Author: lapaasindia

  • SIPOC Diagram – Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    The SIPOC diagram is a six sigma tool that we use for business processes.

    So, The term SIPOC stands for the supplier, input, process, output, and customers, which form the columns of the diagram.

    Because the diagram does not contain much detail about the process, it is a high-level process map.

    If we need to improve or change any process to a good level, we must understand the process.

    But Which will be possible only when we know suppliers, inputs, outputs, process steps, and customers well.

    Understand it as a high-level business process map or bird’s view.

    This tool allows a good team concerning inputs, outputs, and also suppliers to improve their process and maintain proper care.

    It provides all the ways as well as opportunities in the process, showing the limitations of the process.

    Besides, it helps to identify a very good relationship between supplier, inputs, and process; And gives visibility to customers and their essential needs.

    You can take a Christmas cracker, for example. It may be the kind of thing that has been around forever, but the invention was in 1846 by Thomas Thomas, a baker, and confectioner in London.

    During a trip to Paris, he saw colorful almonds and a variety of sweets wrapped up in a lot of abnormal tissues.

    It eventually turned and saw his bon-bones becoming more interesting in the Christmas run-up and Decided to import the idea to make it attractive.

    What’s Inside?

    So, How Do We Start?

    Let’s start using SIPOC … You might be in surprise that a lot of people don’t understand the SIPOC salt device.

    It’s Use In Process Design

    SIPOC is use in initial process design to produce high-level visualizations of an existing undefine process. Also, a new ‘essential’ process it takes into account.

    If your process produces an ‘output’, but you can’t find a ‘customer’ for ‘output’… is there a need for ‘output’?

    SIPOC Diagrams - Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    SIPOC Model

    Suppliers

    The inputs used or made in this process are either provided by other processes or internally or by another party or external customer.

    In the service industry, process inputs derive from other related methods. In the manufacturing industry, raw materials such as inputs can be obtained from the same company or imported from other manufacturing industries, and there are also many companies.

    Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    These are the suppliers for data- vegetable vendors, grocery stores, furniture, music systems, ingredients obtaining from various vendors’ crockery for cooking.

    Inputs

    All these inputs consist of X; they affect the input process and have a good result late.

    Since processing always depends on the input and received as input, if your outputs do not meet the customer’s needs and requirements, you have some problem with the input or processing steps.

    There may be a chance that the supplier is providing the right input. Therefore, inputs play a very important role in the process.

    In the hotel industry, we often receive different inputs from different vendors. These inputs are used for a single process, which is customer service.

    Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    Process

    This is the high process map of the SIPOC Diagram; This shows the entire process in just 4-5 significant steps. It provides you all the processes as manual instructions.

    It gives you the framework of the process functioning. So, After receiving all the inputs, you need to decide the first step of the process.

    Some restaurants or hotels believe in self-serving and some belief in customer service.

    Here, the first step will be serving their customers and taking orders from them and providing them with the service as per the customer’s requirement.

    Hence, The business must keep in mind their customer’s expectations. 

    Outputs

    After spending time on inputs and processing, your entire business depends on a single production.

    Also, Outputs are end-products or end-results that come after processing and are very important for a good business.

    Customers

    Customers are the people you receive business, whether it may be internal or external. So, Domestic customers are stakeholders, process improvement projects run for them.

    And external customers or end customers, who use the services or end product, or whether the final product decision meets their expectations.

    In other words, in the process of providing the result to external customers, there are many internal handoffs.

    Some of them are for domestic customers. If these handoffs are not successful in terms of time and accuracy, the result is affected.

    SIPOC Diagrams - Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    When and how to Use the SIPOC?

    The SIPOC model is very useful in many ways – concept, purpose, and practice. Since not all problems are process-related only.

    There may be a chance of receiving the wrong input. It may be that output is not satisfactory due to misunderstanding or inability to express according to customer requirements.

    During process improvements, some people ignore or omit SIPOC because they do not know how useful SIPOC is. You don’t have to leave it at all. You have to understand it correctly and use it.

    They will not know where the real problems lie; Like the doctor treating the patient without knowing the patient’s real problem.

    It answers the most difficult questions of the process; This is the reason, that before starting and ending this process, you help with its decision and its suggestions very much?

    What are the significant steps involved in the process?

    This gives you an introduction to the input required for the process and the expected output of the process, which can be single or multiple.

    Besides, it provides you with information about suppliers of inputs. Therefore, in process improvement, you get in-depth information on the point of suppliers. So that the root causes of the issues or problems can be ascertained.

    Suppliers can be internal or external, they can be improved or changed according to conditions.

    Besides, it provides information about suppliers of inputs. Therefore, in process improvement, we provide in-depth information on the point of suppliers.

    So that the root causes of the issues or problems can be ascertained. Suppliers can be internal or external, they can be improved or changed according to conditions.

    5 ways to Use SIPOC

    Visualize, understand and communicate high-level processes, SIPOC is best used to view all processes in the same light.

    It helps immensely in identifying customer requirements.

    Play an essential role in planning a great process to run.

    Manage detailed process mapping; identify useful measures.

    It also helps to understand how suppliers, inputs, and process steps are affecting customer requirements.

    SIPOC Diagrams - Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone

    Steps to create a SIPOC

    SIPOC should be designed with the POCIS concept. The first process is deciding the critical process steps involved in the projects.

    The production of the process and the requirements of the customers must then work on the inputs necessary to implement the process and their suppliers.

    Establish the name of the process that requires SIPOC.

    • Decide the starting and ending points of the process; These steps should start with a verb. There is a man named Bill Peterson, who, in his writing, has assumed that they should be called policies. As a company works on policies that they tailor to some extent according to their customers’ needs, I also believe that it can be considered as policies.
    • List all process steps; Then select the major process steps, no more than 5 levels. However, in exceptional cases, we can also see 8 stages.
    • List the output generated after processing. It can be one or more. Once you get to know all your internal and external customers, you can create a list of outputs provided to internal and external customers. It should be written in a noun.
    • Define the receiver of products or services. It can be internal or external customers.
    • List the input of the process, which should also be written in a noun.
    • Name the suppliers from whom the business has received inputs.

    SIPOC Tool in Process Improvement

    SIPOC is the key to the reform process. It is used at the same time in a defined stage to visualize the overall process, so that everyone is aware of all the elements involved in the process.

    Process steps typically cause problems, with a high probability of errors due to incorrect input and supply.

    Also, SIPOC gives the actual customer demand and all output, or we can call them KPOV.

    Therefore, when planning a process improvement project, one should not ignore the big step i.e. SIPOC. Most of the time, it is applied carelessly, and its importance is overlooked.

    Conclusion

    Therefore, we can see how much SIPOC helps in understanding the overall process; This gives insight into where problems persist.

    When creating a project charter at a defined stage, then SIPOC should be given importance; Since this indicates potential problems throughout the process. These issues may originate from the supplier.

    They may be input issues or process steps. Based on this, we can prepare a suitable plan for improvement.

    FAQs

    Why would you use a Sipoc?

    Ans. The SIPOC diagram is a tool used by the team to identify all relevant elements of a process improvement project before the work begins.
    This helps define a complex project that may not be a good scoop, and is usually employed in the measurement phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology.

    How do you complete a Sipoc diagram?

    Ans. Steps to create a SIPOC diagram
    The first step is to establish a name or title for the process.
    The second step is to improve the starting point and endpoint of the process. …
    The third step is to state the top-level process steps of the process. …
    The fourth step is to list the significant outputs of the process.

    What does the R in Sipoc stand for?

    Ans. SIPOC-R means supplier, input, process, output, customer, and requirements. Suppliers: Systems, people, organizations, or other sources of material, information, or other resources that are consumed or converted into processes.

    Is Sipoc a lean tool?

    Ans. SIPOC is a tool that summarizes the input and output of one or more processes in a table. It is a topic that deals with supply, input, process, output, and customers. … You will find SIPOC as a part of Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and Business Process Management subjects

  • The ADKAR Change Management Model – Methodology

    The ADKAR Change Management Model – Methodology

    The change is necessary, and is very important for the growth of a company. But change can be difficult and hard for individuals.

    So most of the employees in the company resist change as they used to do work with the old way and that way is more comfortable for them.

    Hence no one wants to leave their comfort zone. So, change can be challenging to apply.

    Let’s briefly understand these:

    What is the ADKAR change model

    ADKAR change model is designed to eliminate the resistance to change. This model is developed for making change easy for organizations as well as individuals.

    Also, It aims to make the necessary transformation with less resistance. So, It is being created by Jeffrey Hiatt, the founder of Prosci.

    ADKAR stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement.

    A: Awareness. Make the employees and people of the organization aware of the change.      

    D: Desire. Create a desire to change.

    K: Knowledge. Give employees knowledge of the change.

    A: Ability. Give employees the ability to make changes.

    R: Reinforcement. Make the changes and reinforce the new methods.

    The ADKAR Change Management Model

    Awareness

    Firstly you need to aware of your employees about the change. So, You have to make them realize that they have to step out of their comfort zone.

    Also, You need to make them aware of why they need change.

    Here are some reasons for failure for which you need to aware of why change is required.

    1. A passive reaction: if your employees are not aware of why they need the change, they won’t argue with you, but they won’t support you. They will think that why we need to change the method, we are using for the past many years. So, They won’t understand the necessity for change and won’t show you that they are not supporting your idea, but secretly they won’t encourage you.
    2. They keep going back to the old way of doing things: Hence, This is the most common and frustrating reason why change gets fail. So, The employees continuously keep going back to their old way of doing things and don’t want to adopt new ones. The awareness of change is very important to realize why we need change.
    3. They actively resist change: some of your employees may actively or openly resist the change. It is not because they don’t support or not agree with the change you need to make. So, The reason behind it can be not explained well. Also, You may not be able to tell them well that why the change is necessary and why it must be needed in the organization. 
    The ADKAR Change Management Model

    Desire

    If your employees understand the need and benefit of the change in the organization, then they will definitely adopt the change and will support you.

    So, If the employees don’t support the change, there won’t be a desire to change in their minds.

    So, You have to make the employees comfortable with the new methods and create a desire to change into them.

    Make the employees comfortable, especially those who are affected by this change.

    Make sure and make them understand that they won’t be affected. Explain to them the reason for the change and how the change will benefit them.

    The ADKAR Change Management Model

    Knowledge

    Give your employees more expertise and training so that they can understand the need for change. Give them the adequate exercise of the new methods which you will introduce to the organization.

    The more you give them knowledge of the change and would be used procedure, the more they will understand the importance and need for the change.

    Providing expertise and training will ensure what new method, technology, and tools you require for your change.

    The more you offer them the training and knowledge, so more successfully they will implement it. 

    Change Guide

    Ability

    After providing knowledge to your employees of the desired change, it is now time to translate that knowledge into ability.

    Turning knowledge into strength means you need to practice those new methods and technologies and analyze these new policies.

    And you need to explain the new techniques and if there is any need to change these new changes do it.

    For example, you want to make changes in your production method and introduce a new production method and new technology.

    You have done all the theoretical presentations, and all the members have learned it very well.

    But it is not enough to learn things theoretically until you apply it practically.

    Reinforcement

    After making all the changes and when it is working smoothly, now you need to make these changes permanent.

    And reinforcement is a very crucial step in the ADKAR change model. You have to make sure that your employees will not revert to the old methods of working.

    People don’t accept the change quickly. You need to make ensure that the new methods won’t affect them.

    Your employees must be comfortable with new changes, so that, they don’t start their old way of working.

    It takes a long time to make any change, don’t wait for your employees to complain. To analyze the problem areas and find out the solutions for it.

    Work with your team and show them your plans for the processes. It will make sure that they won’t go back to the old way of working.

    Change Model

    Other Change Management Models

    The ADKAR is not only the management change model for organizational change. There are different change management models, also for organizational change.

    If the ADKAR change management model is not working well and not helping you change your management, you can use another change management model that will fit your organization.

    It is unnecessary to use only one change management model in your organization; you can use one or more than one model.

    You can apply the ADKAR change management model, and with this, the mixture of other change management models also.

    Here is the list of other change management models:

    1. Leavitt’s Diamond – An Integrated Approach to Change.
    2. Bridges’ Transition Model – Guiding People Through Change.
    3. SIPOC Diagrams – Making Sure Your Change Process Serves Everyone.
    4. The Burke-Litwin Change Model – Unraveling the Dynamics of Organizational Change. 

    Conclusion

    After reading the article, I hope you understand why the ADKAR change model is being introduced.

    The ADKAR change model is created by Jeffrey Hiatt, the founder of Prosci.

    This model is designed to eliminate the problems being faced by the organizations at the time of change.

    The ADKAR change management model helps the employees understand the change and understand the need for change.

    Companies can easily make changes to the organization, and the organization can quickly adapt innovation and work effectively.

    The ADKAR stands for awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. And we have already discussed all these five above.

    FAQs

    In which step of the Adkar model does a person decide to support a change?

    Ans. In the ADKAR change management model, when a person understands why he needs change. In the second step, a person decides to support the change, which is desire. Desire is the stage where the employees of your company are desired to do the change and support you.  

    What is Adkar change management model?

    Ans. The ADKAR change management model is being developed for helping the employees to understand the change and to understand the need for change. So that the companies can easily make changes to the organization, and the organization can quickly adapt innovation and can work effectively.

    ADKAR change model advantages and disadvantages?

    Ans. Every approach has some advantages and disadvantages, so here are some benefits and drawbacks of the ADKAR change management model.

    Advantages:
    It is a practical approach, not a theoretical. There are so many strategies to guide an organization during a change, and some of these are the theoretical base that is difficult to apply in practical life. But this change model works with a practical approach so that it is easy to understand the change, and you can easily use it.
    It is extensively tested. The ADKAR change model is widely used, and it is found a very successful one.
    It has lots of training and support. When a business wants to change and grow, it needs lots of training and knowledge which this model gives you.

    Disadvantages:
    It has a complicated process. The ADKAR model is one of the best change management model. But it may not be for every business if any business needs to change, and it can replace it with an easy change management model. It is not useful for those businesses because it has a very complicated process.
    I want to innovate an in-house change management function. In today’s world, every business wants to grow and innovate itself. And many companies, due to innovating ideas used to create its in-house change management process.   

    What is a change management methodology?

    Ans. The change management methodology is a structured change management process that helps businesses to manage their change management process more smoothly. 

  • Bridges Transition Model – Guiding People Through Change

    Change is the biggest obstacle, in this article, we will discuss how to overcome the resistance to changes in an organization or business. 

    In simple words “How to come out of your comfort zone and make effective decisions or changes” or “How to convince or guide a person to a change in their life.

    The Bridges Transition Model identifies the three stages people go through as they gradually enter an organizational change. This model focuses on psychological change during the transition between each stage. 

    People are not comfortable with the change because of many reasons. This is why it is very important to understand how people respond to the changes.

    It is important so that you can guide them through the change. Here comes the Bridges Transition Model also known as Change Management Tool.

    This model will help you to do this. In this model, we are going to discuss the consequences of the change or how to make sure that the change you make is positive.

    In this article, we have covered this model in-depth and after reading this article you will have a basic understanding of this powerful change management tool. 

    What’s Index

    Difference between Change and Transition?

    Let’s have a clear understanding of these terms because in this article we are going to discuss about on these two topics. 

    The change is situational, it happens quickly and a person tends to move more quickly. It does not have any phases. 

    Transition is psychological, it happens slowly and a person tends to move more slowly. It has several phases. One may experience anxiety, low morale, low productivity, etc. 

    Bridges Transition Model

    Why Changes are implemented?

    Generally changes in an organization or business is implemented to make things more safe, easy, and efficient.

    A person makes changes in considering the benefit of an organization and performance.

    However, employees turn out to be the biggest obstacle, in the Bridges Transition Model the author has explained how to encourage the employees to become the supporter rather than becoming an obstacle. 

    This model is designed to help businesses or persons with organizational change.

    So, if you want to make a change in your business or organization then this model will help you.

    Oftentimes peoples get confused or feel helpless when they try to make a big change in their business. And sometimes due to overthinking, they do not implement the change. 

    Here comes the role of Bridges Transition Model, this model will help a person to check whether the changes they are planning to make would have a positive impact or not.

    The benefit or strength of this model is that it focuses on the transition to change. It’s the transition that often uncomfortable for people and hence, leading to resistance. 

    This model will help you to overcome the resistance to change or by reading this model you remove the resistance to change completely. 

    In simple terms

    Let suppose you are an App Developer working in an MNC company and receiving a nice package of salary.

    Now one day you came with an idea and you are thinking of starting a YouTube channel. On this channel, you will post new ideas, trends, and teach the audience how to build an android app, etc.

    Let say your idea is very unique, and no one on YouTube is working on this part. With this idea or channel, you can deliver more value to your audience. So, now you have two options-

    First Option– The first option is to quit the job and start working on your YouTube channel. 

    Second Option– The second option is to continue your job and side by side work on your YouTube channel idea.

    The first option falls under the “Change”, it means you are comfortable with the change and can quit your job easily. In this option will move to stage three quickly. 

    The second option falls under “Transition”, and it means you are not comfortable with the change and cannot quit your job quickly. You are not comfortable with a camera, etc. 

    Bridges Transition Model

    What is the Bridges Transition Model?

    The “Bridges Transition Model” was introduced and published by William Bridges. He was a great American Author, Public Speaker, and Organisational Consultant. 

    This model helps to overcome the resistance for both types of people. The people who want to make a big change in their business and the people who want to become comfortable with an organizational change.

    The model highlights the three common stages of transition that people go through when they experience change. The three stages are-

    1. Ending, Losing, and Letting Go. 

    2. Neutral Zone 

    3. New Beginning

    William Bridges says that people will go through each stage at their own pace since the peoples are psychologically different or have different mind-set.

    The people who are comfortable with the change will quickly move to stage three, while others may 

    For example, those who are comfortable with the change will likely move ahead to stage three quickly, while others will be uncomfortable and linger at stages one or two.

    Now let us discuss each stage in-depth and how-to guide people at each stage. 

    Stage 1:- Ending, Losing, and Letting Go-

    This the first stage of transition and people enter this initial stage of transition when they first introduced with the change.

    This stage has the highest resistance because people are forced to sacrifice their comfort zone.

    This stage can be full of anxiety, stress, sadness, etc. and an employee may try to resist the change.

    The psychological changes or you may experience these below emotions. 

    Fear, Rejection, Antagonism, Sadness, Anxiety, Frustration, Sadness, Ambiguity. 

    How to guide people through stage one-

    At this stage, you should give the proper support to your employees. 

    • Understand the Feelings: – Communicate openly and listen empathetically, it’s important to understand their emotions and accept their resistance. Try to understand and respect their emotions or try to get everyone to talk about what they are feeling. 
    • Educate them: – Give them some time to accept the change, educate them, because people are more likely to resist the change which they don’t understand. 
    • Explain the positive impact: – Try to explain the positive impact of that change or clarify the benefits of the planned change. 
    Bridges Transition Model

    Stage 2: Neutral Zone-

    Generally in this stage, people are confused and get impatient in this stage. In this stage or period, the people learn to handle the consequences, with psychological shifts taking place.

    In this stage, some will tend to move more quickly, as compared to others. Again it depends on their mindset.

    Sometimes entering into new change or procedure may lead to more workload and hence, people may feel stressed. 

    In this stage you are in the middle, you are trying to adopt the new change while also trying to get away from the old one.

    Due to a change in work procedure, you may experience low productivity, Anxiety, Low morale, Offensive to others. 

    This is the stage of creativity, renewal, and innovations. You should encourage people to try new ways of doing a particular job. 

    How to guide people through stage two-

    Proper guidance is very important in this stage or during this neutral stage. 

    • Provide proper directions- Oftentimes people may get confused or might feel a bit lost, because of improper directions. So, provide them a strong and straight forward direction and keep reminding them about team goals. 
    • Discuss- Showing empathy is important in all the stages, make sure to discuss their feelings or thoughts. Take feedback from them and try to make a healthy discussion on their feedback. 
    • Set short term goals- One of the best ways to encourage an employee is to provide them a short term goal. This will help in developing confidence and motivation because accomplishing the short goals gives them a feeling of satisfaction and quick wins.
    • Remove excess workload:- If possible then try to remove the additional load or work as this will reduces the anxiety and workload on them. 

    Stage 3: The New Beginning-

    It is the last transition stage and it is the stage of acceptance, the people have moved forward and have completely accepted the change.

    In this stage the employee has fully accepted the changes, now they are developing new skills, and are comfortable with the new work environment.

    You might experience a sense of achievement and a new and more developed identity.

    At this stage, employees are now comfortable with the new word environment and are ready to contribute and be part of the new environment. 

    At this stage the employees are open to learning, filled with new energy, and ready to commit to their role. 

    How to guide people through stage three-

    Don’t get too harsh:- Generally, when employees come at the third stage the higher authorities may start scolding them on small things. Never do that, try to maintain a constant emotion, and avoid showing a sudden change in behavior. 

    Encourage and Celebrate:- Always encourage the employees to push their limits but don’t get too harsh. Try to celebrate the results and accomplishments. 

    Conclusion 

    In this article, we have discussed the Bridges Transition Model introduced by William Bridges.

    The model highlights the difference between transition and change. We have discussed the different stages of transition and how to deal with that situation.

    FAQs

    What are the phases of transition?

    Ans. There are six ways that a substance can change between these three phases; Melting, freezing, evaporation, condensing, sublimation and deposition.
    These processes are reversible and each transfer between phases varies: Melting: the transition from solid to liquid phase.

    How do you use the bridges transition model to facilitate change?

    Ans. Let’s take a look at the theory and how you can put the bridges transition model into practice to reduce your workforce through change.
    Experience uncertainty
    Undergo a sense of loss
    Feel disorientated
    Feel frustrated
    Become angry
    Feel sad
    Feel afraid
    Enter denial

    How do you draft a transition plan?

    Ans. Steps to transition plan
    Add the title of the transition plan.
    Mention transition details.
    Role Accountability and Expectations for Transition.
    Transfer of knowledge requirements for planning. 
    Add the role change checklist. 
    Transition Planning Agreement.

    What is a project transition plan?

    Ans. A project transition plan is a task used to layout tasks and activities to efficiently move a project from the implementation phase to the maintenance phase. Transition planning identifies the team responsible for a successful transition, equipment, technology, and required methodology

  • Leavitt’s Diamond – An Integrated Approach to Change

    Leavitt’s Diamond – An Integrated Approach to Change

    Leavitt’s Diamond is a Plan or structure for understanding the connection between the key factors in an organization, and building an integrated change strategy.

    Leavitt’s Diamond is also a model apply that to and used for change management.

    So, It gave insight into a company’s critical success factors and develops in the early 1970s by the American professor and organizational psychologist Harold Leavitt.

    Also, As per Leavitt Diamond Model, the success factors requires to accomplish change are Structure, Tasks, People, and Technology.

    So, In the model, these four factors are places in a square shape and interconnect, creating a diamond shape.

    Also, This is what the model owes its name to. So, Other comparable business models shape like diamonds, the best of which are those by Michael Porter and Edward Lawler III.

    Whats in it-

    What is Leavitt’s Diamond

    Each organizational system comprises four main components: people, work, structure, and technology.

    So, It is the interaction between these four components that determine the fate of an organization.

    Also, This tool allows you to work through the effects of the proposed change on the interrelated elements of functions, people, structure, and technology.

    Leavitt's Diamond - An Integrated Approach to Change

    Change in People

    The people are the employees of the organization. When using this approach, you don’t just look at employees like accountants, receptionists, managers, etc.

    Instead, you also see their skills, competencies, knowledge, and productivity. Also, Now let us take a look at how this component has to modify the change in the other three components.

    Hence, if you’re changing your manpower, you’ll need to modify the tasks or goals to make the right and optimum use of their skills and knowledge.

    Or so if you’re hiring more skilled and more qualified people, you won’t need the same kind of supervision as is necessary for less experienced and less qualified employees.

    Remember, if you are hiring computer literate employees, you cannot ask them to work on typewriters. Similarly, if you’re hiring engineers instead of mechanics, the old tools and equipment may not be sufficient.

    So, to take full advantage of your workforce, you’ll need to change the technology under the change in the knowledge, qualifications, and skills of your workforce.

    Although if you want your employees to handle additional tasks, you may have to provide them with technology that helps them in this direction.

    For example, if you wish to your programmer to get clients to do field visits, you have to equip them with a laptop and a wireless Internet data-card to help them do the added work.

    Leavitt's Diamond - An Integrated Approach to Change

    Change in Tasks

    If you plan to change the tasks, you will have to educate and train the employees to make them familiar with the new methods.

    Let’s say you decide to make your company more customer-centric. For this, you’ll need to set up a new customer support department, or you may need to have more people out in the field. 

    If you want to use your customer support center for order processing as well, you will need to replace your existing software with a new application that has customer service and order processing integrated into one.

    If you want to cut the staff of a particular department, you have to automate some processes, to maintain the same level of production.

    Change in Structure

    Employees would need help to learn about their new job duties and responsibilities. 

    Tasks: This component can include goals in addition to functions. Thus this component will involve looking at two things – the first is how things are happening, and the second is what you want to achieve.

    What happens if an organization decides to shift from a hierarchical pyramid setup to a flat organization? Can it continue with the change without altering the 5 tasks or processes? No, and the same is true for goals. If you’re merging two departments into one or splitting a department into two, you cannot continue with the same goals. 

    Leavitt's Diamond - An Integrated Approach to Change

    Change in Technology

    This may even involve hiring new skilled employees to handle the latest technology.

    Shifting to a newer technology would require making changes to the way things are done. 

    Structure: not only the hierarchical structure, but also the relationships included, but also communication patterns and coordination between different management levels, departments, and employees. It will also cover how rights and responsibilities flow within the organization.

    Computers, equipment, LAN lines, barcode readers, software applications, etc. are all counted under technology. Like all other components of Levitt’s diamonds, technology also has to be replaced when another component is modified.

    Examples

    For example, inquiries through a web portal can be automatically accepts by email and direct to the appropriate person for follow-up. Investigations may not be included in the original process due to cost.

    Business processes can also be better “informed” through the CRM system. For example, the people involved in the tasks that make up a process may need information available at the click of a mouse.

    Requisite People Skills

    Employees interacting with the new CRM system must be well trained and supported – especially in the early stages. They need to be confident in the order, and their confidence depends as much on their training as on the system itself. 

    an Integrated Approach to Change Leavitt's Diamond

    Ideally, have at least one “super-user”, who can support the other users and deal with simple “how-to” questions before they turn into “This system doesn’t work.”

    Organizational Form

    A new CRM system often requires revamping the organizational structure to benefit from technology. 

    Census

    New jobs may be created, and old ones will be over. Changes may be needed in interdepartmental coordination or communications. There may need to be changed in pay and reward systems, billing, procurement, or internal costing.

    Remember, if not managed, some reciprocal adaptations to the new technology can occur anyway, and the CRM system may be disabled. The smart choice is to manage the entire change with under.

    Conclusion

    Leavitt’s Diamond is an interactive approach, in which the four factors mentioned above are mutually coherent and influence one another.

    Leavitt emphasizes that whenever a factor changes and affects the organization, the other three elements will also change. Because of this direct effect, they will need to be adjusted to process the replacement.

    This means the Leavitt’s Diamond model is an integrated approach, and it is often used for managing changes within organizations.

    It is aimed at behavior within organizations, the dynamics of organizational change, and the interaction of the four mutually coherent components that apply in each organization.

    The Leavitt’s Diamond may be useful in case of, for example, the introduction of new systems or a change of organizational structure.

    FAQ

    What is Leavitt’s Diamond model?

    Ans. Leavitt’s Diamond is a model that can be applied to and used for change management.
    It gives insight into a company’s critical success factors by the American professor and organizational psychologist Harold Leavitt.
    As per Leavitt Diamond Model, the success factors required to accomplish change are Structure, Tasks, People, and Technology.
    In the model, these four factors are placed in a square shape and interconnected, thus creating a diamond shape.

    Pros and cons of Leavitt’s Diamond?

    Ans. Advantages:
    Leavitt’s Diamond model is a perfect one for early analysis. It gives you the initial way to understand the changes you want to implement in your organization.
    This model is very popular in IT and technology-based companies. These companies used to apply this model to their business.
    Disadvantages:
    Leavitt’s diamond model does not take the external forces into account, which also impacts the change management.
    It does not apply in all the organizations and does not address issues of all the businesses. Its applicability is limited, and this is only best for IT and technology-based companies.
    This is best for analyzing and does not show the path for organizational change.

    What are the four components of Leavitt’s triangle, and how do they interact?

    Ans. Four components
    Levitt’s Diamond proposes that each organizational system is made up of four main components: people, work, structure, and technology. It is the interaction between these four components that determine the fate of an organization.

    What are the 4 types of organizational structures?

    Ans. Traditional organizational structures fall into four common types – functional, segmentation, matrix, and flat – but with the rise of the digital market, decentralized, team-based organ structures disrupt older business models.

  • Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change – 5 Best Ways

    Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change – 5 Best Ways

    Overcoming cultural barriers to change deals with reducing the resistance to improve and also know how to remove the obstacles for improvement.

    Resistance to change is obvious and hence it pays to prepare for it. There are common causes for resistance, such as loss of control or increased uncertainty.

    But, each change will also have specific elements that may also cause resistance. This article provides an efficient and practical explanation of overcoming cultural barriers to change.

    After reading, you’ll understand the basics of the appropriate approach to change management. 

    Whats in it-

    What is Overcoming Cultural Barriers?

    Proper leadership involves implementing changes and also manage all the processes related to change and management for achieving organizational goals

    However, it’s People’s nature to have a certain level of resistance to change. All cultures have their own beliefs and methods, and that’s also true for corporate cultures as well.

    Although some cultures can develop through change, the resistance is often higher than the will to change. They are overcoming cultural barriers in order to change deals with how to remove these barriers.

    Resistance to change is average and you should also be prepared for it. No matter how minor, or sensible your change initiative may seem. 

    Resistance to change can take many forms. Objections for proposing change may be very vocal and explicit or may be expressed in silence and dissent.

    Some resistance will be to the content and nature of the change, some to the process by which we implement the changes.

    Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change

    How to Build Appropriate Strategies to Overcome Cultural Barriers?

    This section looks at the common reasons people may resist, explores how to identify the types as well as magnitude of resistance, and explains how to build appropriate strategies to deal with this resistance.

    The ‘Psychological Contract.’

    One key to understanding why people resist change is to view the world of work through psychological contracts.

    Many organizations have definite psychological contracts with their staff they reward them with a high level of employee commitment. Generally, this translates into a positive impact on performance.

    If this psychological contract is broken, the results can negatively impact job satisfaction, commitment, engagement, and, therefore, performance. 

    It is essential to consider the psychological contract when planning for a change initiative, as alterations to current working ways can threaten a positive psychological contract.

    There are various things to help mitigate the threat to the psychological contract during your change:
    • Communicate openly and honestly about the change as early as possible.
    • Build-in lots of opportunities for employees to give feedback and become involved.
    • Be realistic about the impacts of the change – don’t oversell the benefits, and be honest about dis-benefits.
    • Changes that may involve redundancies need extra care as well as planning. Involve HR very earlier and take their advice on how to communicate and handle staff issues. If the organization has a staff consultation group, make sure that you talk to everyone you need to, and also keep them involved from a very early stage.

    Common Causes Of Resistance and How to Overcome These Barriers

    Kanter (2012) lists 10 common causes for resistance during change initiatives, and gives some tips for leaders of change on how to deal with them.

    Reason for ResistanceHow to Deal with It
    Loss of control over territory Leave room for those affected by change to make choices, get involved with planning and take ownership.
    Excessive uncertainty during the change Create a sense of safety with certainty of process, clear simple steps and timetables. 
    Change is sprung on people as a surprise Don’t plan changes in secret – keep people informed of what is happening. 
    Too many differences at onceMinimize the number of unrelated differences.·        
    Where possible keep things familiar.·         A
    void change for change’s sake. 
    Loss of face from those associated with current stateCelebrate the elements of the past that are worth honouring.
    Concerns about competenceProvide abundant information, education, mentors, and support systems.·         Run systems in parallel during the transition if possible. 
    Change is more workAllow some people to focus exclusively on the change.·        
    Reward and recognize participants.
    Ripple effects – change interferes with the activities of other areasEnlarge the circle of stakeholders.·
    Consider all affected parties and work with them to minimize disruption.·          
    Past resentments surface due to the interruption of a steady stateConsider gestures to heal the past before focusing on the future.
    Sometimes the threat is real – change is resisted because it can hurtBe honest, transparent, fast, and fair.  For example, one big layoff with lots of support is better than a series of smaller cuts.·          

    Types of Cultural Barriers 

    Resistance to change can take on a variety of forms. I explore three of the most common types found during change initiatives.

    Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change

    Audible Unhappiness

    Symptoms

    Lots of very audible one-way communication to you, senior managers, and also the colleagues about the fact that people are unhappy with the change.

    Things to Be Careful Of

    Other people may follow the lead and also become unhappy with the change. Audibly unhappy people can dominate group meetings and workshops.

    Senior managers may become unsettled about the difference if they perceive lots of audible unhappiness.

    How to Deal With It

    Engage on a one-to-one basis to as certain what aspects of the change are making people unhappy.

    Work with people to identify any benefits they may personally realize through the transition.

    Take feedback on board and, if possible, work with individuals to find solutions to the things they are worried about.

    Disengagement 

    Symptoms

    Lack of attendance at events, training, and meetings. Lack of participation if forced to attend. You agree to proposals and also the approaches without questioning them.

    Things to Be Careful Of

    It is easy to miss these people in the early stages of the change as they keep reticent. Disengaged managers can negatively affect their teams.

    People don’t get the chance to input into the change planning until it is too late.

    How to Deal With It

    Identify the reason for disengagement: is it lack of time, denial that the change is happening, latent sabotage?

    Take the turn to them – arrange one-to-one meetings or attend established meetings rather than asking them to attend your organized activities.

    Increase engagement by involving people where you can, e.g., gather feedback about the change from their colleagues, testing and trying out new ways of working.

    Sabotage 

    Symptoms

    People bring their agendas to meetings, workshops, and training sessions. Try to ‘‘brake’’ systems and processes. Spread negative rumors about the change to colleagues.

    Things to Be Careful Of

    Sabotage is subversive, so it is often hard to identify the source. New systems and processes can be fragile in their early stages and quite easily broken if someone puts their mind to it.

    How to Deal With It

    Identify the saboteurs and ensure they know they have been identified. Give people responsibility for aspects of the change in order to increase their buy-in and accountability.

    Common Considerations for Building a Strategy to Manage Resistance

    This section gives you some ideas about how to build a strategy to manage resistance. 

    Also, Kotter and Schlesinger (2008) suggest the following two considerations while building your strategy: 

    • Analyze the following four situational factors:
    1. The amount and kind of resistance that is anticipated.
    2. How potent the initiator of the change is in relation to the resisters.
    3. Who the people are who have the relevant data to design the change and the energy to implement it?
    4. How great the risks are to organizational performance and survival if the change is not made.
    5. Determine the optimal speed of change: the above analysis will help decide how quickly or slowly the change should proceed. 

    In general, it is recommended to proceed at a slower pace. This gives time to reduce resistance and ensure all relevant stakeholders are involved in designing and implementing the change. 

    However, if the current risk to organizational performance and survival is very great, it will be necessary to implement the change more quickly, which will involve less buy-in and focus on ‘forcing’ the change.

    Business Guide Lapaas

    Overcoming Cultural Barriers by Building a Sustaining Momentum

    It can make an effort to build momentum for your change initiative. It is even more challenging to sustain that momentum, especially if there is lots of planning needed before implementation, or if the application takes a long time. 

    Momentum can be built through regular communications, engagement with stakeholders, and an active change agent network. Timing the build-up of this momentum is crucial. 

    If there is a long lead-in time for the change, it can be detrimental to build momentum for the move too early.

    People will become frustrated, lose interest, and focus on other priorities before the change can actually be implemented. 

    Four key strategies can support building and sustaining momentum during the planning and implementation stages of a change initiative:

    Timing of Communications:

    Increasing the frequency of communications will help build momentum as users hear more about the change as implementation approaches. 

    Phased Approach to Implementation:

    If the nature of your change allows, carry out a pilot or earlier tranche before rolling out to all users.

    This allows testing solutions and approaches to the rollout, as well as gather case studies and ‘good news’ stories from early adopters. This will increase the interest of users waiting to go live, as they hear how their colleagues are getting on.

    Keep Visibility of the Changing High:

    When the change starts, especially if you have built up momentum, it may be the top of everyone’s priority list. 

    However, if it is a lengthy rollout, or an extended period of embedding is needed, other things will begin to take people’s attention. Your change may slip down in people’s priorities.

    Keep people focused on the change, keep the levels of communications, and ‘good news’ stories high. Publish hard data updates. For example, ‘300 more people have gone live with the change this month’. 

    Task Managers With the Responsibility for Delivery: 

    Build successful implementation for their areas into their targets, objectives, or reporting. Remember: ‘if it isn’t measured, it doesn’t get done.

    Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change

    Conclusion

    In this article, you learn several techniques to deal with resistance, depending on the cause and type of resistance you are experiencing and the urgency of the change.

    Building and sustaining momentum, and supporting managers and supervisors, are both critical factors in preparing for resistance for Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change.

    And remember, the primary reasons given by people for resistance are not always real reasons.

    It may be that your change will uncover covert practices or lack of skills that have so far gone undetected and which people will not readily admit.

    In order to deal with the real issues, dig deep with resistant users to find out what they are anxious about.

    FAQs

    What are the cultural barriers to change?

    Overcoming cultural barriers to change deals with how to reduce the resistance to improve and how the restrictions to change can be removed. Resistance to change is to be expected and, therefore, it pays to prepare for it. There are common causes for resistance, for example, loss of control or increased uncertainty.

    How do you overcome cultural barriers?

    You can overcome cultural barriers by doing all the things given below
    Communicate openly and honestly about the change as early as possible.
    Build-in lots of opportunities for employees to provide feedback and become involved.
    Be realistic about the impacts of the change – don’t oversell the benefits, and be honest about dis-benefits.

    What are the barriers to change?

    Audible unhappiness: Lots of very audible one-way communication to you, senior managers, and colleagues about the fact that people are unhappy with the change.
    Disengagement: Lack of attendance at events, training, and meetings. Lack of participation if forced to attend. You agree to proposals and approaches without questioning them.
    Sabotage: People bring their agendas to meetings, workshops, and training sessions. Try to ‘‘brake’’ systems and processes. Spread negative rumors about the change to colleagues.

    What are some barriers to successful culture change in an organization?

    Following are the five common barriers to effective organizational change
    Individual Change Resistance.
    Lack of Communication.
    Lack of Strategic Direction.
    Ripple effects – change interferes with the activities of other areas
    Lack of Consistency.
    Lack of (Perceived) Leadership Buy-In.

  • Mergers and Acquisitions-The Ultimate Guide 2020

    Mergers and Acquisitions-The Ultimate Guide 2020

    Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is a way of consolidating two companies. Here companies join hands with each other to do business.

    There are various reasons why any company goes for mergers and acquisitions step.

    Also, there are a lot of companies as mergers and acquisitions examples.

    We will be discussing all M&A in this blog.

    So let’s get started…

    What is in it for you?

    What are Mergers and Acquisitions?

    M&A is a process where companies join hands to do business. In other words, consolidation of companies takes place.

    If we separate the term, we get two different words. The merger means the combination of two companies to form one. For example, suppose there are two companies in the market X and Y.

    Now X and Y want to merge their business. So they soon become a new company, say, Z. Now X and Y no more exist. A single company operates with the name of Z.

    Then what do acquisitions mean?

    mergers and acquisitions

    It means one company takes over the other company. Again let us take the example of X and Y. Here X buys up Y Company, but they do not rename the whole business. Both X and Y is a separate entity.

    They operate independently, but the management, rules, policies, guidelines, etc. are all the same for both companies.

    I hope that by now, you are clear with the mergers and acquisitions as a whole and separate terms.

    Now let us see various ways of M&A.

    Ways of Mergers and Acquisitions

    M&A can take place in the following ways:

    1. Purchasing assets
    2. Purchasing common shares
    3. Exchanging shares for assets
    4. Exchanging shares for shares

    Types of Mergers and Acquisitions

    There are seven types of M&A. Let us study each of them in detail.

    Horizontal Mergers

    It means those companies mergers together who are working in the same industry. It can also be possible when they are producing the ideal products.

    There are various reasons for the horizontal merging of the companies. Such as:

    • Get benefit for economies of scale
    • Reduction of competition
    • Control over the market
    • Capturing large market share
    • Achieving monopoly status in the industry

    An example of horizontal mergers and acquisitions are Bank of Mudra and ICICI Bank.

    Vertical Mergers

    In this, companies of the same industries but producing different goods join hands. This kind of M&A can be in two forms.

    One is where you buy the other company that produces raw materials for your company. For example, you provide cloths. So you get a cotton yarn manufacturer company.

    The other way is you get that company which helps you reach more customers. For example, you buy a marketing agency that can help you increase your reach to customers.

    Conglomerate Mergers

    In this, those companies come together whose industries are different. For example, a cloth manufacturing company acquires an FMCG company.

    These kinds of mergers and acquisitions happen to capture the vast market and earn a substantial profit.

    Concentric Mergers

    Here two or more companies come together. They are those companies that share the same target customers, use the same technology, or are in the same industry.

    For example, a production house acquires a marketing agency. Again their main motive is to capture the market, reduce competition, etc.

    Forward Mergers

    It is also known as direct mergers. Let me explain this term with an example because many of the people get confused with this term.

    Do you remember the example X and Y?

    Here suppose X wants to buy Y. So the Y Company mergers with the X Company, and then it stops to exist. It means now Y no more exist and is no more considered as a separate entity.

    Both companies operate under a single name, X. Also, all the assets and liabilities of Y now become X’s.

    Reverse Mergers

    You can call this as an acquisition process. Remember, I defined this term in the beginning?

    Here X buys Y, but Y does not lose its identity. It works as a subsidiary of X and continues to be a separate entity. In this, the shareholders of X Company get the shares of Y Company.

    Subsidiary Mergers

    In this, the target company becomes the subsidiary of the buyer. All the management for both companies now goes hand in hand.

    mergers and acquisitions

    Reasons for Mergers and Acquisitions

    Different reasons why companies go for mergers and acquisitions are:

    1. Lower cost of capital – When the companies merge, all the assets and liabilities of the company becomes of other companies. So, here the company got the advantage of a lower cost of capital.
    2. Improves performance and growth – After merging, the work power increases—the existing capital increases. Hence, performance and growth also enhance.
    3. Economies of scale – You get the advantage of economies of scale. There is a chance of getting more extensive opportunities for your business.
    4. Diversification of product or market – means that after merging, you can go for diversification of the product. You can add a new product line to your actual business. Also, you can go for diversifying your market. Try to enter some new market if you get or see the opportunity.
    5. Increase market share – You get a more extensive market share, which proves to be beneficial for your company. Also, you are now able to connect with more customers.
    6. Strategic realignment – It means you can plan your marketing and other business functions. It gives you an edge over other competitors.
    7. Technological change – The company you merged with may use high technology in the production process or other business activities. So you get the support of technologies.
    8. Tax considerations – Again, you also get the advantage of tax considerations.
    9. Undervalued target – It might happen that you have missed connecting with some of the customers or cannot serve any particular area. By merging process, you get the opportunity to come out from an undervalued target market.
    10. Diversification of risk – After merging the risk, your company bears now will be taken by both of the companies. So your risk gets distributed, and you have to face less burden.

    Mergers and Acquisitions Process

    Let us look into M&A process in detail.

    Pre-Acquisition Review

    Think for a while. If you are planning to get any company, you will check and analyze everything. Like what benefit you will get if you go for merging or acquiring any company. You will plan out everything.

    Search and Screen Target

    In this stage, your search for an able company with whom you can go for joining hands. So you do the screening of all the possible companies.

    Let's Decode: Financial Modeling for Merger & Acquisitions

    Investigation and valuation

    Once you have analyzed all the possible companies and chose the apt one for your company, investigate everything.

    You can check them in the following fields:

    • Market position
    • Share price if they are listed company
    • Customer reach
    • Mission, vision, aims, and objectives
    • Future plans
    • Work effectiveness and efficiency
    • Workforce
    • Goodwill in the market
    • Profit and Loss account
    • Balance Sheet
    • Liquidity status
    • Sources of funding
    • Debt/Equity Ratio

    These are some of the areas I have mentioned. Consider adding more if you find anything useful.

    After checking all this and if you find it perfect, then go for valuation. Find out how much you are ready to pay for that company.

    Negotiation and Acquiring

    After investigating and evaluating the target company, start negotiating with the company. Discuss with them how much they are asking for, and you are going to pay.

    Tell them about all the terms and conditions. There should be transparency in the deal. After the negotiation is done and both the parties have agreed over the terms and conditions, you are ready to get the target company.

    Cross Border Mergers And Acquisitions | Law Corner

    Post Merger Integration

    After all the above steps are completed, there is a final announcement of mergers and acquisitions of the companies that took place.

    It is so that the public can know what the companies are up to and who the owner is, etc. Also, they have the right to know about which company’s products they are buying.

    Conclusion

    So by know, I hope you have understood what mergers and acquisitions are. I have tried explaining it with an example.

    Also, I covered different subtopics, such as mergers and acquisitions types, reasons, and processes. I hope it proves to be beneficial for you.

    FAQs

    1. What is the difference between mergers and acquisitions?

    Difference between them is:
    Merger – Two companies join hands and become a single company. They also change the name of the new company.
    Acquisition – Two companies join hands and work together. In this, the name of the companies does not change. They both exist as a different entity.

    2. What is a horizontal merger?

    It means two companies of the same industry merge to work together and take the benefit.

    3. What is the mergers and acquisitions process?

    I have tried explaining the whole mergers and acquisitions process in detail. Do have a look at the above section.

    4. What are the benefits of mergers and acquisitions?

    Mergers and acquisitions give the following benefits-
    1. More capital
    2. Financial advantage
    3. Technological advancement
    4. Access to a large market
    5. Increase in market share
    6. More customer attraction
    7. Increase in goodwill

  • Corporate Social Responsibility-The Most Effective Strategy

    Corporate Social Responsibility-The Most Effective Strategy

    We all know that companies take the resources from the environment to make a product. So they all have the corporate responsibility to give back something to society.

    This concept is not new in the corporate world. It got implemented way back. So every company has to follow this.

    Suppose you start a company producing a pencil. So you need resources such as land, labor, machines, materials, etc. All these things you get from society.

    Hence, you are now under the obligation to return something to society. You carry a responsibility to serve people and the environment.

    So this is what we call corporate social responsibility.

    Now in this blog, we will be learning about corporate social responsibility in detail.

    What is in it for me?

    What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

    By the term itself, you must have understood what social responsibility is. Corporate social responsibility meaning, one has the responsibility to serve society.

    Apart from serving the company’s stakeholders, they also have to serve society. They should give back in return.

    There are various ways through which they can serve the society and the environment. It depends on the type of product they deal with. They can also help those sections not related to business but are a significant issue to care for.

    The root of social responsibility lies in activities such as charity or donation. Most social obligations get concerned with food, water, clothing, education, healthcare, and shelter.

    One Big Family — HERMES

    Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

    Companies must do social activities. However, it is not a legal need. But it a good practice to take social and environmental issues into account.

    Thus social responsibility and ethical practices are vital for your company’s success.

    Consumers are aware of the aware of its importance. Hence, they trust the product of those businesses more who is up in such activities.

    In research, we found that customers buy the product of those companies who does social activities. It sends the message that you are not only interested in making a profit but also care for the society.

    It increases your profit margin as people trust you and buy your products.

    Floral Flower Background clipart - Social, Illustration, Green ...

    Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility

    Benefits will tell you the importance of corporate social responsibility. You will also be clear about why you should make an effort to install it in your organization.

    So here are some of its benefits.

    Improving Public Relations for Your Business | SlideGenius

    Improve Public Image

    When your company does some social activities, it sends a positive message to the public. Apart from earning a profit, you also help in the betterment of society and its well being.

    Hence, this builds trust in the public and improves your public image. So try to take on some activities that will help make your company’s goodwill.

    Some of the social responsibility of business is:

    a. Providing an education facility to poor children

    b. Taking care of the cleanliness of the environment

    c. Helps in waste management

    d. Conducts women empowerment programs

    e. Provide the farmers with agricultural equipment

    f. Donating to certain charities

    So these are some of the activities which your company can take. You can also think of some other activities if you find it a significant issue.

    Increase in Brand Awareness

    When you serve society, people start recognizing your business. It helps in increasing brand awareness. More and more people come to know about your brand.

    It helps in gaining customers. Hence, this results in an increase in sales and your company start earning huge profits.

    CSR Focus - Greenbusiness: SME Efficiency And Cost Reduction ...

    Cost Saving

    Now you must be thinking of how it leads to cost-saving. Suppose you are supporting the sustainability of the environment. So you will take up such kind of activities that will not hamper the environment.

    In this process, you might change the packaging or lessen the packaging layer of the product. You will stop using plastic or less use of it.

    Also, one more benefit that you will get is, you will have to spend less on marketing activities in the later stage. You have to invest in the initial step. Hence, it would be best if you conveyed to people about your social responsibility.

    After people come to know about it and build trust in your company, you start getting the benefit of word-of-mouth. They spread positive words about your company, and hence your customer starts increasing.

    Advantage Over Competitors

    By doing social responsibility, your company stands out of the competition. Your competitors are also building the same product as you.

    But here you get more benefit of building your public image.

    How?

    By serving society, you show people that you also care about them. It is not only by providing products but also helping them in other ways without asking for anything in return.

    That is selfless service. Hence, this becomes a plus point for your business. Finally, you stand out from the competition, and people start buying your product more.

    Increase Customer Engagement

    All these activities help in increasing customer engagement with your business. They start walking with your company.

    So if your company is up for any social activity, try to convey it to people from wherever possible. Make the use of social media. Make a daily post on all social media platforms.

    Try to reach out to people by some traditional methods like ads on television, billboards, posters, etc.

    Hence, it will lead to more customer engagement.

    Increase Employee Engagement

    Today employees work more with those companies who take up some social responsibilities. It boosts their enthusiasm to work for the company.

    They enjoy working in such an environment.

    Also, when they come to know that your company follows the rules and guidelines of human rights, you build more trust in them. Hence, they work up to the mark.

    You also get the benefit because of such activities you can attract more suitable candidates.

    Employees Development

    Again you must be thinking how. As I said that employees work more with those companies who take up social responsibilities.

    So this creates a positive environment in the workplace. Sometimes you also send employees for volunteering activity.

    Hence, this develops them personally and professionally. Also, they grow from both aspects, which help them in building their personality. So this is how corporate social responsibilities also benefit employee’s development.

    Corporate Social Responsibility Companies Act 2013

    The Companies Act 2013 has introduced the concept of corporate social responsibility. It came into effect from the financial year 2014-15.

    According to the act, it is mandatory to disclose the activities you have taken as the CSR activity. There should be clear transparency related to it.

    In schedule VII of the Act, there is a list of the CSR activities. It suggests that communities must be the focal point. If you take up any activities from this list, it will be considered a CSR activity.

    List of CSR activities are:

    • Eradicating the hunger
    • Serving the malnutrition society
    • Reduction of poverty
    • Working for gender inequality
    • Women empowerment

    Likewise, there are many more. It is a very long list. You can check out the list of CSR activities mentioned under the act.

    Corporate social responsibility in Companies ACT 2013

    Corporate Social Responsibility Provisions

    Suppose there are 100 companies in the market. It comprises of small, medium, and large companies. So there are some rules and guidelines made by the Companies Act, 2013. It is not compulsory to report CSR activity.

    So how to know which companies need to make the CSR report?

    Let us have a look at it.

    Every company including its holding and subsidiaries falling under any of the criteria given below:

    • The net worth of Rs 500 crore or more or
    • Turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more or
    • Net profit of Rs 5 crore or more

    During the immediately preceding the financial year or where the company has not completed three fiscal years since its incorporation, during such immediately preceding financial years.

    All such companies have to follow the provisions of CSR under Companies Act, 2013. Also, they have to file the CSR report.

    Now you must be thinking………

    How much to spend on CSR activities?

    There is a provision about the amount to get spent on CSR activities by the companies.

    The company must spend 2% of the average net profits of the company made during the three next financial years for CSR activities.

    Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) - Roles & responsibility ...

    Conclusion

    So by now, you must have understood what corporate social responsibility is. I have tried to explain the term in a straightforward language and in a comprehensive way.

    We have also discussed the corporate social responsibility policy, importance, benefits, laws, and provisions of corporate social responsibility. By this, we can conclude that it builds up the goodwill of the company and also gains the advantage of marketing.

    FAQs

    1. Why corporate social responsibility is important?

    Corporate Social Responsibility is essential because it builds up goodwill for your company. You take resources from society, so you should give back something.

    2. Is corporate social responsibility mandatory?

    Yes, corporate social responsibility is mandatory for the companies as per the Companies Act, 2013. There are specific provisions for it. If your company is eligible for it, then it is mandatory.

    3. Is corporate social responsibility ethical?

    Yes, corporate social responsibility is ethical until the company does it for a good cause.

    4. How corporate social responsibility pays off?

    By taking corporate social responsibility, your company gets the following benefits-
    1. The loyalty of the customers
    2. Increase in sales
    3. Builds up goodwill
    4. Ahead of competitors
    5. Increase in profit

    5. Give corporate social responsibility examples.

    Some of the examples of corporate social responsibility are:
    1. BMW
    2. Amul
    3. Levi Strauss & Co.
    4. ITC
    5. Survey Monkey
    6. Starbucks Coffee
    7. Ben & Jerry’s
    So, these are some of the socially responsible companies. There are many more.

  • Diffusion of Innovation-Things You Do Not Know About

    Diffusion of Innovation-Things You Do Not Know About

    The diffusion of innovation is the rate at which a product gets diffused in the market or society.

    We find the adoption curve of a new product launched by a company.

    Suppose you have your own company and you have launched a product in the market. You can track the consumer adoption process.

    Are you excited to know how?

    Let us see.

    First, we will understand how the product is adopted. Then we will see how the product diffusion takes place.

    What is in it for me?

    Product Adoption Definition

    Product adoption means a consumer decides to adopt or buy your product for his or her personal use. He finally decides to consume your product.

    The product life cycle depends on how the product is getting consumed by the customers. The faster the product gets absorbed, the faster product reaches its maturity stage.

    After the maturity stage, then the product starts entering the declining phase.

    Hence, we need to observe the process of product adoption and diffusion process. It will help us to form the product life cycle stage.

    Concept of Product Adoption

    The concept of product adoption is concerned with new products. People will only buy your product seeing the benefit or the utilities they are deriving from it.

    So let us try to understand the methods of developing a product. It will only decide the pace of adoption of your product.

    Diffusion of Innovation-

    Innovation

    It means you develop a new product that does not exist in the market to date. Now, these kinds of products have a high chance that they will get consumed by the people.

    But it also depends on the benefit the customers get from your goods or service. If they are satisfied with the product, then the adoption process will be speedy.

    To come up with an innovative product, you need to be very good at research and development. It gives you insight and data about the market. Then only you can develop and launch a unique product.

    Modifications

    In this method of product development, you change the existing goods or services. Now with new quality, you launch the product in the market.

    These kinds of products also have the chance of fast adoption process. But the adoption process pace is less as compared to the innovative product.

    There are various ways to change your product.

    a. Quality modification

    b. Functional modification

    c. Style modification

    d. Packaging modification

    e. Price modification

    These are some ways where you can change the existing product of your competitors. It will give you an extra benefit.

    Me Too Products

    In this, you launch the same kind of product in the market which already exists. You do not go for any modification process.

    It has a very low or no chance to get adopted by the consumers in the market.

    Why?

    It is because there are competitors already sitting in the market. They have captured the market and have a significant market share.

    Those companies already have their loyal customers. So, it becomes challenging to survive in such a market, and you have to take the back seat.

    Hence, it is advisable not to go for such kind of product.

    Diffusion of Innovation-

    Product Adoption Process

    There is a process of how the consumer starts adopting the product. It is a mental process that a consumer goes through before buying the product.

    It starts by gathering information about the products available in the market. Finally, it ends up deciding to buy that product and become its regular consumer.

    There are five steps in the product adoption process. Let us study them one-by-one.

    1. Awareness – The first step a consumer takes is to get aware of the product. They collect information about arrived products.
    2. Interest – Next stage is where the consumer generates excitement for your product. After they know about the product, they think of buying it.
    3. Evaluation – After building interest in your product, consumers check it. They check all the features and all. Then only they go for making a buying decision.
    4. Trial – Next is the trial stage where consumers try the product before purchasing it. They use the product and check whether it is good or not.
    5. Adoption – Final stage is the adoption stage. Here, after getting satisfied, the consumer finally decides to buy. So this is where the product adoption process ends.

    Diffusion of Innovation

    The diffusion of innovation means in which rate the product is diffusing in the market. Product diffusion is also known as the diffusion of innovation.

    The product gets adopted by the people only when they come to know about it. So it is vital to communicate with your customers to aware them about your goods or service.

    There are different types of people living in our society. They have their views.

    Some of their rate of adopting new product is very high. There are some others whose adoption rate is meager.

    Hence, you have to plan your marketing as per the types of consumers found in the market. So, you have to study the characteristics of different consumers.

    Marketing products is a vital function. Through this, only you make people aware of your product.

    There are various ways to promote your goods or service. Some of them are like word-of-mouth, sales promotion, personal selling, etc.

    Different consumers adopt products at different rates. We can divide them into five categories.

    Diffusion of Innovation Curve

    The diffusion of innovation curve represents different types of product adopters. It is also known as the product diffusion curve. As I mentioned earlier, there are five types of product adopters in the market.

    Let us study each of them in detail.

    Innovation Curve lapaas

    Let us study each of them in detail.

    Innovators

    They are the ones who are ready to take the risk of trying unproven products. They use the product when it is in the research and development stage in the Product Life Cycle.

    Innovators are the ones who are well educated, sound, stable, and are ready to take risks. The innovators represent 2.5% of the consumers and are first in the diffusion of innovation curve.

    Companies consider them vital as they are the first consumers of the product. But they do not take an active part in spreading the word for the product. They are not very influential.

    Early Adopters

    Based on the opinion of the innovators, the early adopters then starts giving reaction to the product. If the view is positive, then they start buying it.

    Adopters categories represent 13.5% of the consumer and come second in the diffusion of the innovation curve. They take an active part in spreading the word and influencing people to use the product.

    Hence, they act as a promoter. In research, it is found that people get more convinced by the reviews of other users than the advertisements.

    So, marketers try to focus more on this category of consumers to convince them and make them use it. Then they will influence people further. Thus, early adopters marketing is vital.

    They are known as educated opinion leaders. They consume the product when it is in the introduction stage of the Product Life Cycle.

    Early Majority

    They are the ones who consume the product after getting the opinion of early adopters. This category represents 34% of the consumer. They come in third place in the diffusion of innovation curve.

    They do not take the risk. Hence, the early majority buy the product after getting convinced. Also, when proved by the innovators and early adopters.

    The marketers target them because they consist of the majority of the total consumer. Hence, the consumption of products by them will decide the success and failure of the product.

    So, it is vital to convincing this group to succeed and capture the vast market. The early majority consumes the product when it is at the growth stage in the Product Life Cycle.

    Late Majority

    These are the consumers who are not at all ready to take the risk. They consume the product only when it has become common. The craze for it has gone.

    They are quite like the early majority. The late majority represents 34% of the consumer. They get placed at fourth in the diffusion of innovation curve.

    They consume the product when it is at its maturity stage in the Product Life Cycle. It is because many competitors enter the market, providing the same product.

    Now here starts the price competition among the companies. Hence, the price starts falling. So it might happen that they found the cost of the product very high earlier, but now it is affordable.

    Laggards

    They are the ones who avoid changes. They are not ready to adopt the product until it gets outdated, and it is no more in demand.

    These types of consumers support traditional things more. Hence, they comprise of old age people.

    Laggards represent 16% of the consumer and are the last one in the diffusion of innovation curve. They consume the product when it is at its declining stage.

    Factors of Diffusion of Innovation Rate

    The diffusion of innovation rate depends on many factors. They are as follows:

    • Benefits over existing or alternative products
    • Communication about the product to consumers
    • Price and its on-going cost in the market
    • Ease of using
    • Promotional activities and efforts
    • Distribution system or facility
    • Perceived risk

    Innovation Business Guide

    Conclusion

    By now, you must have understood what diffusion of innovation theory is. The diffusion of innovation theory is essential for every company. It tells you how and to which rate your product diffuses in the society.

    Thus, you get to know how your target market reacts to your product. Also, at what rate they are adopting your product and what the areas you need to improve.

    There are many other aspects as well that I have covered. I have narrated you in the process of how people adopt any product instead of direct jumping into the topic.

    Also, I tried explaining them in simple language and in detail. So, I hope you liked it and understood everything about this concept.

    FAQs

    1. What is the diffusion of innovation theory?

    The diffusion of innovation theory is a study of how a product is getting diffused in a society.

    2. Who discovered the diffusion of innovation theory?

    E. M. Rogers discovered the Diffusion of Innovation theory in 1962. It is one of the oldest social science theories. Hence, it is also known as the Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory.

    3. Why is the diffusion of innovation important?

    Diffusion of innovation is critical because you come to know about the following:
    1. Rate of spread of the product in society
    2. Which type of customer to target first
    3. Target market
    4. Improvement in the product if any
    5. Nature of the customers

    4. Explain the diffusion of innovation and the consumer adoption process.

    I have explained this in detail. You can have a look in the above sections. This whole blog is all about it. I hope you understand all the subtopics.

  • Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Competitors – the word is everything for understanding. It is a huge part of the business. If you want to start your business in the physical or in the online medium then you need to understand your competitors and also need to understand the factors that will impact your business.

    Track your competitors for creating a better result that matters a lot in the business. Every company uses to track its competitors or competition so they can develop their own products. So today you will go to learn some important strategies and will understand the tracking facts.

    You will understand

    How to Check Competitors?

    Competitors are everywhere even we do not want but still, our business has opponents or competitors. But in my opinion, it is good to have competitions. Because they save our time. 

    Little confusion? What I am talking about! Yes, you will know the reason behind the competition tracker.

    Firstly, you need to understand why we need to check our competition? 

    If you want to start a business online you need to check your competitors fast because they will explain your answers. 

    Also if you want to start a business offline or by physical methods then also you need to check your competitors for better understanding.

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Now, take a look at

    How Your Competitors will Help You 

    At first, they tell you about the industry you are going to start. When you check your competitors dashboard you will understand the overall industry. 

    Dashboard means you have to follow your competitions all social accounts then you will understand their working process. Social sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. Those all are the best platform to check the activities of your competition.

    Secondly, you have to check their overall public relations. 

    Which means what they do?

    How do they do? 

    How many programs did they arrange to connect with audiences? 

    If they do any free webinar? 

    How is the social activities and events going on? 

    Which platform do they use to connect with audiences? 

    How many people are following them?

    How many events do they attend?

    Overall reviews and you can also check their YouTube channel for better information. 

    In YouTube, how they do, what they do, how they present themselves in front of us and so on. Although you need to check everything then you have a better understanding of your working growth. 

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Thirdly, for developing your business. For business purposes, you just need to check competitors because of the above reasons. If you want to build your brand value then you definitely check out the first two processes. 

    For developing the business not only you should develop your content (online) and products (both online and offline) you also need to develop your branding. With this purpose in mind, you should start to check your competitors or competitions.

    Fourthly, for improving the marketing.

    Marketing is a large part and another key point of a business. For enhancing the business you need to focus on the marketing sites of business. 

    Also, for better marketing, you need to check your competitors and competitions. You can check out their activities on social platforms because on the social sites they create contents that will give you more ideas. After that, you target the audience by advertising and video ads. Marketing through the Internet is the best and easy way to reach the audience.

    Just check everything and short out from their works. 

    Lastly, to collect ideas. 

    Now, this is very interesting. Because you already have enough information on how to start checking your competitions then you can check out all ideas.

    Ideas means their contents. When you check your competition’s content you have a clear idea about the industry or topics.

    What they are told about the products or services? 

    How do they create contents? 

    You will get the best information from their contents. Just use the resources and create your new contents. For this, you also can differentiate your content and get traffic by using the existing contents. I hope you understand the above concept. 

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Competitor Tracker Analysis 

    Now, you have a clear understanding of how you can check your competitors but the check is not only the ultimate solution. You also need to track your competitions. 

    So, there are several tools to use for checking and tracking your competitions. I will discuss the most important tools for tracking your competitions. You also take a look at overall tracking tools. So let’s know the names first.

    Top Keyword Tracking Tools 

    1. Ahrefs
    2. SEMrush
    3. Moz 
    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Both are the very famous keywords research tools. You can use those also for tracking your competitor’s authorities, for SEO strategy, tracking the traffic, all social keywords idea, spam score(Moz), analyse the efficiency of the keywords and many more. 

    By using those tools you will track your competitions and make your own contents and also you track your own content.

    Next, you can take a look at the 

    Top Twitter Tracking Tools

    1. Union Metrics
    2. Tweepsmap
    3. Twitter Analytics 
    4. Unbox Social
    5. Mentionmapp
    6. Followerwonk
    7. Bluenod

    Those tools are best for your Twitter analysis. You can easily track your engagement with followers. How they engage with your tweets. Although those tools tell about how much audience interest with your post, their age, gender, the location they belong, basically you will know all demographics. Using these tools for best results. 

    Top YouTube Analysis Tools

    1. YouTube Analytics
    2. Unbox Social
    3. Tubular Labs
    4. Klipfolio
    5. Quintly
    6. Channel Meter
    7. Social bakers
    8. ViralStat
    9. Tube Buddy
    10. Vidyard

    After the twitter analysis tools, you can also track the YouTube channel. Above all are given the best results according to youtube. Tools monitors the youtube channel across the world, also it shows a dashboard that tells the overall performance, engagement, track your competitors analytics, audience interests. 

    Also, some tools help to create beautiful videos and after that, it shows search results, analysis, monitors and optimised everything. Some tools help you with video creation, video marketing, analyse the marketing, data analysis, insight analysis and many more.

    Top Facebook Analysis Tools

    1. Facebook Insights (Free tool from Facebook)
    2. Quintly
    3. TrackMaven
    4. Buffer
    5. Unbox Social
    6. Rival IQ
    7. Grytics

    However, most of the people think that Facebook does not need to track. But as I told you as much as you follow your competitors on social sites you need to track your competition. So in the Facebook tracker, you have all the same features such as insights, tracking competition, performance, analytics, monitor, optimise, organic traffic tracking, analyse the user’s behaviour, marketing insights and many other works also done by those tools. 

    Top Instagram Analysis Tools 

    1. Iconosquare (Free tools)
    2. Instagram Insights
    3. Squarelovin
    4. Pixlee
    5. Unbox Social
    6. Crowdfire
    7. Socialbakers
    8. Union Metrics

    Now, after the Facebook analysis, you can also track your Instagram. In those tools, you can check the metrics of your post, post engagement and click-through rate, maintain a schedule for the post, also check the Instagram analysis for your business, promote your business, business awareness etc. 

    Top Social Media Analytics Tools 

    1. Awario
    2. Squarelovin
    3. Talkwalker
    4. Unbox Social
    5. Followerwonk
    6. Wiselytics
    7. Sotrender
    8. Minter.io
    9. NetBase
    10. Tailwind

    Those tools overall track your all social media sites. As I already discussed above the works of those tools. 

    So, you can use any of them and check out the features of those tools. As much as you explore you as well you get better information. 

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Competitor Winning Strategies

    After knowing all tracking methods I know you might be looking for all strategies. That you can use in your business and expand your business. Yes, now you can see all steps followed by every business. 

    Firstly, you search on Google on your niche. You will get top results. Just go through all the websites and check everything. 

    Secondly, make a list of the top 10 competitors. After that check individually and short out top 5 competition names. 

    Thirdly, after the short out, you will also check their pages on those competition trackers. 

    After that, you will get all information about your competitors then you can arrange all information together and create your own content. 

    Make sure you create something new because everyone has their own identity. If you want to build your authorities and build your brand then you need to create valuable content for your audience. 

    At last marketing, you already have every data from your analysis tools, now you need to use those data in your marketing as well. You can do your marketing on the competitors page, on their sites or eventually do marketing on specific targeted audiences so more people connect with you.

    Competitors Tracker- How do You Track Your Competition?

    Competitive Pricing Strategies

    After all the analysis, optimisation and tracking now you can create a price funnel so your competitors engage with you for long times. 

    There are basically a lot of pricing strategies using different influencers to the business owners. But somehow we can divide into some parts. Such as 

    1. Regular
    2. Moderate and
    3. Premium

    In the regular pricing strategy, if you do n’t want to do premium price charges to your consumers then you can target the bord audience and engage with a larger audience.

    Second, you can do moderate or average price charges. Where you do target in the specific targets but the price is not too high neither too minor.

    Thirdly, you can make the premium price range. When you provide high-quality products and valuable contents. 

    You can also do the differentiation marketing so that your business impacts better than your competitors. In this way, your competition has less power to compete with you.

    In that way, you can make and create your own price range strategies that help to grow your business.

    Conclusion

    At the end, I must say that there are several ways to connect with your audience because of tracking your competitors. Competition tracking and tracking the competitors both are added value in our business. Without tracking or checking the competition if you do anything then you definitely take risks on you. So before you start a business check the above process and create your own strategies that help you to grow by online and also offline. 

    Frequently Asked Questions 

    Who are the competitors?

    In the same category or industry, if there are lots of people doing the same works then everyone is a competitor. 

    What is the difference between competition and competitors?

    Competitors are those who do the same work as you and when you all are in the same way then the competition will go on to build the branding.

    What is CMP?

    CMP stands for Civilian Marksmanship Program. Club & Competition Tracker.

    How to do registration on CMP?

    You can go to the CMP sites and do the registration with your club number, name, city, state, club type, and memberships. 

  • Porter’s Five Forces – Winning Strategy of a Business

    Porter’s Five Forces – Winning Strategy of a Business

    Porter’s five forces is one of the most important models for business. In this model, Michael Eugene Porter discussed the competitors winning strategy. In this strategy, you know everything about how to protect your business and enhance your profit. How to get more profits and make your business model best so everything will be going on the good side. So without a delay let’s get into it.

    In the light of

    Understand Porter’s Five Forces 

    In 1979, this model was published in the Harvard Business Review for the first time. After that, the business will start thinking about this porter’s model. 

    Definition of Porter’s Five Forces 

    It is basically a model, where it introduced the 5 strategies. When some companies suffer from loss and sometimes unattractive because of rivalry or the rest of 4 reasons. Which I will talk about after some time. For example, airlines are one of the most important in our world but it has a high fixed cost with less profit. In this case, airlines mostly depend on the customer, if they buy tickets or not? Here comes the strategy that introduces the overall process. 

    Let’s take a look at the, what is porter five forces? So, there are 5 points introduced by the porter. 

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    Which are 

    1. Threat of new entrants 
    2. Threat of substitutes
    3. Bargaining power of buyers
    4. Bargaining power of suppliers
    5. Industry rivalry 

    Although, these 5 strategies described the different factors. So you need to know about everything that you apply for your business as well.

    Model of Porter’s Five Forces

    In the porter’s model, some major facts that display in front of us and we need to analyze those factors that are most important. Firstly, look at the overall main factors that porter’s talk about. Which are 

    1. Influence the bargaining power
    2. It is also simplified the microeconomic theory 
    3. Helps to understand the long-run rate of an industry
    4. Helps to understand the growth rate of a specific industry 
    5. Ability to understand the imperfect markets that affect the business 
    6. Sellers switching costs
    7. Power of distribution channels
    8. Products differentiation
    9. Network impacts
    10. Informational availability of buyers
    11. Understand the competitive forces in work
    12. Porter’s forces focus on environment analysis rather than SWOT analysis. 

    If you think that, only a business model enhances the business. Also, the overall supply chain, operations, distribution and sales, and marketing, all improved the business so you have to look here for ultimate information. You need to understand the importance of porter’s five forces. 

    Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

    Above you can see the different factors, now that I will go to discuss.

    Threat of New Entrants

    In this model, porter talks about all the threats that face the new startups. 

    Now I will tell you in detail. If you think to start a business what will you choose? Maybe the most profitable sectors. But let you know that every industry has profit and loss both.

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    You need to look at your potential competitors if they start a business your business will be down. Always track your competitors so the new entrants can not affect the business. If a business starts with small money there is a high chance to create a rivalry and give the bargaining power to buyers. 

    In this case, you need to secure your business by creating the entry barrier. You can make a differentiation of your products. You also can do cost leadership. For example, Apple is doing differentiation management. There are no competitors in the market who compete with Apple.

    Threat of Substitutes

    Next is substituted. You need to look at your market and if you can find any alternative then look for product management. You need to create the most specific product that does not have any alternatives. If you already have a business then you can do internal differentiation. Also, you can use patents so new entrants or your competitors can not use your specialty. 

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    If you are just starting your business then you need to do some research and fill your product-specific quality. You also can do product development or develop technology where you can take some government schemes. Find out the most relevant government scheme that protects your business. 

    In example, if there are a lot of rivals or competitors in your industry, then still you have an opinion to create unique products. In this way, you can provide a valuable addition to your customers. 

    The Bargaining Power of Buyers

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    In this model, porter discusses the power of the buyer. If you are not the best in your industry then the buyers have an option to purchase at discount rates. In the market, if there are a lot of competitors and they provide the same type of products then your business will definitely suffer. You do not allow your customers the buying power. Here the bargaining power or buying power means difficulty for the business. You have to take the power of your products in your hand. 

    The Bargaining Power of Suppliers

    Now, this is important to realize that if you do everything such as you maintain your product differentiation, control the alternatives but your suppliers have the power of buying then again it is not good for business. You have to choose the suppliers oriented industry where you can find multiple suppliers. 

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    Example, guess you have a specific type of product manufacturing company and you need specific raw materials and you have only fewer suppliers who provide the materials. In this case, your suppliers can charge a high amount, they have the right to create their own price range. In this situation, you don’t have many options to switch to another. 

    So here porter’s theory tells the power of your suppliers which is the threat of a company. You must use multiple distribution networks so your business has several options to reach your consumer. 

    Industry Rivalry

    So now you also look at the competition in the market. In this theory, one can choose the differentiation, but if there is already a strong competitor then the rivalry goes up. For example, the clothing manufacturing industry. In this industry, everyone wants to present their best dress and sell their dresses. 

    Porter's Five Forces - Winning Strategy of a Business

    In this case, you also realize that you have several alternatives to choose from. So here previously two threats also include here, one is the bargaining power of buyers and substitute threats. Where the company has to sell the products with discounts and also don’t have many alternatives to make the company differentiate. I hope now you realize, why the rivalry goes up? If a company manufactures dresses, they can not sell higher prices because of the rivalry. In this rivalry situation, one company also needs higher investment so the company continues to work.

    But overall it has less profit. Porter’s rivalry theory is a clear definition of industry rivalry. So make sure you don’t put yourself in a competitive industry if you have an existing business then you need higher investment and also need to differentiate your products. As I previously discussed.

    Limitations of Porter’s Five Force

    Everything has a good side and some disadvantages as well. Here is also the same. Porter’s five forces also have some limitations. Such as

    It oversimplifies the industry value chain. Every industry has a system that buyers can be used in different segments. They need to differentiate by middleman and different channels.

    Porter’s theory also felt to link with overall industry management. If a company has a low influence then how are they set to use them all five forces? 

    Also, Porter’s forces analyze the specific micro-niche but it ignores the broad or macro niches. Mostly some companies deal with macro niches and achieve success. Geographical growth is one of the best parts to expand the business.

    This theory also minimized the industry mindset. Because it is especially analysing the one and one company expansion rather than the industry development.

    Porter’s five forces another limitation that comes out which is self-orientation. In this case, porter rarely focuses on the dynamic industry rather than the specific company where anyone can develop specific products.

    It is also focused on the over branding. Because if you use the technology and want to differentiate with others then it is very difficult to create something totally new. It needs huge money. However, Apple used to differentiate the overall work still new entrants face the problem with it.

    Regardless, we accept the logical limitations are there in the model but still, we believe this model is a most important framework. It focuses on some major problems within the industry. So every new entrant and existing business uses those techniques. 

    Summary

    At last, if we need to take a quick overview of the porter forces. There are some important strategies we can see, although this strategy has some limitations. Still, from industry rivalry to buyers bargaining power all are important. The company needs to focus on the two main factors which are buyers and suppliers bargaining power. If these two are in control and well managed then any company can survive the industry. So if you started a business then you need to answer all strategies and if you have an existing business then you also create some differentiation in your business so that your business will continue for a long time.

    Frequently Asked Questions 

    What is Business Strategy?

    Business strategy comprises some techniques which are used for business growth. 

    What is PESTLE?

    PESTLE stands for the political environment, economic, social environment, technology, legal and ecological environment. These six methods analyze for business growth. 

    Advantages of Porter’s Forces?

    Most important advantages are it defines the overall micro niches sectors, analyse the sectors and implement the strategies. 

    Disadvantages of Porter’s Forces?

    The disadvantages and all limitations are the same. Porter’s forces have some limitations but most important is it focuses on the micro-niches, company-specific targets not the industry related. As I discussed in this blog.