Preventing 6
Common Business Problems, continued.
Robert Tucker and his associates at
Santa Barbara, Calif.-based consulting firm The Innovation Resource recently
spent three years studying the idea-generating histories of big-name firms such
as EDS, Citibank and BMW. The companies with the best innovation track records,
they found, shared interesting traits. Two of the most important were a focus on
finding unarticulated customer needs and a structured approach to idea
generation.
"The printing industry is no different,"
says Tucker, president of The Innovation Resource. If a firm fails to adapt
quickly to new services and trends, he says, there's an excellent chance the
company is assuming customer needs instead of defining them. "Defining customer
values is like throwing a dart at a moving target," he says. "Just when you
think you have those values figured out, they shift slightly."
To generate bull's-eye ideas, Tucker says, firms should employ creative methods of gauging their clients' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. He suggests calling customers every quarter with the sole purpose of asking how your firm can improve. He also suggests inviting 10 of your most-valued clients to lunch, discussing their needs via an unbiased facilitator. "Your own customer base is the best--and often the most untapped--resource for innovation," Tucker says.
Given the ever-increasing pace of change and competitiveness of the printing industry, Tucker says, distributors and manufacturers should foster a steady stream of ideas. "As Thomas Edison reminded us," he says, "the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. Management should encourage and reward employees for creative thinking. That internal idea pipeline should be flowing constantly."
Business as usual rarely produces desired results, Tucker says. He says innovative firms share these traits:
• Systematic innovation. "Having no method for harvesting ideas is tantamount to erecting a billboard at the entrance to your company announcing: 'If we had wanted your ideas, we would have asked for them!'" Tucker says. "Innovative firms have systems in place to encourage, select, develop and implement ideas." One such firm is Appleton, a paper supplier based in Appleton, Wis. The company, which The Innovation Resource has studied, recently created what it calls the "GO Process" (short for "growth opportunities"). The gist: Each employee is responsible for providing ideas regularly. Appleton has gained more than 700 new product ideas from its approximately 2,500 employees. One idea led to a new digital paper product recently launched in Germany.
• Idea generation from all departments. At most firms, Tucker says, innovation is confined to research-and-development and marketing departments. New ideas typically come from the top down, not the bottom up (from customers, suppliers and salespeople). "We're rapidly entering an era in which innovation, by necessity, must become everyone's responsibility," including purchasing, operations and human resources personnel, Tucker says. "Innovation must be part of an organization's DNA." He suggests that firms organize self-selected think tanks to track industry trends.
• Culture of continual improvement. Says Tucker: "Many managers say to employees, 'We want you to take risks, and we want innovative ideas bubbling forth. And, by the way, we also want you to make your numbers, and we don't want any embarrassing failures.' Unfortunately, only the latter half of that message gets communicated."
In February 2000, hackers brought down
Yahoo!, Amazon.com, Buy.com, CNN.com, eBay, E*Trade and ZDNet by flooding the
networks with traffic. Yahoo! lost an estimated $500,000 in e-commerce and
advertising revenue during its three hours of downtime. In May 2000, the "I Love
You" virus infected thousands of computers worldwide, causing an estimated $8.75
billion in losses, according to Computer Economics, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based
information technology research firm. Last year, viruses such as "Nimda," "Code
Red" and "SirCam" caused an estimated $13.2 billion in losses to businesses
worldwide.
Despite these highly publicized events,
some businesses think they're not at risk from internet security breaches, says
Mike Gerdes, a research director at RedSiren Technologies Inc., an information
integrity services firm based in Pittsburgh. "Today, there are still some
companies being impacted by Code Red, which is absolutely ludicrous," he says.
"They've refused to install anti-virus software and are being nailed one year
later. There's no reason for this."
Every computer that receives or sends email to support a business should have anti-virus software that's installed, active and maintained, Gerdes says. Today, computers running Microsoft® Outlook, Outlook Express or Office® programs such as Word, PowerPoint® and Excel are most at risk from virus infection, Gerdes says. For example, computers can become infected when users open Word files with embedded Macro viruses. "A relatively small investment of $100 per system prevents, to a large extent, viruses from affecting you," he says. Gerdes recommends businesses select well-known anti-virus software packages such as Norton AntiVirus™ or McAfee VirusScan that provide access to virus definition updates. Businesses also should install anti-virus software on their email servers. Companies that work with internet service providers (ISPs) should consider choosing the same anti-virus software their ISPs use, he says.
Hackers also are a concern for businesses. "When someone connects a computer to a cable modem, the first probe will occur within 10 minutes [by a hacker trying to determine if the system is penetrable]," Gerdes says. Computers that access the internet via dial-up connections typically aren't as susceptible to attack because dial-up connections have limited bandwidth and users generally don't stay connected for long periods of time, he says. Businesses that can't devote internal resources to internet security 24 hours a day should protect their computers and web sites by working with ISPs that have firewalls in place and run firewall software intrusion detection systems. Companies also should ensure their ISPs are capable of preventing or deflecting "denial of service" attacks.
Businesses should protect their digital information by regularly backing up computer files onto their company servers, Gerdes says. Firms also can back up information onto tapes or removable hard drives, which then should be stored off site. In addition, some ISPs provide disc space for clients to back up files on their systems. "Going with your service provider is always a good choice because...if something happens they'll get you up and running very quickly," Gerdes says.
Any business connected to the internet is at risk from cyber attacks, Gerdes says. "If you think that no one is going to attack you, ask yourself: 'Am I willing to take the risk that if someone does attack me, everything on my computer will be destroyed? Am I prepared to recover it?'" he says. What's more, companies that lose vital information after failing to protect their computer systems also will lose customer confidence. "If they lost a critical job or didn't deliver it on time because of a virus, it's really hard to tell the customer they'll do better next time," Gerdes says.
Internet protection can cost as little as a few hundred dollars. Consider it internet insurance, Gerdes says. "You should spend money to protect your computers and information," he says. "Are you willing to give up your company for as little as $500?"
For a vulnerability assessment, visit www.redsiren.com and click on "Preventive Solutions."
Sluggish sales and lackluster profits
cause many firms to cut costs and reduce workforces. As a result, many employees
are asked to accomplish more without receiving salary increases.
It's no surprise, then, that many firms
are experiencing problems with employee motivation, says Jerry Colletti,
managing partner of Colletti-Fiss LLC, a management consulting firm in
Scottsdale, Ariz. "As companies downsize, they downsize at a rapid rate," he
says. "Then they try to figure out how the work is going to get done with fewer
people. In many cases, [remaining] employees end up doing more."
Motivation is perhaps most important
among employees who maintain direct customer contact, such as salespeople and
customer-service representatives. "How those people feel about what's going on
in the company gets transmitted to the customer," Colletti says. "If I'm a CEO,
the last thing I want is my customer-contact employees going to my customer base
and not being enthusiastic about [how we're serving customers]."
The No. 1 source of employee motivation problems is uncertainty, Colletti says. Employers often fail to share information with employees about the future of the company, expectations for growth (or lack of it), and how those factors might impact workers.
Businesses must find ways to motivate and reward employees for their extra efforts, Colletti says. Many firms initiate variable-pay programs, in which they aim to improve business results by offering employees monetary incentives such as cash bonuses worth 5 percent of salary. "You can't just give employees a pep talk and expect them to be more motivated," he says. "You have to say, 'If we're successful, here's what we're prepared to do for you.'" In fact, 70 percent of employees today benefit from variable-pay programs, according to WorldatWork, a non-profit professional association in Scottsdale, Ariz., focused on compensation, benefits and rewards.
