tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72445847703780576892024-02-19T08:29:24.789+05:30Think... Act... Reflect...Author: Ashutosh Agrawal.
The purpose of this blog is to share my experience and express ideas on wide range of topics related to business and society at large. Right thinking inspires right action.
Visitors may feel free to give their views on the existing threads.Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-73782005644859794352017-06-20T16:23:00.001+05:302017-06-20T16:25:27.210+05:30Knowledge Management: Key to success and speed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiguGi51BZzZKYzo2AfeObqOeRHpTz9hd3F26HU2RCxXovBiMP4szCfgvt9BGr4slTSIVplWsvtL1rkGx62T9g_KDlSIjtnpR18wyCzJBngiX1pBE5VVZ3EbxWpLKCAYBiz4Oq6i-hAzhZ/s1600/Knowledge+and+Value+chain_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="1025" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiguGi51BZzZKYzo2AfeObqOeRHpTz9hd3F26HU2RCxXovBiMP4szCfgvt9BGr4slTSIVplWsvtL1rkGx62T9g_KDlSIjtnpR18wyCzJBngiX1pBE5VVZ3EbxWpLKCAYBiz4Oq6i-hAzhZ/s640/Knowledge+and+Value+chain_4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A sustainable competitive advantage of an organisation success comes from its intangibles like Brand, Culture, Knowledge etc. Because its these intangibles that cannot be copied easily by competition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The global economy is moving towards knowledge economy. The consumption and production of intellectual capital is the new order. The organisations that do this are far more profitable than their counterparts in traditional industries. Its the knowledge that adds the extra margin to the bottom-line, that added competitive advantage which cannot be imitated. All knowledge centric companies enjoy much higher margins compared to traditional manufacturing and services industries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A knowledge centric company prioritises managing its internal knowledge as virtuous cycle whereby the knowledge is produced, then shared, consumed and produced further more. The new knowledge generated is what flows into every area of its value chain (like strategy, products, operations,..). The organisation that produces knowledge faster than its competition invariably remains ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving towards knowledge centric organisation requires a focus on knowledge management. Its important to distinguish knowledge management from information or database or business process management. Knowledge management is about meeting the </span><span style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">high value knowledge needs </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of the organization which impacts the success of the organisation. Following are key considerations to bear in mind: </span></div>
<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take feedback on organisational high value knowledge needs from people in senior and key positions.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">External knowledge sources are equally important as internal knowledge when producing new knowledge.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't loose focus on tacit knowledge like experience, insights and network.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Quality is important than Quantity. Otherwise it will become a search for a needle in haystack. </span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Its also about behavior and culture than just the IT platform. The change management and top management support are key to success.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was in 15th century that Sir Francis Bacon mentioned "Knowledge is Power" and its more so true today in the knowledge centric economy.</span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-21751123413099832822017-06-20T15:34:00.001+05:302017-06-20T16:26:32.670+05:30The Disconnect between Innovation function and Product/Business strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNRpLn3lFiXKNI1mJJG1Ki8VSX_HvvI7BdRizM1SofBYrazWCLmxogsZHmvrCmOaJOeAMxYhAu5PuFvUbSFR3lwCREwZkSqD69vGshm7ign15q7zX_YXbOc84rjREdHL5AJBi5TMvmCUW/s1600/Disconnect.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1491" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNRpLn3lFiXKNI1mJJG1Ki8VSX_HvvI7BdRizM1SofBYrazWCLmxogsZHmvrCmOaJOeAMxYhAu5PuFvUbSFR3lwCREwZkSqD69vGshm7ign15q7zX_YXbOc84rjREdHL5AJBi5TMvmCUW/s640/Disconnect.png" width="640" /></a><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why do companies trail behind the product/market trends even after having a dedicated Innovation function within the company? </span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At an Innovation conference, there was an impressive presentation on Innovation capabilities of a top Multinational Company. On the sidelines, I asked the Innovation Head about the new product launch, and he was too happy to explain its features. He missed entirely the question as to why their product came so late in market and still not at par.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Innovation function in companies is a separate department and has a diverse mandate. They work on new ideas and engage the main machinery in implementation and go-to-market. They also provide innovation service whereby other functions seek them to solve a problem or help explore/implement an emerging technology for them.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Where organizations fail is in connecting Innovation to Business and Product strategy. Innovation function sees the shifting product and market trends which a Strategy function fails to see and appreciate. As a result, Strategy sticks with existing plans and product strategy a bit too long while the landscape changes around them. Innovation function is also considered downstream and their inputs are not taken in Strategy decision making process.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701960784313725); font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Companies which stay ahead of trends and launch disruptive products have Innovation inbuilt as part of their business and product strategy. Innovation is upstream to business and product strategy. Such companies do not have Innovation function but an </span></span><span style="color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701960784313725);"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Innovation</span></span><span style="color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701960784313725); font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> platform and every function (including strategy) uses it by default.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Coming back to the discussion with the Innovation head of the top multinational company, after much prodding he replied that they did go to Product Strategy guys earlier but were not heard.</span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-16639603386987854182017-06-20T14:36:00.001+05:302017-06-20T17:18:53.982+05:30Off the Beaten Path to tap New Markets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While working on tapping into new and emerging markets, the product development approach was that of Frugal Discovery. And it was very different and at odds with the conventional approach accepted within the organization. Hence, devised the framework below which explains when and why different product development approach should be used. </span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Product development of new products and services is often a linear approach. First comes the market research, then the product R&D followed by a big-bang launch. This linear approach rightfully suits the existing markets which are the bread and butter of the organization.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But when it comes to new and emerging markets, such linear approach fails to deliver. And history is replete with such examples like IBM PCjr, Apple Newton, HP's Kitty Hawk, Premier Smokeless Cigarettes... The underlying reasons for such market failures being:</span></div>
<ol style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: list-num 1; counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Companies wade into uncharted territories solely based on their research & forecasts. Their efforts give them the confidence that they have figured out the unknowable/uncertain emerging market. </span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: list-num 1; counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And they put huge money, resources and execution capacity behind the launch. This big bet launch gives them little financial room later to turn back and correct course. The managers leading the launch also hurt their credibility.</span></li>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The recommended approach is to use a <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Discovery</span> mode for the first point above and combine it with <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frugal</span> approach to address the second point.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="424" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAcwAAAAJDM0YTkxM2QxLTM0ZTktNDA0MC1iNTE3LWUzYzUyODgyMGE2NA.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" />The framework above explains when the Frugal Discovery mode is relevant.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Discovery</span> mode is required when:</span></div>
<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Customers do not know what they want. The need is yet to be created or perceived.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A company is not sure what customers want. Though the company may rely on its market forecasts. But the actual use may be out of their research radar.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It takes time for consumers to warm up to new product/service features. And to better understand their own needs w.r.t. to given product/service. Discovery mode allows exploration and learning for both company and customers. </span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And being <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frugal</span> in discovery mode helps to:</span></div>
<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conserve resources for second or even third attempt at getting the product strategy right. Companies tend to do the opposite by opening the full tap and going gung-ho with full scale implementation in the first attempt.</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In discovery mode, iterations may happen even in commercialization phase on product design and manufacturing capacity. And since such iterations are later in product development lifecycle, they are going to be costly. Hence, it helps to be frugal from the beginning.</span></li>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be frugal, make limited prototypes/demonstrators, test market and iterate. Customers will also learn in due course what they actually want and new customer segments might emerge. </span></em></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many companies are now looking beyond their traditional markets towards emerging markets to drive growth. And to do that, they would need to move beyond the traditional big-bang and know-it-all approach to a more humble, frugal and discoverer approach. </span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-56943868221066569162017-01-05T20:41:00.004+05:302017-01-05T20:41:54.306+05:30Why Corporate Accelerators Do What They Do<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Having setup Airbus Corporate Accelerator (Bizlab) in Bangalore and interacted with many others, It was insightful to see the various objectives behind and associated challenges.</em></span></span></div>
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For those uninitiated, a Corporate Accelerator is a form of startup incubator which is setup by corporates for mid to late stage startups. An acceleration program is run for a fixed period (range: 4-12 months) whereby startups are provided mentorship, space and sometimes capital support. Some corporate accelerators also host internal projects.</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Corporates have either of following two primary business objectives, each comes with its own challenge:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. To build customer base</strong>: For some corporates, startups are potential large customers of tomorrow. Hence, corporates select startups based on their business potential and provide required support to help startups scale their business.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For instance, Microsoft acceleration program helps tech startups to scale up while using Microsoft technologies. Bosch supports startups to build their products with Bosch sensors and also launch new business around their products. Intel provides hardware startups with design support and Intel's own processors, boards (Eg: Curie), chipsets etc.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Challenge:</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The main challenge which a corporate faces is to give support on business aspects for a startup to grow in its target industry/market. Each startup can have different target industry/market and a corporate will not have in-house expertise in each. Corporates tend to hire serial entrepreneurs and startup mentors to fill this gap. </span></span></div>
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. To find innovative ideas to improve business</strong>: In this case, corporates see startups as potential partner/supplier for innovative solutions. Corporates define their interest areas in terms of technologies & applications and select startups with innovative products/solutions in the same. During the acceleration program, a Corporate would expect startup to pivot and solve the need of their company or industry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For instance, Target work with startups to enhance retail experience. Lowe's, Lbrands, Airbus also have similar objective to drive-in innovative solutions from startups into their business.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Challenge:</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The challenge here is very different from that in previous objective. The main challenge here is to work with its internal departments to find the right problem to solve, secure their commitment and launch projects. Sometimes internal departments are reluctant to work with startups. 'Not Invented Here' syndrome and internal politics also add to the challenge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> In addition to the above primary objectives, there are other benefits which a corporates expects to derive with accelerators :</span></span></div>
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<li style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Introduce entrepreneurial mindset and way of working in the organization</span></span></li>
<li style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Accelerate internal projects by hosting them in acceleration program</span></span></li>
<li style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Identify and hire talent in specific areas of technogly and business</span></span></li>
<li style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enhance corporate image and marketing for talent attraction and retention</span></span></li>
<li style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Review and Qualify deals (startups) for corporate venture/partnership</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Corporate Accelerator is a win-win for both corporates and startups. Startups stand to gain with access to Customers, Industrial Problem statements, Subject Matter Experts and Mentors, Investors and overall exposure.</span></span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-5292833642486667962017-01-05T20:36:00.001+05:302017-01-05T20:38:17.854+05:30Hardware Resurgence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Software has been the talk of the town. Be it Artificial Intelligence, Big Data or Software defined hardware. The value addition in various products/services has been increasingly coming from software. Companies are keen to give their business a digital boost. Hardware has been treated all along as commodity. Value creation came via software on top of hardware. Even in IoT applications, hardware has been treated as a sidekick at best.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Recently the Hardware is seem to be making a comeback. The various software and its platforms are all there. But more and more technology applications/usecases require sophisticated hardware to enable them. We need hardware which are processor + storage + sensor + self-powered + small form-factor to enable next gen applications of IoT. We need more capable VR hardware to enhance user experience and convenience. We need flexible hardware to do faster prototyping. We need hardware flexibility in datacenters to switch roles between storage, CPU and GPU as per demand. Other disruptive real-world hardware technologies on the anvil are morphing structures, self assembling structures, exoskeletons, printed electronics, structural batteries and lot more.</span></div>
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0px none; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Hardware development is capital extensive. Unlike Silicon Valley, not all startup ecosystems are able to support it. India startup ecosystem is on cusp of maturing with big hardware players like Intel and Bosch stepping in to nurture hardware startups. The Open Source Hardware, On-demand fabrication and the Maker movement will provide further impetus to hardware startups. On other end, cutting edge hardware research in universities/institutes will find its way into more real-world applications through spin-offs and incubated startups.</span></span> </span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-84767042092773965472016-10-05T16:21:00.003+05:302016-10-05T16:22:53.982+05:30Need for speed. Need for ambition. Need for hunger to disrupt.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Having worked closely with multinationals and Indian corporates, I couldn't help but notice the difference. I admire Indian corporates for business prowess but at the same time feel concerned about lack of hunger for radical innovation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Innovation in Indian corporates are mostly incremental improvement efforts with an objective to enhance quarterly results. Their pursuit of business excellence and performance is commendable. However, a sole focus on this pursuit alone can lead to 'frog in slow boiling water' syndrome. Whereby Indian corporates do a good job in adapting to heating competition and business pressures, but do not show ambition to jump out and disrupt.</span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit;">To illustrate, a large Indian conglomerate announced that they want to go Digital. But after meeting them, it turned out that their definition of Digital was narrow, it was limited to leveraging ecommerce in their business units. They lacked the ambition to use Digital Technologies to disrupt their business and market.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit;">Another case in point is automotive sector. Indian automotive companies are rightly focused on improving products & securing sales in a competitive market. Recently we heard a news that an automotive company partnered with leading taxi aggregator service. What we do not hear, unlike in rest of the world, is Hybrid/Electric vehicles, Self driving cars/trucks, Connected system, Drones, Next Gen Mobility etc. These disruptions are bound to shift the most value adding link in entire value-chain away from traditional automotive companies, chipping away their differentiation and margins.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Indian corporates are good in responding to competitive pressures with clever tweaks on existing markets and products. Unfortunately, they are not investing on breaking the mold and taking disruptive bets. Many do not even have a defined Product Strategy to cater to both business and technology trends/shifts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Going forward, disruptive forces will bring fundamental shifts in several industries. Value chains will change, some industries may morph and others would cease to exist. Hence, Indian corporates need to be ambitious, spearhead disruptions and make future bets.</span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-61718509253710389862016-09-04T23:14:00.001+05:302016-09-04T23:15:31.507+05:30Know the Visionaries, Pragmatists & Conservatives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>If creating innovative products is hard, selling them is even harder. A B2B innovative product caters to either an implicit/un-met need OR a not-thought-of gain. In either case, selling it is an uphill task. Its quite similar to high-tech market development model as explained by Geoffery A. Moore. The model divides the customers majorly into Early Adopters (Visionaries), Early Majority (Pragmatists) and Late Majority (Conservatives).</i></div>
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When the customers are companies in B2B, segregating them in these boxes is not that straightforward. Companies have both good and lacking areas. For example, an Airline may be ahead in customer service but might be a laggard on operations side. A more pronounced segregation is seen inside a company. People in the company are from across the spectrum of Visionaries, Pragmatists and Conservative. And each contributes in their own way to effective running of an organisation:</div>
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<strong>Visionaries</strong>: These are enthusiasts, seek the radical improvement, can see the big picture and strategic opportunity. People like them are usually found wearing the hat of Innovation, R&D and Business Development. Usually, they hold budget to invest in new ideas but do not control big ticket purchase decisions.</div>
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<strong>Pragmatist</strong>: They form a big chunk in the organization. They look for quantified benefits, low risk, proven solutions and are comfortable with incremental improvements. These are Departmental heads in Operations, Marketing, Finance etc. They decide on big ticket purchases and their expectations can be different from that of visionaries.</div>
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<strong>Conservatives</strong>: They too are sizable. They always have the word of caution, prefer in-house development, worry about compatibility with existing systems and prefer convenience over performance. These usually come from support departments like IT, Procurement, Administration and others, but are also found in line departments. They can influence and delay big ticket purchases.</div>
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Similar to market development model of Geoffery A. Moore, there is a chasm between Visionaries and Pragmatists. A buy-in from visionary can get you a pilot phase, a foot in the door. But for the big-ticket purchase and company-wide deployment, buy-in from Pragmatists becomes the key.</div>
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To cross the chasm, its important to reach out to the Pragmatists early on to understand their expectations. And pick up a specific area to solve on an industrial scale. This may narrow down the scope, but then Rome was not built in a day. A pragmatist buy-in becomes a strong reference in that market segment.</div>
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There is no one size fits all when it comes to bringing innovation to market. Knowing your Visionaries, Pragmatists and Conservatives does help and feeds into a sound product and market strategy.</div>
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</div>
Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-80156471775523883832016-08-01T14:27:00.002+05:302016-08-01T14:27:51.453+05:30'Fail Fast', a catchphrase that can fail you<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mantras and catch-phrases dominate the management lexicon these days. Consultants, thought leaders and experts use it to condense ideas and popularize them. Business leaders pick it up and go gung-ho with it in their organizations. Before one knows it, catch-phrases start getting applied in literal sense, overshadowing common sense at times... until the next catchphrase arrives.</span></em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Jhd8guOO7QmVt2Ue9oPdKvoCIKlPs5QWIkneCtKM2mgTeYTL-toKHMJ-dEYfTulFnZXACTXQmaCPxOtvljFf8GZ04wEi6Os6TN_78QeAVMy9Mwb10vDBoQht-RNyxIXmNZLiLCwGVyYA/s1600/Failfast_Ashu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Jhd8guOO7QmVt2Ue9oPdKvoCIKlPs5QWIkneCtKM2mgTeYTL-toKHMJ-dEYfTulFnZXACTXQmaCPxOtvljFf8GZ04wEi6Os6TN_78QeAVMy9Mwb10vDBoQht-RNyxIXmNZLiLCwGVyYA/s640/Failfast_Ashu.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of such catchphrase is 'Fail Fast' used in combination with 'Fail Cheap', 'Succeed Faster' etc. However, its 'Fail Fast' that grabs attention the most. Its important to understand the circumstances 'Fail Fast' should not be applied.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">When perseverance is key, keep this catchphrase at bay. For example, while struggling with <strong>product-market fit</strong>, its tempting to drop ideas/projects if customer feedback is not very encouraging. Or when <strong>crossing the chasm</strong>, where a slow adoption rate may tempt to shelve the product. Or when working on <strong>innovation</strong>, which is not a linear journey but a winding road filled with conflicts and struggles.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">When working relationships are to be built. Imagine a company hires an individual/agency to <strong>partner on a new initiative</strong>. Things do not go well first six months. What does the company do? Fail the partner! And face the same issues all over again. When both the company and the partner are on a journey to something new, its important to communicate, empathize and invest in making the relationship work.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
But their are circumstances where 'Fail Fast' catchphrase is relevant. </div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">When experiments are required for problem solving. Or when iterations are required in Agile development. In these circumstances <strong>Fail Fast is to Learn Fast.</strong></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">When its required to galvanize a risk averse management to take on new initiatives without the fear of making mistakes. <strong>Fail Fast is to Bounce Back Fast </strong>for the management when mistakes are made.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-12452313468117207312016-07-02T14:17:00.001+05:302016-07-02T14:19:16.736+05:30AI for Business Simplified<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is AI? How can it affect my business and industry? What can I do with AI? </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></em>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">AI is hot and happening these days. Investment activity is high. The research in AI is finding its way into real-life applications. Corporates are waking up to it and are grappling with above questions. Having leveraged AI for business applications, my attempt here is to address above questions in plain language sans buzzwords.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">AI simply put is computers doing things normally done by human mind. Hence, by this definition, an AI ..: </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">Recognizes and understands like a human</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">AI technologies are attempting to provide computers the ability like human mind to recognize and understand unstructured inputs like handwritten inputs, natural language, audio, pictures, video and more. The application of these in real world are diverse:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Understand queries in natural language. Current popular applications are personal assistants like Siri, Cortana, Google Now. However, in future it will extend to work related queries 'Which fastener should I use for ....?' </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Extract valuable data/information from handwritten documents, audio and video for analysis. Eg: Handwritten records in regulated industries, Audio and video recordings of experts and executives, Customer feedback.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Automate management of unstructured data: Imagine an app that goes through all your pictures and videos, identifies the best moments and catalogues them in a timeline and makes a collage out of it. Or a software that organizes lifecycle data of a product/part (say car engine) from paper records and databases.</span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Social media and consumer tech companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Amazon are leading in such applications since they deal with natural language, pictures, audio & videos.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">Interacts/Responds like a human</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Enabling machine to converse like humans allows to automate human interaction and improve user experience.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Customer service, service desk, 'Help and FAQ' can be automated by using chatbots which can understand and respond to queries in natural language. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chatbots can be used for branding. A customer can actually talk to a brand. Eg: Barbie chatbot for interaction with kids.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chatbots can be your concierge and advisor: Eg: Book itinerary (flights, taxi, hotel) through chat. Organize and order your shopping. Advice on preparations for special occasions.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">Thinks like a human</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">AI technologies are adding self-learning power to computational power of machines so that they can rival humans in performing specialized tasks. The applications are diverse:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gaming: AI have been pitted against humans in Chess and Go. In future Gaming will include AI to make games more adaptive and engaging.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Driving: Driverless (Tesla, Google,..) and driving assistance (Porsche) vehicles are evolving rapidly.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Training/Assessment: Recently AI performed better when pitted against a fighter pilot in dog fight simulation. In future, one could imagine AI training humans at specific tasks and also assessing them. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Professional services: AI is automating the knowledge and analysis work in legal and financial world. UBS and Goldman Sachs are using AI for both employees and customers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Automation in IT industry: Many aspects of software development and testing can be automated with AI. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Healthcare: AI will participate/assist in diagnosis, treatment, nursing and follow-up. It will improve overall healthcare quality and reduce costs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shopping: AI will learn buying preferences over time and suggest relevant and interesting products. Will benefit both shoppers and retailers alike.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Entertainment: Insights into likes and dislikes of individuals and masses will help entertainment industry to put together better storylines and shows.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Security: AI technologies can learn about anti social elements, terrorists, criminals from past actions and investigations; and predict their behavior and next move.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Business decision making: Activities like processing data, mathematical analysis, applying frameworks, forecasting can be managed by AI. AI assistants to CXOs are a distinct possibility. And maybe an AI CEO in future. </span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">Creates like a human</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It has been argued that AI can emulate human creativity and art. AI can learn and produce beautiful music, painting, poetry etc.. Recently, Google's Magenta created a 90-second piano melody. The early attempts by AI are tad simple and imperfect but cannot be ignored by art world.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">Feels like a human (Self aware)</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is still far-off and in realm of science fiction. If it happens, mankind would have effectively spawned a new intelligent species. The implications of which would be far reaching and best left to imagination for now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">AI technologies & applications are expanding fast and will disrupt businesses, job profiles, our daily work and get more intertwined in our personal life.</span></div>
Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-67088416345627661512016-05-11T10:25:00.001+05:302016-05-11T10:50:06.280+05:30Servant Leader : paradoxical but effective leadership style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are well familiar with autocratic, participative and laissez-faire styles of leadership. They are considered to cover the entire spectrum from controlling to facilitating. Yet, there is another paradoxical approach beyond this spectrum, i.e. a Servant Leader.<br />
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Why do we need a Servant Leader? Are the familiar leadership styles not enough. To answer this, let's first understand the relevance of these familiar leadership styles:<br />
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<li>Autocratic leadership: Leader directs and controls the team. Role of every team member is clear and compliance is important to achieve the objective. Eg: Production, Construction, Military</li>
<li>Participative: The team also participates in the decision making. This works with knowledge workers who are self-motivated and eager to share their ideas. Eg: IT industry</li>
<li>Laissez-faire: The leader only offers guidance and support. The team members has complete freedom to decide and complete their work. This suits when working with highly skilled and experienced people who are independent. Eg: R&D, Innovation, Creativity works</li>
</ul>
Other leadership styles like transactional, bureaucratic etc.. also lie in the same spectrum.<br />
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There are two basic premise for above leadership styles.<br />
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<li>There is a team in place </li>
<li>The leader has some formal authority over the team.</li>
</ul>
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What if the above two premise are taken away? Imagine a situation when one needs to achieve an objective with people over whom he/she has no formal authority, who are in different departments, some of them are experts and some other department head themselves. Each having a day job and independent responsibilities. How does one lead then?<br />
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This is where Servant Leader comes in. A Servant Leader is outside the spectrum of above familiar leadership styles because he is the doer first. He/she does not control. Instead he/she inspires support and commitment based on the merit of what he proposes and his work.<br />
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Based on my personal experience, servant Leader is very effective in following conditions:<br />
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<li>The objective is novel and ambitious</li>
<li>Uncertainty in how to achieve the objective</li>
<li>Requires specialised knowledge and expertise.</li>
<li>The team to achieve the objective constitutes other departments, experts and external partners</li>
<li>Team members have a day job and general lack of time to support outside their regular work</li>
</ul>
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In above conditions, 'leading by doing' works best. The leader gets access to specialised skillset and benefits from expert knowledge of team members. The team members would be more open to contribute without feeling burdened by extra work. The leader will still be in charge, anchoring the whole initiative and steering it. The team members will also act as ambassadors of the project and contribute to overall buy-in within and outside the organisation.<br />
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Servant Leader may sound paradoxical but it is very real and works. The usual management education portrays a leader who is sitting on top of his team, is autocratic or benevolent depending upon the situation and the team does the work. Turn this portrayal on its head and you get a Servant Leader who might be sitting at bottom or side of the team and leads by doing.</div>
Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-22033791830212707062016-04-09T19:59:00.003+05:302016-04-09T20:40:40.537+05:30Being Future ready (contd..): Making active and effective bets rather than passive ones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The previous post on ‘Being Future Ready’ discussed the approach to creating future bets and portfolio. In this post, we pick up from where we left off, i.e. making active bets rather than passive ones.</div>
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A technology bet is passive if its being researched and developed in a silo with no link to business and market. A bet on new business model or market segment is passive if its only being explored in powerpoint presentations and reports. Such passive bets are common to organisations with siloed and conventional way of working.</div>
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In contrast, an active bet has product/commercial applications and benefits in medium and short term (refer figure below). An active technology bet would see a launch of prototype/demo in short-term and the first product application over mid-term. An active bet on a new market or business model would have a pilot phase in short-term, followed by a commercial offering over mid-term.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vrejWiQO5NQnkmy908_2uS5CHxYtTtXKrRSCXM90kmSVZWHomQBSIL4PtysYF_0Kb2PsEK1V66lgRJk7kkc2UaVDHsdE7nINKQoR3_ab2XGW8W11W5GvNTZM2wu570urM3Eb6jzjiz1w/s1600/Active_bets.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vrejWiQO5NQnkmy908_2uS5CHxYtTtXKrRSCXM90kmSVZWHomQBSIL4PtysYF_0Kb2PsEK1V66lgRJk7kkc2UaVDHsdE7nINKQoR3_ab2XGW8W11W5GvNTZM2wu570urM3Eb6jzjiz1w/s640/Active_bets.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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For bets in unrelated areas (an unconnected market/industry or technologies), finding a partner is an apt approach. To evaluate and find a right partner in short-term and then work closely with the partner towards field/market test over mid-term. The partnership approach allows to access new capabilities, share risks and gain experience/expertise.</div>
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For a company with not so deep pockets, the partnership approach can be extended to core and adjacent areas. This would reduce investment requirements and allow to have a diverse portfolio of bets.</div>
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Active bets are easier said than done. It requires an organisation which is tuned to cross-functional, design thinking and agile way of working; collaboration with customers and external parties; and a positive disposition towards risk and failure. Even with best of intentions, it's the organisational readiness which becomes the constraint and an active bet may relegate into passive one.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-51209981462083588402016-03-11T15:33:00.000+05:302016-03-11T15:33:01.505+05:30Being Future ready: creating a Portfolio of Bets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">How does one prepare for the future business environment? What new markets will emerge? What kind of products and services will customers pay for? What technologies will disrupt the industry? What will disappear? What will become a commodity? And what will be the new high-margin and value adding areas in future?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Above questions are the key to long term business and product strategy of a company. So how does a company be future ready? There could be four approaches to it.</span></div>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Predict the future accurately and invest for it?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Invest in various potential futures scenarios?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Evolve as the future unfolds?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shape the future itself?</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, each of the above may not be sufficient in itself.</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As to first point, predicting the future has never been easy. A future is an outcome of complex interactions of several factors, some of which are known today and some are not. For every person who predicts the future correctly (and becomes famous), there are hundreds who get it wrong.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As to second point, creating several future scenarios is helpful. It improves the probability but still doesn’t guarantee success.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the third approach, it’s easy to apply but then the company remains a laggard, a follower, a second-best. It’s not a bad business strategy though. Not every company can be a leader.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fourth is a game-changing proposition, but need to be realistic if the company has the required resource and clout to shape the futue.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What could be a realistic and practical approach then? The recommended approach is to create a portfolio of future bets by leveraging the above four approaches. Each bet can be dropped or scaled up in response to business environment. And a dropped bet can be revisited if required.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Following are the three grounds for creating the future bets:</span></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Future scenario studies based on megatrends, customer shifts and other factors.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emerging or current hot topics so as to evolve with them.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Own strengths (technological or business). So that company can shape a future where the strength will give a competitive advantage.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGgvO4tdGr7Zd0OusexA8B6ewbCOboRz7oP5pOrTDrqYwj-DfHeZfP2uq7OdDTub1RgL8QpJ-Eisl8A-rn68CksOlM8wq0pNX1v7mQRgxMYMlVqME5FgKRVcS3R_v8TaQmDRT4wmFJuC_/s1600/Futurebets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGgvO4tdGr7Zd0OusexA8B6ewbCOboRz7oP5pOrTDrqYwj-DfHeZfP2uq7OdDTub1RgL8QpJ-Eisl8A-rn68CksOlM8wq0pNX1v7mQRgxMYMlVqME5FgKRVcS3R_v8TaQmDRT4wmFJuC_/s400/Futurebets.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Number and size of such bets would also depend on how deep the pockets are of a company.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But what does a company with not so deep pockets can do about it? How to make Active bets rather than just Passive bets? Well… that would be the topic for my next post.</span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-81401231485510038412016-02-07T20:08:00.003+05:302016-02-07T20:29:23.157+05:30To Pivot, or not to Pivot...that is the question!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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'Pivot' implies strategic course correction. Its perhaps the most challenging decision for both startups and corporate innovation projects. Both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs go through this dilemma some or other time. The dilemma is exacerbated when the situation do not seem that bad but is also not getting any better.</div>
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To make a good pivot decision, lets understand its business impact areas. From my experience, there are three distinct areas of Pivot:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">Customer: A pivot decision may involve changing the customer segment itself. Eg: Selling it to an intermediary rather than to end consumer, Moving from B2C to B2B,.. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Value offering: A pivot decision would be to rethink the offering to customer. Offerings generally evolve based on customer feedback. But sometimes one may have to change the offering completely. Eg: Selling platform rather than the content on it. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Technology: The technology behind the offering may have to be changed sometimes. This is perhaps the most common pivot decision and logical to arrive at compared to the above two.</li>
</ul>
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Pivots are necessary to identify the right approach to grow the business, whether its a startup or corporate business development. </div>
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However, its the cost of Pivot that discourage people from doing it. How can we reduce the cost of Pivot? How can we take a peek in the future post Pivot?<br />
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<ul>
<li>One way to reduce the cost is to develop MVPs (Minimum Viable Product). Building an MVP over an existing product does not cost much. Sometimes MVP can be a mockup with less automation and more manual backend support. MVPs can be used to get feedback from new customers, get feedback on a new offering and/or a new technology. </li>
<li>Also to reduce cost, Pivot needs to applied judiciously. It cannot be a blind exploration exercise or a leap of faith. To identify potential Pivot opportunities, a value mapping exercise on paper is useful, followed by taking the feedback from the customer. Its important to clarify with the customer his willingness to pay for proposed product/service.</li>
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Another hurdle for Pivot is more of human nature. To love one's ideas so much so to not consider Pivot as an option. I will not call it as human weakness because such passion is required for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to succeed. Its the role of mentors then to help them see the reason and guide them. <br />
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To Pivot, or not to Pivot?.. Is not a reactive approach, but a proactive question that needs to be asked from time to time, especially when in predicament by flat-lining sales/profit and a mediocre situation.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-4398532864448873152016-01-03T17:59:00.000+05:302016-01-03T20:07:01.743+05:30B2B Marketing: transitioning from Messaging to Dialogue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A customers needs supplier as much as a supplier needs customer. Yet, the process of discovering each other is fraught with pitfalls. Having experienced B2B buying cycle from both sides (supplier and customer), its insightful to see how the information asymmetry impacts the success of B2B marketing. The customer has the information of its needs(both explicit and implicit). Gaining this insight and closing the information asymmetry is key to the success of a B2B supplier/company. </div>
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A B2B company instead relies on one-way messaging to customers and closes the information asymmetry other way around. In Push marketing stage, a company is busy advertising its offering and same messaging is carried over in Pull marketing when dealing with queries from customers. Emphasis is on expanding the media mix to include blogs, social media, conferences and others. But the nature and content doesn't change, often to maintain 'consistency' in marketing messages.</div>
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The way to gain information symmetry is to enter into a Dialogue with customer. To pick the brains of the customers, to seek their views, to brainstorm with them and to be genuinely interested in understanding their needs. Opportunities for dialogue can be created within push and pull marketing stages. For example, instead of highlighting product features at a conference, storytell a future vision and how is your company contributing to it. When customer reaches out with queries, try to meet him (not as salesman but) as a fellow professional to offer guidance. Rather than just posting messages, use social media to start a dialogue.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYnE_c33c2UhbnQg6HcEqB3KfWxvFByOWiCh9F1nW2pwH1DQw_xcRBPZ5fjcUxEnUgHad7DXS7V3gsiARhuSAqbHAcc6ykWEZeue6LLA4lYEANyQLyeJ5NjBzGfqJHIudj6iJ82BSV-CZ/s1600/B2BDialogue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYnE_c33c2UhbnQg6HcEqB3KfWxvFByOWiCh9F1nW2pwH1DQw_xcRBPZ5fjcUxEnUgHad7DXS7V3gsiARhuSAqbHAcc6ykWEZeue6LLA4lYEANyQLyeJ5NjBzGfqJHIudj6iJ82BSV-CZ/s400/B2BDialogue.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I would conclude by citing an outcome from <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/how_b2b_companies_talk_past_their_customers" target="_blank">McKinsey study on B2B companies</a>. The top quality that is appreciated most by customers (700 global executives) is 'Cares about honest, open dialogue with its customers and society'. And surprisingly, the above quality was missing in brand messaging of surveyed B2B companies. </div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-74477165206833867662015-12-06T16:47:00.000+05:302015-12-06T17:17:17.430+05:30The Digital boost to the Business: A practical approach<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Business are looking at Digital as a mean to drive revenues, efficiencies and competitive advantage. 'Digital' could mean different things for different people. For some, its about digitisation and mobile devices. For others its Cloud, IoT and Data Analytics. Digital is not IT. The discussion on Digital is often skewed towards a narrow set to technologies. Instead, the starting point should be the business and then comes the technologies that can be leveraged.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyVcpgTDJYAfg-WL52SwXVU8RuDZ1ypdnztIrWSWCAS_eMJ0rBDGktUI0TmL3rdcj3xFSxJN_8vJjl5EujHDyabElfRd-_aAcDcmaFXq6ucpBH4nb7ctpfItYYAooyRTWx9MeQEFVOMak/s1600/DigitalBusiness.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyVcpgTDJYAfg-WL52SwXVU8RuDZ1ypdnztIrWSWCAS_eMJ0rBDGktUI0TmL3rdcj3xFSxJN_8vJjl5EujHDyabElfRd-_aAcDcmaFXq6ucpBH4nb7ctpfItYYAooyRTWx9MeQEFVOMak/s640/DigitalBusiness.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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A straightforward approach would be to divide the business into following areas and then frame the digital initiatives:</div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Customer Offerings</b>:</span> Digital can be a game changer in terms of how a business designs its offerings and serves its customers. </div>
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An entire new line of product based services can be enabled by digital initiatives. There are examples of a water purifier company selling pure water remotely. Consumers can buy the pure water just like a prepaid talktime on mobile. </div>
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Sensors, Digital Material Technology (MIT) and others can improve the physical products itself. </div>
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Various digital technology enablers include Big Data, IoT, Analytics, Augmented Reality, UAVs, Digital Materials and so on...</div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Processes</b>:</span> Digital innovations can improve effectiveness of processes like design, supply chain, production, maintenance, financial, marketing, HR and administrative. </div>
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Production can benefit from IoT, 3D printing, AR, Wearables, and Robotics based solutions.</div>
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Supply chain can benefit from Tracking and Analytics solutions.</div>
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Fintech is an emerging area. Serious Gaming, AR, VR and Virtual Simulation technologies can benefit training and design processes. Marketing can benefit from social media analytics, mobility and animation technologies.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Decision Making</span></b><span style="color: #f1c232;">:</span> Digital can help make decision making at all levels of management more objective and data driven. </div>
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Data visualisation and analytics is a common thrust area. Social media technologies help management keep an ear to ground and also communicate better.</div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-weight: bold;">Infrastructure: </span>Digitalising the infrastructure allows the company to get more out of its fixed investments, be it buildings, equipment or IT. </div>
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Smart buildings save money. Digital solutions enable predictive maintenance which can improve equipment productivity. IT infrastructure can expand its horizons to data lakes, remote sharing and connectivity, contextual search, mobility to give the digital edge to organisational working.</div>
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Digital initiatives in above areas can be at both departmental level and corporate level. Coherence and synergies between them can be ensured by transparency and open interaction across departments. A core central team can also help coordinate and facilitate such initiatives.</div>
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Lastly, there is a behavioural aspect to this topic. There is no ready template for digital business or digital initiatives that a business can simply adopt and implement. Its innovation driven and an intrapreneur skillsets are required to conceive and implement digital initiatives in an organisation.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-47814568576800672642015-10-16T16:39:00.002+05:302015-10-19T13:17:13.398+05:30Indian Aviation: Lifts & Drags<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Indian Aviation is gaining global attention with the potential it holds. It is fastest growing and 3rd largest in absolute number of passenger growth. Billionaires growth rate of 20% indicates the potential for corporate aviation. The huge gap in flights per capita (4 times less than China and 40 times less than US) is another indicator of unrealised potential.</div>
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<span style="color: #e69138;">The 'Lift' that Indian Aviation is experiencing is more due to favourable econometric factors.</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Growing GDP and GDP/capita</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Income distribution moving towards to middle and high income groups</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Young demographics and increasing working population</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Increasing urbanisation</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Downward trend in inflation adjusted travel cost due to competition driven efficiencies</span></li>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">However, story of Indian Aviation is also of missed opportunities. It missed out on using geographic advantage of India to become a major hub for East-West connectivity in 1990s. More than half of the revenues of foreign travel in & out of India is with foreign players rather than with Indian operators. India also lost out on becoming MRO hub to smaller countries in neighbourhood. India constitutes just about 1% of Global MRO market. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138;">The 'Drags' on the Indian Aviation are due to policy and structural issues.</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #e69138;">High fuel cost compared to global prices due to taxes (excise, sales tax). Hence, airlines in India are saddled with higher fuel cost compared to their global counterparts.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">5/20 rule (International operations only after 5 years of domestic operations and 20 aircrafts fleet). This rule delayed the airlines in India spreading their wings globally. Only few large airlines operate internationally. </span><span style="color: #e69138;">And the rule stifles new entrants with ambitious growth plans. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">Unattractive incentives for route dispersal to remote and unprofitable hubs. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">Lack of low cost airports. Lack of alternate airports in busy hubs. For example, Bangalore is not allowed to have its old airport as an alternate airport for domestic LCC. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">High tax burden on MRO operations.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">Inadequate FBOs for General Aviation.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #e69138;">Non Acceptance of Bio jet fuel for aviation. Biojet fuel can cut both costs and emissions. In addition, it will stimulate growth in biofuel segment which has links to rural economy.</span></li>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The above issues stem from years of Govt. indifference to aviation. Aviation unfortunately has been considered transport of elite and its stimulating effect on economy has been ignored. Aviation can speed up the business exchange, goods movement, tourism and overall economic growth. Today commercial aviation caters to a middle class citizen for both leisure and business travel. </span><br />
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Even if we were to take the corporate aviation which is used by business heads, it helps them save 20% of time compared to commercial airlines and enable them to visit remote places at their convenience. Thats a huge improvement in their productivity and connectivity which translates into faster decision making and business growth.</div>
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In India, Aviation is a major employer and supports 1.7 million jobs. Globally, aviation contributes to 3.5% of Global GDP, but in India it contributes just about 1.5%. The 'Lift' from the favourable econometric factors presents an opportunity to derive substantial economic benefit and create jobs provided the 'Drags' are addressed. Or else, it would again become another of many missed opportunities.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Data sources: Airbus, IATA, Frost & Sullivan</span></i></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-47373477752010944492015-08-30T17:40:00.001+05:302015-08-30T20:02:56.347+05:30Framework for Trans-national R&D strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Multinational companies generally tend to have R&D concentrated at their parent company location. Having a closed setup in one place has its obvious advantages in terms of better coordination, efficiency and information security. </div>
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However, multinationals do want to break the mould and connect with and learn from broader ecosystem around the world. The approach though has been more or less ad-hoc,</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">captive centres to fulfill an offset obligation or for access to cost effective talent</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">sponsoring research in relevant areas </li>
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Some multinationals just do it since other are doing the same. </div>
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A more structured and strategic approach can not only deliver operational benefits but can also build competitive advantage. This blog post would highlight a strategic approach to R&D setup and partnerships in different regions of the world.</div>
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A regional R&D strategy would be aligned and in sync with corporate and R&D strategy of the company. And it would have following three objectives as its corner stones:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Leverage strengths of the geographic region</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Provide advantage over competition</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Build strategic relations/assets for the company in that region</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGzbqKyGZ0sAieehOd2ueSm52dP5S2KJl_yNUBVtSHC3WqvUYUAn2kVGaiSKEMNo9_WBCKcvjFutXS_1GKxN-g4K8PYa0DkXrdWc_fjy7DvLLOuwe0SMq9S7KUC7pptTM9YS7lZJcht8z/s1600/RnD_Partnership.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGzbqKyGZ0sAieehOd2ueSm52dP5S2KJl_yNUBVtSHC3WqvUYUAn2kVGaiSKEMNo9_WBCKcvjFutXS_1GKxN-g4K8PYa0DkXrdWc_fjy7DvLLOuwe0SMq9S7KUC7pptTM9YS7lZJcht8z/s640/RnD_Partnership.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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To build the above strategy, a broad based research would be required covering various aspects of the given region. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R4J35r0Qpyp0NEVdm-wKLf4SufJs5K4D3yZExyJ7MflOWlS_4ij2epmhNF09ybrjeEtvbCO-US6NB2PTD_oGbg9k_69Q536MWNFgdbqCbQzNOPMhCA-smXCqYhlKv2F0xBJgXbFl-Q_-/s1600/Research+areas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R4J35r0Qpyp0NEVdm-wKLf4SufJs5K4D3yZExyJ7MflOWlS_4ij2epmhNF09ybrjeEtvbCO-US6NB2PTD_oGbg9k_69Q536MWNFgdbqCbQzNOPMhCA-smXCqYhlKv2F0xBJgXbFl-Q_-/s640/Research+areas.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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To analyse the research data and derive meaningful insights, one could use a matrix layout to analyse and rank on multiple criteria. The outcome of the analysis has to be actionable insights related to the three corner stones mentioned above.</div>
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However, a strategy is never complete with an executable plan. Following framework is a good tool to derive and communicate the action plan.</div>
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For many companies, decision for expanding R&D outside home location is driven by operational and obligational considerations. However, companies gain to benefit more by treating it as a strategic move and putting more thought and diligence behind it.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-5639000351637118422015-08-09T18:49:00.000+05:302015-08-12T20:27:09.962+05:30Emerging Hyper-local Aggregation markets and startups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Aggregation model of business brings various sellers and buyers on a common platform. Flipkart, Snapdeal, Redbus, MakemyTrip and many more companies have since matured the aggregation model and grown in both valuations and scale of operations.</div>
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These aggregators sacrificed profitability to build market share. The nascent e-commerce market and sluggish economy only added to their woes. Soon the long term sustainability of aggregator model came under questioning. But interestingly, the aggregator model is only picking up pace, now in its new avtaar of Hyper-local Aggregation.</div>
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New startups have cropped up who are aggregating at the local level of a city or even a neighbourhood. <a href="http://www.bigbasket.com/" target="_blank">Big Basket</a> is delivering locally sourced groceries at one's doorstep. <a href="http://www.foodpanda.in/" target="_blank">FoodPanda</a>, <a href="http://www.tinyowl.com/" target="_blank">TinyOwl</a>, <a href="http://www.delyver.com/" target="_blank">Delyver</a> are delivering food from nearby restaurants. And new players like <a href="http://www.grofers.com/" target="_blank">Grofers</a> are delivering from your trusted shops in the neighbourhood. Then there is <a href="http://www.practo.com/" target="_blank">Practo</a> who helps locate and rank doctors locally. <a href="http://experiences.seeksherpa.com/" target="_blank">SeekSherpa</a> aggregates local people who provide tours with real local flavour.</div>
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The urban lifestyle is fuelling the demand for such hyper local aggregators. A typical urban consumer has disposable income but not time. They look for convenience and tend to buy experience. It's not the lack of demand but the poor service delivery which can hurt a hyper local aggregator startup. Cracks are already showing up; Cab drivers do not show up, Food orders get cancelled, Low quality vegetables delivered, not enough SKUs. </div>
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Another area of concerns is scale. Can these hyper local aggregators scale up and become unicorns? Or would their growth stabilize at a smaller scale. Unlike Flipkart and likes, these startups are not nationwide. The only way to grow in scale is to replicate their business model in as many cities as possible.</div>
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Nevertheless, its encouraging to see new sprouts of economic activity at local levels and should be nurtured. And with creative offerings of these young startups, its certainly interesting times ahead for urban consumer.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-48032323228011728082015-06-28T15:01:00.001+05:302015-06-28T15:18:48.558+05:30Business-model Innovation driven by Emerging Technologies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Business model innovation can disrupt markets over a short period. It can expand markets, reduce costs and even change the competition landscape.<br />
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Examples of business model innovation tends to be around clever bundling, pricing, consumer financing and sales channels. However, the purpose of this post is to highlight how emerging technologies have enabled business model innovation.</div>
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<li>A good case in point is Insurance. Connected Vehicle technologies have allowed insurers to provide custom insurance solutions based on vehicle usage and driving patterns/behaviour. </li>
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<li>IoT (Internet of Things) and Data Analytics are driving Product to Service model. Companies are now connecting to their product remotely and selling the service delivered by the product. For example, iBot Inc (<a href="http://www.iamibot.com/">www.iamibot.com/</a>) is working with water purifier makers to sell pure drinking water.</li>
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<li>The traditional manufacturing business model of scale and specialisation is bound to lose its competitive edge to 3D printing. 3D printing technologies can manufacture far more intricate and variety of shapes (Eg: bionic designs), and allow manufacturing to be more decentralised, democratized and viable at small scale. </li>
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<li>Recently, many technologies have emerged to reduce the size of video and CAD files without compromising the quality. These lightweight media technologies can now enable more cloud hosted and remote delivery business models. For example, specialized training (involving virtual simulation and walk-through) can move out from specially equipped facilities to remote portable devices.</li>
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<li>Emerging mobile technologies are disrupting the website based business models. Today consumers spend far more time on their smartphones and apps. But that's not the only reason why e-commerce companies are betting on mobile platforms. Mobile platforms bring more engaging technologies like searching that coveted dress with just its picture, indoor navigation and assistance in a store, virtual reality based envisioning tools and others. </li>
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R&D and Engg. tend to focus more on product and process innovation. Business model innovation is more strategic and needs top leadership commitment. Hence, new entrants and small companies are often ahead in implementing it while large players struggle with internal approvals and bureaucracy. </div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-17336701305942565732015-05-03T10:23:00.000+05:302015-05-03T11:40:08.331+05:30Startups and Corporates: How Goliaths are shaking hands with Davids<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Big corporates have realised the need to engage with start-ups for various reasons:</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">Access to new technologies to feed into R&D pipeline</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Access to solutions for improving operations and product differentiation</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Find new B2B customers and catch them young.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Talent attraction and retention</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Attractive investment ROIs</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">‘Speed To Innovation’ </li>
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Engaging with start-ups has its own challenges. The expectations of startups and their timelines are vastly different from those of established companies. The traditional partnership or vendor-supplier models do not fit here. Following are the emerging engagement models:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Incubator</span></b>: This model is used by corporates to engage with early stage start-ups. The start-ups have an idea, skillset to execute and a working prototype in some cases. Companies incubate the start-ups if the ideas are relevant to the business and provide funds, resources and mentors (both business and technical). The engagement duration is long, about 2-4 years. The successful start-up is either acquired or the start-up team is acqui-hired. This model is more popular with investor communities and industry bodies.</div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Accelerator</b></span>: This model is used to engage with later stage start-ups. These start-ups would have a working product/solution and a customer base. An accelerator is a 5-6 months structured program in which start-ups are given space, facilities (equipment, internet, food etc..), funding, mentorship and access to customers. Towards the end of the time-bound program, the corporate has to select the startups and decide on how to leverage/assimilate the outcome. If start-ups adapt their product to corporate's needs (also called pivoting), then they are invested in. A graduation day marks the end of the program and the start-ups are showcased in front of the industry and investor community. </div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Partnerships</b></span>: The above models are structured programs. However, corporates can choose to go for a flexible and open model. The start-up community is regularly scanned in areas relevant to the company. Relevant start-ups are reached out to for further discussions and partnership. In this model, compared to the earlier two models, there is limited opportunity to mould the start-ups to suit corporate needs. The model works fine if the start-ups are potential product/service providers to the corporate.</div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Strategic Investments</b></span>: Some start-ups are matured, of high value with high potential to impact the corporate's industry. These start-ups do not need the incubation or acceleration. These are companies of future. Corporates make large investment and pick up equity in them so to enjoy high rate of return and also to remain plugged-in in their development and exercise influence. Also, it lends prestige and visibility as corporates are seen as technology leaders who are thinking ahead.</div>
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The start-up ecosystem is highly dynamic and belies the standards/norms that big corporates are used to. Engaging start-ups demands resources and time of the organisation. With start-up ecosystem expanding by leaps and bounds, the huge money pouring in and skyrocketing valuations, no corporate can ignore it. The corporates who have been running structured engagements are open to sharing their experience and resources. The newcomes need to leverage the same while formulating their approach.</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-78955245703864229532015-03-31T19:34:00.003+05:302015-03-31T20:36:42.806+05:30Startups and Corporates: How Davids are raising stakes for Goliaths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">This post is a precursor to the next one 'Startups and Corporates: How Goliaths are shaking hands with Davids'. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit;">Democratisation of Research & Product Development</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Earlier, New Product Development used to be expensive and hence only big corporates with deep pockets and research agencies were the main R&D centres. With time, new R&D areas and inexpensive ways of working emerged, allowing a person to access and work on cutting edge technologies from comfort of his/her home.</span></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Software simulations reduced cost and time. One can simulate a complete physical system and run countless simulations at no incremental cost. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Software itself became driver for new inventions. Hardware coded functionalities gave way to software coded functionalities. Eg: Software defined radio</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fabrication became inexpensive with 3D printing. No need for elaborate setup of lathe, 5 axes milling machines etc. One can now order Metal/Plastic printed parts over internet and get them delivered at the doorstep. Going forward even electronics will be 3D printed.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Open Source has revolutionized access to high end technology. From hardware to software, open source has made them inexpensive and readily available. Eg: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, OpenCV, Octave etc. (visit <a href="http://tindie.com/">tindie.com</a> for various open source hardware)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With above developments, R&D is no longer an exclusive club. It is now open and democratised allowing anyone and everyone to participate. For instance, in the field of Augmented Reality, alongside big brand devices like Google Glass, MS HoloLens and Epson Moverio, there are also devices from Start-ups like Oculus, Magic Leap, InfinityAR, Meta, i2i and others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Technology start-ups have mushroomed who are developing new products alongside corporates. And there is no dearth of Angel & VC money to scale them up. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit;">Splintering/Unbundling of Value Chain</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Large organisations cover large segments of value chain. And organisations tend to integrate vertically or horizontally to grow. With size, comes the rigidity and constraints. Large organisations are slow in closing performance gaps and addressing new market opportunities. And these become white spaces for startups to enter. Potentially, a large segment of value chain can be split into small segments, each being served by a start-up. This trend is visible in several industries. A good example is logistics industry where the value chain has been splintered by several start-ups. Refer <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/startups-disrupting-fedex-ups/" style="text-align: left;">https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/startups-disrupting-fedex-ups/</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another example is Home Delivery for food items. Delivery at door step is a segment of value chain which is integral part of PizzaHut, Dominos etc. They have long advertised their home </span>delivery<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to differentiate </span>themselves<span style="font-family: inherit;">. But start-ups have emerged in this segment alone, collecting the food packets from the </span>restaurants<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and delivering it to doorsteps of the customer. The value chain segment of food </span>preparation<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and its delivery has been split into two and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">competition just got tougher. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Further, start-ups generally go after high margin and high growth business. Which naturally puts the squeeze on the high-margin value segments of large organisations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>In next post, the ways an organisation can address above challenges will be discussed. Stay tuned...</i></span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-3230339928954523432015-02-24T14:26:00.002+05:302015-02-24T14:35:20.418+05:30Innovation Multiplier: Building on other Innovation & Invention Bricks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Innovation multiplier is something quite obvious to me. Yet, I am writing on this because I have seen several ideas and prototypes which do not leverage this simple concept.</div>
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Many attempts at Innovation start with the technology or concept with which the idea owner is comfortable with. He/she ignores what is state of art in both technology and does not incorporate the same. As a result, the demonstrator or MVP fails to 'Wow' the audience and investors.</div>
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For instance, an idea around Augmented Reality using cameras which use the older technology of depth sensing. It constrained the form factor and the quality of the results. </div>
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A solution deployment proposal still leveraging the big black server boxes when the small and sleek computer sticks would suffice.</div>
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Same goes for business approach as well. Ideas built on older business assumptions are bound to have average market success and find poor traction with investors. For instance, a detailed proposal on a B2B solution attempting to build an industry data standard for entry barrier. But today when the data can be easily converted into different formats and shared across platforms, creating a data standard would be a futile exercise.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWhy0mo_-rN2HdDVYqpdYmzzXYVi4dEd7dVp6MJjSSBnz2YmOCo2K0BiZqZfsXaSh9cPzNCM_sp0XOvibqzsfz_GtggT_PpvM6oQpbKlbzGSIT9BCtMErAUU6cNl59p2s3ePK_0Mo1F9a/s1600/Innovation+Bricks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWhy0mo_-rN2HdDVYqpdYmzzXYVi4dEd7dVp6MJjSSBnz2YmOCo2K0BiZqZfsXaSh9cPzNCM_sp0XOvibqzsfz_GtggT_PpvM6oQpbKlbzGSIT9BCtMErAUU6cNl59p2s3ePK_0Mo1F9a/s1600/Innovation+Bricks.png" height="222" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">An innovation should leverage all the leading (state of the art) technological and business developments. Even if the underlying technology bricks are yet to mature. Technologies are maturing very fast today, especially when their is a specific business application. And in worst case, its always easy to scale down on technology rather than scaling up.</span></div>
Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-35556600259501629812014-12-30T19:38:00.002+05:302014-12-30T20:23:30.186+05:30Frugal Discovery mode to decode Emerging markets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In general, companies take a linear approach to launch new products and services. First comes the market research, then the forecasts, then the product R&D followed by a big-bang launch. This approach works fine for existing markets. But when it comes to emerging markets, such approach fails to deliver. And history is replete with such examples:</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">IBM PCjr (IBM much hyped PC for consumer market which failed on cost and features)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Apple Newton (Big bang launch of a product ahead of its time. With features for which market was not ready then.)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">HP's Kitty Hawk (Designed for emerging PDA market which collapsed. Meanwhile, missed out on huge market of video gaming systems)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Premier Smokeless Cigarettes (Launched when smoke was considered a major health risk, but the taste/flavor was rejected by the users)</li>
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The common thread in above and similar examples is that</div>
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<ol>
<li>Companies wade into uncharted territories solely based on their research & forecasts. Their efforts give them the confidence that they have figured out the unknowable/uncertain emerging market. </li>
<li>And they put huge money, resources and execution capacity behind the launch. This big bet launch gives them little financial room later to turn back and correct course. The managers leading the launch also hurt their credibility.</li>
</ol>
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For uncharted territories, the suggested approach is to use a <b>Discovery</b> mode for the first point above and combine it with <b>Frugal</b> approach to address the second point.</div>
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The framework below explains when the Frugal Discovery mode is relevant.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOttpfIqIq-LLWvPpC66tE7XmEs3uoISLvJwl_Md9_pf_YIyfQhHIyJqUMFiqEhSZeTUPewVriIO6ru_ukcN4cmIpNhkI91lVivu7L7JN2UqihtbOYDOylQnzDlULmlaa2-exhYitlTWC/s1600/framework2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOttpfIqIq-LLWvPpC66tE7XmEs3uoISLvJwl_Md9_pf_YIyfQhHIyJqUMFiqEhSZeTUPewVriIO6ru_ukcN4cmIpNhkI91lVivu7L7JN2UqihtbOYDOylQnzDlULmlaa2-exhYitlTWC/s1600/framework2.png" height="436" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Discovery mode is required when:</div>
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<li>Customers do not know what they want. The need is yet to be created/perceived.</li>
<li>A company is not sure what customers want. Though the company may rely on its market forecasts. But the actual use may be out of their research radar.</li>
</ul>
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It takes time for consumers to warm up to new product/service features. And to better understand their own needs w.r.t. to given product/service. Discovery mode allows exploration and learning to both company and its customers. </div>
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And being Frugal in discovery mode helps to:</div>
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<li>Conserve resources for second or even third attempt at getting the product strategy right. Companies tend to do the opposite by opening the full tap and going gung-ho with full scale implementation in the first attempt.</li>
<li>In discovery mode, iterations may happen even in commercialization phase on product design and manufacturing capacity. And since such iterations are later in product development lifecycle, they are going to be costly. Hence, it helps to be frugal from the beginning.</li>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Be frugal, make limited prototypes, test market and iterate. Customers will also learn what they actually want and new customer segments might emerge. </span><br />
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Many companies are now looking beyond their traditional markets towards emerging markets to drive growth. And to do that, they would need to move beyond the traditional approach of big bang launches with know-it-all attitude to a more humble, frugal and discoverer approach. </div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-91265895178985213012014-11-16T21:58:00.000+05:302014-11-25T17:49:15.594+05:30Organisational-level Strategies towards New/Emerging markets & Disruptive products<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the last post, several organisational-level constraints were discussed which impede entering new/emerging markets and launch of disruptive products. In this post, the strategies to overcome these constraints are discussed. There is no one-size-fits-all and each strategy caters to specific conditions and challenges. These conditions and challenges can be both Market based or Operations based.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-g_Jl0XQufX5CzMA7eNrGwqQAsxq9L8MGTYE4JehpOc-LdZ_mTCaPVwQEG9or86F2r-44643Y4Mtw23-IojFjYtxaDeEVYL0cL11QrU_oLSSxoldm45cyJ9Ca57cvcaH9pWzPK2G3xnHh/s1600/OperationsnMarket.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-g_Jl0XQufX5CzMA7eNrGwqQAsxq9L8MGTYE4JehpOc-LdZ_mTCaPVwQEG9or86F2r-44643Y4Mtw23-IojFjYtxaDeEVYL0cL11QrU_oLSSxoldm45cyJ9Ca57cvcaH9pWzPK2G3xnHh/s1600/OperationsnMarket.png" height="320" width="318" /></a></div>
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And the strategy would constitute designing an organisation which best fits the given Market & Operational conditions.</div>
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<b>Strategy: Acquire & Maintain Autonomy</b><br />
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This strategy implies acquiring the target organisation (which offers a potential disruptive product for an emerging market). And to keep this organisation insulated from the influence of parent organisation's systems and processes. This strategy will be suitable in following conditions:<br />
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Market conditions:<br />
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<ul>
<li>If the target customers are going to be different from existing customer base. </li>
<li>If the initial market size is going to be much lower than that of existing offerings.</li>
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Operational conditions: </div>
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<ul>
<li>If the cost structure are going to be different. Especially, if the margins are going to be lower.</li>
<li>The technical inclination & competencies to develop the product are not available internally.</li>
<li>The product development process is different from that of parent organisation.</li>
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<b>Strategy: Spin-out and give Autonomy</b><br />
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This strategy is similar to above with a difference that the external organisation is a spin-out rather than an acquisition.<br />
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The market conditions for this strategy remains same as that mentioned for the previous acquisition strategy. An external autonomous organisation is suitable to address a different market size and customers.<br />
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With regards to operational aspects, this strategy is applicable if the disruptive product is being developed in-house. But the operational conditions required to deliver the product are in contrast with that of organisation's.<br />
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<li>The cost structure and margins are going to be different from that of existing products.</li>
<li>The product development process needs to be different from that of parent organisation.</li>
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<b>Strategy: Ring-fencing to create an Unit inside Parent Organisation</b><br />
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This strategy implies creating a near-autonomous organisational unit in the parent organisation. This unit will derive its resources from parent organisation but will have operational independence.<br />
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The strategy works if the target market conditions are going to be a close match to that of parent's organisation.<br />
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<li>The target customers for the disruptive product are a close match to existing customer base. </li>
<li>The initial market size is not going to differ much from that of existing offerings.</li>
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Ring-fencing is required to address the differences in following operational conditions from that of parent organisation.</div>
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<ul>
<li>The cost structure is going to be different. Especially when the margins are going to be lower.</li>
<li>The required product development process is different from that of parent organisation.</li>
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It of less consequence whether the product idea is in-house or externally acquired.<br />
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Another variant of above strategy is<b> Ring-fencing to create an Unit inside a Function</b></div>
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If there is not much difference in operational aspects, then creating a near-autonomous unit inside a function is good enough to address the difference in market conditions.<br />
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In case, if the disruptive product is an offshoot of core products of the organisation, has similar cost structure, but has a different target market. In such a case, creating a focused marketing and sales team will be enough to enter the new market.<br />
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<b>Strategy: Acquire & Integrate</b><br />
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This strategy is safe to use if an external disruptive product idea requires similar operational conditions and market conditions as that of parent organisation.<br />
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Various strategies are summarized below in a framework.<br />
The y-axis refers to Market aspects like Target customers, Market size etc.<br />
The x-axis refers to Operational aspects like Cost Structures, Technical competencies, Product Development process etc..</div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7244584770378057689.post-67703622771718486212014-10-05T18:03:00.001+05:302014-11-11T20:31:18.194+05:30Organisation-level constraints on entering New/Emerging markets & launching Disruptive products<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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An organisation may have several new disruptive product and service ideas. But what matters is how the organisation takes those ideas forward. There are examples where an organisation was first to come up with an idea. But it was some other company which recognized the potential and invested in its development and market launch. As you may be aware, the digital camera was first invented in Kodak!</div>
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Why does it happen that a successful organisation which has a great portfolio of products ideas, lose out to others who arrive late in market with similar products. Is it because of the people in that successful organisation or the processes or the culture or because of its customers?</div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">__Existing product/service offerings defines an organisation in terms of the cost structure, profit margins, market size and customer segments. Any organisation cannot change its cost structure overnight, especially to one with lower overheads and thinner margins. Hence, there is a tendency to support product ideas which promise higher margins and are in line with existing cost structure.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">__Similarly, when it comes to taking market feedback for product ideas, the sales and marketing personnel reach out to existing customer base. Though the product ideas may be more suitable for an entirely different and emerging market. Since, the existing offerings serve as a reference, an organisation expects the market size of a new idea to be at least as large as that of existing offerings. Smaller markets are not considered as they may not fulfill the desired growth rates of the organisation. </span><br />
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Hence, when it comes to investing in new products/services, an organisation operates in confines of its cost structure, product margins and customer base. These are organisation level characteristics, independent of people working in it. Product/service ideas which serve existing customers and promise higher margins get support while other ideas starve for resources. </div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">However, there are ways to influence an organisation and to work-around (or break) its organisation level confines to launch disruptive products and enter new markets. Will discuss the same in upcoming posts. until then.. bye...</span></div>
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Ashutosh Agrawalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05732426287811572792noreply@blogger.com0