21st Century Organizational Transformation

The Three Types of Strategies

Asif J. Mir — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:54:46 +0000

There are three main types of strategies:

The corporate level strategy identifies the portfolio of businesses that in total will comprise the corporation and the ways in which these businesses will relate;
The competitive strategy identifies how to build and strengthen the business’s long-term competitive position in the marketplace; and
The functional strategies identify the basic courses of action that each department will pursue to contribute to the attainment of its goals.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Non-traditional Marketing

Asif J. Mir — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:35:35 +0000

As marketing was turned to a generic activity, its application broadened far beyond its traditional boundaries. Broader appeals focus on causes, events, individuals, organizations and places is in the not-for-profit sector. In other instances, they encompass diverse groups of profit-seeking individuals, activities, and organizations. There are five major categories of non-traditional marketing: person marketing, place marketing, cause marketing, event marketing, and organization marketing.

Building Relationships

Asif J. Mir — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:43:38 +0000

If you want to build a successful network marketing business, the one skill you should seek before all others is the ability to build relationships. The hierarchy of power that structures organizations in the traditional business paradigms does not exist here. No one works for anyone else. In a sense, Network marketing is ‘cooperative’ marketing – we work together from self-interest. For a system like this to be effective, it must be founded on solid win-win relationships.

360-degree Feedback

Asif J. Mir — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:27:18 +0000

The 360-degree Feedback Process is being increasingly used in organizations for development, appraisal and compensation purposes. It involves a collection of perceptions about an individual’s behavior and its impact on bosses, colleagues, subordinates as well as internal and external customers. Competency models help to ensure that such feedback relates specifically to the competencies crucial to individual or organizational success.

Doughnut Structure

Asif J. Mir — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 08:13:40 +0000

Although most organization charts are constructed in the shape of a pyramid, extending downward from the board of directors or president, some firms have doughnut structure—an organization chart made up of concentric circles that represent top management, staff personnel, and functional areas and that reflect a more flexible structure—people see themselves working in a circle as if around one table. One of the positions is designated chief executive officer, because somebody has to make all those tactical decisions that enable an organization to keep working. The doughnut design is made up of concentric circles, in which the center ring consists of top management. The second ring is composed of important staff personnel, such as legal, personnel, research and development, and electronic data processing, whose services are used by all departments. The third ring consists of managers of functional areas, while remaining rings comprise department and other supervisory managers

Bureaucratic Management Approach

Asif J. Mir — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:37:15 +0000

The roadblock stems from management’s reluctance to push profit and decision-making responsibility on with too many management levels and high-paid support people. The real contributions of most corporate, sector or group level marketing, advertising, manufacturing, planning or R&D activities cannot be to line management responsibilities and too costly to justify their existence. We have not been able to find proven profit contributions that offset the costs involved.

Marketing Eras

Asif J. Mir — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:55:49 +0000

Production Era: Prior to 1925, most firms operating in highly developed economies focused narrowly on production. Manufacturers stressed production of quality products and then looked for people to purchase them. The production era did not reach its peak until the early part of 20^th century.
Sales Era: Manufacturers began to increase their emphasis on effective sales forces to find customers for their output. Firms attempted to match their output to the potential number of customers who would want it. Companies with a sales orientation assume that customers will resist purchasing products and services not deemed essential and that the task of personal selling and advertising is to convince them to buy. Although marketing departments began to emerge from shadows of production, finance, and engineering during the sales era, marketing dominated sales and other areas. Selling is thus a component of marketing.
Marketing: Personal incomes and consumer demand for products and services dropped rapidly thrusting marketing into a more important role. Organizational survival dictated that managers pay close attention to the markets for their goods and services. The trend ended with the outbreak of World War 11, when rationing and shortages of consumer goods became commonplace. The war years created only a pause in an emerging trend in business: a shift in the focus from products and sales to satisfying customer needs.
Relationship: It emerged during the 90s. Organizations carried the marketing era’s customer orientation one step further by focusing on establishing and maintaining relationships. This effort represented a major shift from the traditional concept of marketing as a simple exchange between buyer and seller. Relationship marketing by contrast, involves long-term, value-added relationships developed over time, strategic alliances and partnerships retailers play major roles in relationship marketing.

Interpersonal Competencies

Asif J. Mir — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 04:37:05 +0000

Empathy: Sensitivity to and concern about others’ emotional states, ability to see one’s own behavior from the other person’s perspective
Effective Communication: Actively listens in genuine dialogue and presents ideas clearly and persuasively
Social Awareness: Understands group relationship issues and interpersonal dynamics between them between team members and among organizational stakeholders
Relationship Development: Fosters constructive networking relationships within diverse internal and external organization groups
Leadership: Takes on a leadership role and responsibilities for benefit of the group or organization
Collaborative Teamwork: Actively builds dynamic teams of diverse individuals to collaborate in creating new solutions to achieve goals.

Risking New Ideas

Asif J. Mir — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 03:13:04 +0000

If we want people in the organization to start taking some risks, we need to replace no with yes and replace limits with encouragement. The key to the development of a risk-taking organizational climate lies in the ability of management to convey the attitude that new ideas are always a hot commodity. New ideas do not have to be perfect at birth. As the saying goes: “It doesn’t have to be right the first time. It just needs to be real.”

The best risk-takers are those who act without concentrating on all the jeopardies and instead work around the fears that hang up other people. That doesn’t mean that they don’t think before they act; it does mean that in this environment, they take some well-planned chances. I’ve watched associates get better month by month at learning how to make the right risks pay off for them, personally and professionally.

When we communicate that we expect mistakes to occur when people are putting out and working hard, we create an atmosphere of encouragement. A lot of people in corporate life have made careers out of surviving rather than succeeding; they’ve had to cope with atmospheres laced with fear, suspicion, and blame. Get rid of the blame and start celebrating the efforts and new ideas. Plan to make mistakes and still make it through.

Termination of Employees

Asif J. Mir — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:56:35 +0000

Most employees are hired for an indefinite period. If no length of employment is agreed upon, employment is “at will.” This means that an employer can discharge such an employee at any time for any reason or without giving any reason. Unions generally negotiate a change in this rule for the employees they represent. Most union contracts contain a clause that permits discharge only for good cause.