DURING a business downturn, it is necessary for the responsible team members of a company to maintain a sufficient sense of urgency.
It is important for the business to respond to market challenges in a timely manner in order to escape unwanted damage and also to avoid anticipated negative consequences.
Some companies can be adaptive and do very well in coping with an uncertain and volatile business environment. However, other companies still lack the necessary qualifications to survive.
One of the key indicators that can urge top management to pay more attention to the operation in order to ensure that the company is on the right track is continuing drops in revenue. An in-depth analysis and understanding of the root cause and the urgent need for better strategies is required to address the problems. This needs to be followed by effective execution of the action plans to ensure success.
Low-performing companies may be well aware of the developments of the market situation. However, to be able to react to the target market correctly, they may need more sense of urgency, which may be achieved by the following.
Taking corrective action quickly. Sometimes operational processes can hinder responsible persons from taking necessary actions fast enough to deal with a problematic situation. This can be due to either the busy schedules of certain people involved in the process or indecisiveness of the persons in charge.
This causes unnecessary delays that could result in very bad performance.
Introducing strong-enough measures. In dealing with a challenging situation, managers need to ensure that they use limited resources for the best interest of the company. For example, the normal promotional campaigns may need to be reviewed and re-launched with stronger and more powerful impacts.
Eliminate hesitation or waiting time. To be effective, the responsible persons need to avoid delays in important decision-making.
It could be too late to improve the bad situation unless the top management is committed to the end results.
Close follow-up is always needed to ensure efficient management.
Engage everyone with the urgent alert. The sense of urgency must be applied to the whole team rather than on an individual basis. It is useless to be the only one who calls for urgency while other parties may not feel the same.
The top management plays a very important role in encouraging the whole organisation to be aware of the need for speedy improvement on every action.
Managing under a dynamic market situation requires a number of important qualifications.
However, everyone can be on top of the challenging situation provided they possess enough knowledge and skills and really take action without hesitating.
The monthly performance review can disclose how well the company is doing and how effective the company is based on the actual results. It is costly to fix problems, so it is more prudent to be prepared and take action in advance.
Let's have urgent calls that will cover all aspects of the business management to guarantee the success of the company.
Dr Yanyong Thammatucharee is senior vice president for accounting and finance at Central Marketing Group. He can be reached at yanyong@cmg.co.th.