Mais do que o custo

"The ability to create an advantage for the buyer is dependent on a seller’s competitive strength. This strength is reflected in its ability to offer better exchange ratios.
...
At equal prices, a seller with a cost advantage will gain greater profits than its competitors. At lower prices, the seller will increase its market share and strengthen its cost advantage, creating the basis for higher profits in later periods. A seller that provides its buyers with a greater net benefit is valued more highly by them; it strengthens its reputation, and buyers satisfied with its performance will become repeat customers. These are the conditions for profits being greater than competitors’ and for increased market share.

Profits that are the outcome of an advantageous position can be used by the seller as additional investments that competitors can only finance from other sources. The effects are as follows: a competitive advantage facilitates investment and thereby it helps to protect existing advantages and/or create new ones. Hence, it is vital for every competitor to create, find, or extend its competitively advantageous position. It is the very nature of competition that success or failure depends on the firm’s competitive position and every action has to be analyzed in terms of its effects on this position—how it improves or degrades it and how it utilizes it."

Lembram-se dos economistas da Junqueira? Julgo que eles ainda pensam com as redes neurais que foram criadas na sua mente quando aprenderam as regras de funcionamento do Normalistão, afinal o mundo onde nasceram. Para eles só existem duas posições: vantagem de custo ou desvantagem de custo.

Mongo e a liberdade de escolher

"Henry Ford’s first great contribution to America was the Model T, which rolled off the assembly lines at his Highland Park, Michigan, plant at the rate of one every 24 seconds. At the time, it was an amazing display of industrial efficiency. By streamlining automation in his factories, Ford advanced an era of mass production that built his fortune and brought the automobile within reach of an emerging middle class. But while the miracle of mass production delivered the goods, it didn’t adapt easily, so all Model T’s looked alike. Ford’s approach can be summed up in what he said about the car’s exterior: “The consumer can have any color he wants so long as it’s black.”
Ford’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude wouldn’t cut it in today’s economy. 

...

...
This proliferation of products, models and styles isn’t capitalism run amok. Variety shouldn’t be dismissed as a trivial extravagance. It’s a wealthy, sophisticated society’s way of improving the lot of consumers. The more choices, the better. A wide selection of goods and services increases the chance each of us will find, somewhere among all the shelves and showrooms, products that meet our requirements.
...
Until 1914, Model T’s were available in red, blue, green, gray and black. The move to all black was a concession to mass production that made the car a commodity of sorts, but standardization wasn’t a winning strategy in the long run. By 1927, competition forced Ford to rethink variety. The Model A came in several body styles and an array of colors. With each decade, Ford gave consumers more choices,
...
They do it because pleasing the customer isn’t just about producing more stuff. It’s about producing the right stuff.
Just what is the right stuff? It’s more of what we do want and less of what we don’t want. The economy provides more of what we do want by customizing products to our particular tastes.
...
The economy’s progression to customization isn’t a fad. It arises from the free market’s relentless drive to bring what we buy closer to what we want. What we buy yields a lot more utility when it exactly matches our needs, and Americans are reaping enormous benefits as new tools help business cater to markets of one. We’re getting more for less, helping keep inflation in check.
.
There’s just one glitch in this otherwise serendipitous story: traditional measures of the economy may not reflect how much our living standards are improving. Conceived in an era of mass production, the nation’s GDP and productivity statistics may ably count more stuff, but they give little credit for right stuff. Mass customization and prevention—just like variety— deliver their gains in important but subtle ways, so gross domestic product and productivity statistics fail to capture the extent of our progress."

Estes trechos retirados de um texto de 1999, "The Right Stuff", foram escritos antes da entrada da China no mercado mundial, algo que atrasou a tendência de Mongo, a tendência para esta variedade de produtos.

Interessante conjugar isto com:

• "Corbyn fails yet again to grasp the magic of competitive markets"

"What Corbyn doesn’t understand is that competition is what makes the economic world go round.
.
It is what has given us civilisational wonders like iPhones and Teslas and the Greggs vegan sausage roll. It is what makes companies work in your interests, rather than their own. It is why Pret a Manger can’t charge you £10 a sandwich – because it knows that there’s an Eat down the road.
.
And here’s the big problem. Across America, Britain and Europe, competition is falling and market concentration is increasing, as big firms get remorselessly bigger."

• "Freedom of Choice—Not Competition—Is What Sets Capitalism Apart"

"Capitalism is not “a system of competition” any more than any other system. Capitalism (at least in its free-market, laissez-faire ideal) is a system of the voluntary exchange of goods and services in the absence of physical coercion, theft, compulsion or fraud, predicated upon the fundamental right to own and accumulate property.
...
The miraculous wonder we miss when we focus our attention upon the competition, which derives from choice, is the ability to choose, itself.
...
The primary feature of free-market capitalism is not competition, but choice.
.
Because people make choices with scarce resources and limited time, competition will be an inherent part of any economic system so long as there is scarcity. The primary feature of free-market capitalism is not competition, but choice. Rather than moderate the amount of competition in an economy, state intervention will replace competition to serve customers and convince them to voluntarily spend their money on a wide array of ever-expanding goods and services. We can contrast this with other systems in which competition rages over who can gain the favor of those who control the levers of government. That is where the real “tooth and nail” begins."

Curiosidade do dia

A propósito disto:


Vejam e revejam os frames entre os 58-59 e 60 segundos.

tão bom, tão paradigmático da bola, da política, da economia, da ... https://t.co/tb9PwL5Ul2

— Carlos P da Cruz (@ccz1) March 18, 2019

Portugal é isto, Portugal é esta leviandade com que se fala de tudo sem preparação, sem estudo, sem escrutínio, sem consequências. Assim se explica o sucesso de Cravinho depois do que disse sobre as SCUTs, apesar de nunca se ter retratado.

Acerca da vantagem competitiva

E continuo a minha leitura matinal de "Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Marketing - Mastering Business Markets" editado por Michael Kleinaltenkamp, Wulff Plinke, Ian Wilkinson e Ingmar Geiger.

"When analyzing benefit differences, we need to focus on the meaning of differences in competencies, processes, and programs for the buyer. A seller’s competitive strength is its ability to offer greater benefits or lower costs, i.e., greater net benefits, to the buyer compared to competitors.
In order to analyze this ability, we can make use of the description of the market transaction given above. Let us once again consider condition. With freedom of choice, no buyer will choose a particular seller if he perceives that other problem solutions offer a more favorable exchange ratio. The buyer will choose seller S if S offers a higher net benefit (the difference between benefits and costs) than a competitor SC. Therefore, S will have to have a positive difference between the net benefits of S and SC on the critical dimensions. Figure 1.21 summarizes the elements of such a net benefit difference.
...

From this perspective, it is not absolute values that affect purchase decisions—it is the relations between values that count.
...
Figure 1.22 shows the comparison. Cost differences and benefit differences between S and SC are shown. The price of seller S’s offer is slightly higher, but S offers the buyer significantly lower costs of use, maintenance, and disposal. Overall, the buyer is better off buying from S than SC, the difference being the “perceived cost difference S/SC.”
...

Levittown

Quando quero usar uma metáfora sobre o modelo económico do século XX uso os termos Metrópolis, por causa do filme de Fritz Lang, e Magnitogorsk ou Magnitograd por causa do bairro operário dessa cidade do tempo de Estaline. Centenas ou milhares de casas todas iguais, todas com o mesmo mobiliário. A única diferença é que algumas casas tinham candeeiros brancos e outras tinham candeeiros laranja.

Não se pense que as Magnitogorsk eram um apanágio do mundo comunista. Não, eram uma consequência de um modelo industrialista baseado na produção em massa e com pouco ou nenhum cuidado com o que os utilizadores pretendiam ou valorizavam.

Ontem, ao folhear uma publicação do Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reencontrei uma imagem que procurava à muito:

"In July 1947, on potato fields 20 miles from Manhattan, William Levitt pioneered the mass production of affordable homes. Variations in the 17,477 houses were minor; each had two bedrooms, a bath, living room and kitchen on a 750-square-foot concrete slab. By standardizing the units, Levitt eventually was able to put up more than two dozen a day, helping fill the enormous postwar demand. Over the years, innumerable changes to the homes have transformed the community. But even now, Levittown remains a kind of shorthand for the sameness of mass production that’s starting to give way to mass customization."

Curiosidade do dia

Isto é tão doente...

"Ouvido pela TSF, o presidente da CIP, António Saraiva, lembra que as novas formas de trabalho trazem desafios a que o Estado ainda não deu resposta: "Falta uma estratégia nacional sobre este facto, porque as relações de trabalho, a nova forma de trabalho, os novos postos de trabalho, as novas realidades como a robótica, o teletrabalho, precisam ser analisados num diálogo social construtivo para o nosso desenvolvimento."
.
O presidente da CIP lembra que o binómio família-trabalho tem impacto direto no desenvolvimento económico e social e considera que o Governo deve fazer mais para promover a vida familiar e profissional dos trabalhadores."

Um "líder" de associação empresarial a pedir a intervenção do governo para os encarneirar. Se querem fazer alguma coisa, porque não avançam por si próprios, porque não criam algo bottom-up, porque têm de esperar pelo top-down?

País desgraçado este...

Eu sei o que ele quer. Criar barreiras às PMEs, aumentar-lhes os custos para fazer menos mossa às empresas associadas da CIP.

Trecho retirado de "Patrões querem plano nacional para conciliar trabalho e família"

"the type of advantage, which may be by means of cost advantages or benefit advantages"

E continuo a minha leitura matinal de "Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Marketing - Mastering Business Markets" editado por Michael Kleinaltenkamp, Wulff Plinke, Ian Wilkinson e Ingmar Geiger.

"the sources of competitive advantage. In competition, every seller has certain capabilities or competencies based on its skills and resources, including all the people and their knowledge, the plant and equipment, customer relationships, and corporate image and reputation. Competencies are all the factors a seller can use in order to achieve its goals. It is essential for success in competition that the capabilities it has fit with the problem solutions desired by buyers. A seller who strives for competitive advantage will try to develop or acquire better talents and resources than competitors and will try to protect them against imitation.
Also essential for competitive success is the way in which processes within a firm are organized.
...
Competencies and processes together determine the output of a company and we call this a firm’s program. It includes the outputs offered to the market and what it expects from others in return. The program is the firm’s total offer including the nature of the product, the product range, services, communication, distribution, and price. The program is what distinguishes one firm from others. It is its visible source of differentiation for the buyer. Once achieved, a company usually tries strongly to defend an established differential advantage.
Competencies, processes, and programs together are the means by which a seller tries to create and defend differential advantage over his competitors. Every effort to improve a firm’s competitive position has to start at one or more of these three components.
...
As a result of its particular mix of competencies, processes, and program, a seller achieves a certain competitive position. This position has various dimensions. First is the type of advantage, which may be by means of cost advantages or benefit advantages. The former describes the seller’s average costs as compared to competitors; the latter describes the net benefits perceived the buyer, compared to buyers’ perceptions of competitors’ offers."

"selling projects rather than products" (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

Como são as coisas... não há coincidências, todos os acasos são significativos.

Ontem à tarde, estive numa reunião de exploração estratégica numa empresa num sector tradicional da economia.

Empresa desenvolveu um produto a pedido dum cliente-fabricante. Entretanto, esse cliente chegou junto da marca e resolveu declinar o convite para produzir.

Marca, com produto na gama média-alta, resolveu avançar com a produção em Itália. Empresa resolveu fazer algo que nunca tinha feito antes, entrou em contacto com a marca, apresentou-se e ofereceu-se para continuar a fornecer a produção.

A internet ajudou-os a resolver o problema da distância (engraçado que antes da reunião ouvi este texto, "The Problem For Small-Town Banks: Technology Has Redefined Community" e, durante a reunião recordei "O fim da barreira geográfica")

Ou seja, a empresa está a considerar entrar no mundo da venda de projectos, em vez da venda de produtos, ou de soluções.

Também ando a pensar na relação da venda de projectos com o último nível desta cadeia:

Uma pregação em prol da ... concorrência imperfeita

Continuo a minha leitura matinal de "Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Marketing - Mastering Business Markets" editado por Michael Kleinaltenkamp, Wulff Plinke, Ian Wilkinson e Ingmar Geiger.

Estão a ver o choradinho e a falta de noção deste senhor, "Boas notícias, Portugal a ser abandonado pelo negócio do preço (parte II)"?

Imaginem o que diria desta linguagem:

"We have come to understand the market process as a never-ending process of learning for all involved, a process that is kept running by the entrepreneur who detects profit opportunities. Entrepreneurs sense differences in the market, they discover the possibility to sell something at a higher price than they can buy it for, and they disperse this knowledge—voluntarily or involuntarily—to other market participants. This process is a competitive one that rewards the capable and punishes the less able. Competition among sellers, therefore, has a selection function that creates better problem solutions for the buyer.
The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises described the situation in the following way: “The entrepreneur can only act a step ahead of his competitors if he strives toward serving the market more cheaply and better. More cheaply means richer supply; better means supply with products not yet in the market”"

Depois, o livro apresenta esta figura:

Sabem o que vem aí?
Uma pregação em prol da ... concorrência imperfeita.

"Homogeneity: The offers in a market are homogeneous if they resemble each other in all aspects, so that the buyer perceives no difference among them. Offers are heterogeneous if they differ either objectively or as perceived by the buyer.
• Knowledge: Buyers have complete market knowledge if they know without delay about all offers in the market.
• Barriers: Barriers hinder free market entry: new sellers cannot enter the market without entry costs or constraints, and sellers already in the market cannot imitate the characteristics and behavior of other sellers.
...
Information shortages and quality differences that initially exist will tend to disappear, and the temporary profits of cases 2–4 will disappear, shifting the situation to case 1.
.
Cases 5 and 6 differ from cases 1 to 4 because barriers exist. Barriers act as an obstacle to competition for new entrants as well as for those already in the market. Market entry barriers are always disadvantageous for new entrants compared to incumbent sellers, because the latter can approach buyers more easily than new entrants. And if a seller has a first mover advantage compared to its competitors then others cannot catch up—either because they are unable to (the advantage is too great) or because they do not want to (e.g., they are afraid of the first movers’ response).
...
Hence, barriers are, among other things, the reason for sellers earning profits significantly higher than competitors.
...
The picture of competition created in cases 5 and 6 provides the basis for an analysis of competitive advantage. Dynamic seller competition means that sellers are permanently searching for and experimenting with new products or services in order to find or create ones that distinguish themselves from those of other sellers, in terms of value to the buyer and/or the costs they incur. If a competitor succeeds in operating with lower costs than its competitors, then it can offer lower prices to buyers, which can increase its market share and profits. If a seller succeeds in offering a better product or service without higher costs, then it can increase prices and earn higher profits. This never-ending search and experimentation has only one aim: By differentiation, the seller wants to avoid being substitutable. Furthermore, a seller strives to establish a difference that is sustainable; it wants to avoid being imitated."

"selling projects rather than products" (parte II)

Na Parte I Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez deu o exemplo da Philips sobre como deixar de vender produtos e passar a vender projectos. Fez-me lembrar o fabuloso livro de Ramirez & Manervik e os seus ecossistemas da procura:

E a propósito de ecossistemas da procura, a minha primeira experiência, em 2004, de transformar a venda de produtos em projectos para "Subir na escala de valor". O mesmo "truque" usado pela Jofebar:

• Um sistema de gestão que começa no negócio (Novembro de 2015)
• A mensagem de quem sabe quem são os seus alvos (Setembro de 2016)
• Não esquecer (Dezembro de 2016)

Interessante que o sector da pedra tenha apostado na mesma estratégia (Portugal exportou mais 10,5% de pedra natural em 2018):

"Há uma inversão da exportação do material em bruto para uma tendência para o material transformado”
...
“Há quatro anos tínhamos a China como principal mercado”, pelo que “o setor exportava sobretudo bloco”. Agora, é França o principal mercado, com um crescimento superior a 5%, sendo que este país “consome sobretudo produto acabado”.
...
As associadas da Assimagra estão, neste contexto, “a fornecer sobretudo obra à medida”, aumentando o valor acrescentado face à venda mais indiferenciada de blocos de pedra. “Hoje o setor consegue estar nos principais projetos mundiais, disputá-los e vencê-los”, adiantou Miguel Goulão."

E volto a  "Selling Products Is Good. Selling Projects Can Be Even Better": 

"Clearly, the shift to becoming a project-driven organization and selling projects rather than products or services presents sizeable challenges to corporations and their business models. Working in projects throughout my career, I have identified these as the important ones:
.
Revenue streams. Revenues will be generated progressively over long periods of time, instead of right after the sale of a product. This will affect the way revenues are recognized, as well as accounting policies and the overall company valuation.
.
Pricing model. New pricing models will need to be developed. It is easier to price a product, for which most of the fixed and variable costs are known, than a project, which is influenced by many external factors.
.
Quality control. Delivering quality products will not be enough to meet customer expectations. Implementation and post-implementation services will also have to be of the highest possible quality to ensure that clients continue to buy projects.
.
Branding and marketing. Traditional marketing has focused on short-term immediate benefits. Marketing teams will need to promote the long-term benefits of the projects sold by the organization.[Moi ici: Estou constantemente a dizer isto às empresas, fujam do preço da troca, calculem o custo do ciclo de vida do produto/serviço. Ajudem "get the customer to appreciate a bigger picture"]
.
Sales force. The buyer of the project will no longer be the procurement department of an organization. Sales will be pitched to leaders of the business, so the sales force and sales skills will have to be upgraded with strategy and project management competencies.
.
Stop for a moment and consider what your organization is selling. Is it a project? Increasingly, the answer is clear and affirmative. If not, beware, your products might soon become part of a project sold by someone else."

"selling projects rather than products"

Outro texto delicioso e em sintonia com Mongo, "Selling Products Is Good. Selling Projects Can Be Even Better":

"In the beginning companies sold products. And then they sold services. In recent years, the fashionable suggestion has been that companies sell experiences and solutions, solving the needs and aspirations of customers.
.
Companies, indeed, do all of these things. But increasingly, what companies sell are projects. To understand the difference, think of an athletic shoe company, such as Nike or Adidas. A focus on products means a focus on selling running shoes. A focus on experiences might mean they sell you a membership to a local running club. A focus on solutions might mean they figure out how to help you reach your goal weight. While these clearly offer more value than simply selling you a pair of shoes, they also have limitations. Selling products limits the revenues you can make from clients: Unless you are innovating and continually updating your product offering, customer attrition tends to be high, and incentivizing repurchases can be hard. Selling experiences provides intangible benefits that are hard to quantify and measure, often focusing on meeting the needs of one single customer, preventing any mass production. Selling solutions became popular in the early 2000s when customers didn’t know how to solve their problems. But today, in the internet age, people can do their own research and define the solutions for themselves.
.
A focus on selling projects would mean helping someone do something more specific, such as running the Boston Marathon.
...
The project would have a clear goal (finish the marathon) and a clear start and end date.
.
And that is just one type of project. More so than products, the possibilities with projects are endless. [Moi ici: Como não recordar - as pessoas e as empresas não compram o que compram, mas o que vão conseguir, processando o que compraram]
...
Soon after launch, products are copied by the competition, which means they must be priced more cheaply. Soon, they become a commodity. This removes any opportunity for steady, high margins over the long term. Philips has experienced this even with its high-end health care products. Shifting its emphasis to selling projects rather than products was a strategic response to this problem.
.
For example, Philips sells high-tech medical devices. In the past it sold them simply as products (and it still does). But now Philips seeks out the projects in which its products will be used. If a new health care center is being considered, Philips will seek to become a partner from the very beginning of the project, including the running and the maintenance of the new center."

Há tempos a trabalhar num projecto de reflexão estratégica para exactamente fazer esta transição de empresa de produtos para empresa de projectos, fui surpreendido no inicio pelo pedido para fazer uma análise Value Stream Mapping ao seu ciclo produtivo. Entretanto, com o andar do projecto passei a mensagem que se quisessem aplicar a análise Value Stream Mapping o fizessem à utilização do produto durante o ciclo de vida do utilizador final, como naquele "running and the maintenance of the new center".

Continua.

BTW, confesso que me estou a tornar num fan de Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez.

A fábrica do futuro

Mais um texto que parece retirado deste blogue, um texto sobre Mongo e muito diferente do que o mainstream escreve, normalmente, encadeado pelas luzes da automatização. Recomendo pois a leitura de "The manufacturing job of the future: clean, urban, and better paid":

"A thick stack of fabric lies on a long machine waiting to be compressed and cut into shapes. “It can automate a lot,” says Gregg Thompson cofounder of combat wear company Crye Precision, “but the volume has to be there.” Machines are not so great at design iteration, he says. A man standing next to the machine slices sheets of fabric by hand. He’s faster, says Thompson, and he can execute multiple designs without needing to be reprogrammed.
.
A shift is happening in manufacturing, bringing humans and machines closer together and making production more responsive to changing needs. The change is coming from companies that need flexible processes that allow their products to evolve with the needs of their customers. They also want their facilities not in industrial suburbs, but in amenity rich neighborhoods, so they can attract star talent. [Moi ici: Quase que não se pode pedir começo mais promissor do que este reforçar da esperança num lugar para o humano na produção em Mongo]
...
BNYDC’s grand vision is to create a campus that seamlessly integrates small and medium manufacturing operations with white collar offices, production studios, restaurants, coffee roasteries and shops, distilleries, grocery stores, bakeries, and rooftop gardens with edible greens.
...
The workflow will look something like this: a customer will call and ask for something, a designer will mock up a solution in its upstairs offices, that drawing will travel downstairs to production, once the part is made it will fly under the purview of a solutions architect who will vet whether the product actually suits the described need. Essentially, the company can iterate on customer needs much faster–in a single day. Previously, the company would have had to send parts back and forth between its manufacturing facility in Los Angeles and main headquarters in New York, a process that takes days if not weeks.
...
Factory workers are no longer just doing mindless production line work. The new manufacturing requires interacting with complicated robots and fixing computer systems. [Moi ici: Clubes de leitura e as ironias automação] “The manufacturing is smaller and cleaner and more sustainable and doesn’t pollute as much,”
...
The Navy Yard also recently opened its own high school [Moi ici: Até a escola que conhecemos, formatada para a revolução industrial e o Normalistão tem os dias contados] on campus called the Brooklyn Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics Center (The STEAM Center for short). The school, developed in partnership with the Department of Education, gives qualifying junior and senior high school students from eight area schools the opportunity to spend half their day learning curriculum influenced by the equipment, jobs, and working cultures on display at the Navy Yard."

O senhor eurodeputado precisa de conhecer Mongo e ...

O mundo muda, mas muitas pessoas não se apercebem e, por isso, continuam apegadas aos mitos do paradigma onde nasceram e foram enformados.

Recordo aqui no blogue muitas vezes uma frase de Napoleão:

Nesse mundo o crescimento era possível ao estilo canceroso, por isso uso a  metáfora de Metropolis ou de Magnitograd, ou Magnitogorsk. 

Para quem está prisioneiro do paradigma do século XX a falta de pessoal para trabalhar é medonha. Porque ainda não chegaram ao fim deste postal, "Coisa de loucos", porque nunca leram esta série "Como aumentar a facturação quando não se pode aumentar a produção por falta de pessoas?", continuam focados na última guerra, que já acabou, e fazem figuras tristes: "José Manuel Fernandes diz que é necessário "aumentar a natalidade"" 

A juntar a "10 profissões tradicionais onde há falta de gente" e a:

"Por outro lado, grande parte dos profissionais que dominam este ofício trabalha por conta própria, mostrando pouca disponibilidade para aceitar desafios por conta de outrem que embora estejam hoje mais valorizados monetariamente, continuam a não ser suficientemente aliciantes."

Encontro agora "As profissões sem 'canudo' que oferecem salários acima da média".

Tudo sintomas previstos aqui no blogue há muito, muito tempo.

O senhor eurodeputado precisa de conhecer Mongo e mergulhar no Estranhistão, precisa desta epifania:


BTW, comparem a primeira frase do vídeo com o discurso do feike niús.

Curiosidade do dia

Acham isto "Brazil Dam Disaster Highlights Dangers of “Softgrading” and Falsifying Audit Nonconformities" estranho?

Eu acho tão ou mais estranho a CP continuar certificada.

Eu acho muito estranho os hospitais do estado continuarem certificados. Penso na cláusula 7.1.2 da ISO 9001:2015 e fico sem perceber como é que os auditores não levantam essa não-conformidade.

O que eu teria para contar...

“Hierarchy of Purpose”

Simplesmente muito bom, "How to Prioritize Your Company’s Projects":

"We had more than 100 large projects (each worth over 500,000 euros) under way. No one had a clear view of the status of those investments, or even the anticipated benefits. The bank was using a project management tool, but the lack of discipline in keeping it up to date made it largely fruitless. Capacity, not strategy, was determining which projects launched and when. If people were available, the project was launched. If not, it stalled or was killed.
.
Prioritization at a strategic and operational level is often the difference between success and failure. But many organizations do it badly.
...
Of course, sometimes leaders simply make the wrong decisions; they prioritize the wrong thing. But in my 20 years as an executive, the problem I see more often is that leaders don’t make decisions at all. They don’t clearly signal their intent about what matters. In short, they don’t prioritize.
...
The number of priorities admitted to by an organization is revealing. It is notable that if the risk appetite of a senior executive team is very low (or if they are not able or inclined to make the tough choices), they will tend to have a generous portfolio of priorities; they don’t want to take the risk of not being compliant, missing a market opportunity, not having the latest technologies, and so on. But in my experience, the most successful executives tend to be more risk taking and have a laser-like focus on a small number of priorities. These executives know what matters today and tomorrow. At the extreme, this might mean simply having a single priority. The more focus, the better.
...
In that time, I have developed a simple framework that I call the “Hierarchy of Purpose.” It is a tool that executive teams can use to help them prioritize strategic initiatives and projects:
.
Purpose. What is the purpose of the organization and how is that purpose best pursued? What is the strategic vision supporting this purpose?
Priorities. Given the stated purpose and vision, what matters most to the organization now and in the future? What are its priorities now and over the next two to five years?
Projects. Based on the answers to the first two points, which projects are the most strategic and should be resourced to the hilt? Which projects align with the purpose, vision, and priorities, and which should be stopped or scrapped?
People. Now that there is clarity around the strategic priorities and the projects that matter most, who are the best people to execute on those projects?
Performance. Traditionally, project performance indicators are tied to inputs (e.g., scope, cost, and time). They are much easier to track than outputs (such as benefits, impact, and goals). However, despite the difficulty companies have in tracking outputs, it’s the outputs that really matter. What are the precise outcome-related targets that will measure real performance and value creation? Reduce your attention to inputs and focus on those instead."

Mais sanitas (parte II)

Parte I.

O meu colega das conversas oxigenadoras sempre me disse que a Industria 4.0 requer gente com um grande espírito crítico. Recordo de Março e Fevereiro do ano passado "E as pessoas para a Indústria 4.0?" e "Está tudo relacionado".

Ontem, li "The ironies of automation":

"Some think this isn't a problem. One airline executive recently told the WSJ that pilots don’t need to know how underlying systems are built because, “they’re not engineers and their job is to fly the aircraft.” But this perception overlooks a seldom discussed irony: the more automated the system, the more crucial the human operator becomes. That’s because automation doesn’t purge demand for human labour, instead it changes the type of labour needed.
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technology, while addressing one set of problems, often creates others. Decades later, that observation still rings true. Automation enthusiasts would be wise to temper expectations accordingly. Particularly in company boardrooms, where automation is increasingly seen as a panacea, and a way to reduce costs, rather than a tool."

Ainda a batota

"The problem, experts say, is that a lot of companies don’t set clear objectives for the experiences they create. “You have to figure out what people need,” said Sarah Hall, co-founder and partner of experiential marketing firm Harley & Company. “Then you have to decide if you want to create a deep emotional connection or push them towards a transaction.”
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Many brands run into trouble by mimicking competitors’ strategies instead of figuring out which experiences make the most sense — and sales — for them. A café is only worth operating if its regulars are also purchasing margin-driving products. A successful restaurant won’t save a struggling department store chain unless diners hit the shoe floor afterwards. An in-store panel discussion will only create goodwill if the mission of the panel meets the mission of the brand.
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“It's about questioning and redesigning every aspect of how the store works and how it sells what it sells,” said retail industry futurist Doug Stephens. “It's an intensive process that begins by breaking down the entire customer journey into its smallest micro-moments and then, within each of those moments, designing experiences that are surprising, unique, personalised, engaging and, most importantly, repeatable.”[Moi ici: E recuar a 2008 e ao primeiro e ao segundo texto sobre a batota]
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Remaking the in-store experience often means a significant (and expensive) overhaul.
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Experts underscore that good experiences are only worthwhile if they are accompanied by good products."

Trechos retirados de "The Pitfalls of Investing in Experiential Retail"

Boas notícias, Portugal a ser abandonado pelo negócio do preço (parte II)

Parte I.

Ontem no Jornal de Notícias, "Associações anunciam nova crise do têxtil", com pérolas extraordinárias:

"Ontem, em Guimarães, os dirigente da Confederação Portuguesa da Micro, Pequenas e Médias Empresas (CPPME), António Monteiro, pôs o dedo na ferida: "A situação é de tal ordem preocupante que há muita gente em desespero. Prevejo o encerramento de dezenas de empresas nos próximos dias"
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Entre as medidas a tornar, António Monteiro defende a criação de um fundo de segurança à subcontratação para compensar desistências de encomendas, a criação de um contrato obrigatório entre multinacionais e subcontratados, a criação de uma comissão arbitral para a resolução de conflitos e a criação de um fundo de formação profissional para a formação de costureiras."

Que falta de noção!!!

Prefiro a evolução deste senhor, quem o lia há 10 anos e quem o lê hoje:

"Não é pelos preços que iremos encontrar a nossa competitividade e o que está a acontecer com a Inditex poderá ser pedagógico para muitas empresas, que se acomodaram, e um sinal importante para a nossa indústria de que o preço não é a resposta", afirmou o diretor-geral da Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal (ATP) em declarações à agência Lusa.
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"A grande questão é que as empresas aprendam de vez a lição de nunca ficarem com excesso de dependência relativamente a um cliente ou a um mercado em particular. Mais uma vez, a história repetiu-se com algumas delas, sobretudo as mais pequenas, que tiveram de encerrar, mas a minha convicção é que não é isso que vai afetar de uma forma violenta, ou pelo menos dramática, um setor que hoje em dia tem outros argumentos, alternativas e mercados e outra forma de reagir na procura de outros clientes", considera.
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Quanto às exportações para Espanha, Paulo Vaz acredita que "têm ainda potencial para crescer", até porque este mercado "está a ser berço de um conjunto de novas marcas muito orientadas para a sustentabilidade", em oposição ao "excesso de homogeneização que se encontrou em modelos de 'fast fashion' como a Inditex"."

ADENDA: Vão ver como começou a primeira loja Zara... um subcontratado a quem não desistiram de colocar encomendas, mas desistiram de comprar encomenda produzida. O homem teve de minimizar o prejuízo. Alugou um espaço em La Coruña, e começou a vender ... e nunca mais parou.
Há os que apesar de empresários nunca deixarão de ser funcionários e há os outros.

Curiosidade do dia

Num único subcapítulo do livro, "The Market Process" de Wulff Plinke e Ian Wilkinson, capítulo incluído no livro "Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Marketing - Mastering Business Markets" editado por Michael Kleinaltenkamp, Wulff Plinke, Ian Wilkinson e Ingmar Geiger, um festival de liberalismo económico:

"The market process can be viewed as a search process that never stops for any participant. Since all market participants are engaged in this search process, the market in effect creates the knowledge needed by buyers and sellers to act: “. . . the whole organization of a market mainly serves the distribution of information according to which the buyer has to act” (Hayek)
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Kirzner developed a helpful way of describing the market mechanism
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The market process is driven by entrepreneurs’ continuous search for profit opportunities. “The necessity to realize profits compels an entrepreneur to adapt as quickly and completely as possible to the desires of buyers (on the goods market) and sellers (on the resource market)” (Mises).
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The result is what Schumpeter calls a process of “creative destruction” in the economy in which entrepreneurial activity leads to the continual supplanting of existing patterns of production by new ones."

Um mundo novo

"Ecommerce in Greece is expected to be worth 4 billion euros at the end of this year. That would be an increase of over 8 percent, compared to the 3.7 billion euros the Greek ecommerce industry was worth last year.
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ecommerce in Greece is gaining ground, with 85 percent of internet users in this Southeastern European country making regular purchases online. For comparison: this figure was at 65 percent in 2016.
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Currently, 85 percent of online shoppers in Greece make a major part (80 percent) of their purchases at domestic online stores.
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The most popular payment method in Greece seems to be cash on delivery, as this makes up for 54 percent of online payments.
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Nowadays, over 7,000 businesses in Greece have digital outlets."

Ontem voltaram a repetir-me uma afirmação:

- Os 10 maiores clientes da DHL não existiam em 2008

Trechos retirados de "Ecommerce in Greece: €4 billion in 2019"