Driving competitiveness by adopting the CEO thinking process

This conventional practice may need to be seriously reviewed and changed so that companies can become more flexible and respond quickly to the dynamic marketplace.

It is not relevant any more for employees merely to interact with their colleagues according to the business process, which may consist of many non-value-added steps.

For instance, to obtain approval for a purchase order to replace a broken machine in a production line, a production supervisor needs to go through layers of reviewing and checking by authorised persons.

Too many decision-making processes can hinder the company from making progress to fix a problem in a timely manner. The important question is: “What’s the best practice for the company?”

Looking from the time spent on each task along the decision-making flow, functional managers tend to pay attention solely to their own point of view rather than the big picture of the business.

It would be better for the whole company’s performance if line managers could adopt some of the chief executive officer’s thinking and concerns by finding out the answers to these basic questions:

lHow do we make money? A company is set up with a mission to stay strongly based on a going-concern basis. It is necessary for everyone in an organisation to know and understand clearly the core business of the company. At least, they should know what products or services the company is selling or providing to generate revenue. Such an understanding can help employees see what’s important and what’s not to the company’s success.

lWho are our customers? Not surprisingly, many employees may have very limited knowledge about their company’s customers. They may not know such basic matters as who the key customers are and why they buy the company’s products. Knowing more about customers can help shape internal operations to better serve and avoid disappointing them.

lWho are our competitors? It is one of the CEO’s responsibilities to do all the necessary things to drive the company’s competitiveness. Companies have to improve themselves all the time to ensure that they are strong enough to stay in the market. Otherwise one day, stronger competitors may cause them to go out of business. Knowing competitors and their movements can help companies prepare for suitable actions to keep competitive and afloat.

lHow do we grow? Business growth is a key factor for long-term sustainability. Everyone in the company needs to understand how he can contribute to the company to avoid the situation of business slowdown, stagnation or de-growth.

Growing the business can be very challenging from several aspects. Without proper planning, risk assessment and action, the chances to be successful can be dim.

lHow do we make a profit? Understanding the profitability of a company requires sound financial knowledge, as profit is composed of two major financial categories – revenue and expenses. This implies that employees should understand how to boost revenue and lower costs at the same time. This definitely involves some right practices from all functions to ultimately arrive at a positive bottom line.

Embracing the mindset and thought process of a CEO can be a key success factor for a company’s future. In today’s dynamic environment, it is not enough to rely on top-down initiatives to run the business successfully. Bottom-up can be an essential part of strategy formulation.

So, wouldn’t it be more encouraging to educate employees and cultivate the CEO viewpoint as part of the company’s success formula?

Yanyong Thammatucharee, head of international finance and operations at Central Marketing Group, can be reached at [email protected].