Swiftsure Innovation Limited http://swiftsure.co.nz building new value through innovation Thu, 10 Dec 2015 06:41:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.19 Enduring Business Practices http://swiftsure.co.nz/enduring-business-practices/ http://swiftsure.co.nz/enduring-business-practices/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:50:55 +0000 http://swiftsure.co.nz/?p=281 Enduring business practices – What helps some companies endure longer than others? … was the question asked by FT’s Michael Skapinker (April 2015). Is it periodic reinvention? Nokia went from paper manufacturer (1865) to mobile networks equipment (2015) via rubber boots and rain-coats, cables and tv-sets, electricity generation, toilet paper, studded bicycle tires and most . . . → Read More: Enduring Business Practices]]>

Enduring business practices – What helps some companies endure longer than others? … was the question asked by FT’s Michael Skapinker (April 2015). Is it periodic reinvention? Nokia went from paper manufacturer (1865) to mobile networks equipment (2015) via rubber boots and rain-coats, cables and tv-sets, electricity generation, toilet paper, studded bicycle tires and most recently mobile phones. Or by becoming a trading conglomerate like Sumitomo?

Arie de Geus, 38 years at Shell Oil and ending his career there as Corporate Planning Director, wrote a book about it: “The living company” first published by the Harvard Business School Press in 1997. In his book he arrives at four key attributes that long lasting businesses have in common:

  1. Sensitive to changes in the business environment, and organised for learning and adapting
  2. A strong sense of identity; shaping their ‘human community’ and putting people ahead of assets
  3. Tolerance of new ideas, experiments and some eccentricity at the margins; not too overly centralized
  4. Conservative in their financing; spare cash in the bank that allows them to snap up opportunities

While for most companies the first decennium is closer to home than their second centenary, the principles of sensing and adapting to change, valuing people and giving them some freedom to explore, and prudent financial management remain equally relevant. And may eventually bring the 100-year celebration in sight.

]]> http://swiftsure.co.nz/enduring-business-practices/feed/ 0 Services Automation http://swiftsure.co.nz/services-automation/ http://swiftsure.co.nz/services-automation/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:50:10 +0000 http://swiftsure.co.nz/?p=279 Services automation – Chinese restaurants started introducing robots to replace waiters in 2014, Eatsa in San Francisco (2015) is using iPads to order meals to be picked up from a cubicle. Eateries are just one service industry where automation is taking over. But it won’t stop at relatively simple processes.

It has taken some time . . . → Read More: Services Automation]]>

Services automation – Chinese restaurants started introducing robots to replace waiters in 2014, Eatsa in San Francisco (2015) is using iPads to order meals to be picked up from a cubicle. Eateries are just one service industry where automation is taking over. But it won’t stop at relatively simple processes.

It has taken some time for mobile technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and internet infrastructure together with new business models such as cloud computing to all fall into place, but we now see the digital economy take over even in areas that were long thought of needing ‘too much human intelligence’. And business consulting is no exception.

Technology is changing the role of consulting in two ways: Firstly the emphasis of strategy is shifting from financial planning to technology issues – security, cloud computing, social media, mobility. The big consulting firms have all either built or acquired teams of technology experts to deal with the changing demand for expertise.

Secondly there is a question around the value of ‘traditional’ advice. Thirty years ago a consultant was the one to talk about ‘value proposition’ and ‘competitive forces’. Today many 20-year olds will know and have at least a rudimentary understanding of these terms and a whole many more.

Businesses today no longer need a consultant to take control of the strategic planning process. Instead they need tools that bring structure into the gathering, sorting, ranking, summarizing, presenting and sharing of information. And then, once there is a clear understanding of the issues and choices, maybe an external expert can add further depth to the discussion or to help build the new technology.

Boards of Directors are also increasingly ‘new economy’ focused, and expanding their ranks or establishing separate Advisory Boards of technology savvy industry experts to assist in setting strategic direction. Here also, the business needs a common platform and language to analyse, summarize and share information.

External business strategy advice is increasingly replaced by in-house analyses and stronger (Advisory) Boards. And with the right tools and structures in place, this is a much more direct and effective way to draw on the expertise available within the company.

Swiftsure’s publications and workshops are designed to offer these tools and structures.

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