What is Management?

 

Management is a universal phenomenon. It is a very popular and widely used term. All organizations - business, political, cultural or social are involved in management because it is the management which helps and directs the various efforts towards a definite purpose. According to Harold Koontz, “Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment of group goals”. According to F.W. Taylor, “Management is an art of knowing what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way”.

Management is a purposive activity. It is something that directs group efforts towards the attainment of certain pre - determined goals. It is the process of working with and through others to effectively achieve the goals of the organization, by efficiently using limited resources in the changing world. Of course, these goals may vary from one enterprise to another. E.g.: For one enterprise it may be launching of new products by conducting market surveys and for other it may be profit maximization by minimizing cost.

Management involves creating an internal environment: - It is the management which puts into use the various factors of production. Therefore, it is the responsibility of management to create such conditions which are conducive to maximum efforts so that people are able to perform their task efficiently and effectively. It includes ensuring availability of raw materials, determination of wages and salaries, formulation of rules & regulations etc.

Therefore, we can say that good management includes both being effective and efficient. Being effective means doing the appropriate task i.e, fitting the square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. Being efficient means doing the task correctly, at least possible cost with minimum wastage of resources.

Management can be defined in detail in following categories :

1. Management as a Process
2. Management as an Activity
3. Management as a Discipline
4. Management as a Group
5. Management as a Science
6. Management as an Art
7. Management as a Profession

Management as a Process

As a process, management refers to a series of inter-related functions. It is the process by which management creates, operates and directs purposive organization through systematic, coordinated and co-operated human efforts, according to George R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objective by the use of human beings and other resources”. As a process, management consists of three aspects:

1. Management is a social process - Since human factor is most important among the other factors, therefore management is concerned with developing relationship among people. It is the duty of management to make interaction between people - productive and useful for obtaining organizational goals.
2. Management is an integrating process - Management undertakes the job of bringing together human physical and financial resources so as to achieve organizational purpose. Therefore, is an important function to bring harmony between various factors.
3. Management is a continuous process - It is a never ending process. It is concerned with constantly identifying the problem and solving them by taking adequate steps. It is an on-going process.

Management as an Activity

Like various other activities performed by human beings such as writing, playing, eating, cooking etc, management is also an activity because a manager is one who accomplishes the objectives by directing the efforts of others. According to Koontz, “Management is what a manager does”. Management as an activity includes -

1. Informational activities - In the functioning of business enterprise, the manager constantly has to receive and give information orally or in written. A communication link has to be maintained with subordinates as well as superiors for effective functioning of an enterprise.
2. Decisional activities - Practically all types of managerial activities are based on one or the other types of decisions. Therefore, managers are continuously involved in decisions of different kinds since the decision made by one manager becomes the basis of action to be taken by other managers. (E.g. Sales Manager is deciding the media & content of advertising).
3. Inter-personal activities - Management involves achieving goals through people. Therefore, managers have to interact with superiors as well as the sub-ordinates. They must maintain good relations with them. The inter-personal activities include with the sub-ordinates and taking care of the problem. (E.g. Bonuses to be given to the sub-ordinates).

Management as a Discipline

Management as a discipline refers to that branch of knowledge which is connected to study of principles & practices of basic administration. It specifies certain code of conduct to be followed by the manager & also various methods for managing resources efficiently.

Management as a discipline specifies certain code of conduct for managers & indicates various methods of managing an enterprise. Management is a course of study which is now formally being taught in the institutes and universities after completing a prescribed course or by obtaining degree or diploma in management, a person can get employment as a manager.

Any branch of knowledge that fulfils following two requirements is known as discipline:

1. There must be scholars & thinkers who communicate relevant knowledge through research and publications.
2. The knowledge should be formally imparted by education and training programmes.

Since management satisfies both these problems, therefore it qualifies to be a discipline. Though it is comparatively a new discipline but it is growing at a faster pace.

Management as a Group

Management as a group refers to all those persons who perform the task of managing an enterprise. When we say that management of ABC & Co. is good, we are referring to a group of people those who are managing. Thus as a group technically speaking, management will include all managers from chief executive to the first - line managers (lower-level managers). But in common practice management includes only top management i.e. Chief Executive, Chairman, General Manager, Board of Directors etc. In other words, those who are concerned with making important decisions, these persons enjoy the authorities to use resources to accomplish organizational objectives & also responsibility to for their efficient utilization.

Management as a group may be looked upon in 2 different ways:

1. All managers taken together.
2. Only the top management

The interpretation depends upon the context in which these terms are used. Broadly speaking, there are 3 types of managers -

1. Patrimonial / Family Manager: Those who have become managers by virtue of their being owners or relatives of the owners of company.
2. Professional Managers: Those who have been appointed on account of their specialized knowledge and degree.
3. Political Managers / Civil Servants: Those who manage public sector undertakings.

Managers have become a part of elite group of society as they enjoy higher standard of living in the society.

Management as a Science

Science is a systematic body of knowledge pertaining to a specific field of study that contains general facts which explains a phenomenon. It establishes cause and effect relationship between two or more variables and underlines the principles governing their relationship. These principles are developed through scientific method of observation and verification through testing.

Science is characterized by following main features:

1. Universally acceptance principles - Scientific principles represents basic truth about a particular field of enquiry. These principles may be applied in all situations, at all time & at all places. E.g. - law of gravitation which can be applied in all countries irrespective of the time.

Management also contains some fundamental principles which can be applied universally like the Principle of Unity of Command i.e. one man, one boss. This principle is applicable to all type of organization - business or non business.

2. Experimentation & Observation - Scientific principles are derived through scientific investigation & researching i.e. they are based on logic. E.g. the principle that earth goes round the sun has been scientifically proved.

Management principles are also based on scientific enquiry & observation and not only on the opinion of Henry Fayol. They have been developed through experiments & practical experiences of large no. of managers. E.g. it is observed that fair remuneration to personal helps in creating a satisfied work force.

3. Cause & Effect Relationship - Principles of science lay down cause and effect relationship between various variables. E.g. when metals are heated, they are expanded. The cause is heating & result is expansion.

The same is true for management, therefore it also establishes cause and effect relationship. E.g. lack of parity (balance) between authority & responsibility will lead to ineffectiveness. If you know the cause i.e. lack of balance, the effect can be ascertained easily i.e. in effectiveness. Similarly if workers are given bonuses, fair wages they will work hard but when not treated in fair and just manner, reduces productivity of organization.

4. Test of Validity & Predictability - Validity of scientific principles can be tested at any time or any number of times i.e. they stand the test of time. Each time these tests will give same result. Moreover future events can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by using scientific principles. E.g. H₂ & O₂ will always give H₂O.

Principles of management can also be tested for validity. E.g. principle of unity of command can be tested by comparing two persons - one having single boss and one having 2 bosses. The performance of 1st person will be better than 2nd.

It cannot be denied that management has a systematic body of knowledge but it is not as exact as that of other physical sciences like biology, physics, and chemistry etc. The main reason for the inexactness of science of management is that it deals with human beings and it is very difficult to predict their behavior accurately. Since it is a social process, therefore it falls in the area of social sciences. It is a flexible science & that is why its theories and principles may produce different results at different times and therefore it is a behavior science. Ernest Dale has called it as a Soft Science.

Management as an Art

Art implies application of knowledge & skill to trying about desired results. An art may be defined as personalized application of general theoretical principles for achieving best possible results. Art has the following characters -

1. Practical Knowledge: Every art requires practical knowledge therefore learning of theory is not sufficient. It is very important to know practical application of theoretical principles. E.g. to become a good painter, the person may not only be knowing different colour and brushes but different designs, dimensions, situations etc to use them appropriately. A manager can never be successful just by obtaining degree or diploma in management; he must have also know how to apply various principles in real situations by functioning in capacity of manager.
2. Personal Skill: Although theoretical base may be same for every artist, but each one has his own style and approach towards his job. That is why the level of success and quality of performance differs from one person to another. E.g. there are several qualified painters but M.F. Hussain is recognized for his style. Similarly management as an art is also personalized. Every manager has his own way of managing things based on his knowledge, experience and personality, that is why some managers are known as good managers (like Aditya Birla, Rahul Bajaj) whereas others as bad.
3. Creativity: Every artist has an element of creativity in line. That is why he aims at producing something that has never existed before which requires combination of intelligence & imagination. Management is also creative in nature like any other art. It combines human and non-human resources in useful way so as to achieve desired results. It tries to produce sweet music by combining chords in an efficient manner.
4. Perfection through practice: Practice makes a man perfect. Every artist becomes more and more proficient through constant practice. Similarly managers learn through an art of trial and error initially but application of management principles over the years makes them perfect in the job of managing.
5. Goal-Oriented: Every art is result oriented as it seeks to achieve concrete results. In the same manner, management is also directed towards accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Managers use various resources like men, money, material, machinery & methods to promote growth of an organization.

Thus, we can say that management is an art therefore it requires application of certain principles rather it is an art of highest order because it deals with moulding the attitude and behavior of people at work towards desired goals.

Management as both Science and Art

Management is both an art and a science. The above mentioned points clearly reveals that management combines features of both science as well as art. It is considered as a science because it has an organized body of knowledge which contains certain universal truth. It is called an art because managing requires certain skills which are personal possessions of managers. Science provides the knowledge & art deals with the application of knowledge and skills.

A manager to be successful in his profession must acquire the knowledge of science & the art of applying it. Therefore management is a judicious blend of science as well as an art because it proves the principles and the way these principles are applied is a matter of art. Science teaches to ’know’ and art teaches to ’do’. E.g. a person cannot become a good singer unless he has knowledge about various ragas & he also applies his personal skill in the art of singing. Same way it is not sufficient for manager to first know the principles but he must also apply them in solving various managerial problems that is why, science and art are not mutually exclusive but they are complementary to each other (like tea and biscuit, bread and butter etc.).

The old saying that “Manager are Born” has been rejected in favor of “Managers are Made”. It has been aptly remarked that management is the oldest of art and youngest of science. To conclude, we can say that science is the root and art is the fruit.

Management as a Profession

Over a large few decades, factors such as growing size of business unit, separation of ownership from management, growing competition etc have led to an increased demand for professionally qualified managers. The task of manager has been quite specialized. As a result of these developments the management has reached a stage where everything is to be managed professionally.

A profession may be defined as an occupation that requires specialized knowledge and intensive academic preparations to which entry is regulated by a representative body. The essentials of a profession are:

1. Specialized Knowledge - A profession must have a systematic body of knowledge that can be used for development of professionals. Every professional must make deliberate efforts to acquire expertise in the principles and techniques. Similarly a manager must have devotion and involvement to acquire expertise in the science of management.
2. Formal Education & Training - There are no. of institutes and universities to impart education & training for a profession. No one can practice a profession without going through a prescribed course. Many institutes of management have been set up for imparting education and training. For example, a CA cannot audit the A/C’s unless he has acquired a degree or diploma for the same but no minimum qualifications and a course of study has been prescribed for managers by law. For example, MBA may be preferred but not necessary.
3. Social Obligations - Profession is a source of livelihood but professionals are primarily motivated by the desire to serve the society. Their actions are influenced by social norms and values. Similarly a manager is responsible not only to its owners but also to the society and therefore he is expected to provide quality goods at reasonable prices to the society.
4. Code of Conduct - Members of a profession have to abide by a code of conduct which contains certain rules and regulations, norms of honesty, integrity and special ethics. A code of conduct is enforced by a representative association to ensure self discipline among its members. Any member violating the code of conduct can be punished and his membership can be withdrawn. The AIMA has prescribed a code of conduct for managers but it has no right to take legal action against any manager who violates it.
5. Representative Association - For the regulation of profession, existance of a representative body is a must. For example, an institute of Charted Accountants of India establishes and administers standards of competence for the auditors but the AIMA however does not have any statuary powers to regulate the activities of managers.

From above discussion, it is quite clear that management fulfills several essentials of a profession, even then it is not a full fledged profession because: -

1. It does not restrict the entry in managerial jobs for account of one standard or other.
2. No minimum qualifications have been prescribed for managers.
3. No management association has the authority to grant a certificate of practice to various managers.
4. All managers are supposed to abide by the code formulated by AIMA,
5. Competent education and training facilities do not exist.
6. Managers are responsible to many groups such as shareholders, employees and society. A regulatory code may curtail their freedom.
7. Managers are known by their performance and not mere degrees.
8. The ultimate goal of business is to maximize profit and not social welfare. That is why Haymes has rightly remarked, “The slogan for management is becoming - ’He who serves best, also profits most’.”

Features of Management

Management is an activity concerned with guiding human and physical resources such that organizational goals can be achieved. Nature of management can be highlighted as: -

1. Management is Goal-Oriented: The success of any management activity is assessed by its achievement of the predetermined goals or objective. Management is a purposeful activity. It is a tool which helps use of human & physical resources to fulfill the pre-determined goals. For example, the goal of an enterprise is maximum consumer satisfaction by producing quality goods and at reasonable prices. This can be achieved by employing efficient persons and making better use of scarce resources.
2. Management integrates Human, Physical and Financial Resources: In an organization, human beings work with non-human resources like machines. Materials, financial assets, buildings etc. Management integrates human efforts to those resources. It brings harmony among the human, physical and financial resources.
3. Management is Continuous: Management is an ongoing process. It involves continuous handling of problems and issues. It is concerned with identifying the problem and taking appropriate steps to solve it. E.g. the target of a company is maximum production. For achieving this target various policies have to be framed but this is not the end. Marketing and Advertising is also to be done. For this policies have to be again framed. Hence this is an ongoing process.
4. Management is all Pervasive: Management is required in all types of organizations whether it is political, social, cultural or business because it helps and directs various efforts towards a definite purpose. Thus clubs, hospitals, political parties, colleges, hospitals, business firms all require management. When ever more than one person is engaged in working for a common goal, management is necessary. Whether it is a small business firm which may be engaged in trading or a large firm like Tata Iron & Steel, management is required everywhere irrespective of size or type of activity.
5. Management is a Group Activity: Management is very much less concerned with individual’s efforts. It is more concerned with groups. It involves the use of group effort to achieve predetermined goal of management of ABC & Co. is good refers to a group of persons managing the enterprise.

Levels of Management

The term “Levels of Management’ refers to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions in an organization. The number of levels in management increases when the size of the business and work force increases and vice versa. The level of management determines a chain of command, the amount of authority & status enjoyed by any managerial position. The levels of management can be classified in three broad categories:

1. Top level / Administrative level
2. Middle level / Executory
3. Low level / Supervisory / Operative / First-line managers

Managers at all these levels perform different functions. The role of managers at all the three levels is discussed below:

LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT

1.   Top Level of Management

It consists of board of directors, chief executive or managing director. The top management is the ultimate source of authority and it manages goals and policies for an enterprise. It devotes more time on planning and coordinating functions.

The role of the top management can be summarized as follows -

a.     Top management lays down the objectives and broad policies of the enterprise.

b.    It issues necessary instructions for preparation of department budgets, procedures, schedules etc.

c.     It prepares strategic plans & policies for the enterprise.

d.    It appoints the executive for middle level i.e. departmental managers.

e.     It controls & coordinates the activities of all the departments.

f.     It is also responsible for maintaining a contact with the outside world.

g.    It provides guidance and direction.

h.     The top management is also responsible towards the shareholders for the performance of the enterprise.

 

2.   Middle Level of Management

The branch managers and departmental managers constitute middle level. They are responsible to the top management for the functioning of their department. They devote more time to organizational and directional functions. In small organization, there is only one layer of middle level of management but in big enterprises, there may be senior and junior middle level management. Their role can be emphasized as -

a.     They execute the plans of the organization in accordance with the policies and directives of the top management.

b.    They make plans for the sub-units of the organization.

c.     They participate in employment & training of lower level management.

d.    They interpret and explain policies from top level management to lower level.

e.     They are responsible for coordinating the activities within the division or department.

f.     It also sends important reports and other important data to top level management.

g.    They evaluate performance of junior managers.

h.     They are also responsible for inspiring lower level managers towards better performance.

 

3.   Lower Level of Management

Lower level is also known as supervisory / operative level of management. It consists of supervisors, foreman, section officers, superintendent etc. According to R.C. Davis, “Supervisory management refers to those executives whose work has to be largely with personal oversight and direction of operative employees”. In other words, they are concerned with direction and controlling function of management. Their activities include -

a.     Assigning of jobs and tasks to various workers.

b.    They guide and instruct workers for day to day activities.

c.     They are responsible for the quality as well as quantity of production.

d.    They are also entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining good relation in the organization.

e.     They communicate workers problems, suggestions, and recommendatory appeals etc to the higher level and higher level goals and objectives to the workers.

f.     They help to solve the grievances of the workers.

g.    They supervise & guide the sub-ordinates.

h.     They are responsible for providing training to the workers.

i.      They arrange necessary materials, machines, tools etc for getting the things done.

j.      They prepare periodical reports about the performance of the workers.

k.     They ensure discipline in the enterprise.

l.      They motivate workers.

m.   They are the image builders of the enterprise because they are in direct contact with the workers.

Objectives of Management

The main objectives of management are:

1. Getting Maximum Results with Minimum Efforts - The main objective of management is to secure maximum outputs with minimum efforts & resources. Management is basically concerned with thinking & utilizing human, material & financial resources in such a manner that would result in best combination. This combination results in reduction of various costs.
2. Increasing the Efficiency of factors of Production - Through proper utilization of various factors of production, their efficiency can be increased to a great extent which can be obtained by reducing spoilage, wastages and breakage of all kinds, this in turn leads to saving of time, effort and money which is essential for the growth & prosperity of the enterprise.
3. Maximum Prosperity for Employer & Employees - Management ensures smooth and coordinated functioning of the enterprise. This in turn helps in providing maximum benefits to the employee in the shape of good working condition, suitable wage system, incentive plans on the one hand and higher profits to the employer on the other hand.
4. Human betterment & Social Justice - Management serves as a tool for the upliftment as well as betterment of the society. Through increased productivity & employment, management ensures better standards of living for the society. It provides justice through its uniform policies.

Importance of Management

1. It helps in Achieving Group Goals - It arranges the factors of production, assembles and organizes the resources, integrates the resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It directs group efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of organization clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort. Management converts disorganized resources of men, machines, money etc. into useful enterprise. These resources are coordinated, directed and controlled in such a manner that enterprise work towards attainment of goals.
2. Optimum Utilization of Resources - Management utilizes all the physical & human resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses. It makes use of experts, professional and these services leads to use of their skills, knowledge, and proper utilization and avoids wastage. If employees and machines are producing its maximum there is no under employment of any resources.
3. Reduces Costs - It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and by using minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human and financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This helps in cost reduction.
4. Establishes Sound Organization - No overlapping of efforts (smooth and coordinated functions). To establish sound organizational structure is one of the objective of management which is in tune with objective of organization and for fulfillment of this, it establishes effective authority & responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to whom, who can give instructions to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates. Management fills up various positions with right persons, having right skills, training and qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.
5. Establishes Equilibrium - It enables the organization to survive in changing environment. It keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change is external environment, the initial co-ordination of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to changing demand of market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and survival of organization.
6. Essentials for Prosperity of Society - Efficient management leads to better economical production which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a difficult task easier by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living. It increases the profit which is beneficial to business and society will get maximum output at minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which generate income in hands. Organization comes with new products and researches beneficial for society.

Business Acumen: A General Understanding of Business Principles

 By S. Anthony Iannarino

Business acumen doesn’t follow closing, differentiation, or prospecting, even though it is fourth on the list.

Although there are salespeople who may be able to close and obtain commitments, most of the time the ability to obtain commitments is reinforced or enabled by the salesperson’s business acumen.

There are lots of ways to differentiate yourself and your company from competitors, and business acumen is surely one of the most important. These two attributes and skill sets enable and reinforce each other.

Prospecting is a skill that may precede the need for business acumen, but in most cases it is made immensely more powerful by the addition of business acumen.

What Is Business Acumen?

Business acumen is a general understanding of business principles. It is the ability to make thoughtful business decisions. Mostly, business acumen relates to the ability to make decisions that lead to profit.

Business Acumen in Sales

It is only recently that business acumen became one of the primary drivers of success in sales. In the past, it was often enough to possess product knowledge, features and benefits knowledge, and a strong sales acumen (overcoming objections, rapport building, etc).
As sales has evolved, the role of value creation has required a new set of skills.

Great salespeople understand how business works. They understand their company’s go to market strategy, their company’s unique value proposition, how they compete and win in their market, and their financial metrics.

Great salespeople also understand generally how their clients compete in their market segments, their client’s unique value propositions, and their client’s financial metrics.

Great salespeople are now great business generalists.

Great salespeople are comfortable discussing profitability, metrics, throughput, and any number of financial metrics. They are as comfortable proving ROI using a spreadsheet as they are presenting ideas using PowerPoint.

Great salespeople are comfortable discussing execution with their client’s operations staff, and discussing technical ideas and details with their client’s technical team. Great salespeople are comfortable discussing compliance and legal issues with their client’s procurement and risk management teams.

Great salespeople leverage their business acumen to identify areas where value can be created, to build the vision of how that value will solve problems or create a competitive advantage, and to work with their clients to build solutions that deliver the promised outcomes.

When Business Acumen is Missing?

When business acumen is missing, the salesperson struggles to understand how their own company competes and wins in the marketplace, and they chase opportunities that don’t fit their company’s target or client models. They often try to sell price when their company doesn’t compete on price.

When business acumen is missing, the salesperson is unable to speak the language of business with their prospects. They lack the conceptual understanding to be able to discuss the business issues, challenges, and opportunities in a way that is meaningful and valuable to their prospects.

When business acumen is missing, the salesperson doesn’t understand the financial metrics that drive their prospect’s business, and they cannot develop solutions that improve those metrics. They are uncomfortable with numbers, spreadsheets, and proving ROI.

When business acumen is missing, the salesperson struggles to build consensus with their prospect’s buying teams. They cannot speak to operations about execution, they cannot speak to technical issues with the technical team, and they cannot speak to legal and compliance issues with the procurement.

When business acumen is missing, the salesperson cannot develop and create the vision of improved performance or the solutions that will deliver that value for their clients.

All of this can be lacking in a salesperson with very high sales acumen. They may have a natural ability to develop rapport and present ideas. They may have very high-level skills at prospecting and closing. Without business acumen, these are no longer enough to succeed in sales. Better the salesperson have the business acumen and the desire to sell.

Conclusion

In the past, success in sales depended very heavily on the salesperson’s sales acumen. While sales acumen is still necessary, business acumen is now equally as important as sales acumen (and in many cases, more!). The business of sales is now the business of business. Salespeople now need the business acumen of a great general manager.

7 Most Powerful Sales Tools

 

It’s not about the worksheets: These tools are what really create success sales.

The world is inundated with sales tools: worksheets, playbooks, sales scripts, software, brochures, and so forth.

But all of those sales tools put together are insignificant if you don’t have the intellectual and emotional tools that truly create success.

Here are seven sales “tools” you need to develop:

1. Patience

If you’re patient, you let customers decide at their own speed.  You realize that nobody ever got a plant to grow faster by pulling at the leaves of a seedling. If you lack patience, you’ll be frustrated whenever things take longer than you’d like. Customers will sense your frustration and hesitate to buy.

2. Commitment

If you’re truly committed to both your customer’s success and your own success, you’ll do whatever it takes (within legal and ethical bounds) to get the job done. You’ll banish all thoughts of ever giving up. If you lack commitment, you’ll consistently fail to follow through–and will often drop the ball at the worst possible moment.

3. Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is contagious: If you’re enthusiastic about yourself, your firm and your product, your customers will “pick up” your enthusiasm and believe in your ability to improve their lives.  If you lack enthusiasm, however, you’ll always find yourself surrounded by naysayers and endless “objections.”

4. Curiosity

Curiosity is essential to growth–and if you’re growing as an individual and a professional, you’ll spend time each day learning something new to better serve your customers. You’ll read books, listen to audio training, take courses, and network with peers. If you’re not growing, your ideas will become stale; your career will languish and your ability to compete will slowly drain away.

5. Courage

If you’ve got courage, you take the necessary risks to expand yourself and your business into new areas–even when you’re facing enormous odds. You’ll see setbacks as learning opportunities rather than failures.  But if you lack courage, you’ll freeze up when things get weird, turning small failures into big ones.

6. Integrity

If you’ve got integrity, there’s no disconnect between your stated purpose and your real motivations. Because there’s no hidden agenda, customers sense the honesty and feel comfortable working with you. If you lack integrity, however, customers will have a nagging feeling that something is “not quite right”–and tend to balk rather than buy.

7. Flexibility

Life is all about change; nothing stays the same. If you’ve got flexibility, you can observe what’s working and what’s not and change your approach to match changing circumstances. If you lack flexibility, you’ll pursue brittle strategies and tactics long after they’ve ceased to work.

 

The Integrated Strategy Map

 A strategy map provides the visual foundation of a business strategy. It provides the means by which a business can communicate its strategic plan to customers, employees and stakeholders. As such, it is probably one of the most powerful documents a business can create.

Whether you are working in a company of 5 or 5,000 you want to know what your company is trying to achieve. You want your leaders to be visionary and have a strong sense of where the business is going. You want to be sure your company has ambition, the right plans in place and will be around for the long-haul.

For this, the strategy map has become the communication tool of choice. On a single page, the whole story can be laid out. If constructed correctly, links can be seen from the resource level and organisation capacity requirements through to required process changes. These in turn will impact customers and finally financial results.

A strategy map is usually tiered. One for the whole business and several for each division and department. These are also linked, never losing sight of the business vision and goals.

The only criticism of a basic strategy map is the lack of a link to measures, targets and initiatives. These things have to be in place but are not usually described on the ‘public’ view of the strategy map. This can be a mistake. By failing to include this detail, the value of the strategy map is greatly decreased.

It is when the ‘how’ is included with the ‘what’ that the real power of this one page document reveals itself. The diagram below shows an example of an Integrated Strategy Map. That is, it includes all of the business elements on a single page:

The Essence of Strategy Is Now How to Change

 

When environments are complex and dynamic, strategy is about adaptability.

B. Tom Hunsaker and Jonathan Knowles

A fundamental assumption underlying traditional approaches to strategy is that industry boundaries and economics remain broadly stable over time. This assumption is no longer realistic, given that digital technologies and other factors have caused the average age of the companies in the S&P 500 to decline from more than 60 years in 1958 to less than 20 years today. This has reduced the relevance of tools such as the GE/McKinsey matrix and the BCG Growth-Share matrix, the diagnostic power of which relies on relatively stable industry structures.

A second dimension on which strategy development has become more complex is the requirement that companies show that they are actively contributing to the broader society rather than simply serving as financial entities seeking to maximize their return on capital. The current emphasis on corporate purpose and environmental, social, and corporate governance are manifestations of the intense pressure companies are under to demonstrate their social legitimacy.

As a result, business leaders need to evolve how they think about strategy in two important ways to be relevant in today’s dynamic and complex environments:

• First, their focus needs to shift from what is stable to what is changing — and specifically how these changes may neutralize historical sources of advantage and how they may give rise to new opportunities.
• Second, they need to broaden the number of stakeholders whose needs and potential contributions are evaluated during the strategic planning, review, and refinement process.

In our previous article, “Changing How We Think About Change,” we outlined a framework to help business leaders evaluate the relevance and sustainability of their current strategy and identify what form of strategic adaptation is appropriate to their situation:

• Magnitude: “We need to strengthen our execution of the current path.”
• Activity: “We need to adopt new ways of pursuing the current path.”
• Direction: “We need to take a different path.”

The MADStrat framework uses two perspectives to determine what form of change (magnitude, activity, or direction) is appropriate in a given context:

• Fit to purpose evaluates your market context and involves assessing the closeness of fit between your offering and the needs of customers (both now and in the foreseeable future), and how your business model also delivers value for other stakeholders. What are the outcomes that you enable your customers and their stakeholders to achieve? What wider social value does your business generate? This axis considers differentiation from the perspective of Who are you different for?
• Relative advantage involves assessing your capabilities relative to alternatives, not just direct competitors. In which areas can you claim to offer a distinctive advantage to customers and other key stakeholders? This axis considers differentiation from the perspective of How are your offerings valuably different from those of others?

By identifying the factors that underpin the appeal of a company, business unit, or brand to its customers and other key stakeholders, together with the factors that cause it to be regarded as irreplaceable, the MADStrat approach provides the insight for companies to understand whether their context calls for a change in magnitude, activity, or direction.

This more nuanced and context-driven insight serves as an alternative to the polarized advice that companies are presented with today: to either double down on what they’re already doing or engage in disruptive transformation.

The MADStrat Matrix

A company’s change decision is informed by its performance on fit-to-purpose and relative advantage criteria.

Does your situation call for a change in magnitude to deepen your existing strengths, a reimagination of the activities involved in the design and delivery of your offerings, or a fundamental shift of direction to establish a more sustainable future for your business?

For some companies, this insight can be gained through self-assessment (a version of this self-assessment can be accessed at https://madstrat.com), but others will benefit from primary research among different stakeholder groups to validate that they truly have understood how they are performing on the key dimensions of fit to purpose and relative advantage.

Once a company has established the nature of the change that it should be considering, the task becomes that of identifying the actions that will be most effective in improving their fit to purpose and/or their relative advantage.

In the following table, we outline the actions that business leaders should consider, depending on whether their situation calls for a change of magnitude, activity, or direction.

What Strategic Actions Should Your Company Consider?

Business leaders can use the following recommendations to stimulate discussion about how to enhance the performance of their company, business unit, or brand according to whether the MADStrat analysis calls for a change of magnitude, activity, or direction.

We have applied a MADStrat lens to our analysis of the 500 largest merger and acquisition transactions over the past 20 years to explore the importance of congruence between actions taken and the type of change recommended by the MADStrat analysis. For example, what explains the divergence of Google’s experience between its hugely successful purchase of Android in 2005 versus its largely unsuccessful acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2011?

Our conclusion is that mergers based on economies of scale are effective for companies seeking changes of magnitude, given that they already enjoy high levels of fit to purpose and relative advantage — think InBev’s merger with Anheuser-Busch in 2008.

However, merely getting bigger does not solve the underlying problem for weakly positioned companies (such as Kmart and Sears in 2004) that should have implemented a change of activity (like acquiring access to new forms of digital distribution — as Walmart did in 2016 with its acquisition of Jet.com).

Similarly, mergers predicated on economies of scope are only wise for companies that enjoy high levels of customer equity, since having high fit to purpose is the prerequisite for effective cross-selling. An example is Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.

A change of direction (often through diversification) is a necessary strategy for a company whose future fit to purpose is threatened by changes in technology (such as the threat to Ford’s and GM’s businesses from the shift to electric vehicles and alternative mobility options) and/or consumer preferences (such as the threat to Tyson’s business from the move toward meatless sources of protein). However, diversification can be a source of management distraction for companies that should really be focusing on changes in either activity or magnitude. GE’s forays into mortgages through GE Capital is just one of the company’s unwarranted diversifications.

In dynamic environments, understanding when and how to change is the essence of strategy. Tools that help you spot the opportunities and challenges that exist or are emerging in your company’s specific context are now more relevant than the traditional strategy frameworks that rely on the premise of long-run industry stability and competitor benchmarking.

The most successful businesses today are those that identify when and how to change to improve their strategic advantage. Whether it is Amazon embracing physical retailing to complement its digital capabilities and enable new business models, or Pfizer leveraging its marketing and distribution capabilities by partnering with other drug development companies, these actions can be traced to acting on change signals that indicated a focus on magnitude, activity, or direction.

Companies that recognize the change signals appropriate to their context are more likely to direct their management and innovation energies most effectively — gaining the advantage.

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Как проанализировать текущий интернет-маркетинг, и кто это должен делать?

 Успешность интернет-маркетинга завязана на многих факторах. Чтобы провести потенциального покупателя через всю воронку продаж, придется выстроить такой механизм взаимодействия, который будет работать на каждом этапе, как швейцарские часы, — отлажено и безотказно.

Конверсия — штука капризная. Потенциальный клиент может слиться на любом этапе взаимодействия: поленится дочитывать нудную портянку о компании, устанет заполнять форму заявки, не дождется загрузки сайта на смартфоне или ответа на свой вопрос в социальной сети. Свести к минимуму такие факапы поможет анализ сайта и всех маркетинговых активностей компании в интернете.

Комплексный аудит интернет-маркетинга позволяет:

1. Оценить, насколько сильна позиция компании в интернете. Анализ электронного маркетинга всегда проводится в связке с конкурентным анализом. Это значит, что вы сможете понять, достаточно ли прокачан сайт компании, увидеть сильные и слабые стороны не только своего сайта, но и ресурсов конкурентов. А дальше останется лишь перенять лучшие практики и учесть промахи.
2. Определить, отвечает ли получаемый результат целям компании. Так, если вы крупный поставщик стройматериалов, ориентированный на оптовые продажи, вас вряд ли устроят заявки от затеявших ремонт новоселов, даже если таких заявок много. Скорее всего, это будет значить, что либо у вас страдает позиционирование, либо криво работают каналы привлечения аудитории.
3. Понять, на каких участках интернет-маркетинг проседает. Аудит интернет-маркетинга поможет понять, почему посетители не доходят до оформления заказа, что не так с постами в социальных сетях, из-за чего рассылку не открывают, почему контекст выжигает бюджет и не несет отдачи и т. д. Вы увидите, над чем нужно работать, и сможете наметить точки роста бизнеса.

Если вы думаете, что с вашей интернет-рекламой все хорошо, скорее всего, вы просто еще не сделали ее аудит

 

Что должно входить в аудит интернет-маркетинга?

Общий анализ трафика

В первую очередь бизнесу важны посетители, приносящие доход. Голая посещаемость без совершения покупок и заказов для компании так же бесполезна, как и ее отсутствие. Что делать, если посетителей мало или они нецелевые, подскажет анализ трафика. Системы аналитики Яндекс и Google позволяют узнать, кто приходил на сайт (демографические характеристики аудитории), откуда и по каким ключевым словам, с каких устройств, сколько времени длился визит, какие страницы заинтересовали посетителей, какие целевые действия были выполнены и т. п.

Проанализировав все эти данные, можно понять:

• насколько качественный трафик вы получаете;
• насколько известен бренд или компания в интернете;
• почему на одни страницы приходит больше посетителей, а на другие — меньше;
• как перераспределить бюджет между каналами, чтобы они приносили больше целевого трафика, и др.

Анализ контекстной рекламы в Яндекс и Google

Контекстная реклама требует постоянных финансовых вливаний, и зачастую серьезных. А все, что связано с деньгами, должно быть максимально прозрачно. Никакой магии — только комплексный анализ, грамотная настройка и качественный контент. Если хотя бы одно звено даст слабину, велик риск слить весь рекламный бюджет и не получить финансовой выгоды.

Во время анализа контекстной рекламы оценивается динамика трафика, эффективность кампаний, групп объявлений, использование ключевых и минус-слов, настройка utm-меток, качество посадочных страниц, ретаргетинговые кампании, достижение целей, уровень CTR, конверсии и другие метрики.

Проведя аудит, мы сможем ответить на следующие вопросы:

• насколько эффективны рекламные кампании;
• в какой рекламной системе кампании приносят больше лидов;
• какие ключевые слова и объявления наиболее эффективны;
• как лучше использовать рекламный бюджет и др.

Анализ сообществ в социальных сетях

Социальные сети — место прямого диалога бизнеса с аудиторией. Здесь компания представляет себя, выстраивает коммуникацию, узнает своих клиентов, получает обратную связь, обрабатывает возражения. С помощью социальных сетей можно понять, чего не хватает аудитории, что ей нравится или не нравится.

Аудит соцсетей дает представление о демографических характеристиках аудитории, ее вовлеченности (лайки, репосты, комментарии, упоминания), качестве постов и др.

Основываясь на этих данных, можно делать и более глубокие выводы, например:

• за счет чего одни посты вызывают больший отклик, чем другие, и как это использовать для масштабирования результата;
• правильно ли выбраны социальные сети для продвижения бизнеса;
• какая социальная сеть работает лучше и почему;
• насколько аудитория в соцсетях схожа с целевой аудиторией компании;
• достигаются ли цели по проекту и др.

 

Анализ позиционирования и торгового предложения

С самого первого контакта с бизнесом потенциальный клиент должен понять, что это за компания, какие его потребности она может закрыть и какие боли снять. Это идеальная ситуация. На практике к нам часто приходят клиенты, позиционирование у которых отсутствует. Они не отстраиваются от конкурентов, не говорят о своих УТП, либо их УТП вовсе не уникальные: а-ля быстрая доставка, высокое качество, опытные специалисты.

В рамках анализа позиционирования и торгового предложения мы делаем выводы:

• отражены ли на сайте конкурентные преимущества компании;
• какие аргументы приводятся для подтверждения УТП (в идеале это цифры, сертификаты, ГОСТы, отзывы клиентов);
• соответствуют ли УТП потребностям аудитории;
• действительно ли УТП выигрышны по сравнению с торговыми предложениями конкурентов и др.

 

Анализ механик и элементов сайта, влияющих на конверсию

Сайт — это инструмент продаж. Он должен приводить посетителей и помогать им стать покупателями. Если на нем нет телефона для связи или нужно перелопатить все страницы, чтобы его найти, это плохо. Плохо, если для заказа через форму на сайте нужно заполнить полтора десятка полей. Если сайт недостаточно хорош с точки зрения поиковика, это тоже плохо, потому что клиент вас просто не найдет в недрах поисковой выдачи.

В рамках анализа механик и конверсионных элементов мы оцениваем юзабилити и коммерческие факторы ранжирования. Смотрим, есть ли информация о способах оплаты, скидках и акциях, отзывы, раздел с контактами, поиск по сайту, фильтры в каталоге и др. Определяем, насколько грамотно все это реализовано.

В итоге можем сделать выводы:

• удобен ли сайт, чтобы сделать заказ здесь и сейчас;
• насколько хорошо он настроен под продажи;
• чем он лучше/хуже, чем у конкурентов, и что с этим делать.

Технический аудит сайта

Удобство сайта — это не только про юзабилити, но еще и про качество работы ресурса. Если сайт не грузится со смартфона или грешит «битыми» ссылками, клиент не будет ждать, когда вы это обнаружите и исправите — он уйдет к конкуренту, у которого все работает. При оценке поведенческих факторов поисковики учитывают такие отказы и ставят сайт на более низкую позицию в выдаче.

Технический аудит позволяет оценить скорость загрузки сайта с мобильного и ПК, адаптивность под экраны мобильных устройств, работоспособность элементов навигации; качество программного кода и другие показатели. В результате вы:

• узнаете об ошибках, мешающих пользователям взаимодействовать с сайтом;
• поймете, что делать, чтобы он работал быстрее.

 

Кто должен анализировать интернет-маркетинг?

Здесь есть минимум два варианта:

• штатные сотрудники. Штатный SMM-щик (либо контент-маркетолог, специалист по контекстной рекламе, SEO-специалист) ведет проект, он же анализирует результаты. Этот вариант заманчив тем, что не требует дополнительных финансовых затрат. Но есть минус: узкие специалисты ограничены пределами своих компетенций, они не имеют общего видения ситуации;
• интернет-маркетологи в агентстве. Внешние аудиторы имеют большой опыт работы с разными компаниями. Они обладают широким набором компетенций, поэтому могут провести независимый анализ и дать свежий взгляд на проект. Главный минус этого варианта — услуги внешнего аудитора стоят денег. Хотя тут есть лайфхак:

Для привлечения клиентов многие агентства предлагают провести бесплатный аудит интернет-маркетинга. Даже если после этого вы решите не продолжать сотрудничество, то все равно получите оценку экспертов и сможете прокачать свою интернет-рекламу.

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18 Tips For Setting Better Business Goals

 

Use these 18 business goal-setting tips to increase the likelihood of realizing your strategic goals.

Joseph Lucco

Strategic goals represent critical or important achievements in your organizational strategy. They’re objectives to be achieved over the next three to five years, which link out to your measures and initiatives. Here are a few examples:

• Balance the budget: A balanced budget reflects discipline in planning, budgeting, and management. It is typically seen in the public sector, or within divisions or departments of the private sector.
• Increase share of market: This customer strategy focuses on selling to more customers, thus increasing the market share. For example, a landscape company may want to reach more households; a hospital may want to serve a greater portion of the local population.
• Grow percentage of sales from new products: This objective focuses on the sales outcome your organization is hoping to achieve. It emphasizes constant innovation, even on your most successful products.
• Create a performance-focused culture: This objective can be used if your organization wants to change its culture to one that focuses more on performance management or incentives. This objective shows up a lot in government and nonprofit organizations.

These goals will identify what you’re working toward as an organization. The business goal-setting process includes three phases: Pre-work before goal setting, goal setting itself, and ongoing management after setting goals. The 18 business goal-setting tips below are divided by stage, to help you take this process step-by-step.

18 Principles To Follow For Business Goal Setting

Before The Business Goal-Setting Exercise

• Complete a SWOT analysis.

SWOT is a high-level strategic planning model that will help you identify where your organization can improve and where it’s doing well. It’s an acronym for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.” This detailed SWOT analysis template provides the details of how to conduct the analysis. Doing the analysis first will help you think through your strategic challenges and opportunities before trying to set targets.

• Run internal and competitive benchmarking.

These exercises will help you compare performance in various areas across your organization, and across your competitors’ or peers’ organizations. This information will be helpful during the business goal-setting process by showcasing where you are strong or weak.

• Do a market analysis.

Where do you see your industry headed? What is trending for organizations in your space? A thorough market analysis will help you answer these questions.

• Review your past performance.

Without knowing where you’ve come from, it’s hard to decide where you should be heading. Past performance can help inform a number of your future business goals.

• Solicit input from employees.

Gaining insight from employees is a smart strategy, as it will give your leadership team insight from those on the “ground floor” of the organization. But if you do ask for input, be open to actually using it—otherwise, employees will be less likely to offer up their opinions in the future.

• Determine who will participate in the goal-setting exercise.

Determining who should be a part of this conversation is largely based on the size of your organization. Will you involve mid-level managers, or just senior leadership? What about your board of directors?

• Give all participants some pre-reading homework so they can come prepared.

You want everyone in the room to be on the same page and ready to go once the meeting begins.

During The Business Goal-Setting Exercise

• Be sure every goal ties back to your mission and your vision.

It ensures each goal is oriented on where your organization is headed in the long-term, not just something you’re thinking about in the moment.

• Make your goals descriptive.

The more specific and descriptive you can be, the more likely it is that everyone understands each goal in the same way. For example, a goal like “obtain at least six new corporate accounts per quarter” is more transparent and easily understood than “grow our customer base.”

• Be certain your goals are realistic.

Are all of your goals achievable? Are there some that are simply not within the realm of possibility? It’s great to have stretch goals, but you should be able to reach them within a three- to five-year time period.

• Make sure your goals are appropriately sized.

If you have any goals that are too large or too long, break down the goals into multiple steps and apply target dates for each component.

• Consider whether your goals are measurable.

You won’t be creating measures that coincide with your goals just yet (we’ll discuss that a bit later), but be certain your goals can be tracked, measured, and analyzed in some way.

• Consider what actions you’ll take to achieve these goals.

Sometimes, avoiding contradictions across your goals is easier said than done. For example, one goal might be to have 100% customer satisfaction while another might be to maximize profit. These two things may be incongruent, so one may have to give a bit in order to be realistic.

• Examine who will be responsible for each of your goals.

Who will ensure everyone stays on track? Who will ensure that reporting on progress takes place each month or each quarter? Consider the roles and responsibilities required to assure continuous advancement.

• Identify the resources you’ll need to achieve these goals.

For example, if one of your goals is to develop and use a customer relationship management (CRM) system, do you have the funds appropriated for it? Budgetary limitations should also be considered during the goal-setting process.

After The Business Goal-Setting Exercise

• Meet regularly to check in on your progress.

This ensures everyone involved stays on-task no matter how much time goes by. Keep in mind that some adjustments may be required as your team starts to pursue these goals. Don’t be afraid to adjust as needed!

• Communicate your goals internally (and possibly externally).

Does everyone in your organization understand the goals and why you selected them? The entire company is involved in reaching them, so every department and every individual should understand how their performance impacts the goals—and therefore, the overall success of the company.

• Make sure you have good data for the related measures.

Once your goals have been set, select measures (also known as key performance indicators) that will help you monitor performance toward each goal. Ensuring you have data that informs each measure is imperative.

Don’t forget to reward your organization as you hit your goals!

The process of business goal setting can be challenging, but actually realizing a business goal is even more so! So when your organization achieves a goal, take time to acknowledge it. Knowing that the ‘wins’ are celebrated, not overlooked, will bring renewed motivation to everyone involved. Good luck setting—and reaching—your goals!

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