Acerca da definição do mercado

"(1) marketing strategy should focus more on where to compete (rather than on how to compete); (2) making subjective market definitions or market innovations may be the key to growth; and (3) a starting point for business marketers wishing to outgrow their competitors is to increase the granularity of market definition to identify competitive arenas that are growing."

Três proposições  que merecem reflexão:

1. o mercado onde competir não é um dado, é uma variável, deve ser o resultado de uma escolha. Deve merecer reflexão por parte de quem lidera;
2. o mercado não existe com uma definição objectiva à espera de ser encontrada. Escolher um mercado não é resolver um puzzle, um mercado pode ser criado por um actor a partir de uma nova abordagem, a partir de um novo ponto de vista;
3. o nosso velho convite, deixar de olhar para os clientes como miudagem, como estatísticas, as estatísticas estão cheias de fantasmas enganadores.

Trecho retirado de "Competitive Arena Mapping: Market Innovation Using Morphological Analysis in Business Markets" de Kaj Storbacka e Suvi Nenonen, publicado por Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 19:183–215, 2012

Acerca da definição do mercado

Começando pelo artigo citado aqui há dias, "Have you tested your strategy lately?"

 "First, companies develop strategy in many different ways, often idiosyncratic to their organizations, people, and markets. Second, many strategies emerge over time rather than from a process of deliberate formulation"

Mergulhamos num texto para animar a reflexão

"Many companies rely on intuitive, cursory, or incomplete analyses when selecting and defining markets. As a result, businesses are frequently defined by accident rather than purposeful designed. [Moi ici: Daí a importância de fazer batota, de alavancar a distinção, quando algo já está a resultar] The product-geography matrix has been the most commonly used way for firms to define themselves and their market. [Moi ici: Por que seguir uma abordagem clássica na definição do mercado? Por que é que a definição do mercado há-de ser vista como uma coisa objectiva? Por que é que a definição do mercado há-de ser vista como um dado do desafio, em vez de ser trabalhado como sendo mais uma variável do desafio?]  ... the product-geography matrices tend to hinder firms from identifying opportunities in the adjacencies.

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that “there is no single correct way to define the market for a given business unit […] a market not only can but should be defined in several different ways”. ... a firm is not limited to single views of the market; instead firms can benefit from accepting multiple market definitions suitable for particular strategic situations."

Trecho retirado de "Finding market focus for solution business development" de S. Nenonen e K. Storbacka, publicado em "J Bus Mark Manag (2013) 3:123–142"

"fantasmas estatísticos e a miudagem potenciada em grande"

Muitas empresas, em especial as PMEs, porque se consideram demasiado pequenas, o que é verdade, e porque têm poucos recursos, o que também é verdade, olham para o mercado como algo que não podem influenciar, olham para o mercado como uma realidade dada, como uma constante na equação do seu sucesso.
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Fez este mês de Agosto dez anos que, sem o saber na altura, comecei a pôr em causa esse posicionamento mental pessoal, ao desenvolver um trabalho numa PME em que nos armamos em modeladores do mercado. Se um mercado resulta da actuação de actores que trocam ou partilham serviços, relações, símbolos, normas, aspirações, ... talvez seja possível pôr o mercado, pôr a paisagem competitiva ou parte dela, a dançar a um ritmo e com um estilo que seja o mais adequado para a nossa empresa em particular.
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Ontem, no Twitter, alguém escreveu:

"O banco alimentar é provavelmente umas das formas mais ineficientes de ajudar pessoas"

Não tenho informação suficiente quer para corroborar, quer para contestar esta afirmação. Contudo, o primeiro pensamento que me veio à cabeça quando a li foi qualquer coisa como:

"Mas para aquela pessoa concreta X, fez toda a diferença do mundo" 

Fiz este desvio por causa da capacidade de modelar o mercado ao jeito da nossa PME. Quando se fala em modelar o mercado, há empresários que tomam a ideia por absurda pois pensam logo numa alteração com escala, para alterar as estatísticas gerais do sector onde actuam. Uma PME não precisa de mudar o mercado, essa entidade estatística geral, basta-lhe alterar o mercado onde actua, cliente a cliente, relação a relação, troca a troca, interacção a interacção.
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Esta cascata de pensamentos foi gerada pela leitura de "Why Small Businesses Actually Have the Big-Data Advantage". Uma leitura que me fez recordar:

• "Big data"
• "Big Data e PMEs"
• "Cuidado com o big data" 

Sim, a história dos fantasmas estatísticos e a miudagem potenciada em grande:

Driving markets

" Market driven refers to a business orientation that is based on understanding and reacting to the preferences and behaviors of players within a given market structure. Driving markets, on the other hand, implies influencing the structure of the market and/or the behavior(s) of market players in a direction that enhances the competitive position of the business."

Acrescentaria à frase final "in a direction that enhances the competitive position of the business, através de relações ganhar-ganhar entre vários actores intervenientes no ecossistema da procura."
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"Driving markets" é a opção dos "arquitectos de paisagens competitivas".

"Specifically, we propose that driving markets entail changing the structure or composition of a market and/or the behavior(s) of players in the market."

Ou sendo mais concreto:

"Accepting the market structure as a "given" means the focal business does not eliminate and/or modify the roles of existing industry players. Driving the market structure, in contrast, refers to a business proactively changing the composition of the players by, for example, buying them out or by getting new players to enter the industry (e.g., new distributors). A business may also change the market structure by fundamentally changing the roles performed by one or more players (e.g., getting a distributor to assem-ble/manufacture computers in addition to selling them)."

 Trechos retirados de "Market-Driven Versus Driving Markets"

"marketing is “the art and science of creating change (disequilibrium) in markets in such a way that the change benefits the firm (or an alliance of firms) [Moi ici: Prefiro "alliance of actors"], and consequently comparatively ‘disadvantages’ rivals”. In addition, Resource-Advantage Theory suggests that it is not enough for firms to passively respond to changing environments by looking for the best fit between the existing resources and market niches.
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to achieve a superior business performance, firms need to actively influence the market rather than being only reactive to it (i.e., be capable of driving markets).
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Market-driving organizations may achieve greater performance than market-driven organizations by reshaping the structure of the market according to their own competencies and by exploiting the competitors’ weaknesses. [Moi ici: Prefiro "according to their own and allied-actor-partners competencies". Não é por causa dos concorrentes, é por causa das competências, dos recursos, das relações mobilizadas"]

Trechos retirados de "Market-Driving Organizations: A Framework"
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A estes textos, com mais de 10 anos, falta-lhes este pormenor:

"The basis of executive power is shifting from being in charge to being connected. New leaders understand that power with people is much more effective than power over people. It is about integrating the best of networked thinking and leveraging the new platforms for value creation."

Talvez a terminologia "driving market" não seja a melhor...

Scripting markets

Um último capítulo que sublinho de "Service-Dominant Logic: Premises, Perspectives, Possibilities" de Robert Lusch e Stephen Vargo é "Strategic thinking".

"what actors can do to shape their destiny.
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the application of S-D logic have to do with innovation and market creation,
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"What can I see from an S-D logic perspective that I cannot see from a G-D logic perspective in terms of opportunities for combining and applying available resources to offer value propositions for some other actor?" Arguably, then, the most important endeavor is to step back and examine the landscape. [Moi ici: Desenhar o ecossistema da procura, identificar os diferentes actores que intervêm e como interagem entre si e o que é que cada um procura e valoriza]
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value creation involves the integration of multiple resources by multiple actors simultaneously or as part of an integrative process, in the context of structures.
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rather than focusing on adapting to their environments and responding to market changes, enterprises can influence change themselves, including institutional change.
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Innovation, then, is not so much a matter of inventing new things as it is identifying opportunities to deinstitutionalize and reinstitutionalize practices. [Moi ici: Quando se recua e se olha para o panorama, para a paisagem, para as redes de interacção entre os diversos actores, para o funcionamento do ecossistema actual e se equacionam funcionamentos alternativos com vantagem para os beneficiários últimos do serviço]
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focusing on dynamic market interactions and moving from the perspective of the value chain to that of the value network, or service ecosystem.
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Because value is always cocreated in service ecosystems, enterprise strategies focus on proposing value throughout the ecosystem, rather than adding value through a sequence of events. Also, the enterprise is not so much viewed as choosing from fixed alternatives but rather as designing its future. When this is done, the enterprise is less focused on trying to predict a future than configuring and integrating resources to control its future."

Trechos bem na linha de:

• "Não é armadilhar, é criar harmonia, é construir uma sinfonia...";
• "Os mercados como configurações (parte III)" e parte I;
• "Accepting an Existing Choice as Immutable";
• "Desenhar um novo mercado!!!"

É um modo diferente de pensar, e não é preciso ser multinacional com uns bolsos muito fundos para configurar um mercado. Pelo contrário, normalmente essas entidades estão adaptadas ao mercado, às instituições existentes, por isso, e muito mais provável que seja um "outsider", uma PME, a olhar para a realidade actual, desconstruí-la e imaginá-la sob um outro prisma.

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Qual a principal dificuldade?

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Mental, o modelo mental, o mindset. É preciso um forte locus de controlo no interior

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Continua.

"Three Dangerous Temptations"

"Three Dangerous Temptations
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you should avoid three pitfalls when thinking about where to play. The first is to refuse to choose, attempting to play in every field all at once. The second is to attempt to buy your way out of an inherited and unattractive choice. The third is to accept a current choice as inevitable or unchangeable.
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Failing to Choose
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Focus is a crucial winning attribute. Attempting to be all things to all customers tends to result in underserving everyone. Even the strongest company or brand will be positioned to serve some customers better than others. If your customer segment is “everyone” or your geographic choice is “everywhere,” you haven’t truly come to grips with the need to choose.
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Trying to Buy Your Way Out of an Unattractive Game
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Companies often attempt to move out of an unattractive game and into an attractive one through acquisition. (Moi ici: Isto faz-me lembrar um caso... aqui a vaidade pessoal também tem um peso importante) Unfortunately, it rarely works. A company that is unable to strategize its way out of a current challenging game will not necessarily excel at a different one—not without a thoughtful approach to building a strategy in both industries. Most often, an acquisition adds complexity to an already scattered and fragmented strategy, making it even harder to win overall.
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Accepting an Existing Choice as Immutable It can also be tempting to view a where-to-play choice as a given, as having been made for you. But a company always has a choice of where to play. (Moi ici: Já escrevemos aqui sobre isto, sobre transformar a constante, o dado, numa variável, na sequência dos trabalhos de Storbacka e Nenonen - scripting markets)
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It is tempting to think that you have no choice in where to play, because it makes for a great excuse for mediocre performance. It is not easy to change playing fields, but it is doable and can make all the difference."

Trecho retirado de "Playing to Win" de Lafley e Roger Martin

Balanced centricity

"Exploring co-creation networks: Creating balanced centricity within a public transport service system" de Elina Jaakkola e Matthew Alexander, apresentado no Naples Forum on Services 2011.
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E queixava-me eu de que algo faltava "Dores de crescimento":
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"Although literature on industrial networks acknowledges that interactions between single counterparts are inevitably connected with their other interactions across the network, few studies examine networks that consist of different types of resource-integrating actors. Therefore, the study of value creation within service systems comprising of relationships between a range of actors (both business and consumer) represents an interesting research gap in the literature."
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Em 2007 facilitei a criação de um balanced scorecard para uma organização pública. Começámos o trabalho pela identificação dos intervenientes na tradicional perspectiva dos clientes (designação demasiado simplista para quem descobre uma coisa chamada "balanced centricty")

É por causa da "balanced centricity" que penso em cadeia da procura e, é a minha experiência pessoal que ás vezes me faz o usar a palavra "armadilhar"... ontem concluí que se calhar, muitos dos comentários das empresas portuguesas que se queixam de barreiras técnicas e outros subterfúgios, para justificar a dificuldade em entrar em certos mercados de exportação, mais não são do que a consequência da incapacidade de competir contra uma rede estabelecida.
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Uma empresa aparece com um produto, para tentar convencer um potencial comprador e esquece-se da rede em que esse potencial comprador está envolvido. E esquece-se de que, cada vez mais, um produto é só um pretexto para algo mais vasto, uma gama de serviços que geram experiências. Ou seja:
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"Analyzing dyadic exchanges does not give a sufficiently wide view of value creation, as all exchanges are influenced by a network of actors. A more abstract designation “actor-to-actor” is suggested by Vargo and Lusch (2011) to emphasize the complex and dynamic system of actors that co-create value, and at the same time, jointly provide the context through which value gains its individual and collective assessment.
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SDL suggests that actors form a value network where resources are integrated and applied through interaction to provide service-for-service. Such a value network, or service eco-system, is “a spontaneously sensing and responding spatial and temporal structure of largely loosely coupled value proposing social and economic actors interacting through institutions and technology, to co-produce offerings, exchange service offerings, and to co-create value”. Service systems are connected through the proposition, acceptance and evaluation of value. Through value propositions - “reciprocal promises of value, operating to and from suppliers and customers seeking an equitable exchange” - partners, suppliers, shareholders, and other stakeholders offer access to their resources, but they also expect reciprocation. Exchange is motivated by application of resources for the benefit of another party with the anticipation of reciprocity.
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Each actor has specific capabilities, rooted in their available resources and the way they can be combined with others, that would attract other actors facing similar problems."
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A minha experiência de procurar conhecer o ecossistema em que as empresas operam, mesmo quando elas não têm consciência dele, fez-me achar tão familiar estes quadros retirados do artigo:

Quem são os actores na cadeia da procura? Qual o enredo que os motiva a participar na rede? Qual o guião que os vai juntar?
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Fascinante, é mesmo arte, caro @andrecruzzz é mesmo uma tela em branco à espera do artista com unhas, pincéis e tintas para a transformar em algo de harmonioso, convidativo, sedutor e belo.

On the marketness of markets

Penso que "On the marketness of markets" de Kaj Storbacka e Suvi Nenonen é o último artigo publicado por esta dupla, haverá mais um ou dois já anunciados mas por publicar ainda.
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Alguns recortes de mais um suculento artigo:
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"A firm can radically improve value co-creation by promoting the development of market practices that increase the marketness of the firm‟s market configuration.
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markets are always in the making, they are perpetually shaped by market practices. ... the implication of viewing markets as socially constructed is that markets in the objective sense do not exist; i.e. there is no objectively given market. Markets are what actors make them to be. There are no given structures „out there‟ in which actors compete for positions. Markets are not – they become. (Moi ici: Ou se fica a tremer com receio de se perder o que se tem... ou se sonha em ir mais além. Nenhuma empresa está condenada... há sempre uma alternativa que precisa de ser co-construída... que precisa de efectuação (effectuation))
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markets are always in the making. Even the most stable markets can re-invent themselves through technological disruption (photography and associated services due to digitalization), or innovative value propositions (Starbucks and the coffee experience). Many firms apply deliberate market-driving strategies, with the aim to disrupt existing patterns and offer new value propositions.
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Market configurations are - depending on how they have evolved – „more or less markets‟ in terms of their maturity, stability of norms, how established the product definitions are, the acceptance of price formation mechanisms etc. In a high marketness situation the market configuration is established and acknowledged, the market practices reinforce each other, and resource integration is effective.
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in a state of low marketness, the exchange practices require a long time and various iteration rounds before market actors can agree upon the unit of exchange, their value propositions and market boundaries ... normalizing practices in low marketness market configurations are characterized with competing viewpoints and lack of commonly accepted norms and rules. Finally, representational practices in low marketness situations concentrate on making the market actors and the unit of exchange visible through symbolic representations.
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we argue that if you want to understand a market, the best thing to do is try to change it. The networked, dynamic, and inter-subjective nature of markets is probably best visible through the processes aimed at changing them.
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As market actors participate in market practices, they can also influence and change the market practices according to their subjective objectives. However, as markets usually encompass multiple and often conflicting efforts to shape them by various market actors, the actions of a single market actor seldom have a complete, Austinian performativity towards the market practices. Instead, the extent to which a market actor can influence a market practice is, for instance, dependent on the actor‟s performative power or clout ... the performative power of any market actor is dependent on the actor‟s network position, the relative strength of the actor‟s business model, and the actor‟s ability to author compelling meanings related to the market.
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... we propose that focal actors should adopt different market design roles depending on their clout and the market configuration‟s marketness. In high marketness situations the focal firm aims to promote its own relevance by „market shaping‟; by re-defining its network to improve its position against other actors, and moulding its business model to influence market practices so that the market changes in a way that enables increased value creation for all market actors.
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Low marketness situations relate to „market making‟ or market creation, where the focal actor is involved simultaneously in developing market practices and promoting its subjective market view by proving to market actors that the market configuration entails opportunities for value co-creation. When the marketness aspect is integrated with the focal actor‟s clout, five types of market design roles emerge: market maker, market activist, market consolidator, market shaper, and market specialist. There market design roles are illustrated in Figure"

Market maker is a market design role available for those focal actors with high clout seeking to influence a low marketness market. The main objective of the market maker is to establish the new emerging market and the actor‟s position within that market. In order to do this, successful market makers involve other market actors in collective sense-making and mental model co-creation. Market makers usually start discussions and trials with a few trusted customers early on – even before they have pilot products or marketing materials to show. They seek to initiate iterative offering development process together with the pilot customers and in so doing they are willing to re-define the product and the target market based on the customer response. Additionally, market makers also seek to utilize their strong clout to fasten the market creation process. In particular, they look for ways to utilize their existing business ecosystems of suppliers, channel partners and providers of complementary products and services also within the new, emerging market.
The market activist is faced with the same challenge as the market maker: they both need to co-create mental models in order to support the evolution of a low marketness market. However, the market activist cannot leverage the same strong clout as the market maker. Thus, market activists should adopt for even more cooperative market design role: they should pay special attention to creating educated competition and enthusiastic lead customers.
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After a market reaches a state of high marketness, the opportunities for market design are not over. Quite the contrary, there are several examples in which incumbent players have succeeded in transforming a high marketness market by adopting a market shaper role. For example, many B2B firms have expressed their keen interest in moving forward in the value chain, transferring themselves from equipment or raw material providers into solution providers  – and thus changing the entire market in which they operate. The market design efforts of market shapers are supported by their strong clout. However, strong clout in itself is not enough: successful market shapers are usually highly skilled in mental model communication, creating compelling market shaping stories that communicate effectively how their new market vision improves the value creation for all parties involved.
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(Moi ici: Segue-se aquele que é o papel mais adequado a uma PME portuguesa interessada em competir num mundo global cheio de tubarões. Não, não é o campeonato do preço mais baixo como devem imaginar, apesar de ser o única que a academia e os políticos conhecem) Also focal actors with low clout can design high marketness markets by adopting a market specialist role. Like market shapers, market specialists engage in mental model communication, but with different approach: they understand that communicating mental models that are contradictory with stronger firms‟ mental models is unlikely to be successful. Therefore the market specialists seek to leverage the positions of the dominant players: they aim at becoming either complementary (leveraging the main players‟ strengths) or truly alternative providers (leveraging the main players‟ weaknesses) in the existing market set-up."

Não é armadilhar, é criar harmonia, é construir uma sinfonia...

Ao identificar os intervenientes num potencial mercado que queremos criar, temos de pensar na proposta de valor para os clientes directos, os distribuidores na figura...

também temos de pensar numa proposta de valor para os compradores (clientes dos clientes), numa proposta de valor para os utilizadores e outra, ainda, para os influenciadores.
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Ou seja, temos de criar um alinhamento, uma sinfonia de propostas de valor que crie um mercado em que todos tenham algo a ganhar. A esse conjunto de propostas de valor podemos chamar de... proposta de mercado para criar uma nova configuração do mercado.
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Pois é essa a proposta de Storbacka e Nenonen em "Scripting markets: From value propositions to market propositions" publicado por Industrial Marketing Management Volume 40, Issue 2, February 2011, Pages 255-266. Um excelente artigo:
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"markets are socially constructed, subjective realities that can be altered by different actors in the market.
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economic action is embedded in networks of social relationships and that markets are socially constructed
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This paper builds on the foundational propositions of the S-D logic and takes as its starting point the following assumptions: (1) markets consist of networks of market actors, (2) markets are social constructions co-created by market actors, and (3) markets are resource integrators aiming at the co-creation of value.
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organizations “produce” the environments to which they respond, through their actions and selective attention, Brooks (1995) claim that “enacted markets” are outcomes of prior transactions between actors. Thus, the market is defined by the already established relationships and this “structure” form mental barriers against other perceptions of the market. (Moi ici: Esta a maior barreira que se pode enfrentar. A barreira criada pelo nosso próprio cérebro.)
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Market practices are defined as the interactions between market actors within a market configuration
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markets cannot be seen as given constructions where actors compete for positions. The focal actor can, hence, make subjective market definitions and attempt to influence other to share this definition (create a “shared social construction”), i.e. the actor engages in market making.
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Scripting markets – making market propositions
Market scripting can be defined as the conscious activities conducted by a market actor in order to alter the current market configuration in its favour. Central to market scripting is the subjective motive of the focal actor to align the mental models and business models of other market actors so that they reinforce the mental and business models of the scripting actor, and increase marketness. (Moi ici: Aqui entra a capacidade de calçar os sapatos do outro... algo de muito pouco português. É preciso ir para além do momento da troca entre cliente e fornecedor e visualizar a vida do cliente, e visualizar as experiências  que se podem influenciar nessa vida... é preciso pensar em Brandenburger e Nalebuff e nas relações ganhar-ganhar que se podem criar. Como criar um mercado em que todos os actores estão em sintonia com a nossa empresa?)
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The concept of market scripting asks for an enlargement of the idea proposed by Vargo and Lusch (2004), re-phrased as “the enterprise cannot deliver value, but only offer value propositions” in Vargo and Lusch (2008). As value is increasingly co-created in networks, in market practices participated by several actors, the argument could be that “the firm offers market propositions”, signifying that successful firms need to offer their view on how the market should be configured and engage actors in collective sensemaking activities aimed at creating a shared market view. (Moi ici: Isto é poesia... pura poesia)
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We define market propositions as resource integration promises: the scripting actor promises to enhance value creation for participating actors by creating a market configuration that makes increased density of resources and capabilities, and value co-creation possible.
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A key objective of configurations is to create harmony, consonance, or fit between configurative elements. Elements of a configuration interact if the value of one element depends on the presence of the other element; reinforce each other if the value of each element is increased by the presence of the other element; and are independent if the value of an element is independent of the presence of another element.
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Several different market configurations may be effective, as long as the elements reinforce each other in order to achieve a high degree of configurational fit, achieved when the resource and capability density maximizes the network’s aggregated value creation.
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markets develop and change by influencing market configurations
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firms are increasingly engaged in complex market configurations where the alignment of market views becomes central for success. Firms, hence, need to offer market propositions: offer their view on how the market should be configured and engage actors in activities aimed at creating a shared market view. Market propositions are in essence resource integration promises: the focal actor promises to enhance value creation for participating actors by creating a market configuration that makes increased density of resources and capabilities, and value co-creation possible. (Moi ici: Isto é jogar o jogo num novo nível... and I love this game)
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We labelled the practice of making market propositions market scripting, and defined it as the scripting actor’s activities aimed a altering an extant market configuration: to align the mental models and business models of other market actors so that they reinforce the mental and business models of the scripting actor, and increase marketness. Market scripting mechanisms are based on the performativity of all the configurative elements."
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É mesmo isto!!!
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Claro que nem todos os clientes, ou intervenientes a jusante poderão fazer parte do jogo, só os que estiverem preparados para alinhar porque vão ganhar.

Os mercados como configurações (parte III)

Continuado daqui.
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"Value sensing
As discussed previously, firms need an ability to generate a deeper understanding of the value creation potential in a selected market configuration; we call this value sensing. The value sensing capability can be seen as a representational practice: it is performative as it can be used to influence how other actors view the market and how they discuss the development and potential value of a particular market configuration.
Further research is needed in order to operationalize the different elements of value sensing. Flint et al. (2002) have investigated “customers” desired value changes’ and argue that firms may take a reactive (respond to changes as they occur) or proactive (influence customers by helping them to understand changes in the market) approach. They conclude: that “both positions require collection and analysis of data on changes in desired value with each influential member of the customer organizations” (p. 115).
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"Market scripting
Focal firms may need to develop capabilities for market scripting which can be defined as conscious activities conducted by a single market actor in order to alter the current market configuration. In practice, market actors can conduct market scripting by consciously changing their mental models and/or business models. Andersson et al. (2008) define scripting as processes through which a programme of action (or script) is devised for some entity in some envisaged situation (see Akrich and Latour, 1992). The concept of scripting bears similarities to structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), which suggests that active agents have the capacity to transform their setting through action. Thus, markets can said to be the result of both unguided performativity and conscious structuration.
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Central to market scripting is the subjective motive of the focal actor to align the mental models and business models of other market actors so that they support the mental and business models of the scripting actor. Actors need to offer their view on how the market should be configured (make “market propositions”), and engage actors in collective sensemaking activities aimed at creating a shared market view."
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"Defining markets as configurations influences the strategizing of actors. Strategy cannot be defined as a description of efforts of one actor to utilize the opportunities in its environment. Instead it should be viewed as the firm’s effort to influence the market configuration. The aim of strategy is not “winning” a zero-sum game, defined as a product market. Nor should the focus be on “competing”, but rather on how the firm can engage in “co-opetition” with other market actors (suppliers, customers, and partners) in order to improve the resource density of the market configuration and, hence, improve firm performance for several actors at the same time."
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Um excelente artigo ("Market as configurations") que sistematiza muita reflexão feita ao longo dos anos sobre a capacidade, ou a possibilidade de uma empresa criar o seu mercado, desenhar a sua cadeia da procura.
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Claro que isto é difícil... porque a maioria das empresas pensa na satisfação dos seus clientes e, por isso, são market-driven. Fora do comum é uma empresa equacionar toda a cadeia da procura... pensar nos seus clientes sim, mas também pensar nos clientes dos seus clientes até ao elo-final. E também pensar nos influenciadores. E criar uma melodia, um argumento, um somatório de propostas de valor que alinhe e sintonize todos. Ou seja, ser market driving!

Os mercados como configurações (parte II)

Continuado daqui.

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Trechos retirados de "Markets as configurations" de Kaj Storbacka e Suvi Nenonen, publicado pelo European Journal of Marketing Vol. 45 No. 172, 2011, pp. 221-258.

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Trechos que reforçam o ponto de vista de que o futuro pode ser construído, de que os mercados podem ser alterados.

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"Bounded by their rationality, organizations “produce” (Weick, 1995) or “fabricate” (Sarasvathy, 2008) the environments to which they respond through their actions and selective interest. Markets will be results of the managers’ learning based on their observation of the outcomes of their past market actions. Brooks (1995) claims that “enacted markets” are outcomes of prior transactions and interactions between the actors in the network. As markets are defined by the already established relationships, this “structure” forms mental barriers against other perceptions of the market. (Moi ici: Estas barreiras mentais, estes modelos mentais tanto existem nos que desesperam e não vêem alternativas, como nos académicos e políticos que aconselham "Imprimam-se bentos!") Mental models tend to constrict individuals from looking “outside the box”. Individuals (and as a consequence, market actors) become myopic: they do not see – nor accept – things outside the boundaries of their mental model.

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Performativity emerges as a central concept in illustrating how socially constructed market configurations are formed. The notion of performativity, i.e. that the expressed views (theories, social structures, etc.) of actors influence reality, ...

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The performativity of market actors’ mental models means that markets are performed when market actors introduce theories about the market and new boundary definitions. Focal actors need to influence other market actors in such a way that their subjective definition of a market configuration becomes a shared definition. (Moi ici: Uma das minhas funções é esta de facilitar a actuação dos "focal actors": como mudar a configuração de um mercado) A shared market definition is achieved through an oscillating process of interaction and dialogue between individuals – within and between the market actors.

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The market view proposed in this paper suggests that opportunities are not precursors of strategy; rather they are outcomes of deliberate efforts to influence market configurations (Sarasvathy, 2008). (Moi ici: As oportunidades não caem do céu, são criadas pelos "focal actors". Escrevo isto e recordo as palavras de um empresário que, perante uma análise SOWT, se interrogava sobre o que eram oportunidades e o que eram ameaças. Segundo ele, em função de um caminho ou outro que decidisse tomar, o mesmo factor podia nuns casos ser visto como uma oportunidade e noutros casos como uma ameaça.) As actors engage in activities to influence the market configuration, opportunities occur and actors need to be nimble at capturing the value from these. This indicates that the sustainability of competitive advantage – in its most traditional sense – is not that important as it is increasingly difficult to maintain a superior value proposition or competitive strategy for long periods of time.

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Actors can, however, find sustainable competitive advantage from their ability to influence and reconfigure the market configuration to fit their objectives."

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Continua.

Os mercados como configurações (parte I)

"Markets as configurations" de Kaj Storbacka e Suvi Nenonen, publicado pelo European Journal of Marketing Vol. 45 No. 172, 2011, pp. 221-258.
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É como voltar a um local onde se viveu na infância... ler um artigo que racionaliza, descreve, ilustra o que fizemos sem teoria de suporte, fizemos porque tinha de ser feito, fizemos porque não havia outra alternativa.
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Do abstract:
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"Markets can be viewed as configurations of market actors engaging in market practices. (Moi ici: Os mercados não se regem por leis imortais, imutáveis, talhadas na pedra. Os mercados não existem, emergem, vão emergindo da relação entre os intervenientes. Mentes conservadoras podem crer que os mercados são como os reagentes de uma reacção química e que o tempo não os influencia, por mais vezes que se repita a experiência. Tolos!!! Os mercados são seres vivos que aprendem e desaprendem não podendo ser encarcerados numa lógica newtoniana) Market configurations are perpetually dynamic as new actors enter the context, and as actors introduce ideas and business model elements to the network. As a result the configuration’s marketness evolves towards higher levels of configurational fit, resulting in increased value co-creation opportunities. An actor wanting to influence the market configuration can do so by working on its mental models and business models. (Moi ici: Claro que há uma via mais fácil, mais rápida e ... errada, como o demonstra a situação da libra e da economia inglesa: "Imprimam bentos!" Só que mudar modelos mentais e modelos de negócio não é fácil. É preciso ter coragem, coragem para abandonar a protecção da manada e a relação pedo-mafiosa com o Estado.)  The power of the actor’s mental and business models is mediated by the actor’s network position, its clout, and the fact that a change in any element evokes reactions from other actors. Actors need to develop new sets of market capabilities, such as value sensing, the ability to measure markets, price formation and pricing logics, and market scripting"
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"it is the customer who creates value and the goal of a provider is not so much to make or do something of value for the customer as it is to mobilize customers to create value for themselves ... a suggest that firms should be viewed as extensions of customer processes: “firms participate in customer practices, customers are not extensions of firm’s production processes”."  (Moi ici: Se isto não é uma mudança de paradigma para os economistas empedernidos... naufragados na concepção marxiana de que valor é trabalho incorporado...)
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"markets cannot be seen as given structures where actors simply compete for positions. Market actors will make subjective market definitions by identifying the relevant network(s) to participate in – both in terms of exploiting existing opportunities and exploring new ones. In a similar vein, Read et al. (2009) argues that in the traditional rational “text book” view opportunities are precursors of strategy: i.e. the firm adapts to the opportunities present in the environment. In an effectual view, opportunities are outcomes of deliberate efforts of the effectuators (market actors) to co-create their environment by attaining commitments from a network of partner, investor, and customer stakeholders (Sarasvathy, 2008). (Moi ici: Isto é bonito e profundo... e possível, co-criar um ambiente, terraformar um ecossistema, desenhar uma nova cadeia da procura, fugir da pedo-máfia e da impressão de bentos. Been there already, done that and proud of it!!!)
Effectual market actors will need new sets of capabilities and management practices to be able to co-create their market. We suggest that a way for market actors to deal with the subjectivity of markets is to conceptualize them as configurations, a construct similar to “business ecosystems”. Ecosystems are assumed to self-organize into a stable symmetry, or stasis. As an actor disrupts this symmetry (Moi ici: Como escreve Sarasvathy: "What matters is that entrepreneurs create variations. These variations are then subject to selection processes that determine what survives and what does not.") by introducing new ideas or new resources into the system, the system seeks to recover by aiming at a new stasis. Similarly, configurations are constellations of design elements that commonly occur together because their interdependence makes them fall into patterns."
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"“firms are not simply passive victims of their environment but strive to alter competitive market conditions in their favour”.
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Designing conscious activities by a market actor to alter the current market in its favour elevates a central research avenue: how can a market actor influence the market configuration.  (Moi ici: Por isto é que o equilíbrio em economia é uma treta. Sempre que um empreendedor puder introduzir variações...)
A market actor wanting to influence a market configuration can be labelled a “focal actor”, ... market networks can be described by starting from a focal actor and analyzing this actor’s relationships. A focal actor wanting to influence the market practices in a market configuration can do this by working on its mental  models and business models.  (Moi ici: Eu repito "by working on its mental model and business models". Não é através da impressão de bentos, ou de PINs, ou de corredores, carpetes e biombos do poder)
The mental models relate to how the focal actor views the relevant market, and they gain visible form as they are translated into different value-creating practices in the business model. The market practices are the results of the interaction between individual market actors’ business model elements. Market configurations are perpetually dynamic and developing as new actors enter the context, and as different market actors introduce new ideas and new business model elements in the network. This leads to a perpetual oscillation effect between the elements in the configuration: between the actor and the market practices. The power of the actor’s mental models and business models to influence a market configuration is mediated by the focal actor’s position in the network, its clout, and the fact that a change in any configurational element is likely to evoke a reaction from all actors wanting to shape the market in their favour."
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E como é que a sua empresa faz isto?

• "Perspectiva Clientes do BSC: partes interessadas?"
• "Orquestrar um enredo"
• "A evolução da ideia de mosaico estratégico (parte VI)"
• "Como é o ecossistema da sua organização?"
• "Alargar os horizontes"
• "Quem define a personalidade da cadeia de valor?"
• "Clientes-alvo e proposta de valor (parte II)"

Continua.

Não é armadilhar, é arte

Não gosto de trabalhar para o boneco.
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Não gosto de trabalhar para o auditor.
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Não gosto de trabalhar "só porque está na norma".
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A finalizar mais um projecto de apoio à implementação de um sistema de gestão da qualidade numa empresa industrial, procurou-se avaliar a satisfação dos clientes...
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E tenho de confessar... tenho tantas dúvidas sobre a avaliação da satisfação dos clientes.
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Os que só pensam em satisfazer a cláusula 8.2.1 da norma ISO 9001 e, assim, satisfazer os auditores, podem deixar de ler o que se segue. O meu ponto é mais profundo do que isso.
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Por que medimos a satisfação dos clientes?
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O que significa ter clientes satisfeitos?
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O que fazer com as respostas obtidas?
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Avaliar a satisfação junto de que clientes?
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Afirmações que há anos faria sem piscar os olhos, como por exemplo:
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"Clientes satisfeitos são clientes fidelizados"
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Deixam-me cada vez mais dúvidas.
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Em "The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty", assinado por Werner Reinartz e V. Kumar defende-se que clientes fidelizados podem não ser clientes rentáveis. Sim, isso é pacífico na minha narrativa!
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Se uma empresa não fizer escolhas e não diferenciar o serviço que presta em função da margem que tira dos negócios com cada tipo de cliente, se uma empresa não se concentrar a servir os clientes-alvo onde pode ter uma vantagem competitiva, então, pode ter clientes muito satisfeitos e fidelizados, e perder dinheiro, ou seja, não ter futuro.
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Se uma empresa lida com clientes que não têm reflexão e disciplina estratégica para servir o elo-final de uma cadeia da procura, então, talvez tenha clientes insatisfeitos que se sentem obrigados a comprar por causa do poder de influência desse elo-final. E o que fazer nesse caso? Se já trabalharam no negócio da construção para donos de obra interessados em alta-qualidade e lidam com empreiteiros que pensam pequenino... sabem do que estou a falar. E o que significa aumentar a satisfação desses clientes directos? Reparem o dono de obra não é cliente da empresa... mas é para ele que a empresa se perspectiva.
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E o que fazer com as respostas obtidas?
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Por exemplo:

Quando comecei a trabalhar como consultor a resposta era clara, conseguiremos um maior retorno do nosso esforço se desenvolvermos acções que levem a aumentar a nossa pontuação nas perguntas com classificação mais baixa.
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Mas qual é o objectivo de uma empresa, ter pontuações elevadas nas avaliações da satisfação dos clientes, ou ganhar dinheiro de forma sustentada?
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Se todos seguirem a mesma regra, ao fim de uns anos as empresas concorrentes estarão todas iguais... Youngme Moon ensinou-me isso.
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Mandar às malvas a satisfação geral e apostar nos pontos que ajudam a "fazer batota", que ajudam a criar e alargar a diferenciação?
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Com Geoffrey Moore aprendi que existia esta curva e que ela era uma outra forma de diferenciar os clientes, para além de saber o que procuram e valorizam.
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Qual o sentido de avaliar a satisfação dos clientes da mesma forma, com as mesmas perguntas independentemente de serem visionários ou serem conservadores pragmáticos?
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Cinzia Parolini em "The Value Net - A Tool for Competitive Strategy" escreveu estas sábias palavras, um pouco na linha de Mary Kay Plantes que distingue e prefere market-driven a customer-driven, e de Storbacka e Nononen, que apesar de não usarem a mesma linguagem de Plantes querem dizer o mesmo com  a pergunta "Market Design - Are you market driven or market driving?":
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"Adopting a customer perspective does not necessarily mean basing one's strategy on what customers demand at a given moment and blindly following the indicators of customer satisfaction. Although the indications coming from final customers may be important for refining the offer of the system, adopting a customer perspective essentially means looking at the Value Creating System (Moi ici: Aquilo a que chamo cadeia da procura... ou cadeia da originação de valor) as a whole from the point of view of the end user (Moi ici: Juro que cheguei ao elo-final antes de ler Parolini) in order to identify any inconsistencies, inadequacies and bottlenecks that may be present in the offer and or the configuration of the system." (Moi ici: Algo na linha do que reflecti aqui e sobretudo aqui há alguns anos)
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"The perspective of the final customer is therefore something different from customer satisfaction"