Beyond Business: Prepare your executive for global competition

Companies need to be prepared for the intense global competition

Mar 15, 2015

One central question we often ask our clients at CBS Executive, and one you should ask yourself, is this: are your executives prepared for intensified global competition?

Today’s competition is more asymmetrical than ever, with unpredictable market entrants. Windows of opportunity close faster than they used to. Growth rates are volatile and uneven across markets.

For example, it is very different to compete with a growth rate of 1-2 percent, as in Denmark, compared to 7-10 percent, as in many Asian countries, since the competitive landscape and customer configurations change at a pace that is five to seven times faster in Asia compared to Denmark.

Shocks and surprises
The consequence for executives and organisations is that they need to change their approach and be ready to absorb the shocks and surprises. Much of the traditional approach to strategic planning is obsolete, and the creation of static capabilities in many organisations is dated. You have to train leaders to build resilient organisations that can withstand unexpected global turbulence.

The recipe for success, as our faculty member Professor Sampler frames it, is to develop organisations with agility, momentum, accuracy and foresight.

You have to be prepared and proactive. Think not only about entry strategies, but also on exit strategies! Build not only physical buffers but also intellectual ones! Don’t make five-year plans, but identify and track the three key assumptions of your strategy monthly!

Leapfrogging
We bring internationally leading academics to Copenhagen and take our clients’ executives to Asia to learn about successful emerging market companies, and from this we learn that the global business environment is changing fundamentally and fast.

This means that you need to expose yourself and learn about global competition proactively. That is why we bring international academics to Copenhagen and why we take executives on our international service and ICT program MSDS MITS to Asia to learn from fast rising successful companies that in many ways seem to be leapfrogging!