30/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

As we come to the end of the year and personal thoughts turn to new year resolutions, I would urge you to consider the same for your business.

Over the last few weeks I have spoken of the need for a business to have its value proposition aligned to customer needs and to embed a process that promotes innovation.

The last weeks of the year offer several examples of businesses who have failed to do just that. Businesses that grew fat on the good times and who failed to recognise changing customer needs.

Challenging times represent opportunities for the bold and innovative. There is an old saying that to stand still is to fall back , we at Balmoral Strategy Development believe that to be particularly relevant in times of economic downtown.

History has shown that recessions provide opportunities for innovators to overturn orthodoxies and established orders and that even market leaders are vulnerable if they fail to meet the new challenges.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

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24/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

First of all I would like to extend Season’s Greetings to all readers of this blog, I wish you all well.

As we approach the end of the year, I would like to ask those in retail to consider this. As you reflect on what has been a extremely difficult last quarter, take some time to understand what exactly has sold and what has not. Do this not from a product viewpoint, but from the service or need that the product provides.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that understanding these customer needs is the first step towards shaping a business model, which provides significant competitive advantage.

So make it a new years resolution to look at your sales figures in this way and we are sure that new opportunities will be revealed.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited 

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22/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Employee motivation is an old topic that has been debated extensively. The age old question of how to maintain employee enthusiasm and commitment is faced by HR executives the world over. The answer lies in achieving balance between company needs and employee expectations.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we approach the problem from a point of view of competence.

Firstly we  determine competency shortfalls and goals from the company view

Secondly we discuss expectations with each employee and again we assess competency required to meet their goals.

Analysis of all the data collected allows synchronised development of company and personal competencies to the benefit both.

As usual all comments welcomed  - Stephen Coe , Director, Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

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17/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Customer needs evolve, but all to often many companies fail to develop their product to meet those needs. Many companies stick to their original business model because it is what they know and it has served them well in the past. They still see the sale of a product itself as the cash generator and all too often fail to recognise the opportunities that surround it.

These very opportunities are usually service based and as such provide the potential for real differentiation. Never has this been more the case than for High Street retailers struggling to compete with the Internet box shifters.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that every product sold has an attached service, which can be added to provide  customer value and competitive advantage. Our strategy processes delve deep into emerging trends and involve deep analysis of the customer. This approach provides insight into ‘pain points’ and is the starting point for a differentiated strategy, which has an innovative business model at its core.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral strategy Development Limited , Leicester, UK 

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15/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Will the Christmas season mark the ‘tipping point’ for the High Street as we have come to know it? At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited, we believe that for a number retail segments that may in fact be the case.

In many sectors the Internet is finally delivering on the promises of the late 90’s. In areas such as home entertainment and white goods it is possible within 15 minutes to read product reviews, establish what’s on offer, select your retailer and arrange delivery, confident in the knowledge that that you have made an informed choice and got a good price.

Contrast this to the experience of visiting a city centre store.

• Traffic congestion particularly at the weekend
• Parking costs, which are often exorbitant
• Limited choice, often only demonstration stock, items need to be ordered
• Price generally more expensive than online.
• Precious leisure/family time lost

Many high street retailers have quite simply lost their way, in some cases their ‘brand’ has been diminished to a point where most the consumer no longer understands what the company represents. They have made token efforts at modernisation, by offering their own online sales, but fundamentally they are still pursuing a 19th century business model.

For companies in these segments, the challenge is to offer a value proposition goes beyond price, differentiates them from the Internet box shifters and re establishes a ‘brand’ identity.

For some it may be that the time has passed , but for many there is still an opportunityif they are; bold in approach, caste off ‘Orthodoxy’ and embrace ‘Innovation’

As usual all comments welcome, Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral strategy Development Limited.

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11/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Below is a brief process outline, which is designed to make innovation an everyday activity.

1. Set up a process whereby ideas can be submitted from all areas of the workforce to an Innovation Panel or Ideas Forum. We are looking for product, service and business process ideas .
2. Distribute the ideas to team leaders.
3. At stand-up meetings each group selects an idea for discussion and provides feedback on the idea to the Innovation Panel.
4. Feedback is reviewed by the panel and the best are selected for further analysis.
5. Form teams, which involve the original creators and subject experts and provide them with adequate resources.
6. Set the teams specific goals and questions to answer. These are a short term exercises (maximum of 2 weeks).  
7. Teams report back to the Innovation Panel and a vote is taken as to whether to proceed further. 
8. Repeat the process

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we would recommend that at anyone time, at least 2 teams are pursuing innovation ideas. The approach follows the mantra fail quick, fail cheap and as soon as one idea is discarded another team should be formed and a new idea researched. This approach builds a pipeline of ideas and embeds innovation as part of everyday business activity.

As usual all comments welcome , Stephen  , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

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08/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Here is a simple exercise with the potential to reduce operating costs.

1. Gather a team that combines a mix of very experienced staff and recent recruits 
2. In a workshop brainstorm your companies key processes
3. Select the top 10 in terms of business impact i.e. cost, resource required, process time.
4. Breakdown each process and consider why it is done that way, then consider ways of changing the process in order to make it more efficient or less costly.
5. Select the top 3 for further detailed analysis.

This exercise challenges the status ; the more experienced in the group will be the source of and defender of company Orthodoxies, the new comers will challenge and ask why things are done in a particular way.

Obviously some Orthodoxies are there for good reason, but at Balmoral Strategy Development Limited our experience has shown that every company has the opportunity to overturn Orthodoxies to its advantage

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

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04/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

I have stated in the past that strategy is about making choices. It is the deliberate casting out of some possibilities in favour of others. The formalisation of a strategy usually comes after a rigorous analytical process.

I have also previously spoken of the need to properly scope out a strategy project. Experience has shown that this is often easier said than done. Strategy projects are all too often used as vehicles to pursue personal agendas. Time and resources are wasted exploring ‘left field’ ideas.

At Balmoral Strategy Development we believe that hard choices need to be made at the very start of the process. We might call it the articulation of an overarching strategic framework, a corporate identity, or possibly even brand. I prefer the statement used as the headline for this blog.

We advocate a formalised process, which answers the questions posed in the title, namely:

• What are we as a company?
• What do we want to be?

The output from the process defines the company and its aspirations, there are several clear advantages of such an approach.

• Provides a focus for both technical and business innovation
• Motivates and galvanises the workforce by providing a common goal and identity
• Facilitates future strategic decision making
• Eliminates resource drain by curtailing ‘left field’ activities

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

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02/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

I define inner capital as the latent competencies and market intelligence that lies within a company. This capital is often left unutised because management either do not know it is there, or do not recognise its potential.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we recommend a formalised process with senior level ownership responsible for inner capital development.

Key elements of such a process would be:

1. Regular innovation workshops, where idea generation can take place free from the shackles of day to day business. Key data feeds into the process are competency and market intelligence updates.
2. A Venture pipeline, which allows the best ideas to be tested on an experimental basis. The mantra fail cheap, fail quick should be adopted and benefits of learning from failures institutionalised. 

For this approach to work senior management must be committed and provide the best resources to drive the process. There must be a recognition that 9 out of 10 Ventures will probably fail.  Most of all senior management must resist the urge to turn off the innovation tap in hard times and provide the Ventures with the necessary financial backing.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited 

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