Key to any CEO’s agenda is the need to constantly reconfigure the company’s capabilities to cope with a changing playing field and to lend extra strength to crucial functions within its business model and value chain. Continue reading
Company culture
Raise Awareness by Embracing Controversy
“Don’t rock the boat” seems to be an unshakeable rule in many B2B companies. Strangely enough, companies who adhere to the status quo are often the ones to be left behind when the boat is rocking at industry level. Ask Nokia or Sony Ericsson, for example, why Apple was able to not just rock but almost overturn their boats… Continue reading
The CMO as the new B2B superhero
When push comes to shove, it’s hard to find a CEO of a B2B company who sees marketing as the go-to function for business performance. Marketers are constantly challenged by their executive management to demonstrate the effectiveness of their efforts.
Does that mean the CMO role at B2B companies is redundant? And what can marketing do to move itself from a support function into the company’s upper echelons? Continue reading
An organization with 8000 leaders
There’s nothing like being forced out of your comfort zone to give you new ideas and inspiration. And what better way than rapid immersion in not just another business environment, but another culture?
This was the opportunity I was given on a recent visit to South Africa together with a group of business leaders from Denmark. Just a few hours after stepping off the long flight from Europe, we were released into Durban’s Central Business District. It’s a far cry from the sterile, grayscale business district of a northern European city. Colors and sounds line the pavements. People swarm over intersections, dodging the taxi vans, busses and occasional car. It’s an eclectic mix of cultures where urban dwellers dominate, but there are still plenty of people with obviously strong tribal roots.
For the next few hours, we explored the district, interacting with people to learn about their businesses and lives as best we could, sometimes in English, sometimes through an interpreter, and almost always with wild hand gestures. Continue reading
Marketing fights Sales – and everyone wins!
What’s the purpose of B2B marketing? Ask the question of any attentive marketing student and they’re likely to reel off a description that somewhere, somehow, involves increasing demand for the company’s products. But marketing is also about managing demand, too, which may actually require reducing demand – or moving demand away from particular products in a company’s range. That said, it still seems counter-intuitive to create marketing or sales materials aimed at putting a dent in sales…
Innovative employees go against the flow
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” These magical words are usually attributed to someone famous – perhaps Einstein, Mark Twain or a long list of others depending on who you believe. In any case, there’s plenty of truth in the idea, I think you’ll agree.
I thought again of those words when I attended a seminar held by DABF (Danish-American Business Forum) and found the happy ending to a business fairytale I think of almost every time I see someone trying to go against the status quo in an organization. Continue reading
Hit the snooze button on your brain’s alarm system
When we’re exposed to change, our individual behavior is often challenged due to the reactions and influences we are exposed to. Does the changing environment determine our actions and behaviors, where feelings and experiences are internal states that accompany congenital and acquired response patterns? Or do people navigate themselves through their own will and their freedom to choose when exposed to situations and circumstances they want to avoid? Continue reading
Think you’re a good judge of people? Think again!
Think of a time when an employee or team member performed a task particularly poorly. Was your reaction harsh – or did you even punish them? They probably performed better next time, but don’t think you had anything to do with it. Here’s the proof from one of the world’s great thinkers! Continue reading
Marketing technology and the challenges it brings for B2B
Considering the rate at which technology is advancing, it’s a fool’s errand to try to stay in front of the latest developments. Most marketers are more concerned with staying on board with the latest, but that can be pretty confusing too when there are so many concerns on the table. A vocabulary rich in buzzwords won’t get the job done, nor will a whole suite of sophisticated marketing tools that nobody knows how to use properly.
So, for the small- to medium-size business with limited marketing resources, what are some concerns to focus on? Continue reading
Tape your mouth shut for 3 days
Surprising advice by Stuart Symington, CEO of Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) in South Africa. What’s he getting at? Something deeper than just peace and quiet in his daily life, I’m sure.
How many business meetings or professional discussions have you had where you’re left feeling frustrated at being talked at the entire time without the opportunity for discussion or reflection? How many times have you yourself done that to other people? Continue reading