Today we answered your question:
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How do you understand the business or business opportunities that can be generated from the surrounding environment?”

Intimately knowing the individual business and the environment within which it operates, both globally and locally, combined are essential to identifying ‘good fit’ opportunities that will strengthen and drive the business forward.

The surrounding environment comprises of PESTLE or STEEPLE, that is the politics, economy, social, technologies, legislation, environment, ethics. Researching this environment regularly highlights potential business opportunities.
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Knowing the specific business comes from having clearly defined business capabilities as strengths and weaknesses, which highlight which opportunities would strengthen the business and overcome weaknesses.

Clients with established, successful businesses always ask me whether I am reading anything current and of value to their business.  

Fortunately, a key aspect of my business day is to do the things business owners, entrepreneurs, managers and leaders do not have the time to do themselves.  One of those activities is reading on behalf of clients because they want to know what has been done successfully already rather than waste time, sometimes years, figuring it out themselves.  My clients also want to know how stay ahead of the competition rather than follow or trail behind.

I usually read peer reviewed research journal papers, books, and articles relevant to their business, business management, technology and innovation. Afterwards a summary of the key take-aways is provided together with the methods applied, new models and how it can be applied effectively and without disruption to my clients’ business if relevant.

So, here is my current reading list for the next few weeks in no specific order:

Research & Journal Papers
The role of innovation in building competitive advantages: An empirical investigation.
P. Chatzoglou, D. Chatzoudes, 2018.

Business model innovation mapping: A structured approach to a new business model.
A. Schaller, R. Vatananan-Thesenvitz, 2018.

Modelling value propositions in E-business.
A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, 2003.

Sustainable competitive advantage or temporary competitive advantage: Improving understanding of an important strategy construct.
T. O’Shannassy, 2006.

Books - Leadership, strategy, personal development
The monk who sold his Ferrari.
R. Sharma, 2015. 

Business is personal
P. Power OBE, 2019.

Good strategy Bad strategy: the difference and why it matters.
R. Rumelt, 2017.
(Reading for the second time)

Strategy Safari
H. Mintzberg, B. Ashlstrand, J. Lampel, 1998.
(Reading for the second time)
 
Happy reading!

Today we answered your question:

"What is a CTO in residence?"

ToodGlobal are an innovative example of 21st century CTO’s in residence. In residence means business owners and leaders take on CTO’s for a specific project requiring a special set of capabilities rather than on a full time salaried basis.

 1.      What is a CTO?
From his research Roger Smith (2007) describes CTO’s as “c-level executives who make important strategic decisions that impact the competitive position of the company” so is neither an IT Director or Technical Director.
In other words, A CTO’s aim to make decisions about the business that drive the business forward into the future, to achieve continuous growth by effectively using science-based technologies, knowledge, and the business’s capabilities in unique ways to provide customers with more value and out-manoeuvre the competition.
 
 2.      Why is a CTO so important?
Today, competitors are global and unknown so the demand for specialists able to continuously create a competitive advantage is rising significantly.  

Figure 1 IT job Watch (2020) CTO’s in demand.  ​

​CTO's are able to identify...

To answer your question, sustaining a competitive advantage is key to the success and longevity of any business of any size.

Research and real world examples show businesses that do not continuously “sustain a competitive advantage” do not survive in the long term (assuming they had an advantage to begin with).  An example is Blockbusters and Netflix. Netflix adapted their competitive advantage to streaming (an emerging technology at the time) while Blockbuster did not adapt so no longer exists.

This is even more relevant today in the global digital world we live in because there are new technologies released every 12 to 18 months providing you (and your unknown competitors) with new ways to excite and entice customers over and over again. If your competitors have more exiting products/services/pricing your customers will move over to them leaving your business with lower revenue.

Be aware there are different types of competitive advantage. Technology in the example above is the dynamic kind, one of several key areas for any business of any size to find a continuous competitive advantage.

As Ginni Rometty, Executive Chairman of IBM says "You've got to keep reinventing. You'll have new competitors. You'll have new customers all around you."
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If you like, you can learn more about business and technology management here.

Today I answered your question:   “How do you maintain a competitive advantage?”

Creating and maintaining a strong competitive advantage is a highly specialised skill.  In contemporary businesses it is often the job of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). So, from a CTO’s perspective, it is a company’s ability to adapt that is key to maintaining a dynamic competitive advantage.  Here are two reasons why.

The current business environment changes every 18 months as a result of technological advancements. Technology advancements, for example, can create new ways to deliver services (e.g. Netflix streaming films rather than dvd’s), creates new types of products (VoIP phones rather than analogue lines), and new ways to deliver value to customers (convenient e-commerce rather than in store shopping). Another point to consider is that as competitors become aware of your competitive advantage, they copy it while overcoming what you are not able to offer your customers, so creating a competitive advantage is an ongoing activity.

So, a key capability each organisation should have to maintain a competitive advantage is the ability to adapt to the changing business environment and to customers changing buying habits and needs. However, not all aspects of a business can be adapted. For example, changing the culture of a well-established global organisation is tricky, time consuming (longer than 18 months) and seldom successful (IBM is an example of a successful cultural change).

Regular research can provide an intimate awareness of the business environment that provides insights into change.  Insights come from current, authoritative research of competitors, market trends, legislative changes, and emerging technology trends on a local and global scale. Local and global is necessary because the internet has destroyed geographical boundaries. As changes occur the company can identify new opportunities for competitive advantage and adapt accordingly.

Another way an organisation can be adaptable is to gain insights from customers by effectively and efficiently collecting, analyzing and skilfully using relevant knowledge from within the organisation. A simple example we see everywhere is asking customers for feedback on the product/service/process as they have experienced it. The feedback can be used to enhance the organisation and increase the customers satisfaction dealing with the organisation. This translates into a loyal, happy customer who will think twice about leaving for a competitor. It also helps the company stay in touch with their customers changing habits and needs. 
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This answer to your question is an example of what retired CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, meant when he said, “An organisation’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage”.

Today I answered your question “Where can I ask people to rate my brand/domain name?”
 
Today, most businesses conduct continuous surveys to stay in touch with clients changing needs. I would recommend you do the same.

A survey can be one simple, targeted question for respondents to fill in rather than many, irrelevant questions. Keep it short and easy for people to complete and tell them why you are asking the question(s).
If you are looking for feedback on your brand from any source and you don’t know anyone, try joining business groups, for example, those on Facebook and ask the group members for their opinion. Remember it is just an opinion.

If you are looking for feedback from existing and potential clients, try compiling a simple survey for them to complete.

The survey should have a specific objective. For example, rather than saying ‘rate my brand/domain name’, your survey should ask questions that provide an answer to whether your brand is clear, or strong for the sector. Be specific about what you are trying to find out. By doing so it will guide you to ask the right questions. For example, ask whether the colours or name are offensive.

Use a combination of positive and negative questions for balance. Ask for additional comments too. Try asking closed questions requiring a yes, no, answers and make sure your questions are not worded in a leading way that forces the participant to give you the answer you want to hear.

You could, for example, ask respondents to rate the effectiveness of the brand on a scale of 1 to 5 or rate the impact of the brand from a negative impact at -5 to a powerful positive impact at +5. Do not ask the respondent for personal details as you don’t need them to determine your brand rating.

I use SurveyMonkey because it forces you to keep to a few questions keeping things relevant, and it collates the responses for you in graphic form making it easier for you to see the results which inform your decisions going forward.
 
#toodglobal #smarterbusiness #competitiveadvantage #CTO #surveys #feedback

The following is from a contemporary technology and business innovation/change management perspective.

Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM says, "You've got to keep reinventing. You'll have new competitors. You'll have new customers all around you."

Ginni’s comment says it all. To stay in business and to remain profitable businesses change and adapt constantly. Some changes are visible, such as Amazon Books expanding to include Cloud Services. Some changes are invisible yet equally as powerful. For example, P & G changed their R&D business model from researching and developing their own products in-house to engaging in open innovation with strategic partners.

Had these companies stayed as they were focused on existing clients without looking for new opportunities, customer segments, and new ways to remain competitive, they would not be the powerhouses they are today because their early business model would not be relevant today. A popular example of this phenomena is Kodak who went from supplying 90% of USA film industry to nearly no business at all.
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So, to answer the question in general terms, companies need to focus on existing and new customers. Look after today’s customers in a way that outshines your competitors to feed your business today so that you can “keep reinventing” (Ginni Rometty) to open new customer segments to secure your business tomorrow.

If you are currently looking at adopting a popular business model, whether it be for a new business idea or innovating or updating an existing business, a strong strategy would be to familiarise yourself with today's popular business models. Then adopt one (if possible) that will be widely adopted over the next 5 years. That way you can get ahead of your competition. Here is some useful information and a resource to get you started:
Business models:
A strong, precise business model(s) can be a powerful tool for innovation, competitive advantage, decision-making, and culture development.  Business models (BM) can either be explicit, written/drawn out, or implicit, unspoken/ undocumented, yet no less powerful.  A business model can be a graphic, template, or text heavy document in the form of a business plan.  Often businesses have more than one business model (BM). For example, a business may have one BM for each of the following:
Innovation
Change
Technologies
Building and developing strategic partnerships
Acquisitions
There are over 50 types of BM’s that most businesses fall into (Gassmann et al, 2014). Some of the most common today are:
Freemium (18) - use some of the service for free, upgrade for additional functionality;
Subscription (48) - pay a monthly fee starting at an affordable price point with the option to increase or decrease over time;
E-commerce (13)- sell products/services online;
Performance based (38) - the client pays on results.
Resource:
St Gallens Business Model Navigator (Gassmann et al, 2014)

The economist Schumpeter (1939) identified a close relationship between technology developments and business cycles. Throughout history technology revolutions have occurred in tandem with business cycles or waves. In simple terms a new wave begins with each new technology bringing a surge of new products, services, skill developments, and devices over a period followed by a period of decline. Schumpeter shows the first wave starting in 1785 with the introduction of water power, textiles, and iron.  Throughout the upward surge of the wave companies identify new opportunities and pivot to create new products/services/process or find new ways to do old things for greater revenue and competitive advantage.
Currently we appear to be experiencing the slowing down/decline of the 5th wave of digital networks, software, media, which started around 1990. Digital technologies removed geographical borders so anyone anywhere can conduct business/shop/interact at any time. Consumers have more choice. Also, the explosion of digital access to knowledge has created a far more informed consumer. The overall effect is the consumer no longer has to accept an unpleasant supplier experience because there are so many other suppliers to choose from and other more pleasant options available.
So the best way companies have pivoted to meet consumer demands over the past 30 years is to strive to provide good quality customer-centric all round experiences rather than expecting the customer to adapt to their way of doing business. In other words, its all about the customer.
The customer experience starts from the start of the customer journey whether it be buying in to the explicit company culture, mission, vision, to quality, affordability, availability, convenience, interaction and engagement, satisfaction, to name a few. Hence the explosion for the past few years of surveys, reviews and questionnaires. The data from these sources is collated and skillfully applied to pivot the company to meet their customer demands ahead of competition. As Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric said, “ An organisations ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
The ability to dynamically pivot business models, service delivery, products, customer experience, using technologies as the business context changes is key to company survival and competitive advantage. 

Published:
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To succeed in any business environment a business requires both core and dynamic capabilities.  Our focus here are dynamic capabilities, the ability to learn, apply the learning skilfully to adapt quickly. 

Dynamic capabilities are necessary because the business environment is never static, it changes constantly, so a business needs to adapt with it. I like to use the athletics race analogy.  Imagine a 100 metre race. A runner bursts off the start line as the gun goes off, immediately striking and maintaining a steady, strong pace, never changing, even when competitors pass by on the track. Who will get to the finish line first?   Like the runner, without adaption the business becomes stagnant, and competitors who are adapting, pass by reaching the customer first.

From a technology and innovation perspective, the need for adaptability stems from technology advancements. In today’s environment advancements occur every 18 months. Advancements mean a new set of competitors offering new, more convenient, more enticing and exciting ways to interest a finite number of customers. New technologies have removed geographical borders, so competitors are global, and therefore, are unknown, compared to previous years where competitors where more local, easier to recognise and keep an eye on.   As Jack Welch, retired CEO for General Electric, said “ An organisation’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage".

So getting ahead, and staying ahead, of the competition requires, robust competitor and business environment research that informs a good strategy, and which dynamic capabilities to develop.  Here are 3 common dynamic capabilities using Zoom under COVID as an example where a thorough simple STEEPLE/PESTLE analysis can help identify changes and new opportunities.
 
1.Business contextual factors
Zoom has flourished due to the global need for video conferencing for communication. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/03/zoom-booms-as-teleconferencing-company-profits-from-coronavirus-crisis

2.Megatrends
Zoom application and infrastructure was in place when the world needed it, was easy to set up and use, and low cost. Entrepreneurs recognising the trend early have developed alternative applications that offer all the things Zoom doesn’t offer. Megatrends can also help identify ‘sub’ trends sprouting from the megatrend. For example, online video teaching, though around for quite a few years already, has exploded recently. 

3.Technologies
In both the examples above businesses have used technologies to grasp opportunities in delivering a service to satisfy the demand of the consumer.  
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Develop the capability to stay up to date, and recognise changes, in these 3 dynamic areas, then apply your findings to your advantage, to get ahead, and stay ahead, of your competitors.

A strong, precise business model(s) can be a powerful tool especially during COVID and beyond.

Business models (BM) can either be explicit, written/drawn out, or implicit, unspoken/ undocumented, yet no less powerful.

Often businesses have more than one business model (BM). For example, a business may have a BM for innovation, change, technologies, building and developing strategic partnerships, acquisitions that focus on buying up established competitors with key skills/products/services that complement the business.

There are also over 50 types of BM’s that most businesses fall into (Gassmann et al, 2014). For example, freemium, subscription, flat rate, e-commerce, retainer.

Business model(s) (BM) are powerful tools to any size contemporary business if applied skillfully. Here are a few examples:

• BM’s can be used as a powerful graphic that represents the core of the business (often expressed in a business plan).
  
• Graphic representation of a BM is easy to communicate and easier for others to understand
• The more precise the BM, the more effectively the business can be managed
• A BM can be powerful for informing and driving all business decisions
• BM’s is powerful for supporting consistent decision-making in the business.
• A BM can be powerful for keeping staff, management, investors (stakeholders) focused on the core,    high priority elements of the business
• BM’s is a powerful tool for facilitating staff and management in working together as a unit towards a    common goal.
• When innovation/change is required in the business, like those experienced since COVID, BM’s are        powerful tools for easily identifying which aspects of the BM can be adapted to current business         environment without losing the solid core of the business or disrupting day to day activities.
• BM are powerful for driving the formulation and actions of a good, strong strategy.
• BM are powerful for reveal the competitive advantage of the business. Competitive advantage is changeable as the present becomes history. Knowing what can be adapted to retain or create further competitive advantage is the crux of a business succeeding.

So, a business model is a vital, powerful tool at any time for any size business at any stage of development. During COVID especially because a business needs to know what decisions can be made, within which boundaries, while retaining its core and lead over competitors so that they business continues to succeed during and beyond COVID.

Published on Quora.

Business owners and leaders are adopting a strategy of inquiring and learning to facilitate decisions going forward.

Managing a business under the COVID 19 situation as the traditional, linear, project-like approach commerce favours cannot produce a successful outcome. Why?

1. Because there is no history or experience of this kind of situation to inform management the business how to progress the business. In other words, there is no safe ‘blueprint’ to follow for a successful outcome. Everyone is learning as the situation unfolds.

2. There are so many people involved, each experiencing different emotions that will explode if a decision is made that makes them feel more uncertain.

3. Everyone has different needs. If these needs are not addressed, riots can break out and civil unrest.

So, a different management approach is needed, one that captures, learns, and considers everyone’s emotions and needs within legislation so that outcomes are favourable (not necessarily ideal) for everyone.

The different management approach is a systemic approach, one that embraces change, uncertainty, is always acutely on the ball with the needs and emotions of their workers, customers, shareholders, legislation, technologies, and are insightful about the impact their decisions will have on all these factors.
To do this successfully organisations are continuously capturing feedback from these groups, and the wider society, and learning along the way as the situation unfolds. This collective knowledge informs the business owner/leaders what steps to take going forward. Both governments and employers provide weekly updates because they need to learn as the situation unfolds before making the next decisions going forward. 

Earlier today we received notification informing us we were the most viewed Quora writer in the topic of Innovation Management.

The short answer is that until the start of widespread technology adoption around 2008, small businesses had the upper hand in many ways. Examples are:

• Decisions could be made instantly
• They were in touch with their customers’ needs and understood their expectations
• They offered a personal service
• Their business was far more transparent than larger companies
• Staff felt their contribution was making a difference.
• Integrate new technologies quickly.

Since then big companies have been forced to consider these aspects of business management largely as a result of technological advancements. The advancements have removed geographical boundaries so there are far more competitors than previously. And, as technology changes every 18 months (Moore’s Law) new types of competition spring up every 18 months so competitors are unknown. At the same time, consumers are far wiser shoppers, their shopping habits have changed because of technologies, therefore their expectations are different. A familiar example, technology allows consumers to have something instantly by touching a button.
To survive businesses have employed skilled CTO’s over 10 years to adapt their business. Here are a few:

• Large head offices are being replaced by smaller, distributed offices that are managed entrepreneurially. That is, an office that can make fast decisions, are more in touch with customers on a local level.
• Large businesses are developing cultures of transparency and customer-centric value hence the explosion of surveys and feedback forms that keeps the company in touch with every customer, so personalise the service for each customer. It is this culture that staff buy into now, so feel their work makes a difference.

So, for the moment, what small businesses have is the ability to integrate new technologies quickly. Unfortunately, many small businesses, from the sole trader upwards, do not know how to use technologies in this way, or that it is a key advantage for them at the moment. In other words, small business could have the potential to offer all of the above faster than major corporations.

The question implies you are a business owner trying to adapt your business to Google Sites.

Try approaching this question the other way around.

In other words, start by working out the optimum workflow and processes from your customers perspective. Then adapt Google sites (or any other software) to your business. If Google sites can’t be adapted, choose another app that can.

Doing it this way around provides all the answers you need. 

​Both the culture and a business’s objectives, vision, aim are unique to each business so there is no ‘1-size-fits-all’ step by step guide. Rather, an holistic approach is required, skillfully applied by specialists in cultures, competitive advantage, and innovation. Specialists can identify the elements within a culture that can be used for competitive advantage successfully. The specialists also need to be up to date with your competitors, sector, and the business environment you operate within to effectively position your business and its culture within the business environment so that you outperform competitors.