Strategic Intelligence for CFOs, Finance Directors, Controllers and Treasurers in Asia  | 
2010, Sep 07

Eleven Ideas for Economic Recovery

Home > Features > Eleven Ideas for Economic Recovery
Features

Eleven Ideas for Economic Recovery

by David Hughes, SAS, 11 November 2009
topics:
Management
tags:
David Hughes economic recovery innovation leadership productivity SAS

4. Improve productivity. According to productivity expert Tor Dahl, only 8 percent of what we do at work is deemed perfect from a productivity point of view. As Dahl puts it, there are various “logs” that stand between us and our objectives. Remove them and you will find more time to focus on innovation. Start by asking a simple question: What am I doing that no one in this organization should be doing?

 
5. Get strategic. Business performance innovator and leading expert on Blue Ocean Strategy and value innovation, Gabor George Burt, encourages organizations to defy conventional wisdom, and then simultaneously pursue a differentiated strategy with lower costs. When done correctly, you move from a bloody red ocean of competition to a calm blue ocean of opportunity. As an example, look to the Nintendo Wii, a gaming platform that sought to attract 90 percent of the population instead of the 5 percent targeted by the traditional gaming community – all at a lower cost.
 
6. Innovate quickly. Joel Barker says you can innovate faster, cheaper and with less risk by developing innovations at the verge. To do this, combine two separate things to create a totally new offer that addresses an unmet need. The gift bag, which combines brown bags and gift wrap, is a great example. There are probably millions of other combinations waiting to be discovered.
 
7. Innovate constantly. No innovation lasts forever, says author and business advisor Geoffrey Moore. You have to understand the innovation life cycle. It starts by defining your company’s core and context – core being what truly differentiates you. With that understanding, focus on how you will continuously recycle resources from invention to deployment, management, offloading and back. 
 
8. Be extraordinary. Dr. Kevin Freiberg, an influential voice on business best practices, has discovered that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results.  It starts by creating a culture that encourages employees to do what’s right for the customer. For Standard Chartered Bank, it is about devising and implementing customer information strategies for their customers from diverse Asian cultures, ranging from emerging markets like India and Indonesia, to established financial centers like Hong Kong and Singapore. 
 
9. Keep it simple. Author Mark Thompson would encourage you to go back to basics and give customers just what they want: simple offers that exceed expectations. For example, one-click access to thousands of mutual funds, or exceptional service for the price paid. When setting expectations, always under-commit and over-deliver.
 
10. Focus on return on customer. Your customers are a finite resource, says Martha Rogers, Founding Partner of Peppers & Rogers Group. If you budget and reward employees based on the long-term value of customers, you will protect your organization today and well into the future.
 
Malaysian retailer Parkson leveraged analytics tools to segment customers who shop on impulse or out of necessity, as well as identify customers who stopped shopping at Parkson. With this deeper understanding, they rolled out specific marketing campaigns to customers according to their shopping patterns, and reduced the members’ churning behavior. The propensity for customers to respond to their mailers increased by 40 percent against the annual average, and sales from these customers were 20 percent higher than those who did not receive the mailer.
 
11. Lead to breed success. According to entrepreneur Gary Hoover, there are eight keys to building success, starting with a leader’s curiosity. Study history; few ideas are truly new. Look to the founding era of your industry and identify best practices that became too expensive to maintain during the ‘60s and ‘70s. Technology can probably breathe new life into them.
 
About the Author
David Hughes is vice president, Asia Pacific, for global business software company SAS.
 
« first‹ previous12


Related articles

Accounting and Regulations

CFO innovation Asia Accounting and Regulation the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Accounting Regulation, IFRS, US GAAP, Tax, investor relations, corporate governance, Corporate Law, Financial Regulators, Internal Audit, Audit, Corporate Law.
Auditing, Investor Relations, Law and Compliance, Tax

Finance and Banking

CFO innovation Asia, Finance and Banking the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Corporate Finance, trade finance, treasury and risk management, capital expenditure, Banking, mergers and acquisitions
Cash and Liquidity Management, Corporate Finance, Insurance, Treasury Management

Management

CFO innovation Asia the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Finance Management, Corporate Governance, Human Resource Management, Compensation and Benefits, Mergers and Acquisitions, Professional Development, Corporate Real Estate, Risk Management, Budgeting and Forecasting, Business Process Management, Business Process Reengineering, Outsourcing.
Budgeting and Planning, Business Expense Management, Human Capital Management, Outsourcing and Shared Services, Risk Management

Metrics

Corporates, Financial Services

Technology

CFO innovation Asia Technology the Asia Pacific resource center for senior finance executives, daily news, analysis, best practice and case studies in Finance Systems, Business Intelligence, EPR, Accounting software, CRM, Cloud Computing, Telecommunications, Business Process Outsourcing, Business Process Management Software.
Business Intelligence, Enterprise Software and Systems, Financial Systems, Security