"Most organizational leaders struggle to align day-to-day activities with strategy, even though they know it’s important to do. Almost 80% of the more than 1,200 senior executives recently surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers believe that their organizations have the right strategic intent — but only 54% think they’re executing that strategy well."
"Amazon.com said it will raise the annual price of its Prime shipping and streaming-video service by $20 to $99, the first increase in its nine-year history.No twitter, Stephan Liozu escreveu:
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The Seattle retailer said the 25% increase was needed to offset rising delivery and content-acquisition costs."
"They blame cost increases over 9 years. Never mention value. Typical!"Preço não tem nada a ver com custo. Por que é que as empresas não aprendem?
"É muito difícil crescer porque não há dinheiro para investir"E a frase começou a ecoar na minha mente... de repente, conjugou-se com o que tinha acabado de dizer na empresa de onde tinha saído.
"O facto de não terem dinheiro para fazerem tudo o que querem com a vossa nova marca não é mau de todo. Não têm dinheiro, têm de começar de pequenino, têm hipótese de fazer experiências, em vez de torrar duma vez o dinheiro todo num feeling qualquer que tenham e que pode estar completamente errado."Pensando bem, o crescimento das empresas portuguesas, quer para o mercado interno, quer via exportação, é para mercados conhecidos? É com produtos e propostas de valor semelhantes ao habitual? É para clientes-alvo conhecidos?
"Indeed, intra-industry differences are sometimes far more dramatic than those among sectors. Take the software and services industry. Its median ROIC from 1963 to 2004 was 18 percent, but the spread between the top and bottom quartile of companies averaged 31 percent. In fact, the industry’s performance was so uneven as to render this metric meaningless. These wide variations suggest that the industry comprises many distinct subgroups [Moi ici: Como não recordar logo "Acerca da Segmentação"] that have very different structures and are subject to very different competitive forces. To form reasonable expectations, it is often necessary to dig down to more refined subindustry groupings. By contrast, the utility industry’s median ROIC is only 7 percent, but the spread from the best to the worst companies is a slim 2 percent."Imagem e trechos retirados de "A long-term look at ROIC"
“Não há nada melhor do que ser eu próprio a contactar com os meus clientes directos e a ouvir deles, sem filtros, o que acham e produzir à medida de cada um”E pensar nos crentes no Big Data, e pensar nos que pensam primeiro em produzir e depois tentam impingir o que produziram ao mercado.
"Primeiro passo: José Carlos comprou um terreno de um hectare e meio, perto de Marco de Canaveses, e começou a estudar como produzir diferente.
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[Investiu] 230 mil euros. Só que aplicados de forma inovadora porque foi canalizado para “agricultura tecnológica”. E do que se trata? De “baby legumes”, ou os ainda mais pequenos micro-legumes.
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Investigaram durante meses qual a melhor forma de produzir estes legumes tão apreciados pelos grandes chefes para receitas gourmet.
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A quem vender? [Moi ici: Quem são os clientes-alvo?] Esta é uma pequena empresa.
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“para quem quer fazer receitas gourmet e depois não encontra os ingredientes que vê na televisão.”
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foi o empresário "faz-tudo" José Carlos Mendes quem meteu os pés ao caminho à procura dos clientes. E sabia exatamente quem era o seu mercado-alvo: os mais famosos chefes do País, desde Rui Paula a Vítor Sobral, passando por muitas das melhores cadeias de hotéis instaladas no Porto, até ao melhor da Europa na votação online do site 50 melhores restaurantes da Europa (The European 50 Best Restaurants), o Casa da Calçada, de Amarante, liderado pelo chefe Vítor Matos. "E as nossas cenourinhas foram servidas à princesa do Mónaco, numa das caves de vinho do Porto."
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Quem disse que a agricultura não pode ser inteligente e de alto valor acrescentado?"
"having reviewed and worked with hundreds of strategy plans for some of the world's largest corporations and public and third-sector institutions, we have learned that something is missing. It's striking how similar to one another the strategies look these days. The structure, language, key analysis, evidence, arguments, recommendations - even the typeface of the graphs - are almost identical, whether it is a beverage company, a producer of building materials, a sportswear manufacturer, or a retail chain. It almost seems as if what the company produces doesn't matter as long as it is in markets where the compound annual growth rate is above average, the capital expenditure is decent, the cost structure is on par with the competitors, the capabilities of the organization are leveraged the right way, and the value proposition is clearly defined.
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Most of these strategies, created with a linear mode of problem solving, aim at getting the maximum growth and profit out of the business through rational and logical analysis. [Moi ici: Recordo aquela expressão sobre o optimismo não documentado] The ideal is to turn strategy work into a rigorous discipline with the use of deductive logic, a well-structured hypothesis, and a thorough collection of evidence and data. Such problem solving has dominated most research and teaching in business schools over the last decades and has formed the guiding principles of many global management consultancies. Slowly but steadily, this mind-set has gained dominance in business culture over the last thirty years. Today it is the unspoken default tool for solving all problems. This linear mind-set borrows its ideals from the hard sciences like physics and math: learn from past examples to create a hypothesis you can test with numbers. As it uses inductive reasoning for its foundation, it is enormously successful at analyzing information extrapolated from a known set of data from the past. Default thinking helps us create efficiencies, optimize resources, balance product portfolios, increase productivity, invest in markets with the shortest and biggest payback, cut operational complexity, and generally get more bang for the buck. In short, it works extraordinarily well when the business challenge demands an increase in the productivity of a system. But what happens when the challenge involves people's behavior? When it comes to cultural shifts, the use of a hypothesis based on past examples will give us a false sense of confidence, sending us astray into unknown waters with the wrong map."
"Fixura’s peer-to-peer lending market provides individuals, which might otherwise not be able to acquire a loan from a bank, with the opportunity of acquiring money against self-set conditions. This money can potentially be used for investments or consumption, possibly generating new jobs.
Moreover, it provides individuals with spare money an alternative to stock shares, obligations or a savings account. This increases investor’s options to spread risk. Moreover, it allows investors to precisely set their own lending conditions or hand-pick borrowers they like to support.
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The peer-to-eer lending market will form a parallel economy to that of the conventional banking industry. Eventually the banking system has to also adapt to the changing needs of its customers, by coming up with advanced online platforms themselves."
""Remember," he said, "you have to aim for the bull's-eye if you want to hit the target. If you just aim for the target, you will be more likely to miss it."Depois de ter escrito isto:
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That's as true for marketing as it is for pistol shooting. You need to aim for the center of the target if you want to hit the target consistently. That sounds logical, but it's not an insight that comes naturally to business leaders.
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I've encountered several companies that seemed to think that it was best not to aim at all. A plumbing company might describe its customers as "anyone who needs plumbing services." A toy store could say its customers are "people who buy toys," while a toy manufacturer would describe its clients as "companies that sell toys."
"Em vez de se apresentar como, por exemplo, fabricante de máquinas, porque não se apresentar como aquele que oferece/presta os serviços específicos e diferenciadores que as máquinas executam na vida dos clientes?"O que se segue é o sentimento que vem algum tempo depois do exercício de concentração da mira nos clientes-alvo:
"When we ask companies who've gone through this strategic planning process what was most helpful to them, the most common answer is "getting very clear on who our target customer is." It's a huge "Aha!" moment for them."Qual é o argumento inicial de quem duvida do poder do foco no cliente?
""But if I aim at one type of customer, won't I miss some of the people who would make really good customers?" The answer to that is, "Yes, but."A consequência mais comum do foco é:
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It's almost a paradox, but if you do a good job of target marketing – aiming at the center of the target – you're likely to attract more good customers, not less."
"Let me clear up a few points. Your target market is the center of your marketing bull's-eye. They're the people or companies you have in mind when you create and develop your product or service and when you create your marketing communications.Por fim, Godin:
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They may not even be the customers that you sell the most to. But by tailoring your offerings and your marketing to that bull's-eye group, you will also attract many other customers who sit in the outer rings of the target. "Delight the few to attract the many."
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If someone who's not in your target market begs to buy your product and offers you money, of course you'll sell to them. You just won't spend precious time, money, and effort trying to attract them." [Moi ici: Costumo dizer em inglês, misturado com o português "By all means, claro que não mandamos ninguém embora. Não violamos é a estratégia por causa deles"]
"Seth Godin says that "a product for everybody is a product for nobody."Como começar a identificar os clientes-alvo?
"We'll start by examining your best customers today.Trechos retirados de "How to identify your ideal target customer" que incluiu muitas outras questões interessantes para clarificar quem são os clientes-alvo
There are some customers who are on all three lists. They're probably the ones who sit at the center of your bull's-eye. Others are on two lists. Think of them as the next ring out from the center. And then there are the customers who are on only one list. They're in the second ring out from the center."
- Begin by listing your most profitable customers. Describe them. What do they have in common?
- Who are your most influential customers? They're the ones who are most likely to convince or persuade other customers to buy from you. Describe them and identify the commonalities.
- What type of customer has the most potential for growth in the future? Why?
"therefore better than the industry or the strategic or any other similar group. The private market is a powerful tool for the strategist. The first step is to construct a picture of tomorrow’s offerings in the chosen part of the galaxy on the lines of Figure 4.4. The strategist will take great care to exclude from the list of competitors those members of the ‘industry’ that will not be significant substitutes for the offering being planned. More important, the strategist will include all those substitutes that may in fact compete, but do not count as part of the industry. They may well be a majority."Talvez esta abordagem permita reduzir o tempo que demora a introduzir o tema da segmentação. Por vezes, é difícil fazer com que os gestores/empresários mergulhem mais profundamente e deixem de ver o seu negócio como, por exemplo, venda de produtos. E, passem para o outro lado... O que é que os clientes fazem com o produto? E todo o mercado usa o produto da mesma maneira? E todos os clientes procuram as mesmas coisas? Em vez de se apresentar como, por exemplo, fabricante de máquinas, porque não se apresentar como aquele que oferece/presta os serviços específicos e diferenciadores que as máquinas executam na vida dos clientes?
"A small group of passionate people can influence others that are slightly more reticent, still others take notice and also join in. That’s how disruption happens.Cuidado com as noções tradicionais de influência e poder, em Mongo as regras do jogo são outras.
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Disruption never makes sense to us [Moi ici: Os incumbentes instalados], because it always starts with them.
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The truth is that it’s not the influentials [Moi ici: Como não lembrar logo os 70 reformados de luxo] we have to worry about, but when ordinary folks start joining in.
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The 20th century was driven by the scale economy. The path to success was paved by minimizing costs and maximizing control over the value chain. The bigger you were, the more you were able to able to negotiate with customers and suppliers, acquire technology and talent and leverage capital and marketing might.
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Yet today, we are competing in a semantic economy in which everything is connected. Anyone with an idea and a broadband connection can gain access to technology, marketing, finance and talent that rival the world’s biggest firms and, indeed, even large nations."
"O sector da rocha ornamental em Portugal teve o melhor ano de sempre desde que o sector é monitorizado estatisticamente. As vendas de pedra para o exterior valeram quase 340 milhões de euros em 2013, mais 6% do que no ano anterior."Trecho retirado daqui "Pedra portuguesa teve melhor ano de sempre e já superou a crise pós-2008"
"Depois de ter perdido dimensão em anos anteriores, devido à crise na construção que o país viveu, o mercado espanhol está de novo a crescer para as empresas portuguesas de rocha ornamental.Pena que o vice-presidente executivo da Assimagra ache que se trata de algo conjuntural.
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"As empresas espanholas estão muito dimensionadas para grandes projectos", caracteriza."
"I wouldn't really compare ride-share drivers to taxis. I've never taken a taxi cab for non-business related reasons in my life but I take Lyft on a regular basis. I understand Lyfts price model and never really worry if it takes a little bit longer. Lyft doesn't have "professional" drivers, they have friendly people who I can connect with on a personal level. I don't really except a lyft driver to know every street and alleyway in a city. I expect them to take their time, use GPS and hold a thoughtful conversation."Eu gosto disto, é isto que fará com que Mongo se entranhe cada vez mais e produza mais diversidade, mais diferenciação, mais novidade, mais interacção.
"Kelman, a professor of public management at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, got a call from the Clinton administration in 1993, asking him to lead the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP). As the head of OFPp, he would be responsible for reforming the government's procurement efforts. Procurement is the process by which people buy things, and the government does a lot of procuring. In 2003, it spent $320 billion on purchases of discretionary goods and services, a figure that includes everything from paper clips to helicopters for the National Park Service.Kelman com esta medida, conjugada com a medida de ter em conta a "past performance" conseguiu:
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There were lots of problems with procurement. Over the years, the government had established many protocols and protections to prevent abuses of various kinds. There were good intentions behind these protections, but as they built up, layer upon layer, they began to cause more harm than the abuses they'd been designed to prevent. For instance, when making purchase decisions, procurement officials could not use evidence of vendors' "past performance."
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One day, a conversation with a government employee sparked an idea. The employee told Kelman that when she needed simple, inexpensive items, such as a few computer disks, the procurement rules made it impossible for her to walk to the computer superstore across the street and buy them. She found this limitation was infuriating. Kelman spotted an opportunity. He went to the senior procurement executives and issued a challenge: I want you to double your agency's use ofgovernment credit cards over the next year."
"Five years later, in an internal survey, 70 percent of frontline employees said that they were proponents of procurement reform. Five years later, in an internal survey, 70 percent of frontline employees said that they were proponents of procurement reform. The Brookings Institution, a well-respected think tank, published a study in 1 998 that graded the success of various "reinventing government" initiatives attempted over the previous eight years. Kelman's procurement reform was the only initiative that earned an ''A.'' A single guy had managed to come in and catalyze a big change in the federal government."Escrevo tudo isto por causa disto "Saving money by doing the right thing: Why ‘local by default’ must replace ‘diseconomies of scale’":
"the underlying assumption, that the difficulties facing public services will be met through scale and standardisation, is not being challenged.Recordar:
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This report presents a counter view. We argue that scale and standardisation are the problem, not the solution. (Moi ici: Pois, Mega-hospitais, por exemplo)
As the report sets out, far too many public service systems ‘assess rather than understand; transact rather than build relationships; refer on rather than take responsibility; prescribe packages of activity rather than take the time to understand what improves a life’.
The result is that the problems people face are not resolved, that public services generate ever more ‘failure demand’, that resources are diverted to unproductive ends, and that costs are driven ever upwards.
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This report shows why public sector organisations fail to meet people’s needs and why demand is rising. The two main causes, discovered empirically in the studies, are the belief in ‘economies of scale’ and the belief in the standardisation of services. Together, these beliefs prevent organisations from understanding and meeting people’s needs."
"1. Goals reduce your current happiness. (Moi ici: Apetece dizer à inglesa: BS!).No entanto, concordo com grande parte deste ponto de partida:
When you're working toward a goal, you're essentially saying, "I'm not good enough yet... but I will be when I reach my goal." (Moi ici: Mas cada dia que me aproximo da meta, fico mais motivado, fico mais seguro das decisões tomadas, fico mais confiante nas minhas capacidades. A meta é importante, mas a viagem... quase que não lhe fica atrás)
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The problem with this mindset is that you're teaching yourself to always put off happiness and success until the next milestone is achieved. "Once I reach my goal, I'll be happy. Once I achieve my goal, I'll be successful." (Moi ici: E o que é que impede alguém de ficar feliz durante a viagem? E o que é que impede alguém de se sentir motivado a continuar a viagem porque está a fazer progressos, apesar de ainda estar distante da meta?)
"If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your systems, would you still get results?"Continuo a acreditar que a meta nos facilita a superar pela motivação. Contudo, muita gente, muitas empresas, tentam cumprir as metas sem mudar o sistema, simplesmente fazendo como os estudantes: estudando apenas na véspera do exame.
"Não há indústrias tradicionais, tecnológicas e criativas. "Há indústrias, ponto final", disse o cantor, acentuando: "Essa indústria tem na tecnologia ferramentas que nenhuma outra geração teve. Por isso, nenhuma se pode queixar e todas podem ser criativas".Como não recordar "Cuidado com as generalizações, não há "sunset industries""
"desmontou o mito de "não pôr todos os ovos no mesmo cesto", aconselhando precisamente o contrário, uma aposta forte na área que dominam"Como não recordar tantos e tantos postais sobre a concentração nos clientes-alvo, sobre a pesquisa interior para que as empresas procurem a sua diferenciação, aquilo em que podem ter uma vantagem competitiva, para, depois... fazer batota!!!
"Gallup finds that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.
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Bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year, and having too many of them can bring down a company. The only defense against this massive problem is a good offense, because when companies get these decisions wrong, nothing fixes it. Businesses that get it right, however, and hire managers based on talent will thrive and gain a significant competitive advantage.
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Managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units, Gallup estimates. This variation is in turn responsible for severely low worldwide employee engagement. Gallup reported in two large-scale studies in 2012 that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are engaged. Worse, over the past 12 years these low numbers have barely budged, meaning that the vast majority of employees worldwide are failing to develop and contribute at work
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Performance metrics fluctuate widely and unnecessarily within most companies, in no small part from the lack of consistency in how people are managed. This “noise” frustrates leaders because unpredictability causes great inefficiencies in execution."
"We found that suppliers of nonstrategic products and services don’t fully appreciate this purchasing task. So when they try to land a deal, they make two common mistakes.Era importante que muitos comerciais lessem este texto, para perceber o que podem fazer para cativar o cliente no momento-chave. O truque não é o baixar o preço nem concentrar-se no produto. O truque é:
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They focus doggedly on their offerings’ distinctive features even when customers don’t want or need them. The hope is that features that go beyond the specifications will win over the customer and get him or her to pay a premium.
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During initial requests for quotes for nonstrategic oferings, purchasing managers vet potential suppliers on basic requirements and price. As long as suppliers meet the former and their price
quotes fall within a reasonable range—plus or minus 3% to 5% of the other fnalists’ prices is common— the purchasers let them stay in the competition and then ask them what else they can ofer. Many suppliers’ refex reaction is to lower the price."
"If the salesperson takes the time to listen and devise a solution, the purchasing manager has his or her justifer and can then make the deal and move on to other business."
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