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21.25
Characteristics of the most successful corporations
 
     
  A characteristic of all famous global brand corporations is a powerful ideology that affects the culture and nature of business at the time. Global brands are by definition culture definers and leaders, eg Ford, McDonalds, Disney, Microsoft, Apple, Coke.
  
  All global-brand corporations developed their ideologies while at the start-up phase, not at business phase.
  
  It appears that once a start-up moves to business, its character and personality is largely formed. It is therefore difficult for an inefficient business to develop into a global-brand culture, not through lack of funds, but through inability to change a well formed internal cultural mind-set.
  
  All these global brand companies have points in common:
  
 
-they began from scratch as new ideas;
-they started with no significant capital;
-they all started with a vision of providing an immediate need in the market;
-they all viewed a different approach to the market and business structure;
-they were all single product design focused (instead of trying to be multi-business conglomerates, initially);
-they all were driven by entrepreneurs with passion and a sense of destiny.
 
  Learning the lessons of success, avoiding pitfalls
  
  Amazingly, few companies choose to consider the fundamental steps of these classic “rags to riches” examples, instead choosing to “create their own future”, not necessarily reviewing the lessons of history.
  
  As a result, many entrepreneurs become lured into building empires of diverse business interests, splitting valuable resources and losing the single minded drive that all business models need to achieve ultimate success.
 
  In many developed countries, this appears to be the pattern, resulting in the high cycle of rise-fall of business stars.
  
  Secondly, many entrepreneurs become fixated in the nature of competition and “crusade”, the importance of charting the future now, without considering the long lead time to educate the market.
 
  As a result, in developed countries, it is small business leaders that open markets then fail ( run out of money) enabling large corporations to take over.
  
  To avoid the pitfalls of failure means we must consider the criteria for success. No better criteria exists than to consider the criteria of the “rags-to-riches” models of development of intellectual property- lessons that remain applicable today.
  
  We can summarize these steps as:
  
  (1) New idea from combination of old product in a different way into old market;

(2) New market approach- non competition and resonance;

(3) Limited product range, universally applicable;

(4) Simple purchase proposition- simplify, simplify

(5) Clear vision and passion

(6) Clear values and focused resources

(7) Streamline, streamline

(8) Constantly staying ahead of emerging competitors- product innovation

(9) Use the media to stay on top- Dominate the media on the Market

  
  New Idea- Old Market  
  The classic analysis of market to product is called the Briggs-Meyer model, namely:
  
  The new idea resides in the simplification of the complexity and choice proposals, as well as the way in which marketing takes place. This is precisely what the greatest companies of the 20th century did.
  
  General Electric Corporation ( Thomas Edison) did not create the light bulb- gas lighting was well established by the turn of the 19th century will most major metro cities having gas lights. Edison merely created an electric light bulb.
  
  New marketing approach
  
  The ideal creation of a new market comes not about from a new product, but in shifting the marketing approach. For Ford, it was the creation of the dealership, for Microsoft it was the creation of the computer store, for McDonalds it was the pre-set operating systems and Fast Food System (ie in seconds instead of 10 minutes for a burger).
  
  Contrary to business mythology, the innovation of marketing was an essential component to the success of these multi-billion companies.
  
  By creating new marketing approaches, these companies removed themselves from competing with existing marketing techniques- thus creating new markets according to the new rules they set.
  
  Simple product(s)  
  In all cases, the most successful corporations have always limited the choices offered.
 
  Companies that have offered hundreds of choices have by definition split their resources and unable to provide the simplest- best price solutions.
  
  Simplicity of purchase
  
  The simplicity of the purchase proposition was critical to the success of all the greatest companies of the 20th century. Sometimes this enforced limited approaches to payment.
  
  McDonalds for example did not allow for credit card purchase. Motor cars under Ford enabled people to pay off their car in four easy payments (as early back in the 1920!!!) and were pioneers in leasing agreements.
  
  Clear vision and passion
  
  All these successful companies developed clear visions and passion for what they were doing. They became not just businesses, but movements- pushing for greater consumer choice and value.
  
  Clear values and consistency
  
  The clear focus of resources and values is another hallmark of the success of these companies.
  
  Constant product innovation
  
  To many companies product innovation is a double edged sword in terms of risking developing new markets versus serving home square.
  
     
     
 
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