indigenous workers, managers, consumers, and business associates, global communications concerning business is, for the most part, conducted in English.

Increased understanding and acceptance of cultural differences and similarities that help professional relationships to flourish have replaced parochialism. Decades of global travel, media, and education have opened up the world and all but closed the chasm among disparate markets in ways that we have never before seen. Instead of viewing regional behaviors or patterns as problematic, people now view those as part of daily business practice, altering their own behavior accordingly as a sign of respect and mutual interest. Americans who work or conduct significant business in Asia routinely have business cards with English on one side and Japanese or another Asian language on the reverse. Business must take cultural practices into consideration. For instance, during the month-long Chinese New Year festival, over a billion people leave their jobs to travel to visit family in rural China. This annual mass migration has the effect of virtually shutting down normal supply channels vital to international business. As a result, businesses that rely on China for goods and services must build this holiday into their ongoing business plans. Learning to leverage communication and culture for competitive advantage is critical.

Technology Bridge. As businesses diversify and decentralize their operations to meet globalized demand, they depend on technologies to manage and support dispersed enterprises. Recent advances in Internet communications allow for virtual meeting environments, complex transactions and secure information sharing, and collaborative project management and work-flow solutions. Computer programming and logistics algorithms are enabling more efficient physical transport of goods and services. This further minimizes the disruption created by distance. Simulation and modeling software are able to realistically demonstrate concepts so that the inability to connect live is not an issue at all. As a result of these and other advances, the list of activities that require short radius accessibility is dwindling.

The chief operating officer of a large, Atlanta-based manufacturing conglomerate previously relied on a local blue chip financial accounting firm with which they had been working in partnership for decades. However, as a result of advances in communication technology and the pressure to control costs and secure maximum value, she now has the option to work simultaneously with companies in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and England. Through the use of leading-edge technology and programs, all of the company’s transactions can be aptly managed remotely—from meetings to iterative document review to animated analysis and projection report demonstrations. Learning to leverage technology for competitive advantage is critical.

Decentralization and Consolidation. As the expansion of global markets continues to accelerate, any company that wants to maximize revenue must reset its sights on clients and customers they never would have imagined existed in the past. Socioeconomic factors, such as the explosion of the middle class in India and China and its appetite for Western goods, have brought new business to companies, large and small, throughout the developed world. Kopenhagen Fur, the largest auctioneer of mink pelts in the world, is dominated by merchants and manufacturers from China seeking to meet the growing demand for luxury fur coats. Global professional services in the legal and accounting sectors are expanding to meet the needs of multinationals doing business around the world as well. Even top-tier American universities are expanding their brands and revenues by setting up satellite campuses around the world.

Over time, these trends have caused an unprecedented number of companies to hire and maintain decentralized workforces. As these companies have broadened their geographic footprint, the nature and rate of transactions and engagements with global partners has also increased, resulting in, among other shifts, the increased incidence of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. All of this aggregation has helped to further develop the sophistication of modalities that enable companies to do business around the globe. Multinational companies, while based in one location, now have operations and personnel all over the world. Each of their hubs creates a separate network of professional relationships suitable for conducting business in that locale.

A chemical company from Rio de Janeiro that specializes in plastics recently acquired a company in Wilmington. Management teams, staff, vendors, and partners were deployed to both cities. In time, the “blending” of cultural approaches, transaction standards, and strategic operating methods created a C-change in the basic structure of the organizations—one that now teaches local approaches and seeds another crop of global opportunities . . . and competitors. The proliferation of companies, like this one, expanding globally has given rise to even greater boundary busting. Learning to leverage networks for growth and competitive advantage is critical.

Shorter and Unpredictable Business Cycles

Time-to-Market Pressure. The competitive arena initiated by global expansion has specifically influenced time-to-market pressures and revenue-to-profit cycles. The sooner a company gets a product on the shelf or unveils a new service methodology or is able to respond to a complex RFP, the more likely it will be able fend off competitors and survive. These shorter cycles, however, put significant pressure on an organization. If a company’s business plan, operating schedule, and production system are not equipped to consistently accelerate cycles, then the stress of keeping pace with competitors is overwhelming and, ultimately, the company’s plan becomes impossible to implement. Operating within the comfort zone of the company’s infrastructure and system may not be an option in today’s fast-paced commercial climate. The constant pressure to decrease the time-to-market of new products and new versions of existing products requires that businesses integrate time-saving and efficiency-improving technology and methodologies of product development and marketing. Learning to leverage new systems quickly to shorten production to delivery schedules is critical for maintaining a competitive advantage.

Market Forces Disruption. In today’s global economy, sociopolitical events affect the entire business community more quickly and deeply than ever before. Conflict in the Middle East can disrupt the slow transport of crude oil, making prices higher and impacting the bottom line of thousands of companies. The disastrous flood in Bangkok in 2013 forced the temporary closure of 17 factories, disrupting the global supply chain for high-tech products for weeks. Fluctuations in global currencies, the growing problem of sovereign debt in emerging markets, the regulatory requirements and their impact on the introduction of goods and services in foreign markets all contribute to the volatility of doing business globally.

Unexpected or uncontrollable market forces can also wreak havoc on planned business cycles. A pharmaceutical firm in New York had to postpone its release of a hallmark new drug because of delays in receiving patent clearance from the U.S. government. The government’s delay was based on litigation issues associated with a clinical trial for a different drug, but nonetheless, it impacted the approval schedules of both. In real time, international competitors with less government regulation filled the gap in their local markets.

Fluctuations in global currencies, dramatic swings in global stock markets, and devastating force majeure and related emergency weather events can all cause significant disruption in the new business environment. All too often, organizations are not prepared to deal with these events. Combined with the fact that the global nature of today’s business practices exponentially affects the potential effects of sudden and unexpected market forces, many businesses are on a collision course with failure. Learning to develop flexible systems to respond to unexpected scenarios is critical for competitive advantage.

Shift in Market Demand. In today’s complex environment, most companies engage in some form of analytical demand-based testing before developing and marketing their offerings. Even when this is done, the proliferation of parallel and competing offerings being introduced into the marketplace and the constant shifts in client/consumer needs create constantly changing targets. In other words, doing business is increasingly a guessing game to determine what the “next big thing” will be and when it will be in demand. To tackle this issue, companies are faced with two main options:

1. Produce a wider portfolio of products or expansive suite of services to increase the likelihood that something you have developed will match the sweet spot of demand.

2. Take your best guess at the “killer solution” through careful assessment and planning and hope that it hits the mark at the right time.

Most companies do not have the resources to “hedge their bets” by blanke...