As the famed management consultant Peter Drucker once astutely observed, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment, C-level executives must deeply understand the essentials of sound Business Basics to drive operational excellence, strategic planning, and sustainable growth.
Robust Strategic Planning Is Vital
A foundational principle embedded in Business Basics is the importance of strategic planning. Firms like McKinsey stress this as they help Fortune 500 companies map out both short and long-term strategies geared towards achieving predetermined goals. One report by Goldman Sachs confirms that 70% of organizations attributed their success to robust strategic planning processes that incorporated flexibility and adaptability as core elements.
A Data-Driven Approach to Decision Making
Another crucial Business Basic that must not be undervalued is data-driven decision-making. Notably, this does not just refer to the use of data in the decision-making process but also to the culture of treating data as a valuable organizational asset. As gleaned from Digital Transformation efforts, firms that handled their data more effectively outperformed their peers by 85% in sales growth according to a PwC study.
Nurture a Culture of Innovation
Nurturing a culture of Innovation within an organization is a non-negotiable business fundamental in today's VUCA world. The correlation between innovation and company growth was highlighted in a recent BCG study, which indicated that over 30% of Fortune 500 companies attribute their growth to a culture of innovation that's embraced at all organizational levels.
Leadership Is Key
In the realm of Business Basics, high-level management principles eulogize Leadership as a cardinal rule. Inspiring, managing, and leading human capital to converge towards a unified vision is a benchmark of successful businesses. A survey by Deloitte reveals that 89% of companies with strong leadership outperform their competition in terms of profitability.
Elevate Customer Centricity
Putting customers at the center of business strategies—a principle known as Customer Centricity—is another critical business fundamental. Bain's recent research indicates a direct correlation between customer centricity and revenue growth, with companies that ranked in the top 10% in customer experience metrics witnessing 5-7 times faster revenue growth.
Develop Agile, Resilient Operations
Operational Excellence: A company’s ability to deliver products/services in an efficient, cost-effective manner is a testament to its Operational Excellence. McKinsey found that firms achieving high operational excellence scored 30% higher in EBIT margins.
Risk Management: Another operational factor that can't be ignored is Risk Management. As pointed out by EY, companies that implemented competent risk management strategies exhibited 20% less business disruption.
Change Management: Lastly, in a rapidly evolving business landscape, effective Change Management is a must. Forrester reports suggest that organizations with proper change management strategies experienced 33% less resistance during change processes.
Performance Management and Culture
The importance of Performance Management in aligning individual goals with an organization’s targets and developing a performance-oriented Culture cannot be overstated. According to a recent study by Accenture, organizations with comprehensive performance management systems recorded 56% higher employee engagement levels compared to companies without such systems. Businesses that foster a strong, ethical, and inclusive culture are more likely to retain top talent, drive better performance and ultimately deliver superior financial performance.
To close this discussion, these strategic Business Basics are not exhaustive, but they form the cornerstone to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage, propelling growth, and creating stakeholder value in today’s dynamic corporate landscape.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
"I have found Flevy to be an amazing resource and library of useful presentations for lean sigma, change management and so many other topics. This has reduced the time I need to spend on preparing for my performance consultation. The library is easily accessible and updates are regularly provided. A wealth of great information."
– Cynthia Howard RN, PhD, Executive Coach at Ei Leadership
"As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value."
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
"As an Independent Management Consultant, I find Flevy to add great value as a source of best practices, templates and information on new trends. Flevy has matured and the quality and quantity of the library is excellent. Lastly the price charged is reasonable, creating a win-win value for the customer, Flevy and the various authors. This is truly a service that benefits the consulting industry and associated clients. Thanks for providing this service. "
– Jim Schoen, Principal at FRC Group
"As a consultant requiring up to date and professional material that will be of value and use to my clients, I find Flevy a very reliable resource.
The variety and quality of material available through Flevy offers a very useful and commanding source for information. Using Flevy saves me time, enhances my expertise and ends up being a good decision."
– Dennis Gershowitz, Principal at DG Associates
"As a small business owner, the resource material available from FlevyPro has proven to be invaluable. The ability to search for material on demand based our project events and client requirements was great for me and proved very beneficial to my clients. Importantly, being able to easily edit and tailor the material for specific purposes helped us to make presentations, knowledge sharing, and toolkit development, which formed part of the overall program collateral. While FlevyPro contains resource material that any consultancy, project or delivery firm must have, it is an essential part of a small firm or independent consultant's toolbox."
– Michael Duff, Managing Director at Change Strategy (UK)
"FlevyPro provides business frameworks from many of the global giants in management consulting that allow you to provide best in class solutions for your clients."
– David Harris, Managing Director at Futures Strategy
"[Flevy] produces some great work that has been/continues to be of immense help not only to myself, but as I seek to provide professional services to my clients, it give me a large "tool box" of resources that are critical to provide them with the quality of service and outcomes they are expecting."
– Royston Knowles, Executive with 50+ Years of Board Level Experience
"As a consulting firm, we had been creating subject matter training materials for our people and found the excellent materials on Flevy, which saved us 100's of hours of re-creating what already exists on the Flevy materials we purchased."
– Michael Evans, Managing Director at Newport LLC
SELECT CUSTOMERS
Since 2012, we have provided best practices to over 10,000 businesses and organizations of all sizes across the world—in over 130 countries.
Below is just a very small sample of our customer base.
Did you know?
The average daily rate of a McKinsey consultant is $6,625 (not including expenses). The average price of a Flevy document is $65.
Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S Strategy Model, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Experience Curve, and many more.
Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S Strategy Model, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Experience Curve, and many more.