Leader Business Strategies:


a summary
profitable today,
sustainable tomorrow
1. becoming a Leader Business
“Whether it is the world’s rapidly growing population or the
worsening problem of global warming, we see the need for sustainable
business practices as increasingly urgent. And perhaps more than
anything else, we see sustainability as mainstream.”
Lee Scott, Chief Executive of Wal-Mart, 2007
Sustainability has finally made it. A quiet night in front of the TV sees climate change on the news, reality shows
‘going green’, government carbon footprint campaigns and everyone from banks to supermarkets advertising their
eco-credentials.
Meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – in short, sustainable
development – is the major challenge facing our age. And for Leader Businesses, companies that are pushing the
boundaries on sustainability in one or more areas of their business activity, rising to that challenge is already boosting
profits. This summary provides a comprehensive model of their business strategies and key approaches, and shows
how your business can benefit too.
today’s rules won’t apply tomorrow
Leader Businesses recognise that many ways of making money today won’t be profitable tomorrow. Basic services
and resources that the natural world now provides cheaply will become more and more expensive. Rising expectations
of business’s role will translate into new regulation, changed consumer behaviour, new norms in the supply chain and
investor pressure. New entrant entrepreneurs will grab market share from established competitors caught napping.
Leader Businesses realise that sustainability issues are forming the operating context from which they need to make
money. And as the leading sustainable development charity, we have already seen a profound strategic shift on
sustainability. When we started over a decade ago, our partners asked “What should our sustainability strategy be, in
the light of our business?” Now the likes of BT, First Choice, Marks & Spencer and Unilever are asking “What should
our business strategy be, in the light of sustainability?” From ‘nice to have’ add-on, sustainability has become a driver
of business strategy.
practical model of Leader Business Strategies
In our last publication Are you a Leader Business? Hallmarks of sustainable performance we highlighted best
practice in key areas and business activities, including senior commitment, governance, procurement, stakeholder
engagement and investor relations. This latest report provides a practical model of Leader Business strategies for
your next competitive edge:
• the TECHNOLOGIES that underpin a business’s offer, such as 3M’s Pollution Prevention Pays, GE’s
Ecomagination, Caterpillar’s engine re-manufacturing or Phillips’ radical new lighting equipment;
• the MARKETS where businesses make their offer, such as Nike subjecting its supply chain to scrutiny, M&S
asking customers to ‘Look Behind the Label’, Unilever opening up new markets at the Bottom of the Pyramid,
or GSH’s energy management service;
• the CONTEXTS that set the rules of competition, such as Unilever's sustainable agriculture programme, the
Climate Change Leaders Forum pushing for better regulation, or the Forest Stewardship Council, set up by
collaborating competitors and civil society.
key approaches to integrate sustainability into strategy
Leader Businesses use three key approaches to develop and integrate the right combination of strategies for sustainability:
• PLAN strategy to include sustainability trends and incorporate them into today’s decisions on future business direction;
• MANAGE how opportunities are defined and selected, so that the potential for emerging sustainability solutions is
identified and maximised;
• EXPERIMENT with a variety of approaches to learn which yield the best results.
Sustainability is an end goal: the ability of global society
to continue into the far future. Sustainable development
is the journey towards that end goal: how can we meet
our needs without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs?
At Forum for the Future we use the notion of capital to
help people understand what sustainability means in
practice. We have developed the Five Capitals Framework
to underpin our approach. No company can sustain itself
by living off its capital alone. The same is true for society.
But increasing evidence that we are living off our global
capital means we can no longer take for granted our
current pattern of development. The consequences of a
new pattern of development are already changing the
strategic context for business and affecting the types
of strategies that will succeed into the future.
the challenge: reducing supply
and rising demand
Business depends on a host of often unnoticed
‘eco-system services’, from a stable climate to
assimilation of waste, from providing food to controlling
disease and pests. It's not just rainforests and tigers
under threat. Climatic systems, water resources,
agriculture and fisheries are all degraded or
unsustainable eco-system services which we still rely
on for business success.
And we’re depleting our natural capital at the very time
when our need is growing. The planet will be home to
nine billion people by 2050, with just under one billion
extra people in the next 10 years alone. And just as we
want to continue to drive our cars and buy new shoes,
so people in developing countries want that too.
Business faces the twin challenges of delivering greater
equity between rich and poor nations and having fewer
resources to do it with.
the opportunity: to profit from
creating a sustainable future
The surge in population and consumption over the next 20
years looks impossible for damaged ecosystems to sustain.
But smart businesses will profit from these challenges by
finding ways to give us what we need and want whilst
maintaining the eco-system services on which we rely.
People increasingly expect business to play a key role in
finding solutions to these global problems. There is an
opportunity now for business to explore how to combine
profit with creating a sustainable future. Business
strategies that address this challenge at a profit will
define the successful business of the next 10 years.
2. what is sustainability,
and why now?
“Many CEOs recognise the underlying tension between business
models wedded to increasing patterns of consumption and the
reality of limited natural resources.”
McKinsey & Co, Shaping the New Rules of Competition, 2007
3. practical model of Leader
Business Strategies
“More capital is now focused on sustainable business models and
the market is rewarding leaders and the new entrants in a way
that could scarcely have been predicted even 15 years ago.”
Goldman Sachs, Introducing GS SUSTAIN, 2007
Our experience shows that taking a business into the
future is a balance between enhancing the current
competitive edge and exploring the next one. As our
model shows, most Leader Business strategies focus on
the next competitive edge. Simply improving current
business strategies will no longer be enough to thrive.
New strategies build on existing capabilities and
resources, answering questions such as “How can we
create value in a global society searching for a
sustainable future?”, “How can we create the best
future for our business?” and “Are we clear about the
consequences of these strategies?” Each strategy
contributes to creating a sustainable future in its own
way. In the full Leader Business Strategies paper we
show how each strategy contributes to sustainable
development using the Five Capitals Framework.
PLAN strategy to include future
trends
When setting the future direction of their business,
companies can incorporate sustainability into their
strategic planning cycle in three ways:
• Introduce material sustainability trends to the
external assessment of the structure and dynamics
of the business context
• Use Leader Businesses strategies as a starting point
for generating options about ways forward
• Pay attention to any unintended biases when
selecting options to take forward.
First Choice, now TUI Travel PLC, incorporated
sustainability into their ‘Managing for Value’ planning
cycle. We helped them frame the issues in the external
assessment, generate options and prioritise action
through calculating the financial value at risk. As a
result, a host of initiatives has emerged to shift the
business onto a more sustainable pathway.
MANAGE how opportunities
are defined and selected
In most organisations there is the plan, and then there
is what happens. Putting any strategic plan into action
means changing how opportunities are defined at
the 'coalface' and selected by managers, and then
re-allocating resources appropriately.
Leader Businesses can manage sustainability into
strategy by:
• Setting the strategic direction by giving clear
signals of intent, including announcements
and symbolic actions. People at the ‘coalface’
can now identify and define sustainability-related
opportunities.
• Setting a structural context where opportunities
that are on-strategy are favoured. These can be
formal, like performance targets, or informal, like
promoting people who have pushed commercial
sustainability-related activities.
One Forum for the Future telecoms partner is
creating a ‘sustainability-related opportunity register’.
The register provides a new way for commercial
departments to define and identify market place
opportunities by highlighting the ones relating to
sustainability. This has helped towards the gradual
integration of sustainability into core product and
service offers.
EXPERIMENT to learn and
to create options
The world changes fast, and so do the commercial
opportunities of sustainability. To keep your options
open and identify the best approach, it makes sense to
initiate a range of deliberate and contained experiments.
The experiments could be a new product message,
a new product, or a whole new business.
Such experiments give you the chance to test different
approaches without committing the entire business.
Learning is the success factor - even if you lose money,
you will know how to do it differently next time.
One Forum for the Future global electronics
partner used a staff competition on new sustainable
business models in emerging and developing markets.
Staff submitted project proposals that met criteria of
being profitable, and creating environmental benefits
and social value. The aim is to establish a range of
innovative commercial possibilities, a few of which
will become the successes of the future.
4. key approaches to integrate
sustainability into strategy
Leader Businesses develop the right combination of strategies
by bringing sustainability into their strategy process in
different ways.
the TECHNOLOGIES that
underpin a business’s offer
these strategies explore how to improve or replace technologies in
the supply chain, and in the products and services themselves.
improve technologies in current production methods
Instigate more sustainable production methods to improve resource efficiency, lower costs and mitigate
supply risks.
BP created an internal market for carbon, saving $650m and reducing carbon emissions
from its production.
3M’s Pollution Prevention Pays programme proved exactly that. Encouraged to innovate, staff developed
6,000 environmental projects, saving over £1 billion and one billion kilos of pollutants in their first year.
use closed-loop systems in production and beyond
Transform waste output into an input for further value generating activity, either inside or outside the
company. Benefits include: addressing the increasing prices of raw materials and waste disposal;
pre-empting legislation that extends producer responsibility all the way to the end of the product’s life;
getting closer to the consumer and gaining greater control over the supply chain.
Caterpillar takes its used truck diesel engines and ‘remanufactures’ them into engines that are sold at
the same price with the same guarantee. The company offers incentives to its parts distribution network
to maximise used parts return and keep input costs down.
ICI, Carillion and Forum for the Future have been funded by the UK Government to create a zero
emissions paint enterprise: a profitable business with no waste or emissions anywhere in its supply chain.
improve product design as customer needs evolve
Improve product design to offer more value from using less, responding to business
and consumer demands for improved resource productivity.
The Toyota Prius is still a car, but the improved design has been tremendously successful:
Car of the Year in North America (2004) and Europe (2005), and selling 750,000 by June 2007.
GE’s Ecomagination is billed internally as “a business strategy to help meet customers’ demand for
more energy-efficient, less emissive products and to drive growth for GE-growth that will greatly reward
investors”, mainly by improving current products. In 2006 GE launched some 45 Ecomagination products
with revenue of $12 billion.
create radical new technology
Create new technologies with radical breakthroughs in resource productivity or in
serving social needs.
Phillips, the Dutch electronics firm, developed ‘Edore’, an energy saving
domestic halogen bulb providing clear, crisp lighting for half the energy of an
ordinary household bulb.
the MARKETS where
businesses make their offer
these strategies create the right sort of demand in both
new and existing markets.
improve transparency to protect brand value
Protect brands in the market place, through improving transparency and engaging with stakeholders on
material issues. Otherwise, brand equity can erode quickly when a gap between expectations and
performance is revealed.
Nike has responded to bad publicity on working practices in its supply chain with a ‘product stewardship’
strategy that improved working conditions and reported transparently on its actions. The threat to the brand
has declined.
create and grow new markets at the bottom of the pyramid
Target new markets where non-consumption is the main ‘competitor’. At the bottom of the economic
pyramid, four billion people earn less that US$3,000 in purchasing power parity terms. Serving that market
can create the scale with which to attack ‘top of the pyramid’ mature markets from below.
Unilever subsidiary Hindustan Lever (HLL) targeted India’s rural poor with affordable soaps and
shampoos. The new products utilised Unilever’s core capabilities – top-class science and technology – in
partnership with a local NGO. More than half of HLL’s revenues now come from customers at the bottom
of the pyramid, and BOP practices are being transferred to other parts of Unilever.
grow the size and sophistication of demand in mature markets
Increase the sophistication of consumer demand to shift customers from saying they’d
like to buy ethically to actually doing so. Companies that proactively shape demand can respond to
changing purchasing habits faster than their competitors.
In 2005 Marks & Spencer launched a ground-breaking marketing campaign called ‘Look behind the label’
which informed customers of M&S’s long commitment on social and environmental issues such as fish
sourcing, animal welfare, Fairtrade and reducing salt and fat levels in food. A Citigroup report in the middle of
2006 said that the campaign contributed to the ongoing sales recovery and would underpin M&S brand
performance going forward.
Cafédirect has achieved double-digit growth by putting quality and fair treatment of producers
(accredited by the FAIRTRADE Mark) at the heart of its offer.
sell services, not products
Seek competitive advantage by meeting customers’ needs with services rather than products. This strategy
brings sustainability benefits by shifting the mix of inputs away from energy or materials towards labour, and
matches likely changes in the relative costs of materials and labour.
Facilities management company GSH have an energy services business called Energyplus which helps
clients cut their energy use by a guaranteed five per cent. GSH retains any cost savings beyond the five
per cent, making for a profitable service business based on its core competence of engineering expertise.
Novo Nordisk is repositioning itself from a pharmaceutical company to ‘a leader in diabetes care’.
It is exploring ways of selling prevention as a service, not just insulin as a product.
the CONTEXTS that set the
rules of competition
these strategies tackle issues beyond the company’s boundaries to
create a more successful competitive context for the business.
improve inputs, supply chain and infrastructure
Respond to threats with strategies that improve access to, and the quality of, inputs, supply chains
and infrastructure.
Unilever sources over two thirds of its raw materials from agriculture. Over the last 10 years a sustainable
agriculture programme engaging experts, producers and suppliers has helped secure the future of supply
by implementing new supply chain standards. Unilever was well placed ahead of the competition when
Tesco and Wal-Mart made their sourcing polices more stringent.
seek regulation that rewards responsibility
Form industry clusters, sometimes with unlikely partners, to seek regulation that rewards responsibility and
creates a level playing-field. Taking the lead provides an enhanced platform for progressive businesses to
innovate and differentiate.
The Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, convened by the University of Cambridge’s
Programme for Industry, is a group of major UK and international business leaders pushing for government
action on climate change. They are working in partnership with the UK Government towards strengthening
domestic and international progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
form strategic alliances to address business-critical issues
Join forces with a range of organisations, companies, suppliers and sector bodies to tackle strategic and
operational challenges that are too big for one business to deal with alone.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) arose from collaboration between NGOs like WWF and a
group of timber users and traders, including B&Q. Despite coming from different perspectives, everyone
involved appreciated the benefits of an honest and credible system for identifying products from
well-managed forests. The FSC now certifies some 12 per cent of the world’s commercially-managed
forests, helping safeguard the future of the timber industry.
With thanks to our Foundation Corporate Partners who contributed to this report through the Business Futures Fund.
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do you want to be a
Leader Business?
Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity, works in partnership with leading organisations in
business and the public sector. Our vision is of business and communities thriving in a future that is environmentally
sustainable and socially just. We believe that a sustainable future can be achieved, that it is the only way business
and communities will prosper, but that we need bold action now to make it happen.
We play our part by inspiring and challenging organisations with positive visions of a sustainable future; finding
innovative, practical ways to help realise those visions; training leaders to bring about change; and sharing success
through our communications.
This document is a summary of Leader Business Strategies. The in-depth version has greater detail on the different
strategies, including an analysis of their contribution to a sustainable future based on the Five Capitals Framework
and many more examples. Our research builds on our related publication, Are you a Leader Business? Hallmarks of
sustainable performance. A further approach to applying environmental principles to business can be found in
Sustainable Wealth Creation within Environmental Limits.
All are available from our website www.forumforthefuture.org.uk.
Authors: David Bent and Stephanie Draper.
For more information about Leader Business strategies and how to make them happen,
email us at business@forumforthefuture.org.uk.

Hurry up and Grab a Position

In today's world it is hard to believe anything you hear with so many tricks and scams out there. One of the most common new ideas today is the concept of working from home using only your computer. Now, there are plenty of flashy looking websites out there with incredible sounding claims of easy success. One can't browse the internet without coming across at least a couple of these outrageous get rich quick scams. So, the question comes to be, "Is it even possible to earn money from home? Is it possible to do it just from my computer? Is it all just a bunch of hype or are there really people out there making big bucks from their home?" Well, the answer is Yes and No. Yes, it is possible to earn a nice income from home using only your computer. This is actually very possible considering over 1 billion people are on the internet every year! But the question is, How? How can I use the internet in a way to bring actual money my way? There are several different ways one could do this. Of course you could own your own website.... but most of us do not have the technical know how to do that. And even if you did, it's nearly impossible to get a successful website up and running now days. Maybe you could be an eBay pro? Nah, that's pretty much impossible too. Well, there are real ways to earn an income from home using your computer even if you don't have any computer skills at all. One of these ways is to become an online form completer and get paid to complete simple forms. There are many websites that specialize in getting you signed up to get paid to complete simple assignments online. Unfortunately, even some of these are scams. If you find a website that sounds convincing, be sure to do some research into it first. Don't go throwing money away for something that is just going to scam you leaving you lesser in the pocket. Join the right programs. Find legitimate real programs with a good solid reputation and happy satisfied members. One particular website that can get you involved with fairly easily is really getting people excited. Click the following link to check it out > https://tinyurl.com/ngfbp5. Unfortunately, these online form completer opportunities are usually somewhat scarce. Positions are usually limited so you need to get right in whenever you

SOLID MINERALS

LOCAL SOURCING OF RAW MATERIALS
Nigeria is richly endowed with a variety of solid minerals of various categories ranging from precious metals to various stones and also industrial minerals such as barytes , gypsum, kaolin and marble. Much of these are yet to be exploited. Statistically, the level of exploitation of these minerals is very low in relation to the extent of deposits found in the country. One of the objectives of the new National Policy on Solid Minerals is to ensure the orderly development of the mineral resources of the country.
There are tremendous opportunities for investments in the solid mineral sector in Nigeria. Prospecting licenses for investors (both local and foreign) to participate in the exploitation of the vast mineral resources in Nigeria is granted by the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals.
Mineral resources that are present in Nigeria but not yet fully exploited are coal and tin. Other natural resources in the country include iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, and arable land. Agricultural products include groundnuts, palm oil, cocoa, coconut, citrus fruits, maize, millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane. Nigeria also has a booming leather and textile industry, with industries located in Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos.
Opportunities exist for the exploitation and export of natural gas, bitumen, limestone, coal, tin, columbite, gold, silver, lead-zinc, gypsum, glass sands, clays, asbestos, graphite, and iron ore, among others

GOING THE DISTANCE
I have without number in this column written about believing in yourself, even when the whole world thinks otherwise. Also about believing in that idea or invention of yours, though experts may not see any thing good about it. You have no reason to give up that dream just because someone else simply doesn’t buy into it. When they say it’s not possible prove to them that it is. A young man in need of work once saw this advertisement in a local newspaper. “Wanted, young man as an understudy to a financial statistician, P.O.Box 5902, Ihube.” The young man decided this was just the kind of job he wanted, so he replied to the ad but no answer. He wrote again, and even a third time with no reply. Next, he went to the local post office and asked the name of the holder of Box 5902, but the clerk refused to give it, as did the postmaster.
Early one morning an idea came to the young man. He rose early, took the first transport mode available to the local post office, and stood watch near Box 5902. After a while, a man appeared, opened the Box and took out the mail. The young man followed him as he returned to the office of a stock brokerage firm. The young man entered and asked for the manager. In the interview, the manager asked, “How did you find out that I was the advertiser?” The young man told him about his detective work, to which the manager replied, “Young man, you just the kind of determined fellow I want, You are employed!”
I remember reading the story of a sixty-five years old man who worked into a marketing office for employment. He was rejected because they do not have vacancy for someone of his age. He insisted that he can take up any position. In other to frustrate him, the helmsman nof the organization told him of a region where not doing well. Though they have a representative over there, but business wasn’t booming. He agreed to take it up and started the next day. In just a few days, the company began to get orders from the region. It was strange so they decided to honour such orders until repeated calls started coming to the office about shipment. Within a year, the old man became a vice-president in charge of the sales staff.
Dear reader, nobody will buy into you until you buy into yourself. Nobody will respect you if you do not respect yourself. The same goes belief. If you have the believe that you can accomplish a task, nobody on Earth can STOP you. The young man in our story could have given up, but see how he ended up.
My beloved friend, “Go and make It happen.

DO YOU KNOW WHY MANY PEOPLE ARE POOR?

THE REASON WHY MANY ARE POOR
OH!, what a life we live in today, whereby many people are not willing to take responsibility for what they do.(i.e their actions). They feel too lazy to take risk, they don’t really know that risk takers are the Great men of today. These men never give up at the slightest time, always ready press forward despite their current situation.
Notwithstanding their present situation, these great men think beyond their pockets. Example of them is President Obama of U.S.A., e.t.c Have you read this book titled “Think Big and Grow rich” by Napoleon Hill, this book helps to THINK like a millionaire, ACT like a millionaire and even SPEAK like a millionaire. My friend, I tell you that you are what you think, it is not possible to see yourself a mediocre and Become that Great man, come out of your Self pity into Self esteem.
Many youth of today, don’t want to get that information, all they want is that money that’s why many of our youth today turnout to become scams. And this is because they love money, but hate Creativity, Henry Ford, the Automobile Giant, once said, “If you take away the Five million dollars I had, in Five years time I will get it back, because the INFORMATION is there”. Information brings transformation.
Do you wish to become a singer, start singing from your home, work towards it, see yourself sing on stage to a great crowd of people. Or your wish is be an Entrepreneur think like one, write business plans ,work towards achieving your goal and then you will Grow to live your Dream. Mainly, it has been said, “Ninety percent (90%) of the great men of today comes from a poor Background. And these worked had despite their background, they stood on their ground for what they know how to do. They never give up to;
v Procrastination.
v Lack of self Confidence.
v Lack of Risk taking/Responsibility.
v Looking at their Background.
Never let your background weigh you down, possess your ground today! Today!! Today!!!Lastly, nobody will buy into you, until you buy into yourself.

MARKETING STRATEGIES YOU NEED TO KNOW

Marketing and Advertisng Tips
HOW to write a strategic marketing plan or business strategy, marketing and advertising tips, internet and website marketing tips
While much of this marketing theory page was written a while ago generally the principles apply just the same, if fact many of these basic pointers are good reminders of some of the simple things that are easy to overlook in these modern distracting times.
Incidentally, where references are made to the UK there will commonly be equivalent methods and processes and suppliers that are applicable in other countries.
a fundamental aspect of modern marketing
First, here's something that is fast becoming the most fundamental aspects of marketing to get right, especially if you want to build a truly sustainable high quality organisation (of any size) in the modern age:
Ensure the ethics and philosophy of your organisation are good and sound. This might seem a bit tangential to marketing and business, and rather difficult to measure, nevertheless...Price is no longer the king, if it ever was. Value no longer rules, if ever it did. Quality of service and product is not the deciding factor.
Today what truly matters is ethical and philosophical quality - from the bottom to the top - in every respect - across every dimension of the organisation.
Modern consumers, business buyers, staff and suppliers too, are today more interested than ever before in corporate integrity, which is defined by the organisation's ethics and philosophy.
Good sound ethics and philosophy enable and encourage people to make 'right and good' decisions, and to do right and good things. It's about humanity and morality; care and compassion; being good and fair.
Profit is okay, but not greed; reward is fine, but not avarice; trade is obviously essential, but exploitation is not.
People naturally identify and align with these philosophical values. The best staff, suppliers, and customers naturally gravitate towards organisations with strong philosophical qualities.
Putting a good clear ethical philosophy in place, and communicating it wide and far lets people know that your organisation always strives to do the the right thing. It's powerful because it appeals to people's deepest feelings. Corporate integrity, based on right and good ethical philosophy, transcends all else.
And so, strong ethics and good philosophy are the fundamentals on which all good organisations and businesses are now built.
People might not ask or talk about this much: the terminology is after all not fashionable 'marketing-speak', nor does it correlate obviously to financial performance, but be assured; everyone is becoming more aware of the deeper responsibilities of corporations and businesses in relation to humanity, and morality, the natural world, the weak and the poor, and the future of the planet.
Witness the antagonism growing towards certain multi-nationals. People don't rail against successful corporations - they rail against corporations which put profit ahead of people; growth ahead of society and communities; technology and production ahead of the natural world; market domination ahead of compassion for humankind. None of this is right and good, and these organisations are on borrowed time.
People increasingly prefer to buy from, deal with, and work for, ethical, right-minded organisations. And whether an organisation is ethical and right-minded is becoming increasingly transparent for all to see.
So be one.
Aside from which - when you get your philosophy right, everything else naturally anchors to it. Strategies, processes, attitudes, relationships, trading arrangements, all sorts of difficult decisions - even directors salaries and share options dare we suggest.
And it need not be complicated. The ultimate corporate reference point is: "Is it right and good?... How does this (idea, initiative, decision, etc) stack up against our ethical philosophy?"
Organisations are complex things, and they become more and more complicated every day. A good ethical philosophy provides everyone with a natural, reliable reference point, for the tiniest detail up to the biggest strategic decision.
So as you start to write your marketing plan, be it for a new start-up, a huge corporation, or a little department within one, make sure you put a 'right and good' ethical philosophy in place before you do anything else, and watch everything grow from there.
marketing and business planning - and fundamental organisational philosophy, purpose, values, and ethics
a modern planning framework for a business or organisation
First it's helpful to revisit, check or define the foundations of your business or organisation. What are your fundamental aims and values? What is your ultimate purpose?
Is your underpinning philosophy congruent (consistent) with your planned business activities, operations and aims? (See the leadership page for explanation of how underpinning purpose and philosophy are so important for leadership, as well as for strategy and marketing.)
Below is a simple template for checking that you have the foundations and building blocks in place. If not, then decide (as far as you can, because it's generally the CEO's call) what they should be, because all good marketing plans need to have solid foundations first.
As regards the fundamental philosophical aspects see the section on ethical organisations and corporate responsibility. This is deeper than tools and processes and mission statements - having a sound philosophy and ethical position determines and protects the spirit and integrity of your organisation.
*When it comes to defining more detailed aspects of mission and strategy, of course there's degree of 'chicken and egg' here: How can you know your Mission until you validate it with your potential customers? How can you establish objectives and goals without consulting and involving your staff? These later stages obviously need to be put in place and refined when you are in position to do so without guessing or assuming, as the planning develops; even so, use the framework as a firm reminder to make sure you fill in the boxes when you are able - don't leave these issues floating undecided, or defaulting back to X-Theory autocracy (which they generally do where a vacuum exists). If in doubt, always err on the side of what is good and right and proper, which is another good reason for having a sound ethical position: it always provides a reliable reference point. In the absence of everything else - tools, processes, clarity of responsibility (who does what), etc - having a sound and well understood philosophy and ethical position will always help people to make good decisions.
Build from the bottom upwards. Consult and involve people affected and involved wherever relevant. You will see many different versions and interpretations of this framework. The principles are similar although the words might change. A business or an organisation is built on values and philosophy. Increasingly in the modern age, customers and staff are not prepared to sustain commitment to organisations whose philosophy and values are misaligned with their own personal ideals. Ten years ago organisational planning paid very little regard to values and philosophy. Customers were satisfied with quality at the right price. Staff were satisfied with a decent wage and working conditions. Today things are different. Organisations of all sorts must now cater for a more enlightened workforce and market-place.
When considering these planning stages start from the bottom upwards. This will help to reinforce the point that planning is about building from the foundations upwards, and that the stronger the foundations, then the stronger the organisation will be.
Start at the foundations (point 1 below) and work upwards.
8. Our Performance Indicators
How do our Targets and Objectives translate into the essential measurable aspects of performance and activity? Are these expectations, standards, 'Key Performance Indicators' (KPI's), 'Service Level Agreements' (SLA's), etc., agreed with the recipients and people responsible for delivery?
7. Our Targets and Objectives
How are our strategies comprised? How are these responsibilities and activities allocated cross our functions and departments and teams? Who does what, where, when, how, for what cost and with what required effect and result? What are the timescales and measures for all the actions within our strategies, and who owns those responsibilities?
6. Our Strategies
How will we achieve our goal(s)? What needs to happen in order to achieve the things we plan? What are the effects on us and from where? Like planning a game of chess, what moves do we plan to make, why, and with what effects? How will we measure and monitor and communicate our performance? What are the criteria for measuring our performance and execution of our strategies?
5. Our Goal (or several goals in large or divisionalised businesses)
What is our principal goal? When do we plan to achieve it? How will we measure that we have achieved it? At what point will we have succeeded in what we set out to do? Goals can change of course, and new ones necessarily are developed as old ones are achieved - but at any time we need to know what our organisation's main goal is, when we aim to achieve it, and how its achievement will be measured. And again all this needs to be agreed with our people - including our customers if we are very good indeed.
4. Our Mission (or Missions if there are separate businesses within the whole)
How do we describe what we aim to do and be and achieve? What is special about what we are and do compared to any other organisation or business unit? Do our people understand and agree with this? Do our customers agree that it's what they want?
3. Our Vision - dependent on values and philosophy.
Where are we going? What difference will we make? How do we want to be remembered? In what ways will we change things for the better? Is this vision relevant and good and desired by the customers and staff and stakeholders? Is it realistic and achievable? Have we involved staff and customers in defining our vision? Is it written down and published and understood? The Vision is the stage of planning when the organisation states its relationship with its market-place, customers, or users. The Vision can also include references to staff, suppliers, 'stakeholders' and all others affected by the organisation.
2. Our Values - enabled by and dependent on philosophy and leadership.
Ethics, integrity, care and compassion, quality, standards of behaviour - whatever the values are - are they stated and understood and agreed by the staff? Do the values resonate with the customers and owners or stakeholders? Are they right and good, and things that we feel proud to be associated with? See the section on ethical organisations for help with this fundamental area of planning.
1. Our Philosophy - fundamentally defined by the leadership. When things go wrong in an organisation people commonly point to causes, problems or mistakes closer to the point of delivery - or typically in operational management. Generally however, major operational or strategic failings can always be traced back to a questionable philosophy, or a philosophical purpose which is not fitting for the activities of the organisation.
How does the organisation relate to the world? This is deeper than values. What is the organisation's purpose? If it is exclusively to make money for the shareholders, or to make a few million for the management buyout team when the business is floated, perhaps have a little re-think. Customers and staff are not daft. They will not be comfortable buying into an organisation whose deepest foundation is greed and profit. Profit's fine to an extent, but where does it fit in the wider scheme of things? Is it more important than taking care of our people and our customers and the world we live in? Does the organisation have a stated philosophy that might inspire people at a deeper level? Dare we aspire to build organisations of truly great worth and value to the world? The stronger our philosophy, the easier it is to build and run a great organisation. See the section on ethical organisations for help with this fundamental area of planning. If you are an entrepreneur or leader, or anyone contributing to the planning process, think about what you want to leave behind you; what you'd want to be remembered for. This helps focus on philosophical issues, before attending to processes and profit. Whatever your philosophy, ensure it is consistent with and appropriate for your organisational activities and aims. Your philosophical foundations must fit with what is built onto them, and vice-versa.
When you've satisfied yourself that the fundamental organisational framework is in place - and that you have gone as far as you can in creating a strong foundation - then you can begin your marketing planning.
marketing planning
Carry out your market research, including competitor activity.
Market information should include anything you need to know in order to formulate strategy and make business decisions. Information is available in the form of statistical economic and demographic data from libraries, research companies and professional associations (the Institute of Directors is excellent if you are a member). This is called secondary research and will require some interpretation or manipulation for your own purposes. Additionally you can carry out your own research through customer feed-back, surveys, questionnaires and focus groups (obtaining indicators to wider views through discussion among a few representative people in a controlled situation). This is called primary research, and is tailored to your precise needs. It requires less manipulation, but all types of research need careful analysis. Be careful when extrapolating or projecting. If the starting point is inaccurate the resulting analysis will not be reliable. The main elements you typically need to understand and quantify are:
· customer profile and mix
· product mix
· demographic issues and trends
· future regulatory and legal effects
· prices and values, and customer perceptions in these areas
· competitor activities
· competitor strengths and weaknesses
· customer service perceptions, priorities and needs
Primary research is recommended for local and niche services. Keep the subjects simple and the range narrow. Formulate questions that give clear yes or no indicators (ie avoid three and five options in multi-choices) always understand how you will analyse and measure the data produced. Try to convert data to numerical format and manipulate on a spreadsheet. Use focus groups for more detailed work. Be wary of using market research organisations as this can become extremely expensive. If you do the most important thing to do is get the brief right.
Establish your corporate aims.
Business strategy is partly dictated by what makes good business sense, and partly by the subjective, personal wishes of the owners. There is no point in developing and implementing a magnificent business growth plan if the owners wish the business to maintain its current scale.
State your business objectives - short, medium and long term.
Mindful of the trading environment (external factors) and the corporate aims (internal factors), there should be stated the business's objectives. What is the business aiming to do over the next one, three and five years? These objectives must be quantified and prioritised wherever possible.
Define your 'Mission Statement'.
All the best businesses have a 'mission statement'. It announces clearly and succinctly to your staff, shareholders and customers what you are in business to do. Your mission statement may build upon a general 'service charter' relevant to your industry. The act of producing and announcing the Mission Statement is an excellent process for focusing attention on the business's priorities, and particularly the emphasis on customer service. If your business is modern and good you will be able also to reference your organisational 'Philosophy' and set of organisational 'Values', both of which are really helpful in providing fundamental referencing or 'anchoring' points, by which to clarify aspects of what the organisation or business unit aims to do, what its purpose is, and how the organisation behaves and conducts itself.
Define your 'Product/Service Offer(s)'.
You must define clearly what you are providing to your customers in terms of individual products, or more appropriately, services. You should have one for each main area of business activity, or sector that you serve. Under normal circumstances competitive advantage is increased the more you can offer things your competitors cannot. Develop your service offer to emphasise your strengths, which should normally relate to your business objectives, in turn being influenced by corporate aims and market research. The tricky bit is translating your view of these services into an offer that means something to your customer. The definition of your service offer must make sense to your customer in terms that are advantageous and beneficial to the customer, not what is technically good, or scientifically sound. Think about what your service, and the manner by which you deliver it, means to your customer. In the selling profession, this perspective is referred to as translating features into benefits. The easiest way to translate a feature into a benefit is to add the prompt 'which means that...'. For example, if a strong feature of a business is that it has 24-hour opening , this feature would translate into something like:
"We're open 24 hours (feature) which means that you can get what you need when you need it - day or night."
Clearly this offers a significant benefit over competitors who only open 9 - 5.
Your service-offer should be an encapsulation of what you do best, that you want to do more of to meet your business objectives, stated in terms that will make your customers think 'yes, that means something to me, and my life will be better if I have it.'
Write business plan - include costs, resources and 'sales' targets.
Your business plan, which deals with all aspects of the resource and management of the business, will include many decisions and factors fed in from the marketing process. It will state sales and profitability targets by activity. There may also be references to image and reputation, and to public relations. All of these issues require some investment and effort if they are to result in a desired effect, particularly any relating to increasing numbers of customers and revenue growth. You would normally describe and provide financial justification for the means of achieving these things, together with customer satisfaction improvement, in a marketing plan.
Quantify what you need from the market.
Before attending to the detail of how to achieve your marketing aims you need to quantify clearly what they are. How many new customers? Limit of customer losses? Sales values from each sector? Profit margins per service, product, sector? Percentage increase in total sales revenues? Market share required? Improvement in customer satisfaction? Reduction in customer complaints? Response times? Communication times?
Write your marketing plan.
Your marketing plan is actually a statement, supported by relevant financial data, of how you are going to develop your business.
"What you are going to sell to whom, when and how you are going to sell it, and how much you will sell it for."
In most types of businesses it is also essential that you include measurable aims concerning customer service and satisfaction.
The marketing plan will have costs that relate to a marketing budget in the business plan. The marketing plan will also have revenue and gross margin/profitability targets that relate to the turnover and profitability in the business plan. The marketing plan will also detail quite specifically those activities, suppliers and staff issues critical to achieving the marketing aims.
Being able to refer to aspects of organisational Philosophy and Values is very helpful in formulating the detail of a marketing plan.