Provocação

Disseram-me há dias qualquer coisa como:

- Marcas grandes nascem em países/mercados grandes

Não me recordo se me disseram marcas grandes ou grandes marcas, mas o sentido que sublinho aqui é o de marcas grandes.

A afirmação é verdadeira, pode não ser absoluta, mas é suficientemente aproximada para ser verdadeira.

Entretanto, comecei a pensar em exemplos de marcas mundialmente conhecidas e que nasceram em países/mercados pequenos. E julgo que posso afirmar:

- Grandes marcas podem nascer em países/mercados pequenos

Os exemplos de marcas mundialmente conhecidas e que nasceram em países/mercados pequenos têm uma particularidade, especulo: apontam sempre para segmentos altos nas suas categorias.

Países/mercados pequenos não são bons para gerar marcas, organização, produção para o mercado de massas.

É uma empresa portuguesa com uma marca própria? Pense nesta provocação, para que segmentos trabalha?

Claro que não é veni, vidi, vici. Pense no que está a fazer sobre isto:

• "focuses on identifying key drivers of customers’ earning logic"
• Quantificar
• Comunicar

BTW, quando Robert Simons escreve sobre os campeões escondidos, fala destas grandes marcas, mas marcas para o B2B e, por isso, desconhecidas do grande público. 

A escolha dos pivôs (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.
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O que fazer depois de identificados e seleccionados os pivôs do ecossistema da procura que interessa à nossa empresa?
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Não é novidade aqui no blogue; contudo, como santos da casa não fazem milagres e, a galinha da vizinha é melhor que a minha, voltemos a Simons e ao seu segundo passo:

"Once you’ve determined who your primary customer is, the next step is to identify which product and service attributes the customer values. [Moi ici: Aqui no blogue já estamos noutra, produtos e serviços são artifícios para gerar a experiência, para produzir um resultado na vida do cliente. Isso é o que realmente conta] Within the same market and industry, different primary customers may value different things: Some demand the lowest possible price, others want a dedicated service relationship, and still others are looking for the best technology or brand or other specific attribute. To complicate matters, customers often don’t know exactly what it is they value.
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Let’s take the easy part first. Assume you have already chosen the best primary customer and have a good working idea of what the customer wants.
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Such data can help you fine-tune a product or a website’s functionality to better meet your customer’s known needs. They’re unlikely, though, to help you identify what your customers want but aren’t getting. For that, you need to actually ask them. Smart companies set up systematic dialogues with their primary customers. [Moi ici: Por isso, cuidado com o Big Data]
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you should set up processes for identifying products or services that customers may not know they need.
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Most companies assume that their products and services meet the needs of their customers. But surprisingly few actually test this assumption. So ask yourself, What are the processes we use to make sure that we truly understand what our customers value and that we can deliver value better than our competitors do?"

A escolha dos pivôs (parte II)

Robert Simons, na revista HBR do próximo mês de Março, escreve um artigo intitulado "Choosing the right Customer - The First Step in a Winning Strategy".
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O artigo começa assim:

"All companies claim that their strategies are customer driven. But the term “customer” is among the most elastic in management theory. A working definition might be that your customers are the people or entities that buy your products and services and supply your revenue.
That includes any number of actors in a company’s value chain: consumers, whole salers, retailers, purchasing departments, and so forth."

Simons está a falar do ecossistema da procura e da identificação dos pivôs, aquilo a que ele chama "primary customer".

"Unsurprisingly, perhaps, many executives are reluctant to define their customers as narrowly as Merck has. (Moi ici: Para a Merck o pivô é o médico que prescreve o medicamento, tudo o resto são actores que têm de estar presentes mas quem faz girar o ecossistema é o médico, logo, ele é o pivô. Ele é o cliente e, no entanto, não compra. Recordar o "Não é armadilhar, é educar") By not singling out any group as the primary customer, executives can sidestep difficult choices that might turn out badly - a temptation that’s particularly strong in new, rapidly evolving markets. What’s more, many business leaders believe that treating all value chain partners as customers improves internal coordination and responsiveness.
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But by not identifying one primary customer, companies that consider themselves “customer focused” soon become anything but."

Uma grande verdade:

"The bottom line is this: The strategic choice of primary customer—with special emphasis on “primary”—defines the business."

Como identificar o pivô?

"your most important customers are not those that generate the most revenue but those that can unlock the most value in your business. For some businesses, the primary customer will be the end user or consumer of the product or service. For others, an intermediary (such as a reseller or a broker) will be the critical customer to which organizational resources should be devoted.
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Clearly, the choice of primary customer must reflect a company’s perspective; otherwise the company will be unable to leverage the energy and creativity of its people in service to the customer."

Quando na fase inicial da reflexão estratégica encaramos esta situação:

 Pergunto, qual o actor, e que tipo de actor, no ecossistema da procura, está alinhado com uma proposta de valor que resulta da intersecção onde podemos fazer a diferença?

Continua.

A escolha dos pivôs (parte I)

Amanhã vou iniciar um workshop numa empresa onde, depois de explicado o conceito de balanced scorecard, vamos começar a desenhar o ecossistema da procura. A sequência de slides com que pretendo iniciar a parte prática é esta:

1º Quem intervém no ecossistema da procura da empresa? (os "actores" na linguagem da sdl) Que papel podem desempenhar? Os intervenientes não podem ser "controlados" pela empresa, como o são os fornecedores, apenas podem ser influenciáveis pela empresa.
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2º O que circula entre os intervenientes? Produtos? Serviços? Informação?
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3º Quem são os pivôs? Quem são os actores-chave, aqueles com poder para pôr o ecossistema a girar de forma sustentada num jogo, num baile, em que mais valor é criado para todos?
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Recordar:

• Quem é o pivô da vossa procura?
• Muito mais do que olhar só para o cliente ...
• Balanced centricity
• Não é armadilhar, é criar harmonia, é construir uma sinfonia...
• Não é armadilhar, é educar
• How to build a startup

Robert Simons, na revista HBR do próximo mês de Março, escreve um artigo intitulado "Choosing the right Customer - The First Step in a Winning Strategy".

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O que ele tem em mente é, precisamente, a escolha do(s) pivô(s).

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Continua.

Estabelecer fronteiras pela positiva ou pela negativa?

"Every strategy carries the risk that an individual’s actions will push the business off course. The risk intensifies when managers feel pressure to hit growth and profit targets.
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There are two ways to control such risk: You can tell people what to do, or you can tell them what not to do. Telling people what to do helps assure that they won’t make mistakes by engaging in unauthorized activities. This is the prudent approach if safety and quality are paramount concerns—if, say, you’re running a nuclear power plant or overseeing a space launch. In such cases you want employees to follow standard operating procedures to the letter."
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Julgo que podemos generalizar: Quando a proposta de valor é o preço, a concentração deve ser nos custos. Assim, é essencial a eficiência, o planeamento central, o respeito de regras centralmente definidas. Costumo usar o filme que se segue para ilustrar como funciona uma empresa que compete pelo preço mais baixo.

Não há primadonnas, tudo está definido!
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"However, if innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are important, you should follow a different course: You should hire creative people and tell them what not to do. In other words, you should give them freedom to exercise their creativity—within defined limits."
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Mais uma vez, não há boas-práticas definidas no limbo.
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Trechos retirados do livro "Seven Strategy Questions" e do artigo "Stress-Test Your Strategy The 7 Questions to Ask" publicado no número de Novembro da revista Harvard Business Review.

O que medir

A terceira questão que Robert Simons nos convida a colocar é:
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"The question - What critical performances variables are you tracking? (with its focus on the adjective critical) - is the starting point."
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"Tracking performance goals - the third implementation imperative - can propel your organization to strategic success. But do it badly and you can derail the entire enterprise"
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"Many managers complain that they’re overwhelmed by how many things they’re asked to keep track of in all-inclusive lists of performance measures. It’s not uncommon for companies to create scorecards with 30, 40, or more variables, in the mistaken belief that adding measures results in a more complete—and therefore better—scorecard. Information technology enables us to gather more and more data at lower and lower cost. But we cannot keep tracking so many variables. E ffective managers monitor only a small number—those that could cause their strategy to fail.
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there is a simple but often overlooked reason to measure just a few variables: Management attention is your scarcest resource. As you add metrics to your scorecards, you incur an opportunity cost, in that people have less time to focus on what really matters.
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There’s another reason to limit your focus: If you add too many measures to your scorecards, you will drive out innovation."
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"To evaluate the usefulness of any performance measures, you must first decide if they are measuring the right things. Otherwise you may be making important decisions based on the wrong indicators.
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There is only one way to test this: you must explain how you believe value is created. Then, and only then, can you determine what variables and measures are critical to success."
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Primeiro, quem são os clientes-alvo?
Segundo, qual a proposta de valor a oferecer-lhes?
Terceiro, qual o enredo, qual a narrativa, qual a estratégia para fazer a relação funcionar?
E só depois, o que medir.
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Trechos retirados do livro "Seven Strategy Questions" e do artigo "Stress-Test Your Strategy The 7 Questions to Ask" publicado no número de Novembro da revista Harvard Business Review.

A essência deste blogue

"Once you've defined who your primary customer is, you must ensure that you and everyone in your business understand what that customer values. Some customers value low price, others value customized service, while others value world-class technology. Everyone in your company should be aware of, and dedicated to, those preferences.
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Figuring out what your customer values has become more important as business are expanding around the globe.
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Choosing a primary customer and understanding what that customer values is important not only for consumer companies, but also for industrial firms.
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Sometimes, managers go as far as creating a cardboard cutout of a fictional customer and putting it at the head of the table as they discuss product attributtes. (Moi ici: Como no caso da Electrolux)
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Now for the main point of this chapter. Once you have chosen your primary customer and understood their needs, you must ensure that the bulk of your company's resources is dedicated to one thing and one thing only: providing what your primary customer values. (Moi ici: Isto é a essência deste blogue: concentrar, alinhar, sintonizar) If your business is not deploying resources in a way that maximizes the benefits your customer seeks, someone else will.
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You should wake up every morning (Moi ici: Por isso usei a imagem do desfazer a barba.) terrified with your sheets drenched in sweat, but not because you're afraid of your competitors. Be afraid of your customers because those are the folks who have the money.
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This prompts another - and vitally important - follow-up question: How have you organized to deliver maximum value to your customer?
Your answer will depend, of course, on the needs of your primary customer. Different customers require different organizations designs.
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Different firms make different choices about how to organize resources to best serve their specific customer needs."
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Trechos retirados do livro "Seven Strategy Questions - A Simple Approach For Better Execution" de Robert Simons.

As 7 questões estratégicas - parte Ia

A revista Harvard Business Review de Novembro passado traz um artigo de Robert Simons "Stress-Test Your Strategy - The 7 Questions to Ask":
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(Moi ici: A primeira questão que Simons levanta é fundamental e é presença frequente neste blogue: Quem são os clientes-alvo? Quem servimos?)
Who is Your Primary Customer?
Choosing a primary customer is a make-or-break decision. Why? Because it should determine how you allocate resources. The idea is simple: Allocate all possible resources to meet and exceed your primary customer’s needs.
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many companies resist choosing just one customer. Executives often attempt to avoid the adjective “primary” by announcing,“We have multiple customers.” This is a sure recipe for underperformance. Allocating resources to more than one customer results in confusion and less-than-optimal service.
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Of course, your choice of primary customer may change over time ... But you need to recognize that such a change will probably require restructuring your business.
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The flip side of maximizing resources for your primary customer is that you should minimize the
resources devoted to everything else—including all external stakeholders and all internal units that do not create value for your primary customer. They should receive enough to meet the needs of their constituents, but no more."
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Quem tenta ir a todos e servir todo o tipo de clientes cai na armadilha da polarização dos mercados e fica atolado no meio-termo (stuck-in-the-middle).
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Agora, do mesmo autor e do primeiro capítulo "Who Is Your Primary Customer?" do livro "Seven Strategy Questions - A Simple Approach For Better Execution":
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"The company's [McDonald’s] successful turnaround is an example of the importance of the first implementation imperative: allocating resources to customers. If you get this wrong, nothing else can make up for your error.
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The starting point is to ask yourself (and others) the most basic, and important, question for any business strategy: Who is your primary customer?
When confronted with this question, it's easy to answer simply, "We have multiple customers." But this answer is a recipe for underperformance since it ducks the issue highlighted by the adjective primary. If you try to serve multiple customers in a single business, you will be forced to spread your resources across too many functions and units in an attempt to meet different customer needs. This "peanut butter" approach to resource allocation - spreading resources evenly over everything - will result in a lack of focus where it really matters.
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If your competitors are dedicating every ounce of their resources to create a laser-like focus on a single primary customer, they will beat you every time. Think about it. If you were a potential customer, who would you choose to serve your needs - the business that gives you 100 percent of its attention and resources, or the one that gives you only a fraction?
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Clarity about who its primary customer was - at each stage in its evolution - has provided the foundation for continued growth and profitability.
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Attempting to serve multiple types of customers within a single business can mean only one thing: you will serve no customer well.
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Who should you choose as your primary customer?
Your choice will depend on the history of your firm and its founders, the preferences and skills of executives, the nature and intensity of competition, the availability of technical resources, and emerging opportunities that only you can see.
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Customers rightfully expect the undivided attention and resources of businesses that compete to serve their needs. So it's vitally important to be clear about who is - and who is not - a customer.
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Who is our primary customer?
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You may disagree with this decision, or my analysis. But the point is that the reason this decision is so critical for us - and for you - is that it becomes the guiding light for determining how to allocate resources. (Moi ici: Para mim é tão claro e transparente. Uma empresa bem sucedida tem resultados financeiros sustentados. De onde vem o dinheiro? Dos clientes! Quem são os clientes que melhor podemos servir? Por que é que quererão trabalhar connosco? Como nos podemos transformar numa máquina concentrada, devotada, dedicada a servir bem esses clientes?)
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identifying your primary customer can be tricky because sometimes the individuals or organizations that use your products, and ultimately pay for them, may not actually be your primary customer. (Moi ici: Por exemplo, já trabalhei em projectos em que, à semelhança da indústria farmacêutica, o cliente-alvo era o prescritor, o técnico que não comprava o produto mas que redigia cadernos de encargos para projectos de gama média-alta)
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The second reason often given for not choosing a primary customer is to avoid offending other constituents - both internal and external - who don't make the cut. Tensions can build among competing interests. Multiple groups want your attention and resources. But you must make choices."
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Continua.

Seven Strategy Questions

Já tenho na pasta, para próxima leitura, o último livro de Robert Simmons "Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution".
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"1. Who Is Your Primary Customer?
The first imperative—and the heart of every successful strategy implementation — is allocating resources to customers. Continuously competing demands for resources — from business units, support functions and external partners—require a method for judging whether the allocation choices you have made are optimal.
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Therefore, the most critical strategic decision for any business is determining who it is you are trying to serve. Clearly identifying your primary customer will allow you to devote all possible resources to meeting their needs and minimize resources devoted to everything else. This is the path to competitive success.

It's easy to try to duck the tough choice implied by the adjective primary by responding that you have more than one type of customer. This answer is a guaranteed recipe for underperformance: the competitor that has clarity about its primary customer and devotes maximum resources to meet their specific needs will beat you every time."
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Esta é a questão fundamental!
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Este é o alicerce sob o qual convido as empresas a formularem e montarem uma estratégia. Quem são os clientes-alvo?
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A resposta a esta pergunta dita, literalmente, tudo o que há a fazer e como o fazer.

CONCENTRAR uma organização no que é essencial

"I believe that executing strategy successfully requires tough, often uncomfortable, choices based on simple logic and clear principles.
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Simple questions can strip away the confusion that obfuscates clear thinking, allowing us to focus on the key issues that underpin important decisions.
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We too often fall into the comfortable habit of avoiding choice in the mistaken belief that we can have it all.
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Instead of focusing on one primary customer, we have multiple types of customers. Instead of instilling core values, we develop lists of desired behaviors. Instead of focusing on a few critical measures, we build scorecards with an overload of measures. We work hard to avoid making choices. (Moi ici: Tão comum! Arrisco afirmar que é o principal problema de muitas das empresas que vou conhecendo. O medo de recusar uma encomenda, o medo de ser claro para os clientes.)
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I believe that you must have active discussions with the people in your organization. There is no magic bullet, no metric or scorecard that will tell you where the pitfalls of your business strategy are. There is only one path to success: you must engage in ongoing, face-to-face debate with the people around you about emerging data, unspoken assumptions, difficult choices, and, ultimately, action plans." (Moi ici: É fundamental o partir pedra, o comungar de interpretações.)
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Trechos retirados de "Seven Strategy Questions" de Robert Simons.

Concentrar uma empresa no que é essencial

"I believe that executing strategy successfully requires tough, often uncomfortable, choices based on simple logic and clear principles.
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Simple questions can strip away the confusion that obfuscates clear thinking, allowing us to focus on the key issues that underpin important decisions.
We too often fall into the comfortable habit of avoiding choice in the mistaken belief that we can have it all. Instead of focusing on one primary customer, we have multiple types of customers. Instead of instilling core values, we develop lists of desired behaviors. Instead of focusingon a few critical measures, we build scorecards with an overload of measures. WE WORK HARD TO AVOID MAKING CHOICES."
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Esta semana, as an accidental bystander, já assisti impotente, a dois casos que ilustram esta dificuldade extrema em fazer opções.
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Trecho retirado de "Sevem Strategy Questions" de Robert Simons.