Máquinas italianas e indústria alemã

Mão amiga fez-me chegar este artigo, "Significant decline for the Italian machine tool industry in 2024". Primeiro alguns factos que se retiram do texto e depois uma reflexão-especulação.

A indústria italiana de fabricantes de máquinas teve um desempenho misto em 2024:

• A produção global caiu 11,4%; 
• O mercado interno encolheu drasticamente (as entregas caíram 33,5%, o consumo caiu 34,8%); 
• As exportações atingiram níveis recorde (aumento de 6,3% para 4490 milhões de euros); 
• Prevê-se uma recuperação modesta para 2025 - A produção deverá crescer 2,9%. As exportações deverão manter-se estáveis (+0,3%). O mercado interno deverá apresentar alguma melhoria (+8%).

Os principais mercados de exportação apresentam um desempenho variado:

• Forte crescimento nos EUA (+17,8%) e Índia (+100%) 
• Crescimento modesto na Alemanha (+12,3%) 
• Descidas na China (-15,3%) e França (-9,3% ) 

É interessante que dois países com a economia em terreno negativo, Alemanha e França, tenham desempenhos tão diferentes. Por que é que os alemães estaráo a comprar máquinas italianas e não máquinas alemãs?

Especulemos!

Máquinas italianas:

• Os fabricantes italianos destacam-se na criação de máquinas que podem ser customizadas às necessidades específicas dos clientes;
• Forte foco no design e na ergonomia, tornando as máquinas mais fáceis de utilizar e esteticamente agradáveis;
• Mais económicas, mantendo a boa qualidade;
• Podem sacrificar alguma robustez pela versatilidade;
• Geralmente mais fáceis de modificar após a compra.

Máquinas Alemãs:

• Reconhecidas pela engenharia de precisão e fiabilidade;
• Construídas com foco na longevidade e construção robusta;
• Normalmente mais caras, mas com custos de manutenção mais baixos ao longo do tempo;
• Geralmente mais rígidas na sua configuração, mas mais estáveis ​​no desempenho

Um ditado comum na indústria é que as máquinas italianas são como carros desportivos (inovadoras, elegantes, que exigem mais atenção, mas altamente capazes), enquanto as máquinas alemãs são como tanques (robustas, fiáveis, construídas para durar, mas menos flexíveis).

No entanto, estas são generalizações e os fabricantes individuais de ambos os países podem desviar-se significativamente destes padrões. 

Continuemos a especular:

Com a economia alemã em terreno negativo, as empresas alemãs estão provavelmente à procura de soluções mais económicas sem comprometer drasticamente a qualidade. As máquinas italianas oferecem esta combinação de custo-benefício.

A indústria alemã está a passar por um período de adaptação e modernização. As máquinas italianas, sendo mais personalizáveis e flexíveis, permitem às empresas alemãs:

• Adaptarem-se mais rapidamente às mudanças do mercado;
• Experimentarem novos processos de produção;
• Implementarem modificações com menor investimento inicial.

Comunicar proposta de valor

Esta semana fiz uma auditoria a uma empresa que conheço já há alguns anos.

Ao auditar o tema da avaliação da satisfação dos clientes percebi que a empresa estava incomodada com a resposta da maioria dos clientes à pergunta sobre como avaliavam os preços praticados. A maioria dos clientes classificava os preços como altos.

O incómodo da empresa assentava sobretudo na dificuldade dos clientes perceberem que eles cobram preços mais altos, mas em contrapartida conseguem responder em tempo recorde. Argumentei algo que penso há muitos anos: Perguntar num inquérito de satisfação de clientes se eles estão satisfeitos com os preços só tem uma justificação, perceber se quem respondeu ao inquérito o fez em consciência ou simplesmente colocou cruzes aleatoriamente. A resposta de um cliente-tipo à pergunta sobre se os preços são OK é um inevitável NOK. 

Já a caminho do almoço pesquisei na net e encontrei uma imagem que serve para comunicar propostas de valor aos clientes:

 

E cheirou-me logo a estratégia

Na última página do WSJ do passado dia 09.12 vi o artigo, "Small Al-Chip Maker Is Now More Valuable Than Intel", e cheirou-me logo a estratégia.

O artigo compara a performance de uma empresa produtora de chips que eu não conhecia, a Marvell, com a performance da Intel.

A valorização em bolsa da Marvell supera a da Intel. A Marvell Technology registou um crescimento significativo na sua capitalização bolsista, ultrapassando os 100 mil milhões de dólares, tornando-a mais valiosa que a Intel.

Este crescimento é impulsionado principalmente pela sua forte presença no mercado de chips para data centers e pelo seu papel no apoio aos avanços da IA (escolhas estratégicas sobre onde estar). O negócio de data centers da Marvell representa agora 72% da sua receita total, acima dos 40% do ano anterior, com as vendas a duplicarem ano após ano para 1,1 mil milhões de dólares.

A empresa beneficiou de uma importante parceria com a Amazon, ajudando a conceber chips de IA como o Trainium, o que reforça ainda mais a sua posição competitiva. Os analistas prevêem que as receitas relacionadas com a IA dupliquem até 2026, ultrapassando potencialmente os 8 mil milhões de dólares anuais.

O CEO Matt Murphy concentrou-se num crescimento constante e nas parcerias estratégicas, em vez de expandir significativamente a dimensão da empresa. 

Relevância da actuação da Marvell para o pensamento estratégico das PMEs:

• A Marvell mudou o foco para data centers e chips personalizados ligados à IA, mostrando como é importante priorizar mercados em crescimento em vez de insistir em sectores tradicionais ou saturados. Apostar em nichos promissores.
• Trabalhar com gigantes como a Amazon pode ajudar empresas menores a crescerem mais rápido e ganharem credibilidade no mercado. Também tem riscos, basta procurar aqui no blogue o que escrevo sobre pedofilia empresarial. Procurar verdadeiros parceiros, cuidado com o destino da Raporal.
• A agilidade da Marvell em ajustar seu modelo de negócio para aproveitar tendências como a IA é um óptimo exemplo do valor de estar sempre à frente no mercado. Rapidez e flexibilidade são as armas secretas das PMEs.
• O investimento da Marvell em soluções feitas sob medida para os seus clientes destaca como inovar e focar nos clientes pode diferenciar uma empresa no mercado. A velha prática da customização.
• O CEO da Marvell mostra como ter uma visão clara e focada — opção pelo crescimento sustentável em vez de crescer por crescer — pode ser a chave para o sucesso a longo prazo, algo que pode inspirar os líderes das PMEs.

Acerca do valor para o cliente

O que é valor para um cliente? 

Quando eu era criança era tudo uma questão de racionalidade, de especificações. Depois, o choque ... é muito mais do que isso, e abandonei a doença anglo-saxónica:

"But that is just the economically rational side of the issue — where the proverbial curves cross. I guess I once naïvely thought that the price was set by how much purchasers wanted and valued the good for themselves. But the accelerator on that is the purchasers' recognition that to a segment of society important to them, it is meaningful that the good in question is ownable by them and not by somebody else. That is, ownership of the good positions the purchaser favorably with a segment of society that matters to the purchaser.

...

Understanding customer value has always been and will always be tricky. We used to be told it was all rational and functional. Then behavioral economics came along and demonstrated that there are many emotional elements involved that go well beyond the traditional functional definitions. And now it is clear that value is clearly socially constructed.


So, when you think about your customers, make sure to consider all the elements of value not just functional value and not just emotional value within the customers themselves. Over and above that, ask to what segment of society does possession of your good helps them to be a member. That final piece may be much more important than you may think at first blush."

Em que é que isto é importante para as PME? 

Elas devem:

• adoptar uma abordagem abrangente para compreender o que é valor para o cliente. Isto inclui considerar elementos funcionais, emocionais e sociais,
• considerar a que segmento da sociedade os seus produtos ou serviços ajudam os clientes a pertencer. Este aspecto social pode ser crucial na definição da proposta de valor global.

A compreensão final de qual o segmento social que o seu produto ajuda os clientes a aderir pode ser mais importante do que parece inicialmente. As PME devem considerar isso estrategicamente nos seus esforços de marketing e desenvolvimento de produtos. 

Roupas Sustentáveis:

• Funcional: Qualidade e durabilidade.
• Emocional: Sensação de estar a contribuir para um mundo melhor.
• Social: Pertencer a um segmento de consumidores conscientes e ambientalmente responsáveis.

Cervejas Artesanais:

• Funcional: Sabor diferenciado e produção local.
• Emocional: Prazer e satisfação ao experimentar algo único.
• Social: Integração numa comunidade de apreciadores de cervejas artesanais.

Produtos de Beleza Orgânicos:

• Funcional: Benefícios para a saúde da pele.
• Emocional: Sentimento de autocuidado e bem-estar.
• Social: Participação numa tendência crescente de cuidados naturais e orgânicos.

Móveis Artesanais:

• Funcional: Durabilidade e design personalizado.
• Emocional: Orgulho e satisfação em ter uma peça única.
• Social: Pertença a um grupo que valoriza a autenticidade e o artesanato.

Tecnologia de Apoio a Idosos:

• Funcional: Facilidade de uso e segurança.
• Emocional: Tranquilidade e independência.
• Social: Inclusão num segmento que preza pela qualidade de vida na terceira idade.

Alimentos Gourmet:

• Funcional: Ingredientes de alta qualidade e sabor superior.
• Emocional: Prazer e experiência gastronómica.
• Social: Pertença a uma comunidade de amantes da culinária gourmet.

Joias Personalizadas: (recordar o postal recente Marcas e customização será que a Rolex ainda não chegou lá?)

• Funcional: Qualidade e durabilidade.
• Emocional: Sentimento de exclusividade e identidade.
• Social: Integração num grupo que valoriza peças únicas e personalizadas.

Trechos retirados de "Positional Goods & Strategy"

Luxo nos serviços e criação de valor

Um artigo que muitos deveriam ler, sobretudo os que se queixam do baixo valor acrescentado dos serviços que prestam, "Understanding the Value Process: Value creation in a luxury service context". Colhemos o que semeamos.

O artigo foca-se em três ideias principais:

• A função dos prestadores de serviço vai além da co-criação. As empresas que prestam serviços de luxo fazem mais do que apenas trabalhar com os clientes para criar valor com a interacção. Elas também preparam o terreno para que os clientes tenham uma experiência única e agradável.
• Os clientes também criam o seu próprio valor. O artigo refere que os clientes também ciam valor por conta própria, independentemente do que a empresa faz. Por exemplo, podem gostar da sensação de fazer parte de algo exclusivo ou luxuoso.
• O escapismo como valor para o cliente em serviços de luxo. Os clientes que utilizam o serviço de luxo para escapar momentaneamente da vida quotidiana. É uma parte fundamental do que torna estes serviços valiosos.

Ideias fundamentais para ajudar as empresas a compreender como tornar os seus serviços de luxo mais apelativos e memoráveis para os clientes. Não se trata apenas do produto, mas de toda a experiência e do sentimento que os clientes obtêm dele.

Excelente figura:

"The value process before the interaction

Customer sphere: Value anticipation. Building on previous research showing that anticipation influences satisfaction (Oliver & Burke 1999), we find that many customers eagerly look forward to the experience of the interaction. Their value process already begins as they start planning and thinking about their visit to ...

the company's fame drives customer anticipation for those who have never visited ... They develop optimistic fantasies about the future visit, in line with psychological research on future expectations.

Customers who have already visited ... also anticipate their interactions, using their familiarity as a heuristics for predictions. Familiarity not only grounds expectations of continuity (i.e., repetition of past positive experienced value) but also escapist discontinuity (i.e., fantasies of unexpected additional value)

...

Provider sphere: Value facilitation. In keeping with its heritage, ... locates the customer at the center of the service to facilitate value creation by conveying an iconic authentic service. As customers enter ..., they are plunged into a visual servicescape that brings together symbols of the ..., granting fictional access to ... the servicescape guides customers as to how to behave in the boutique

...

also facilitates value creation through service disembodiment, with service employees almost becoming actors. Employees wear identical uniforms, behave similarly (e.g., same gestures and phrases), and limit improvisation. They follow a strict code of conduct for respectful interactions with customers and each other. Overall, this grants bold service ritualization wherein service employees become almost interchangeable.

...

Disembodiment is beneficial to the value process for three reasons: (1) it helps reduce value fluctuations due to employees' personal touch; (2) through de-humanization, service employees are liberated from human imperfection; and, (3) customers' humanity becomes more salient, making them the sole protagonists (the personnel never befriends customers).

This is noteworthy as disembodiment is usually an unplanned and undesired consequence of service commodification or digitization.

...

The value process during the interaction

Joint sphere: Value co-creation. All actions in the provider sphere to facilitate customers' value creation come alive in the service encounter. ... We further identify the role of escapism for customers' value in-use in the luxury service context, as escapism is jointly enacted to support value co-creation.

When we asked customers about why they visit..., many mentioned how the service interaction makes them feel, both with service personnel and being in the store, and many unprompted customers talked about a brief escape to another time.

...

By allowing an element of escapism, consumers may even see the time they spend waiting as something adding to their value process.

Next, we identify another important source of value cocreation in time suspension. In our observations and interviews, we find that both the service provider and customer consider the time spent in the boutique to be of utmost importance. 

...

The value process after the interaction

Customer sphere: Value creation. For many customers, the value process does not end when leaving the store; a key part of the process is only beginning. We identify two main types of value that customers attach to the service experience ... First, social value means that consuming the products is not always the main source of value for customers after visiting ...; customers create value from their service in social contexts. Social value is an important aspect of customer value in luxury service settings, ... For example, several customers see value in displaying their trip to a ... boutique and their trophy-like shopping bag.

Our observations document customers taking selfies, standing in front of ... and holding up their purchases with ... logo clearly visible. Many customers immediately upload their picture on social media. Our analysis of some 5,000 pictures hashtagged ... confirms that customers display their visit to ... to others. 

...

Provider sphere: Value learning. In contrast to Grönroos and Voima's (2013) conceptualization of the provider's role ending after the interaction, we find that the provider's value process continues. Our findings indicate that an important part of the provider's process consists of finding ways to learn about what customers do after their interactions in the store and how they consume the product or talk about the service experience." 

"market-shaping devices"

Leitura de "Value propositions as market-shaping devices: A qualitative comparative analysis" 

"Both value propositions and markets have been conceptualized as configurations of interdependent elements. The complexity of the studied phenomenon is best captured by the configurational perspective, which is increasingly employed across business disciplines. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify the configurations of value proposition characteristics that are effective for focal firms engaging in market-shaping strategies.

...

Our principal contribution is to distinguish the VP's role as a key device for market-shaping; more specifically, we identify four characteristics of market-shaping VPs. We also show that even though VPs can shape markets without displaying all four of these characteristics, no single characteristic alone can create all the expected outcomes. Further, our study extends our understanding of the nature of the VP concept. Specifically, we identify that market-shaping VPs are complex configurations rather than unidimensional constructs aimed at differentiating the firm in the market. Practically, we distinguish distinct configurations of VP characteristics that are successful in either: (1) changing the elements comprising the market system, or (2) inducing an overall market change at the system-level.

Research is progressively recognizing markets as systems or ecosystems, suggesting a need to look beyond the seller-buyer dyad and to see the dyad as part of a larger system of actors. This transition from dyadic relational thinking to complex systems thinking reveals that nobody can fully predict or control the development of a market system.

Market systems do not obey simple laws of cause and effect. Furthermore, they have no center and no central control mechanism. Rather, they evolve from a mix of deliberately designed influence and random emergence."

Segundo o artigo:

• As empresas podem moldar activamente os seus mercados criando e implementando propostas de valor fortes. Essas propostas envolvem a oferta de combinações únicas de produtos, serviços ou experiências que ressoem nos clientes e diferenciem a empresa dos seus concorrentes. Claro que quem aposta em dominar os biombos e carpetes do poder, perde a oportunidade de se especializar na moldagem do seu mercado.
• Há quatro características essenciais que tornam as propostas de valor eficazes na modelação do mercado: integração acrescida de recursos, (a velha densificação de Normann), processo colaborativo de proposta de valor (customização, interacção), promessa de valor sistémica e verificada (é como fazer uma grande promessa de que se pode mudar o jogo para muitas partes interessadas, e depois provar que realmente se consegue fazer isso), e novas representações utilizadas na comunicação.
• Há que empregar uma abordagem configuracional, sugerindo que estas características podem ser combinadas de várias maneiras para atingir os objetivos de formação do mercado. Nenhuma característica por si só é suficiente; a combinação e interacção entre eles são cruciais. Num sistema complexo como o mercado, os resultados resultam de uma combinação de factores que trabalham em conjunto e não apenas de uma causa. Diferentes combinações desses fatores interligados podem levar ao mesmo resultado, mostrando que múltiplos caminhos podem atingir um objetivo. 

"Tactical sourcing lever continuum"

Na linha do que aprendi há quase 20 anos em:

• Proposta de valor (2006)
• Mais do que uma cadeia de fornecimento - um exemplo (2011) 

"Purchasing managers can use our findings to critically review their current purchasing approach and practices towards their suppliers. While purchasing portfolios are the number one tool for purchasers to differentiate purchasing approaches because they are easy to use, they also stem from an era where purchasing mainly focused on cost savings. Furthermore, they over-simplify the choices for managers by identifying norm sourcing levers to be used within each of the four quadrants. Our findings suggest that it is important for managers to be aware that each sourcing lever can have different applications for different objectives. Hence, we suggest managers to use the objective of a purchase to determine the suitability of a tactical sourcing levers for a given purchase, and adapt its use accordingly. Simultaneously, these new insights can be useful in the instruction and training of purchasers. Awareness and training of more advanced purchasing tactics beyond cost savings alone may establish a stronger position of the purchaser in 

its relationships."

No abstract:

"This study investigates how buying firms differentiate their relationship practices based on the objective of a purchase. Although previous research shows that purchasing objectives strongly influence how buyers organize their relationships, it remains unclear how so-called tactical sourcing levers are used to support an objective. We draw on a mixed-method case study design consisting of a scenario-based survey study and semi-structured interviews. Our quantitative findings show that while transactional levers are commonly applied across purchasing objectives, they are not necessarily the most important for the different objectives. In fact, our qualitative findings reveal that sourcing levers are not either transactional or relational, but exist on a continuum where each lever can be used in different ways depending on the objective of the purchase. As such, our study provides a novel view on more traditional purchasing classifications such as the one on purchasing levers. Consequently, our findings suggest that existing purchasing tools need to be revised in line with today's value creation approach of purchasing."

Trechos retirados de "In pursuit of value: The objective of a purchase as guide for a relationship" publicado por Industrial Marketing Management 117 (2024) 467-480.

"An organization should define itself by..."

 "An organization should define itself by the need that it is fulfilling and not by its current product and service offerings. [Moi ici: Isto é outra forma de dizer que o foco deve ser no outcome, e não nos outputs. Outcomes que resultam de inputs na vida do cliente.] Finding the best way to address a need in a fast-changing environment amounts to the competitive pursuit of a moving target. Thus, the need is the proper anchor point, leaving us open to adapt our offerings as opportunities arise.

...

Anchoring quality on the creation of the proposed value helps maintain coherence in action amid constant change; it also instills and reinforces a sense of common purpose. It acts as a guide in setting priorities and as a compass to find our way in the numerous trade-offs that we must make in the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage.

...

A value proposition spells out our commitment to our customers in terms that are significant for them."

Trechos retirado de "Complex Service Delivery Processes - Strategy to Operations" de Jean Harvey.

Investir para entrar na mente dos clientes-alvo

"Each area within the circles is strategically important, but A, B, and C are critical to building competitive advantage. The team should ask questions about each. For A: How big and sustainable are our advantages? Are they based on distinctive capabilities? For B: Are we delivering effectively in the area of parity? For C: How can we counter our competitors’ advantages?

The team should form hypotheses about the company’s competitive advantages and test them by asking customers. The process can yield surprising insights, such as how much opportunity for growth exists in the white space (E). Another insight might be what value the company or its competitors create that customers don’t need (D, F, or G).

...

But the biggest surprise is often that area A, envisioned as huge by the company, turns out to be minuscule in the eyes of the customer."

Acredito que muitas empresas apostam em propostas de valor que caem sobretudo na área B porque se focam nos outputs e não nos inputs. Assim, não investem tempo para entrar na mente dos clientes-alvo e perceber como é que o output é usado como input no processo de criação de valor do cliente.

Trechos retirados de "Strategic Insight in Three Circles".  

Momento, preço, valor, modelo de negócio e futuro

O que se segue é-me doloroso. Amanhã escreverei sobre emigração qualificada, marketing gerador de cinismo e sucesso de uns inocentes como sinal de fracasso da comunidade.

"With the economy at a turning point, companies should be thinking more critically about growth—concentrating on growing better rather than simply getting bigger. [Moi ici: Como bebi por volta de 2007 em "Manage for profit, not for market share" e depois demorei a refinar com Marn e Rosiello para seguir a máxima "Volume is Vanity, Profit is Sanity" desde 2006]

...

As inflation and costs have risen, it has become harder for most businesses to grow.

Yet that is exactly what makes this the right moment to think critically about growth. 

...

“If you want to find growth in a world where costs are rising, the key is to understand what customers really value today and what they will value in the future.” [Moi ici: Que tempo, que espaço, que paz de espírito é guardada para esta reflexão profunda e de longo prazo? Então com empresas familiares é muitas vezes doloroso ... A única pessoa que pode dedicar tempo a isto está a conduzir um empilhador para arrumar paletes, ou está a substituir um operário especializado que está de baixa... e quem pensa no futuro da empresa? Quem encara de frente o monstro da erosão competitiva?]

...

Understanding how to identify and unlock better growth is the key to sustainable success in business.

...

If value is key, we need to ask what value really means.

...

you can’t even begin to form your growth strategy until you stand in the customer’s shoes and understand how people make trade-offs between price and something much more subtle which is perceived value.” [Moi ici: Claro que isto implica escolher, conhecer quem são os clientes-alvo. Claro que isto implica pôr o output nos bastidores e dar primazia aos outcomes ou inputs e isso é areia demais para muita camioneta]

Some companies tend to confuse value with price, although they are very different concepts. The problem is that price is easy to state, but value is harder to calculate. 

...

“Firms need to understand that pricing should be a strategy, not a tactic,”  [Moi ici: Citação poderosa. Muitas vezes, demasiadas vezes usamos o preço como táctica, como resposta ao próximo desafio imediato e não como estratégia. Ainda recentemente vi este trecho como exemplo do preço como estratégia]

...

“You need to think about what information you are trying to convey with price, because price not only captures value for the consumer, it can also create value for the firm.” [Moi ici: "also create value for the firm" nem comento. Não posso comentar... demasiados casos de destruição de valor, de desperdício de recursos, de irresponsabilidade infantil]

...

Many things influence value—including brand, quality and not just what is offered to the customer, but how it is offered and when. [Moi ici: Também relacionado com o o tema da primazia dos outcomes sobre os inputs, porque o foco deixa de ser o produto acabado e passa a ser a situação do cliente-alvo, o seu contexto, os seus objectivos]

...

Growth for growth’s sake is a recipe for staff burnout and overall corporate exhaustion: sustainable growth should be about creating opportunities for everyone.

Knowing how to explain value to your customers and understanding how your customer data can tell you exactly what value people are prepared to pay for and what to forego is the essence of a balanced strategy for sustainable growth

...

The trade-offs that underlie growth strategy go to the heart of a company, shaping the kind of business it wants to be. “Better growth is about finding a growth model that treats volumes and margins in a way that keeps stakeholder interests in balance and reduces the pressure in the business,” 

...

“What we find with companies that adopt a pure volume mindset and market-share mindset is that they often fail to see the real implications for growth,” adds Dr. von der Gathen. “It is what we call getting ‘too hungry to eat.’ Sales are growing, but the company doesn’t have enough inherent revenue stability or profitability, and eventually their business model runs out of juice.” [Moi ici: Que sina!!!]

Creating better growth opportunities

Better growth, therefore, is about building business models with long-term, sustainable revenues and the headroom for innovation. It is about going beyond the math of market share and sales volumes, and finding a growth model designed to nurture the business as a real value-provider."

Entretidos e amparados pelas esmolas dos apoios comunitários, as dores de parto necessárias para a ascensão a um novo nível do jogo não passam de picos de urtigas mansas. 

Trechos retirados de "How businesses can unlock better growth" 

Há falta de trabalhadores?

"The conventional wisdom in retail and other low-margin service industries has been that bad frontline jobs - with low pay, unpredictable schedules, and few opportunities for advancement are necessary to compete. Yet for decades a handful of companies - including Costco and QuikTrip in the United States and Mercadona in Spain - have been proving that false. They remain market leaders in their very competitive industries without the bad jobs on which those industries supposedly depend - and it's no secret how they do it: by adopting "good jobs" systems. Meanwhile, in a tight labor market, organizations with bad jobs are finding it hard to stay open because they can't attract and retain workers.

If good jobs can make companies more competitive, more resilient, and more humane, why don't more companies create them? I see doubt, fear, and a lack of imagination - which stem from misguided views of the value of frontline workers, how to make business decisions, and the risks of system change as the reasons. 

In my earlier work I have found that companies that continually improve the value and service offered to their customers and the productivity of their employees operate in a system with two key-and mutually dependent-components: (1) A heavy investment in people, in the form of higher-than-market pay, better-than-usual benefits, predictable schedules, full-time jobs whenever possible, and clearly described opportunities for advancement; and (2) an operational model that helps those workers be more productive and serve customers better. The system includes (a) identifying the value proposition and simplifying operations to eliminate wasteful and low-value-added activities, respect workers' time, and enable employees to serve customers well; (b) standardizing processes when that makes sense and empowering employees to help customers, improve their work, and manage customer flow; (c) cross-training employees to perform both customer-facing and noncustomer-facing tasks in an area they own; and (d) staffing units with enough people to handle unexpected surges ant allow time for developing employees and improving work. Companies with a good-jobs system have high customer satisfaction and loyalty, superior productivity, low employee turnover, and greater resilience. Those that rely on bad jobs risk falling-or have already fallen -into a vicious circle of high turnover, poor operational execution, customer dissatisfaction, low unit sales and profits, and vulnerability to a better-run competitor."

O autor chama a atenção para quatro falsas ortodoxias que impedem muitas empresas de criar "good jobs" systems:

1. Our business model won't support higher investment in people. 
2. We can't trust frontline employees.
3. Our financial analysis shows the investment won't pay off.
4. Implementing system change is too risky.

Trechos retirados de "The Obstacles to Creating Good Jobs" de Zeynep Ton e publicado no número de Maio-Junho de 2023 da HBR.

1.  

"isn’t a license to not worry about costs"

Uma, mais uma, excelente reflexão de Roger Martin, que por sua vez nos põe a pensar. Desta vez é "Cost-Effective Differentiation - Why it Really Matters for your Strategy" da qual sublinho a parte final:

"Real differentiators have the margin room to be aggressive with pricing when needed and, in addition, have the earnings from their high margins to invest in the next differentiation. And low-cost players can grab share by pricing below the level that any other player is game to match. Consequently, ineffective high-value players have difficulty growing. Customers who happen to really value their particular offering remain loyal customers at the price they need to charge. But as with all companies, ineffective high-value players face a downward-sloping demand curve in which higher prices mean lower demand.

Simply, the ability to grow any business is hampered by needing to charge a high enough price to earn a return on costs. If those costs are higher than they need to be, but you add value to a set of customers, you will have a decent business. But it won’t be a great business.

Seeking to be a differentiator isn’t a license to not worry about costs. It is all one singular value equation. The determinant of your competitiveness is the margin between the value you create and the costs you incur. And in that metric: a buck is a buck is a buck."

Recordo trading up versus trading down.

"The power of purpose"

"Leaders instinctively understand the value of corporate purpose. They know that, when it is well articulated, a company’s purpose statement—or the best proxy for it, such as a mission or vision statement—serves as a north star.

...

1. Make creating your purpose a strategic exercise, not a communications exercise. Simply put, strategy starts with purpose. Leaders need to take responsibility for crystalizing their company’s purpose, doing so with the conviction that purpose has great power to motivate and clarify decision-making. 

...

2. Focus on how you earn money, rather than how you spend it.[Moi ici: Recordar a lição de Marn e Rosiello]

...

Leaders need to do the hard work of unpacking how their organization creates impact. They can do this by making a meaningful connection between their obligations to customers and investors and the greater well-being of society—and to communicate that connection to their employees. 

...

3. Identify your special power, and build your purpose around it. When answering fundamental questions such as “What critical role do we play for our customers” and “What would happen if we disappear?” many leaders struggle to find a foothold, particularly when their organizations may not have a meaningful advantage.

...

However, we’ve seen that nearly all organizations have some “special power”—unique capabilities that are often unrecognized and can form the basis of a frank discussion about how to scale or transform."

Trechos retirados de "Five ways to harness the power of purpose" 

"The High Risk of Low Cost"

Há dias em E Zeihan chega a Mongo! citei:

"4. Supply chains will be much shorter. 

...

5. Production will become colocated with consumption.

...

6. The new systems will put premiums on simplicity and security just as the old system put premiums on cost and efficiency."

Agora leio, por um lado os sintomas do impacte da incerteza no retorno dos inventários, "Why Fashion’s Inventory Problem Is Back (And How to Solve It)" e, por outro lado, o aumento do risco da aposta no custo mais baixo, "Navigating Retail’s New Era of Risk":

"On closer inspection it’s clear that today’s global supply chains are the product of centuries of growth but little meaningful evolution when it comes to risk management. 

...

The High Risk of Low Cost

Although separated by almost 200 years of history, the cotton famine of the 1860's and the supply chain crises of today share the same root cause: a myopic and often perilous focus on lowest landed unit cost. Procuring vast quantities of cheap goods has driven and continues to drive most of today's top brands because most see price as the cornerstone of competitiveness. However, as supply chain expert John Thorbeck often says, we operate in an era where business leaders must once and for all appreciate that the singular pursuit of low cost comes with an extraordinary number of risks that make businesses far less competitive, the first being the risk to financial capital.

...

It is also logical to assume that risks to global supply chains will become more frequent and profound as we become increasingly interconnected as a global community. 

...

If reducing unit cost was the competitive advantage of the past, eliminating risk is the competitive advantage of the future."

Interessante, como regresso sempre a Maio de 2020 e a El coronavirus actúa como acelerador de cambios que ya estaban en marcha. Pois, em 2008... Para reflectir

Outras leituras:

• A “globalização” morreu. Viva a “blocalização!

Esse é o busílis!

Consideremos uma PME portuguesa exportadora. Tipicamente está envolvida numa relação B2B com os seus clientes. Consideremos estas diferentes possibilidades:

Em que relações é que a sua empresa mais está envolvida?

• O quadrante 1 não se recomenda por motivos óbvios.
• O quadrante 3 é irrealista, uma PME não pode competir no campeonato da comoditização ponto!
• O quadrante 4 decorre da construção de uma relação de cooperação ao longo dos anos. A dependência mútua decorre da confiança depositada nas capacidades e promessas de cada parte. Por exemplo, entregas rápidas, entregas de pequenas séries, capacidade de desenvolvimento rápido
• O quadrante 3 é talvez o mais desejável, mas também o mais difícil para uma PME. a) Quem são os clientes-alvo? b) O que é que eles procuram e valorizam mesmo? c) O que é que a PME lhes pode oferecer com vantagem sobre a concorrência?

Agora, quantas PMEs têm uma resposta clara, na ponta da língua aquelas perguntas a), b) e c)?

Esse é o busílis!

Imagem adaptada a partir de “What's Your Competitive Advantage?” de Paul Raspin

Mais pureza estratégica, mais rentabilidade (parte II)

Parte I.

"Can You Be Both Cost Leader & Differentiator?

Not if you Want to be Great over Time

...

The Playing to Win strategy question that I probably get most often is: why can’t we be both a cost leader and a differentiator? 

...

I think I get the question as often as I do for two reasons. First is that in advising on strategy, I emphasize the need to choose and in general people don’t like to choose. People like more to keep options open rather than cut them off, which is one reason why most strategy isn’t strategy, it is planning. So, when I say one of the important strategy choices is to be either a cost leader or a differentiator, people tend react by challenging why they must choose.

...

 To be a cost leader, you have to configure yourself uniquely in order to achieve a cost position that is meaningfully lower than for any competitor. That is what leading means. You can’t be a ‘leader’ if you are in the middle of the pack. ... The value of a cost advantage is that you can use it to gain share. The cost advantage enables you to lower price below the level competitors can in order to gain share from them, which illustrates the problem with being stuck in the middle. You can’t protect yourself from the cost leader (or differentiator for that matter).

...

In the face of competition, it is unrealistic to be both because cost leadership and differentiation take very different disciplines. A cost leader will choose standardization and will sacrifice non-conforming customers in order to maintain its meaningfully lower costs. 

...

Differentiators will pursue deep, holistic understanding of customers so that they can build the next increment of value into their product or service. They are always innovating and building the unique value and strength of their brand. 

...

Don’t waste your time thinking about being both a cost leader and a differentiator. Think instead about to which of these different paths you will commit and how to achieve cost leadership or differentiation in the space you have chosen to compete."

Repensar a situação

Esquema adaptado do capítulo II do livro SMASH: Using Market Shaping to Design New Strategies for Innovation, Value Creation, and Growth de Kaj Storbacka e Suvi Nenonen. 

1 - Que recursos a empresa possui? Em que é que a empresa se distingue ao aplicar esses recursos?

2 - Que actores participam na rede? Que recursos e capacidades possuem? Que recursos e capacidades estão em falta na rede?

3 - O que é que o cliente procura e valoriza? O que é dor para ele?

4 - O que é que outros participantes da rede procuram e valorizam? O que é dor para eles?

Gosto de começar por olhar para o que pode ser a rede...

Depois, pergunto em que é que somos bons, em que é que fazemos a diferença? As PMEs têm de olhar para o que têm à mão, não têm tempo nem dinheiro para abstracções, têm de partir daquilo que já está a resultar, nem que seja só com um segmento pequeno de clientes, e começar a construir a partir daí. (1)

Quem são os clientes-alvo? O que procuram e valorizam? (3)

Como é que os outros participantes na rede podem ajudar a criar o valor que os clientes-alvo procuram? (2) Por que é que eles estarão dispostos a participar na rede, o que têm ganhar em fazer parte dela?(4)

Is the customer always right?

 "The reality is that we are in an era ruled by uncertainty. In one recent survey, more than 80 percent of business leaders said that they were likely to make significant and long-lasting changes in how they organized work and interacted with and served customers. [Moi ici: Remember the punctuated equilibrium and sudden shifts] Opportunities to redesign the business and do something substantially different usually come only after an event such as a merger or when a startup suddenly scales. But the wide-ranging effects of the coronavirus pandemic give all businesses the impetus for change.

.

How do you as a company leader design for this different world? When the ground shifts beneath you, the first thing to do is find a solid place to stand — and that is your value proposition. Customers come to you for a reason: because you’re innovative or top-quality, because you’re a one-stop shop, or because you build deep relationships.

...

1. Segment your customers. “The customer is always right” is one of the oldest and most misleading adages in business. The customer is always right only if you have the right customer. [Moi ici: Something that we defend here long time ago: here and here] Has your “right customer” changed? [Moi ici: Something we spoke about last Monday] Through no fault of yours, businesses you’ve worked with or customers whose needs you successfully met may have temporarily retreated or changed to a new model. How can you still be “right” for each other?

.

Consider Panera Bread — a fast-casual restaurant chain, meaning it’s a cut above fast food but is not at the level of waitstaff service. Panera’s value proposition emphasizes food made fresh from sustainably sourced ingredients. Its right customers have traditionally been office workers: individuals picking up a bagel and coffee for breakfast or meeting a colleague for lunch; groups for which it caters a selection of sandwiches and salads for meetings. That right customer is no longer in the same place; she is probably working from home now, and is likely to continue doing so at least some of the time for the foreseeable future. Lunch around the conference table? Well, maybe next year.

...

You might also find that your company has new right customers: These might be people or companies that have changed in ways that could benefit you if you design ways to connect with them, or that have been stranded by the incapacity of others, or that are worth your attention now although they weren’t before."

Excerpts taken from "Forget about the “new normal”: Design something different"

Leite - o negócio do preço por excelência

Há dias num outro postal escrevi:

"Algumas vezes é-me penoso visitar uma empresa. Um outsider consegue abstrair-se da espuma dos dias e, numa atitude racional, olhar para aquela azáfama e perceber que são como perús na antevéspera do Natal. E escrevo isto sem arrogância, até com algum melindre. Basta-me olhar para os produtos que fabricam, para o seu valor acrescentado, para a dependência das quantidades, quando o contexto é de encomendas mais pequenas e de salários mais altos."

Hoje, ao olhar para a primeira página do Wall Street Journal sinto que estou a ler um texto dedicado a este blogue, "Grocers Bottle Their Own Milk And Shake Up Dairy Industry.

Um texto sobre a indústria do leite nos Estados Unidos que ilustra tudo o que aqui vamos escrevendo ao longo dos anos sobre um produto comoditizado. Se os clientes não valorizam a diferenciação o que conta é o preço. E o cúmulo da race-to-the-bottom é quando os supermercados começam a montar as suas próprias fábricas. Se colocarmos as regras do jogo num quadro branco e começarmos a fazer combinações com o propósito de maximizar o lucro para os donos das pratleiras de braço dado com as benesses para os consumidores facilmente chegaremos ao que aparece neste artigo e neste blogue:

"Americans’ thirst for cheap milk—and grocers’ rush to provide it—are remaking the centuries-old dairy industry. [Moi ici: Recordar "Milk is the ultimate low-involvement category"] When supermarket shoppers reach for white gallon jugs these days, most of the time they grab a low-priced store brand. To expand those offerings, major grocery retailers, including Kroger Co., Walmart Inc. and Albertsons Cos., have built their own milk bottling plants.
Grocers’ move into the bottling business is threatening some of the biggest operators in the $40 billion U.S. milk industry, the purveyors of national brands.
Dean Foods Co., which until last year was the largest U.S. milk processor by sales, and Borden Dairy Co., another big producer, were sold this year after filing for bankruptcy in November and January. Executives of both had blamed some of their struggles on grocers’ focus on cheap milk, often used as a loss leader.
...
Adding to the industry’s pressures, milk’s luster has been slowly fading for years in an increasingly crowded beverage market. Many consumers have switched to bottled water and juice, or dairy alternatives made from almonds or oats; breakfast cereal has fallen out of favor. At the farmer level, about 3,300 dairy-cow herds disappeared in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, following low milk prices, tensions with export customers and processing plant closures across the
country. Wisconsin alone lost about 600 herds over the 12 months up to June 1, the cows typically either sold to another farmer or sent to slaughter.
Although overall dairy demand, factoring in products such as yogurt, butter and cheese, continues to grow, annual per capita U.S. milk consumption has dropped about 40% over four decades.
...
Bigger farms all the while, the dairy farms and milk cooperatives that supply milk to the processors were getting bigger and more professional. [Moi ici: Recordar a vacaria com mais de 33 mil vacas numa exploração] By 2017, the eight largest dairy cooperatives were marketing 54% of the country’s milk. To Walmart, buying milk directly from them, then processing and bottling the milk itself, started to look like a feasible cost-saving move. Walmart announced in March 2016 it would build a milk-processing plant of its own in Fort Wayne, Ind., to supply more than 600 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the eastern Midwest."

Price determines cost

"So does pricing really matter? It is not a major concern in most startups, and it is not subject to much deeper thought. Very often, the price on the tag is just the estimated production cost plus some margin. Or it is an amount that seemed reasonable after glancing at what competitors charge.
...
pricing is in fact core to your business, and it is core also to succeeding as an entrepreneur. Pricing is about knowing your customer. The price you charge is what ultimately sells your product, tells a story to the customer about your business and serves as your guide for choosing your costs.
...
the value, purely on the customer’s terms, that the customer expects from the product. The price must be lower than that value by some measure. Your price is the cost for the customer. The customer’s profit is the difference between the price you charge and the benefit they receive. They too want to maximize profits. Thus, a deal they cannot resist is one where their benefit by far exceeds the price they have to pay. A happy customer is a profiting customer.
...
Price determines cost.
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It sounds backwards, but the price is actually determined by the value that your customers expect from the product. They buy your product if you offer them a good deal in value terms (see point one above). Frankly, the customer couldn’t care less about your cost. Your job as an entrepreneur is to profit from the price that customers choose to pay. The only way of doing this is to let the price determine the cost. Choose production process, materials and quantity produced based on the expected price, not the other way around. Cost is the entrepreneur’s primary choice variable.
...
Price is set by the customer.
.
Indeed, the price is not yours to set but to discover. A price that is too high will lessen sales and profits, but so will a price that is too low. The price needs to be just right. “Right” for whom, you might ask. The answer is that it must be right for the customer. The right price is based on the value the customer expects, and thus the “profit” they make from your product."

Trechos retirados de "4 Reasons Why Pricing Is the Key to Startup Success"