World leaders have just met in Davos and the EU-Japan Economic Agreement is entering into force. There is an interesting question on the WEC website: If we are at globalisation 4.0 today, what were the other three? And what does globalisation mean for SMEs? Its influence used to be limited, but today it is immense. For one thing, the level of knowledge of customers, suppliers, competitors and employees is much higher. On the other hand, a new ground-breaking idea may emerge at any time, or a competing good may emerge that is globally available. The time in which one could act locally is nearing its end.
Innovation Culture
What does this mean for the strategy of a company or for its structure? It is important to stay informed at all times, i.e. to keep your eyes and ears open in all directions so that you can recognise the signs of change in good time. This is where a system that collects and processes all ideas and observations of all employees can do a lot of good. Important impulses often also come from customers if they are listened to carefully. Even lateral thinking has created a lot of good things. If companies make it possible to have ideas, explain them and put them into practice, they will always be able to redefine themselves in good time. New methods such as Scrum, Kanban and other methods also help. The most important thing, however, is the right attitude: only those who are open and curious will be able to act quickly and agilely.
So what is the situation in your company? If a trainee comes up with a new product idea, will he or she be heard? If logistics proposes to offer customers an additional service, can this idea be pursued further? If someone from sales provides insights into new methods from another industry that could also be used in your own industry – will these be checked more closely? Do you keep asking yourself questions in order to recognize your own need for optimization? For example, by imagining that your business model might suddenly be based on borrowing instead of buying…
If you’re looking for a partner in the “what if” game: I’m ready!
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