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November 2015

Why would you transform your business?

By Business transformation No Comments

Why would you transform your business?

To transform (from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English language):
1. To change markedly the appearance or form of.
2. To change the nature, function, or condition of.

Whether your business is small, medium or large, in any economic sector, the world around you is constantly changing. New technologies appear or evolve at an amazing pace, e.g. but not only in the digital space.

New markets emerge as technology creates new needs. Older markets shrink. Competition is growing. Environmental or societal concerns around the world create new constraints and regulations.

There is an abundance of examples that illustrate this, from photography, to chauffeur-driven cars, or vacation renting. Digital photography killed film photography. Digital camera manufacturers are now threatened by smartphone manufacturers. The chauffeur-driven car market has millions of new entrants, thanks to the Uber applications. Traditional vacation rental agencies see their customers going away to Airbnb, etc.

To ensure the survival of a company or business unit and enable its profitable growth, executive management of the corporation cannot stand still and hope for the best as the world keeps swirling around. There are a few painful examples of business spiraling down, as did Eastman Kodak’s, a result of their slowness at embracing digital photography (although they had invented some of its core technology!).

Therefore, one key reason why you might want to transform how you do business is to anticipate potential business threats and/or maximize new business opportunities.

In fact, some will argue that transformation and change should become a constant of business life: building a business-agile enterprise, which can adapt to environmental changes “on the go” is still a somewhat ideal concept that few have reached.
For a business transformation to succeed, it must have a strong and obvious business driver, and be supported visibly and unilaterally by the corporation’s executive management.

Some of the strategic decisions that will unavoidably lead important business transformations include: to acquire a competitor, to develop partnerships, to implement a multi-channel distribution model, to sell part of the business, to develop new offerings, to improve drastically operational and financial performance, or to “go digital”: in all these cases, you have already embarked on a path of transformation that will and should markedly change the appearance, form, or function of your organization. In most cases, the business transformation will impact multiple functions of your enterprise.

Your next question should then be: How to ensure lasting benefits of business transformation?

If no such change is in sight, you might want to run a quick scan of your company and its environment and think twice about observing the status quo.
Your next question should then be: What will threaten my business if I don’t change anything?

See our next posts for possible answers.