聽好了,現在正是反思商業戰略的好時候
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????曾幾何時，摩托羅拉（Motorola）統治著全球的手機行業，然后是諾基亞（Nokia），再然后是黑莓（BlackBerry），但現在它們都已走下了神壇。就像《財富》雜志（Fortune）最近一篇黑莓評論文章的題目，你一定在想，“到底是怎么回事？” ????這個問題同樣適用于現在已經破產的柯達（Kodak），那可是一個世紀以來的影像行業的全球霸主。而只有區區十幾個員工的Instagram靠著照片分享服務就被Facebook以10億美元高價收購。說到過氣明星，惠普（Hewlett-Packard）怎么了？雅虎（Yahoo）怎么了？ ????我們現在所處的經濟環境非比尋常。過去5年的翻云覆雨讓許多商業人士開始思考公司面臨的最基本問題：我們的戰略在當下的環境中還管用嗎？我們應該作出什么改變？我們應該堅持哪些東西？我們是否需要新的商業模式？ ????但重新審視公司戰略也可能會讓你陷入迷霧，費時費力，到頭來又回到原地。如何來管理這個過程呢？回答下面3個問題，也許你就能理清今天的紛紛擾擾，找到戰略方向。 ????1、公司的核心業務是什么？ ????在各個經濟周期中顛補不破的一個真理是：不管在波峰波谷，業績最好的公司一直都投資于其核心業務。看看杜邦（Dupont）在大蕭條期間的所作所為吧。即使利潤狂跌，公司仍然堅持為化學研究投入資金，因為那始終是公司的核心業務。再來看看他們的回報：尼龍、氯丁橡膠以及其它產品在未來的歲月里為杜邦帶來了數十億美元的收入。 ????日子好過的時候，公司往往不由自主地涉足其它行業，即使他們在該領域并無專長。然后當經濟衰退來臨的時候，這些非核心業務的肥皂泡破滅，難逃被裁撤的命運。音像專家先鋒公司（Pioneer）在最近的經濟危機中退出了競爭慘烈的平板電視領域。家得寶（Home Depot）也關閉了Expo品牌的家裝設計連鎖中心。就連谷歌（Google）業停止了在電臺和報紙上出售廣告的非核心業務。 ????卓越的公司都很清楚什么是他們的核心業務。衰退初期，軟件公司Intuit的首席執行官布拉德?史密斯說：“我們不會裁撤創新力量。本公司過去25年都是由產品創新來推動。我們要保護創新渠道，只有這樣，危機結束時我們才會變得更強大。”如有必要，他會裁減其它部門。在個人及小型企業財務軟件領域，公司面對著微軟（Microsoft）這樣的巨無霸對手，他無法承擔哪怕是一丁點的落后。 ????你能確定公司的核心業務嗎？如果不能，你就需要在全公司范圍內展開深刻的反省。 ????2、眼下前所未有的經濟環境如何改變了公司的客戶及其行為？ ????我們都很熟悉大蕭條一代對待投資和工作的超級謹慎態度。在這次歷史性的衰退中的經歷改變了幾百萬人的一生，今日的情形何其相似乃爾。作為一個小小的例子，數家金融公司應景地推出了“超級安全”的投資工具（往往還收取高額費用）。而驚恐的投資者也愿意為安全支付更多費用，這是他們長久以來所未曾做過的事情。 ????苦日子的其它影響可能更讓人吃驚。在發達國家，人們的身體狀況反而會在經濟衰退時改善，可能是因為大家吃得更健康，少喝酒，還可能少抽煙，少坐車。在前兩次衰退中，消費者在廣泛定義的娛樂方面花費減少，而普遍的看法是人們在世道艱難時會更多地從娛樂中尋求歡樂。【根據麥肯錫（McKinsey）編制的信息，在該公司所研究的所有類別中】花費增加最多的類別是教育。確實出人意表，因為教育是非必需的花費，而且要過好幾年才能產生收益。看來，很多人覺得既然找不到工作，不如先提升自己的競爭力。人們開始接受衰退的現實之后，美國大學商學院的申請人數開始飆升。 ????今日的環境如何改變你的客戶？影響也許出乎你的想象，而你應該迅速發現這些改變，并及時應對。 |
????Remember when Motorola (MMI) ruled the mobile phone business worldwide? And then Nokia (NOK) did? And then BlackBerry (RIMM) did? And now none of them do? As Fortune headlined a recent BlackBerry article, "What the Hell Happened?" ????We all ask the same question about Kodak, monarch of the global photo industry for a century, now bankrupt, while Instagram, a photo-sharing service with a dozen employees, is sold to Facebook (FB) for $1 billion. And while we're at it, what happened to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)? To Yahoo (YHOO)? ????We're not living in ordinary economic times. The convulsions of the past five years have left many business people asking the most fundamental questions about their companies: Will our strategy work in this environment? What must we change, and what must we not change? Do we need a new business model? ????Reconsidering strategy can turn into a miasma that consumes endless time and yields nothing. Yet the process is manageable. One way to think through your strategy in today's uncertain environment is to answer three basic questions. ????1. What is our core? ????A finding that's consistent across cycles is that the best performing companies keep investing in their core no matter how bad things get. Look at what Dupont (DD) did during the Great Depression. Even as profits plunged, the company resolved to keep funding chemical research -- its core -- no matter what. Among the results: nylon, neoprene, and other products that brought Dupont billions of dollars over the following decades. ????In good times, companies often wander into businesses for which they command no special capability. Then, when a downturn hits, those non-core businesses blow up and have to be axed. Pioneer bailed out of the grindingly competitive flat-screen TV business in the recent recession. Home Depot (HD) shut down its Expo chain of home design centers. Google (GOOG) closed non-core businesses that sold advertising on radio stations and in newspapers. ????Excellent companies are certain of their core. Early on in the recession, Brad Smith, CEO of software firm Intuit (INTU), said, "We're not going to cut innovation. This company for 25 years has been fueled by new product innovation. We're protecting the innovation pipeline so we come out of this strong." He would cut elsewhere if necessary, but in the realm of personal and small business finance software, he's up against mammoth competitors, including Microsoft (MSFT). He cannot afford to fall even a fraction of a generation behind. ????Are you sure of your company's core? If not, you've got to do some corporate soul-searching. ????2. How is today's unprecedented environment changing our customers and their behavior? ????We're all familiar with the Depression generation's ultra-cautious attitudes toward investing and jobs. Millions of people were shaped for life by the experience of a historic downturn, and similar effects are happening today. In response, as one example among many, several financial firms market "ultra-safe" investment vehicles (often with considerable fees attached). Rattled investors are willing to pay more for safety than they have been in a long time. ????Other effects of bad times are more surprising. In developed economies, physical health tends to improve during a downturn, possibly because people eat healthier food, drink less, possibly smoke less, and drive less. In the previous two recessions, consumers spent less on entertainment, broadly defined, though conventional wisdom holds that people spend more on entertainment to cheer themselves up when times are tough. The category of spending that increased most (among those studied by McKinsey, which compiled this information) was education -- surprising, since it's a discretionary purchase that yields its benefits years into the future. Many people apparently figured they might as well improve their employability at a time when they can't get a job. As the most recent downturn began to take hold, applications to U.S. business schools rose markedly. ????How is today's environment changing your customers? The effects may be counterintuitive, and you should discover and address them quickly. |
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