Picking Blackberies

So, Blackberry seems to have gone.

A few years ago, business executives were addicted to the mobile email platform ... for that is what it was.

Then Apple - and Google via Android - showed what else could be done by a mobile device... and Blackberry was left behind.

Remember, however good your product is, however dominant you are in the market. some young upstart (startup!) will be trying to overtake you.  if you rest on your laurels, you get left by the roadside.

This is one occasion where productivity cannot help.  if you are selling the wrong product, it doesn't matter how efficiently you make it.

We're all in this together

Many organisations are thinking through their 'corporate social responsibilities'.  They see this as either a good means of getting positive PR (the cynical ones) or as a means of making their contribution to the communities they touch with their operations (the good guys) ... or perhaps for many, somewhere in the middle (the majority).

Unfortunately, for too many, CSR translates as environmentalism .. with little regard paid to 'social' issues.

The World Confederation of Productivity Science is committed to the promotion of social, environmental and economic (SEE) productivity - believing that a focus on all three is needed to achieve longer-term sustainability and success.  However, it is sometimes difficult and expensive to act alone.

This is something that needs concerted, committed and, above all, shared effort.  That is why WCPS supports the UN Global Compact and its commitment to social justice within business operations.

Together we can make a difference - and create successful, sustainable, thriving, productive  businesses.

BRIC by BRIC

One by one the BRIC countries seem to be losing their lustre.  Most of them are growing at a considerably slower rate than they were a few years ago ... some are really struggling.

Is this merely the result of the world recession taking away their markets .. or is there something more fundamentally wrong.

We know that many businesses fail because they grow too quickly .. and run out of working  capital.  Are we seeing a business failure on a grand scale... or will BRIC Inc. recover?

My personal observations from my travels is that China has used its largesse to beef up its infrastructure, wisely investing the fruits of its success. India has not.  Russia has been sidetracked by internal political in-fighting.  Brazil has failed to return rewards to its population.

the BRIC economies are all quite different.  They were only grouped because they were doing well at the same time... but they all have different lessons to learn ... as do we all!

How are we doing?

On one of the forums (groups) on LinkedIn there has been  a very interesting discussion recently about the relationship of productivity to profitability.  The relationship is certainly there but it is not necessarily direct or obvious.

One of the reasons that I encourage companies to measure their productivity as well as their profitability is that profitability is a very good measure of how well the company is doing... but productivity is a much better indicator of the future health of the company.

The profitability measure is like taking the temperature; the productivity measure is like a blood test ... it tells you far more, if you have the expertise to interpret it.