10 paradoxes of today´s management

We live in times when managers face multiple paradoxes in their management. It is the same as managing complexity. We propose a small relationship as a reflection of some of the main dilemmas that we perceive and share from our professional practices.

1. If being customer centric is a key for companies, is it logical to outsource the customer service? Losing their conversations, stop observing their experiences, is it worth it to earn some figures in efficiency?

2. Customers want increasingly personalized products and services and at the same time there is a great pressure for homogenization and cost efficiency due to the globalization of commercial policies.

3. It is essential to simplify the processes and, in parallel, the legislation and growing regulations generate a large bureaucracy in the different functional areas, to which companies sometimes add a large internal standardization.

4. The complexity of management is growing and this requires temperance, a lot of baggage, multifaceted look and diversity of profiles. And on the other hand the workforce of many organizations are being “juniorized”, which reduces costs but can also negatively impact the business due to the lack of a rich previous experience.

5. We are used to a local and linear management and, on the contrary, the new times require a global and exponential mentality to take advantage of the great opportunities for expansion that the current disruption generates.

6. The agility in decision-making and the ability to anticipate the environment are basic for survival in the market. But still decisions are made too high in the top management and there is still a lack of alignment from the delegation and empowerment.

7. Digital transformation is one of the causes of the drastic reduction of barriers to entry in many sectors. And yet many companies continue to compare with traditional competitors in their strategy and business success than with new entrants.

8. There is a lot of talk about innovation, but letting a space be made in the troubled day-to-day agendas costs too much. Innovation consists in putting the future on the agenda of the present.

9. There are no healthy companies in an insane society, said Drucker. Companies need to learn to make their business very compatible with the social good.

10. People are the main asset but more and more trumpets of robotization and artificial intelligence sound as if it were to choose. What it is about is empowering people with new tools. What comes is the sum of intelligences (artificial and human).  People will always be the ones that will make the difference.

 

What distinguishes enduring companies?

Companies with high sustained growth tend to have these types of factors in common: 1) DNA of passion for their clients, 2) priority in growth and innovation, 3) rigorous management of costs, 4) humility to continually reinvent themselves even when things go well, 5) excellent management of people and 6) credibility in the market and in the society based on a solid business trajectory in humble leaderships and in a clear Corporate Social Responsibility.

These organizations flee from the application of systematic management fashions and apply only those new trends that they believe really add value to their business.

And, finally, they differ for their courage in this economic environment that prevails in the short term: they do not hesitate to bet on trajectories. They prevent successes from making them arrogant. They are company with a style, character and a will to endure. With these ingredients, they aspire to square the circle: continuous creation of value for customers, commitment of their employees, profitability for their shareholders, authenticity and credibility in society.

 

David Reyero Trapiello – Senior HR Business Partner – Sanofi Iberia

Article in collaboration with Xavier Marcet (President of Lead To Change)