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O P I N I O N
T he competitive environment continues to change at light speed, and that in turn has translated into the way we lead and manage businesses. At the same time, many continue to experience the commoditization of their core services, which only heightens the competitive pressure. Setting yourself apart Figure out what your firm is and what its values are, and remain disciplined if you want to flourish in a competitive market.
Gerry Salontai
❚ ❚ Operational Excellence is the focus on efficiency and maintaining a low cost structure. Characteristics in- clude skills at price competition, a focus on projects rather than individual clients, less self-directed staff, and a high emphasis on productivity. ❚ ❚ Product Leadership encourages creativity, innova- tion and having “experts” in the market. Some of the characteristics of this discipline include longer sales cycles, less concern for the client, and more of an emphasis on, “Look at me, I’m the best.” This approach focuses on a high degree of staff creativity “One thing that’s certain – there will always be competition. The question is what a company can do to set itself apart.”
One thing that’s certain – there will always be competition. The question is what a company can do to set itself apart. The starting point lies in identifying your dominant, secondary and tertiary Value Disciplines in your business. The Value Discipline is a model created by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema that describes the way you win and execute business in the company. And it’s important to understand these in order to lead and manage, and to achieve the best results in all aspects of the business. There are three categories of Value Disciplines – Client Intimacy, Operational Excellence, and Product Leadership. ❚ ❚ Client Intimacy is the endeavor to build long-term and deep client relationships. Some characteristics of this discipline include longer sales cycles, measur- ing client satisfaction to measure success, the need for an entrepreneurial approach to clients, and in- vestment in people and relationship building.
See GERRY SALONTAI, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER July 18, 2016, ISSUE 1160
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