Information flow within organizations: a competitive advantage

As businesses grow, so does the amount of knowledge they compile. A nugget picked up by a sales manager combined with information heard by R&D and a fragment by advertising can alert management of an impending competitive product launch. Regular information flow is critical to the overall success of a business functions and increases the value a group contributes to the company overall.

Experts have made claims that approximately 80% of the information one wants to know about a competitor or market resides within their own organization. But unfortunately what organizations fail to realize is that information collected in isolation does not benefit the company as a whole.

The failure of a business to share information among departments often translates into the possession of partial or flawed information resulting in flawed conclusions or decisions.

A steady flow of information within an organization requires the development of an internal network. This internal network does not equate to a sophisticated Information Technology network, but rather an even more powerful set of computational power: the collective minds of each department.

Realizing the benefits of networking (meeting new people as well as colleagues) is a challenge at best and elusive to many. Using effective techniques can smooth the road to a practical flow of information across multiple departments still remains a challenge in most organizations. Knowing who knows what, when to initiate contact, and how to follow up are the keys to networking success, and building an effective, respected, and flourishing business intelligence unit.

If we regard an organization as an organism, the information processing system, like the central nervous system, it is the foundation of all voluntary behavior. Organizations must be seen as complex systems, the elements of which must collaborate to compete effectively.

The most vital source of competitive advantage may lie not in the possession of specific organizational resources or skills, which can often be imitated or purchased, but in the power of utilizing the available resources & skills to the optimum level but openness of information sharing and ability of information compiling to form meaning ‘knowledge’.

One can identify company’s current information flow model by:

• Gain an understanding of the impediments to information sharing.
• Develop and facilitate a process to increase information sharing across departments.
• Implement practical tools/techniques to build an internal network.

Motivate people to communicate, not conceal, what they know

Business process improvement

What is the difference between a business that consistently achieves its goals, versus achieving goals occasional? Well-defined, consistently executed and continuously improved processes.

What is a process? 

Put simply, a process is a set of defined tasks needed to complete a given business activity, including who is responsible for completing each step, when, and how they do so. Though processes can seem mundane, their importance to our business success cannot be undermined.
Process is something that holds together the organizational elements: People and Technology. It is the glue between the modern organizational assets and so it runs right across the organization.
Most of the times the design of workflow and hierarchy in organizations is based on assumptions about technology, people, and organizational goals that may not be necessarily valid.  Leadership must continually plan and oversee the organization from down to top to design processes that increase organizational productivity. Applying principles of reengineering to streamline the work process can achieve significant levels of improvement in quality, time management, and cost.
In other words, when we can look for different way of doing the same task to achieve fast  and better results. Think about what we do and change it. We may indeed be more efficient if we keep the stapler on the right hand side of the desk, or using the right software for a task can save time.
Business process improvement is defined as a systematic approach that allows companies to optimize their core processes in order to obtain the most efficient results. It is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. 

If businesses have a clear understanding of their day-to-day operations and processes, they stand a better chance of long-term success. 

For instance, access to essential software (technology) and information to individuals in the larger prospective can help business respond to the market changes and provide faster and better services to its customers. Poor process which delays transfer of either critical information or resource slows down the response time of a business requirement resulting in either poor customer service or loss.
The organization should focus on the sum of all activities and how they flow together in complete business processes to design a process.

In today’s struggling economy, more and more businesses are starting to realize that in order to survive they must improve their existing processes and address areas of concern.  Often times, businesses struggle in one way or another, whether they have poor customer service or their sales are simply down.  If a business wants to correct problems and optimize its performance, it will have to take a close look at its existing processes and start making improvements.

Attitude and Aptitude

“What’s Your Attitude?”

One can have lots of technical capabilities and can be rich in aptitude but without a proper attitude a person will gain nothing. I think it is important to have the appropriate balance of aptitude and attitude.

ATTITUDE can be described as:

1. How we communicate with the customers
2. Our overall behavior is also key part of attitude, like if you are working on-site with a customer your overall etiquette and ethics matter a lot.

The second characteristic is APTITUDE which has an equal importance in terms of customer relationship management from the business perspective.

Companies are hiring some pretty extraordinary professionals who have wonderful aptitude skills. These people devise innovative ideas which provide valid and refined approaches to solve client problems.

Having the right mixture of attitude and aptitude in turn makes our customers happy and satisfied which obviously at the end of the day will contribute to a company’s overall business success and retaining clients.

As you know in this crazy business world client’s must be treated a royalty. Remember the phrase “the customer is always right.” Their needs need to be satisfied with your wonderful and effective services and perfect solutions.

This all leads to the development of better relationships with new and old customers, and a number of benefits such as…

• increased sales due past relationships and how you treated the customer
• the ability to understand your customer and their environment more effectively
• increased ability to cross-sell due to customer’s increased trust in you

Your attitude and aptitude highly affect the success of not only the project you’re deployed on, but also the company you work for. As you mature into a seasoned professional remember to work on your mix aptitude and attitude to get the right balance.

Commitment and Passion

In today’s world it is so important to know your passion of life which will lead to happiness.  One should first find a cause they believe in and then do a project that will be meaningful and lasting. The boys that listened found that they enjoyed the hard work and were more committed to the project because they believed in what they were doing.

Your business must be committed to what it does or it would not exist. Do you still have a passion for it? If not today, did you have it when you started? If you have lost the passion for what you do then find a nice “rock to sit on in the woods” and think back on why you chose your path. If the path chooses you…look for a reason to have passion for your work. Besides bringing meaning and maybe happiness to what you do for most of your waking hours, it is also the message you want to shout out to your customers. They want to do business with people who have a commitment and passion for what they do. They know the outcome will usually be better if people really care.

All successful businesses have a greater purpose than making money…… Purpose is why we do what we do. It gives meaning to getting up every morning. I believe it combines passion (which is an emotional response), a desire to serve or help people and a plan. Customers like doing business with people who are committed to what they do.

Success never comes “overnight” Sometimes it may seem so on the surface but look deeper; I bet there is a back-story of hard work and endurance. Being smart, athletic, and/or talented isn’t enough. All of that must be accompanied by hard work and persistence to be great.

 Things change, they always do. Stand back, take a deep breath and let time help you. Open your eyes, clear your mind, listen to your heart, be ready… and in an hour, day, or even a few weeks, things will change. The whole playing field may shift and victory is possible, but you must be in the game.

Marketing & Strategy Innovation

The recession has been officially over but to many people, companies, and marketers, it still feels like hard times. This means the basic challenges, and opportunities of marketing in a recession still apply.

The key in this post-recession economy is to focus on growth. Over the last few years, businesses have cut costs and streamlined processes to improve their bottom line. Now it’s time to reap the benefits. With all these new efficiencies in place, each dollar of top line revenue can flow to even more profit and shareholder value. And new winners and losers will emerge as a result.

Where will this post-recession growth come from? In particular, companies looking for revenue growth should look at the where the revenue team, e.g. marketing and sales, comes together.

Most CEOs would agree that the average sales team wastes 45% of its time on inefficient tasks. In such companies, Marketing and Sales operate in separate silos; Marketing generates leads and unloads them onto Sales. For sales people, this is baffling: what should they do next? Should they educate or nurture these new leads, or move them forward as opportunities? Is it time to close? Needless to say, inefficiency reigns.

This is a fixable problem. Marketing departments can now do much more in the marketing funnel to ensure they pass only qualified leads and opportunities to Sales.

Buyer behaviors are changing as fast as corporations have transformed their business processes. In the past, Sales was the face of a company; they were a potential buyer’s first interaction with the brand. Today, buyers create their own brand preference by conducting research online, particularly within their own social networks, before they even touch base with a sales rep.

The companies that transform the way marketing and sales work and work together will be the industry leaders of tomorrow. They’ll grow faster and generate more cash. They’ll innovate more often. And they’ll take market share from companies.