O papel da estratégia

"more than half of senior executives don’t think they have winning strategies.
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Another survey of 500-plus senior executives found 90% believed they were missing major market opportunities, and 80% said company strategies were not well understood internally.[Moi ici: Papel fundamental para um mapa da estratégia: poderosa ferramenta visual de comunicação]
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Instead of focusing outside on areas to grow or markets to seize, a company should look to its core and ask:
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“Who are we going to be? What few capabilities do we have that nobody else has?”
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 “Shape the future rather than respond to it.”" [Moi ici: Locus de controlo no interior, aposta na concorrência imperfeita]

Trechos retirados de "Successful Companies Strategize To Rise, Become Super Competitors"

Os que fazem a diferença

E a sua empresa, que indicadores usa? Que metas usa? Que monitorização faz? Que seriedade e exigência põe nisto?

"In a survey, they asked businesses whether they employed management essentials such as targets, incentives, and monitoring. Firms that did do these things, they found, were more productive and more likely to endure.
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Overall, we learned three things. First, according to our criteria, many organizations throughout the world are very badly managed. Well-run companies set stretch targets on productivity and other parameters, base the compensation and promotions they offer on meeting those targets, and constantly measure results — but many firms do none of those things. Second, our indicators of better management and superior performance are strongly correlated with measures such as productivity, return on capital employed, and firm survival. Indeed, a one-point increment in a five-point management score that we created — the equivalent of going from the bottom third to the top third of the group — was associated with 23% greater productivity. Third, management makes a difference in shaping national performance. Our analysis shows, for example, that variation in management accounts for nearly a quarter of the roughly 30% productivity gap between the U.S. and Europe.
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Taken together, better workers and better managers explain between a quarter and half of the link between good management and productivity that the researchers established in earlier work.
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The paper can’t prove that good managers cause good management, but it seems likely that they do. “I think it probably runs in both directions,” Van Reenen said of the causal relationship, noting that wellmanaged firms are better positioned to attract good managers and that “better managers are more likely to get their firms to adopt best practices.”"

Locus de controlo no interior!!!

Trechos retirados de "Proof That Good Managers Really Do Make a Difference"

Curiosidade do dia

"A economia portuguesa encontra-se num compasso de espera que se manifesta num adiamento da recuperação do investimento"

Num compasso de espera que começou em Outubro de 2015.

"A confirmarem-se estas previsões, a economia portuguesa continuará num ritmo de abrandamento, que já se observou no segundo semestre do ano passado."

Lembram-se do "acelerou"?

O país a entrar pelo cano. Mais uma previsão de que o país está a entrar pelo cano, enquanto os pirómanos brincam com isqueiros no armazém de pneus e no depósito do fogo de artifício.
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Pena que os portugueses, quando a austeridade acelerar, não reconheçam que o verdadeiro culpado pela degradação económica do país não é o malabarista-ignorante Costa mas aquele que vêem quando se olham ao espelho.
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Triste porque aquela previsão de 2008 continua alive and kicking!

Quem?

"O aumento das importações de produtos lácteos no início de 2016 está a preocupar a indústria de laticínios que estima um défice superior a 250 milhões de euros no final do ano, se a tendência se mantiver.
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Os últimos dados do INE referentes ao valor acumulado de fevereiro, citados pela Associação Nacional dos Industriais de Laticínios (ANIL), revelam uma subida de 2,8% das importações e uma queda de 25,7% das exportações, em valor."

Quem é que tem de vender?
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Quem é que tem de ir à procura de clientes?
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Quem é que tem de desenvolver novos produtos que seduzam novos mercados e novos clientes?

""Estamos perante regras que não são justas, porque Espanha conseguiu - não sabemos como -- que toda a distribuição aderisse à produção nacional. Estamos perante situações de desequilíbrio comercial que nos afetam","

Não sabemos como?
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Quem é que tem de saber?
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Quem é que tem de seduzir a distribuição nacional?

Trechos retirados de "Indústria do leite alerta para aumento das importações e estima défice superior a 250 milhões de euros"

Acerca da criação de valor

"Value Creation is less about products and solutions, and more about customer centricity, customer experience, people, and relationships.
Value Creation is not about a specific business case — our value propositions may focus on a specific decision and business case for our solutions.  Value Creation is about how we sustain value over the life-cycle of our relationship with the customer.
Value Creation is not about a transaction—but about 100’s and 1000’s of interactions that create meaning for our customers—as enterprises and individuals.
Value Creation can never be reduced to price—but it’s about the importance–or value–we bring in a long term relationship.  It becomes inconceivable to all parties not to have this relationship—the costs are too high."

Trechos retirados de "Your Value Proposition Is No Longer Sufficient"

PME e código, já pensou nisso? (parte II)

Parte I.

"First came steam and water power; then electricity and assembly lines; then computerization… So what comes next?
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Some call it the fourth industrial revolution, or industry 4.0, but whatever you call it, it represents the combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Systems.
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there are also grave potential risks. Schwab outlines his concerns that organizations could be unable or unwilling to adapt to these new technologies
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It seems a safe bet to say, then, that our current political, business, and social structures may not be ready or capable of absorbing all the changes a fourth industrial revolution would bring, and that major changes to the very structure of our society may be inevitable.
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In order to thrive, business leaders will have to actively work to expand their thinking away from what has been traditionally done, and include ideas and systems that may never have been considered. Business leaders must begin questioning everything, from rethinking their strategies and business models, to discovering the right investments in training and potentially disruptive R&D investments."

Trechos retirados de "Why Everyone Must Get Ready For The 4th Industrial Revolution".

Quando é que um sistema de gestão da qualidade começa a ser útil mesmo?

Num projecto ISO 9001 em mãos, o começo da monitorização da produção permitiu, ao fim de dois meses, criar este Pareto dos defeitos:

De entre um universo de 20 potenciais motivos de defeito, apenas 2 motivos representam mais de 60% das ocorrências de não-conformidade.
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Quando é que um sistema de gestão da qualidade começa a ser útil mesmo?
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Quando fornece matéria-prima para o double-loop learning.

Curiosidade do dia

"Uma economia que não cresce por um período muito longo, despesas com políticas públicas que crescem mais do que as receitas fiscais, endividamento que cresce mais do que o produto interno bruto, são indicadores suficientes para se proceder a uma revisão crítica do que têm sido as opções políticas adoptadas durante este período longo de estagnação e de endividamento. Mas não é isso o que se verifica. Quanto maior e mais persistente é o desvio entre o prometido e o realizado, mais se insiste na repetição das promessas do passado, mantendo o erro à espera que ele se transforme em virtude."

Conjugar com:

Only when we admit we have made a mistake can we make a mistake a part of our past.

— Greg McKeown (@GregoryMcKeown) April 12, 2016

Trecho retirado de "Democracia e demagogia"

É isto que os humanos têm de procurar em Mongo!

É isto que os humanos têm de procurar em Mongo!

There is going to be two kinds of value: emergent value created in interaction by human beings and algorithmic value created by machines

— Esko Kilpi (@EskoKilpi) April 11, 2016

Non-algorithmic! Created in complex, context specific interaction, meaning that it is not repeatable, perhaps? :-) https://t.co/lankt62mQY

— Esko Kilpi (@EskoKilpi) April 11, 2016

"The strategic logic is temporal rather than spatial. When following a spatial metaphor, there is a territory that can be explored and understood by the leaders, but in the temporal logic the territory is seen as being under continuous development and formation by the exploration itself. “It is impossible to map an area that changes with every step the explorer takes.”
People inhabit a complex world of emergence, uncertainty and continuous change. Corporate life is improvising and learning together. It is an ongoing continuous exploration, a movement that is open-ended and always incomplete."

Trecho retirado de "Network leadership"

Para calar os geradores de cortisol

Conhecem a metáfora de Mongo aqui no blogue, acerca do advento do Estranhistão, acerca do advento da democratização da produção, acerca do bailado entre tribos cada vez mais numerosas, diferenciadas e a não quererem ser tratadas como plankton e, empresas ou particulares cada vez mais concentrados em as servir.
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Interessante perceber que apesar do século XX ter sido o século do Normalistão e do eficientismo, ainda assim:

"Shares in smaller companies came out on top. Investing £1 in 1955 in the Numis 1000 index, which represents the smallest UK-listed companies, would have produced £12,144 by the end of last year. The same £1 invested in the FTSE All Share would have grown to just £829.
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Most investors will not have a 60-year time horizon. But even over more realistic holding periods, smaller shares still shine. Over 10-year periods, smaller firms outperformed larger ones five times out of six."

E, recordando esta figura:

Este trecho:

"Small firms generally carry higher risks for investors than the big blue-chip firms in the FTSE 100 index."

E para um blogue que aposta nas idiossincrasias como este, o que se segue é poesia:

"“At times when economic growth is weak, which I think will remain the case in the coming years, smaller companies considerably outperform larger companies,” Mr Williams said. “This is because the growth potential of a smaller company tends to be more closely linked with factors specific to the individual company rather than economic trends.”"

Por isso, o conselho de fazer como Ulisses mandou os seus marinheiros fazerem, pôr cera nos ouvidos e não ouvir os geradores de cortisol que encharcam os media.

Trechos retirados de "In numbers: how tiny companies have outperformed the giants over six decades"

PME e código, já pensou nisso?

Acredito, com cada vez mais força, que as PME deviam levar a sério, muito a sério mesmo, o mote "é meter código nisso".

"To leverage such strategic opportunities, firms need to recognize a new concept: demand-side interdependencies. Demand-side interdependencies arise after the consumer procures the product. For the traditional or Industrial Age thermostat, for example, such interdependencies would include an appropriate wiring and the availability of electricity. But as the traditional thermostat has transitioned into a smart one, it has also become a sensor for collecting information and a focal point for communication across room occupants and an array of other smart devices. As a result, much more than just electrical wiring and power supply now contribute to its demand-side interdependencies.
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Traditionally, demand-side interdependencies were largely left for the customers to arrange for and manage. After all, such demand-side interdependencies were few and largely stable in the industrial age.
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Firms that are able to pioneer initiatives for recognizing, tracking, and influencing such new demand-side interdependencies can expand their frontiers of customization.
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Identify and develop demand-side interdependencies: Companies should begin to consider the products/services that they have built inside, for possible extensions by third parties. By adding APIs to data and services, firms can avail opportunities to invite the attention of complementors who could expand the ways in which the products and services are used in conjunction with other products and services on an ongoing basis. This will allow them expand their product and service offerings through more and more customized options."

Representa uma mudança de paradigma, não basta produzir, não basta "vomitar" unidades, é precisar pensar no uso, é preciso pensar na experiência, é preciso pensar no resultado pretendido com o uso, é preciso pensar no contexto do uso.

Trechos retirados de "Mass Customization and the Do-It-Yourself Supply Chain"

Acerca do que é uma teoria em ciência

"Theories are neither hunches nor guesses. They are the crown jewels of science.
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“In science, the word theory isn’t applied lightly,” Kenneth R. Miller, a cell biologist at Brown University, said. “It doesn’t mean a hunch or a guess. A theory is a system of explanations that ties together a whole bunch of facts. It not only explains those facts, but predicts what you ought to find from other observations and experiments.”
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It’s helpful, he argues, to think about theories as being like maps.
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“To say something is a map is not to say it’s a hunch,” said Dr. Godfrey-Smith, a professor at the City University of New York and the University of Sydney. “It’s an attempt to represent some territory.”
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A theory, likewise, represents a territory of science. Instead of rivers, hills, and towns, the pieces of the territory are facts.
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“To call something a map is not to say anything about how good it is,” Dr. Godfrey-Smith added. “There are fantastically good maps where there’s not a shred of doubt about their accuracy. And there are maps that are speculative.”"

Nunca esquecerei as aulas de Filosofia do meu 11º ano com o Professor Guedes Miranda, acerca de da mecânica quântica, do indeterminismo e da incerteza de Heisenberg. E nunca esquecerei os recortes do Expresso que ainda guardo com a entrevista a Popper quando veio a Lisboa para as Conferências do Fim do Século, convidado por Mário Soares. Banho de humildade epistemológica para sempre.

Trechos retirados de "In Science, It’s Never ‘Just a Theory’"

Curiosidade do dia

Sou só eu que relaciono isto ""Devíamos estar melhor... e cada vez estamos pior"" com isto "Curiosidade do dia" e com isto "California's Unions Demand $15-An-Hour Minimum Wage; It Will Destroy A Third Of The State"?

O que é que realmente procuram e valorizam?

Este artigo "Athletic-Gear Makers Run Into a Problem: Their Workout Clothing Is Too Sporty" é muito bom como base para a reflexão sobre os diferentes tipos de clientes e o que é que eles realmente procuram e valorizam:

"At a time when workout gear is fashionable, companies that make and sell sportswear are facing a strange predicament: their gear is too sporty for some.
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Foot Locker Inc. also is adjusting the selection at its stores after noticing that upstart brands with higher style quotients such as Alala and Koral are performing well, and activewear endorsed by celebrities, including Rihanna, is driving sales.
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“We believe we have overemphasized the performance aspect of what our customers want in terms of athletically inspired apparel,” Chief Executive Dick Johnson said in late February. Shoppers are “very, very informed about style,” and want to look good “going out after class for a juice or coffee,” he noted.
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As a result, some mainstay sports brands and retailers are rethinking the balance between performance and fashion.
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Ms. Lee said she frequently buys new sports bras but avoids pure-sports brands like Under Armour because they lacked the fashion factor.
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“It sounds silly to say that they look so athletic, because I’m doing something athletic,” Ms. Lee said, “but it doesn’t look cool enough to me.”"

Quem são os clientes-alvo? O que procuram e valorizam, realmente?
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E os clientes não são um alvo estático, estão em movimento. É como se a componente racional esteja a perder força face à componente emotivo-experiencial.

Temos a hipótese de escolher

"Focus is a choice.
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The runner who is concentrating on how much his left toe hurts will be left in the dust by the runner who is focusing on winning.
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Even if the winner's toe hurts just as much.
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Hurt, of course, is a matter of perception. Most of what we think about is.
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We have a choice about where to aim the lens of our attention."

Por isto, fico doente quando vejo empresários com o locus de controlo no exterior. Concentram-se mais na política dos apoios e subsídios, das protecções e benesses do que em ganhar clientes.
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Recuar a 2007 e a "Isto é mesmo um desafio digno de Hercules"

Trecho retirado de "Depth of field"

Acerca das importações de 2016

A propósito dos números do INE sobre o comércio internacional que saíram na última sexta-feira.
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Escrevo com base na comparação do acumulado do ano de 2016 com o de 2015:

• Importamos mais cerca de 173 milhões de euros;
• Importamos mais cerca de 1,9%:
• Importamos menos 335 milhões de euros em combustíveis (e, mesmo assim, importamos mais 173 milhões de euros);
• Importamos menos 41 milhões de euros em ferro fundido, ferro e aço;
• Importamos mais 152 milhões de euros em viaturas;
• Importamos mais 83 milhões de euros em máquinas e aparelhos eléctricos;
• Importamos mais 41 milhões de euros em aeronaves e outros aparelhos;
• Importamos mais 55 milhões de euros em plásticos e suas obras;
• Importamos mais 34 milhões de euros em produtos farmacêuticos;

Bom, talvez que dos 173 milhões de euros, 124 (83 + 41) correspondam a investimento directamente produtivo. 

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BTW, para quem tem um Skoda com 20 anos, o namoro que os portugueses devotam aos automóveis é ... estranho.

Balanced scorecard, aprendizagem e locus de controlo

"You see, we’ve discovered that the better, more productive approach to the Balanced Scorecard is to make it part of a strategy-focused improvement loop that is focused on collaborative, non-judgmental organizational learning that explores: (1) whether you are doing the right things (i.e. Is your strategy moving you forward and is it creating value for your customers/stakeholders?) and whether you are doing those right things right (i.e. Is your organization executing its strategy to the best of its ability?), (2) when the answer is no, what needs to change and how, and (3) whether the changes we have made have produced the results we wanted (and, if not, why not)."

Há tempos numa empresa, no âmbito de um projecto balanced scorecard, disse:

• A estratégia que a empresa quer seguir é uma hipótese;
• Uma hipótese é uma hipótese, é uma teoria, é uma aposta, precisamos de um teste para ver se a hipótese está a resultar - daí os indicadores;
• A execução da estratégia, a implementação da hipótese, implica mudanças, transformações na forma de trabalhar - iniciativas estratégicas. Há coisas que teremos de deixar de fazer, há coisas que teremos de começar a fazer e há coisas que teremos de fazer melhor.

Como no texto acima citado, acredito que o principal papel do balanced scorecard é este de ajudar as empresas a aprenderem a conhecerem-se melhor, a serem mais ágeis e a comportarem-se como jogadores profissionais de bilhar. Empresas que interiorizam cada vez mais as consequências amanhã das decisões que tomam hoje. Empresas com um locus de controlo no interior.

Trecho retirado de "The Balanced Scorecard ≠ A Report Card"

Curiosidade do dia

"“Rising minimum wages will hurt the hiring of the least-experienced, least-skilled and lowest-wage workers. That means it hits more harmfully in the lower-wage rural areas, as well as in the retail, restaurant and bar sectors. It is also not a good antipoverty policy—our estimate of a nationwide increase to $15 is that only 7% of the benefits of higher wages go to those in poverty.”"

Trecho retirado de "Analysts React to California’s Proposed $15 Minimum Wage: ‘A Blunt Approach’"

Acerca da boa gestão

"Because human nature doesn’t change, the fundamental art and science of managing human beings doesn’t change either – but you wouldn’t know it from reading the popular business press.
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“[J]ust as the essence of medicine is not urinalysis (important though that is), the essence of management is not techniques and procedures,” wrote Drucker. “The essence of management is to make [people and their expertise] productive. Management, in other words, is a social function.”
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Direct all of the organization’s work toward making strength productive and weakness irrelevant. On the organization’s behalf, this means holding every measure of effort, whether time, talent or treasure, accountable for the results it must produce in order to justify its expenditure. It is not enough to do something because it is traditional or “smart” or safe."

Trechos retirados de "Technology Changes, Good Management Doesn’t"

Acerca de Mongo

"Marketplace is great for customers because it adds unique selection, and it’s great for sellers – there are over 70,000 entrepreneurs with sales of more than $100,000 a year selling on Amazon, and they’ve created over 600,000 new jobs.
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We also created the Amazon Lending program to help sellers grow. Since the program launched, we’ve provided aggregate funding of over $1.5 billion to micro, small and medium businesses across the U.S., U.K. and Japan through short-term loans, with a total outstanding loan balance of about $400 million. Stephen Aarstol, surfer and owner of Tower Paddle Boards, is one beneficiary. His business has become one of the fastest-growing companies in San Diego, in part with a little help from Amazon Lending. Click-to-cash access to capital helps these small enterprises grow, benefits customers with greater selection, and benefits Amazon since our marketplace revenue grows along with the sellers’ sales. We hope to expand Amazon Lending and are now working on ways to partner with banks so they can use their expertise to take and manage the bulk of the credit risk."

Trechos retirados de "The Company’s Letter to Shareholders"