The 7th Italian edition of the World Business Forum organized by HSM has confirmed itself - in-line with its claim "Inspiring ideas" - as the perfect place to gain updates on all that characterizes the world we live and work in, inspiring some very interesting food for thought.
Perini Journal
This past October, Milan's Fieramilanocity Auditorium hosted the managerial training event par excellence organized by HSM that saw the attendance of an entrepreneurial audience comprised of around 2,000 people. Following the long and painful phase of economic recession felt by practically the entire world, we are assisting at the first shy signals of recovery, and the next few months should animate these feeble flames of reprieve and welcome the challenges that a new growth can present us with. In a global scenario that seems to have undergone a shock, launching positive messages is a stimulating attempt at inducing change in the present state of things. Inaction is useless. Being ready and active is fundamental; capturing the signals, re-inventing one's economic role and business, being able to forecast the future and establishing a proper long-term strategy is, too. Opening one's mind, widening horizons, inviting to the challenge, suggesting alternative dynamics... this is what a Forum focused on the business community - like that of HSM - does.
Ram Charan, consultant to the great CEOs and expert in "execution" suggests the "practice" of teamwork as the winning module.
He speaks of discipline, rules, complexity of the markets, net priorities and clear objectives to be attained without distractions. He suggests to communicate in a clear and limpid way with one's team, to make others participate by inviting them to suggest their ideas; he speaks of people, competencies, skills and talents and to "practice" detecting them so as to "put the right people in the right jobs". He speaks about time and speed: synchronizing the entire mechanism is fundamental because speed is the factor that distinguishes great choices/companies from good ones.
A mechanism that works well generates excellence, success and energy, and it is contagious.
Don Tapscott, expert in information technology, treats the theme of "Wikinomics": how internet and digital technology have changed the world, interfering in the technical, political, social and economic development of every society. The old social and economic institutions are in a total state of atrophy before a phenomenon that has totally deposed them of their privileges. The capitalist oligarchic system has collapsed in the face of the network's democratic power; the institutions as we know them today cannot survive: the old industrial system based on the isolation of information is giving way to a post-industrial world full of new opportunities. The young generation and those who are capable of following it in this fast race towards the future are the winners; interactivity, personalization, blogs win. The model of the open company wins; transversal relationships over vertical ones; diversity and collaboration, inter-dependency are winning factors. By exploiting the potential of new means of communication and favoring the exchange of information and of intellectual property, objectives can be more easily attained.
According to Francis Fukuyama, professor of international politics, history and the crisis of these last few years have confirmed that the capitalist system is not at all capable of self-regulating itself. The great radical changes of the next few years connected to global civil society and to the development of democratized IT will force the public and private spheres to adapt themselves. The biomedical field, the demographic growth and the identity crisis of individuals will lead, in turn, to new problems and unsuspected imbalances: "We must be aware of the changes taking place and sustain a more active and democratic world".
A profitable future and a winning business are represented by a "blue ocean", according to Reneé Mauborgne. We must put into practice a strategy that, finding the right balance with productivity, focuses on creativity. We must not lose sight of "production" variables like costs, quality, logistics, efficiency and cycles but create growth, innovation and new business. In periods of difficulty, creativity is the variable that makes the difference and allows overcoming and winning the challenges, avoiding the "destructive" standardization of red oceans. By putting the structure of one's own compartment at stake, we can detect the "non-customers" to be attracted. The right strategy creates new demand, revolutionizing market competitiveness and ensuring undisputed growth in alternative spaces.
Dave Ulrich speaks about individuals (leaders) and groups (leadership), about internal and external. A leadership that makes the difference creates value for employees, for suppliers, for customers and for the entire community. You can recognize a good leadership from within the company because it is based on the competencies of the leader and of the management staff, and it is so strong externally that it presents its leader as a "celebrity" and builds a brand image of leadership that is just as consolidated and that distinguishes itself from that of its competitors. At the base of a good leadership there are great strategists and executors, talented managers and human capital to invest in.
Nassim Taleb speaks about risk and error rate, about unpredictable events (the Black Swans) for which we must in any case be prepared: "We must be as strong as a book, rather than fragile as a laptop under a jet of water".We are living in extremeland: a world in which the rare black swans have an incredible incidence in our economic and social lives. We must be specialized and combat redundancy classes: a system that is too optimized augments its level of fragility. Negative advice wins and "paranoia is the best investment strategy": make no debts, have no losses... it will in any case be a gain.
The perfect choice of words: "Inspiring ideas". That's exactly what they do: make us reflect. And we like to think thatthese words will have the same effect on you.
HSM World Business Forum 2011: Milan 9-10 November, for more details: info.it@hsmglobal.com
THE PRACTICE OF "INSPIRING IDEAS": THE BUSINESS CASES.
From the business cases of Geox and Elica, two successful Italian companies, emerge words like passion, commitment and courage. The fortune of having made decisions that can generate a chain reaction of positive opportunities and general development. Open, winning and modern companies that continuously innovate and make "creative" choices in business and also in social policy.
Francesco Casoli, Executive President of Elica Group, who at the HSM impressed the audience with his energy, translated the principles that still today inspire the activity of the Group, into 10 commandments:
1. Manage people so that they can manage their work.
2. Delegate, delegate, delegate.
3. Work towards objectives.
4. Persevere, persevere, persevere.
5. Rewind the acceptance of risk and responsibility.
6. Establish self-managing teams to solve problems.
7. Try to achieve the impossible.
8. Don't get tangled up in bureaucratic mentality.
9. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
10. Don't make the company too complicated.
And the following Declaration of Values, too, seems interesting and represents the reference point of all their activities:
Love your customers - put passion into working for them. - Use innovative thinking. - Make it easy for everyone to be involved in their own work. - Employ and communicate total energy. - Identify new objectives and achieve them. - Stay curious and never stop learning. - Want to win. - See change as an opportunity. - Fight to reduce costs and simplify your work.
Mario Moretti Polegato, President and founder of Geox Group, explains the product-focused company philosophy, based on strong, patent-protected technological innovation. He tells about how he arrived, at the end of the 1990s, at the invention of footwear having a waterproof and transpiring rubber sole. He speaks about innovation, patents and "Intellectual Property"; about how, following an apparently banal idea, he was able to develop one of the most important brands in the world capable of conjugating fashion and technology. Having patented and produced innovative and technological solutions together with the use of particular materials indeed constitutes Geox's distinctive feature.