All Choked up and Nowhere to go?

The Holden drama, or soap opera as one of my colleagues calls it, that we have seen play out in the last few weeks has raised commentary from many quarters on what should have been done and what could be done.

As a Business Coaching firm, Beckon Business has followed the scenario closely. My business partner Akram Sabbagh asked me “Are we seeing the Battle-for-a-Brand or Death-of-a-Business-Model?” Whatever the answer there is a lot of passion – feeling and angst about Holden’s shut down. The brand was/is loved. It has a cult like following.

The question made me think – is there anything Holden could have done differently to keep their business alive? I’m not going to make a list of dos and dont’s. Instead, I’m going to reflect on similarities in leadership approach with the fabled business story of Kodak and what brought about its demise.

It seems the one big thing that happened with Kodak is that Management/Leadership failed to keep their company relevant. Let’s consider:

1. Shift in consumer mindset: Leadership at Kodak were out of step with the changes in their market and didn’t get that there was a shifting sentiment from taking high quality photos for high quality printing to simply capturing the moment. The renowned ‘Kodak Moment’ no longer needed printing.
Sounds familiar with the move in car industry from developing a replacement Monaro to meeting the demands of environmentally friendly transport.

2. Shift in market values: The digital disruption changed the entire process of capturing the moment and impacted on the value placed on archiving family snapshots. Kodak’s leadership failed to see that their market was no longer women recording the family history, but everyone and anyone snapping the experience.  The market also moved from “trusted relationship” with their brand  to transactional convenience. Consumer’s wanted instant, quick and Kodak was still working on a quality and lengthy turn-around model.  They got the “moment” confused with the “chemistry.”

Fast forward to today and we have the same situation in the car industry where, despite a romantic/passionate bond to history with a brand name, the market is no longer looking for a legacy investment in the set of wheels that will be a family heirloom. Instead they value something that is going to be transitory and has minimal impact on the entire planet.

3. Weakened by your strength: Kodak leadership were proud of their role as a chemical company and saw their strength as producing high quality printed images with a consumer who valued this.

Despite having invented the digital camera, they minimised the digital aspect because it could never achieve the quality they saw as their leading market position. This was their weak spot. They didn’t see what the market loved about Kodak – that they could be trusted to capture the ‘’Moment.’  Again, the car industry has the same issue, especially those brands that have a cult like following. If you see your strength as a local car manufacturer when in reality it is your weakness then you may be going to end up like Kodak. That the manufacturing of vehicles in Australia was a loss-making venture has been known for years. The closure of the production plants is sad but predictable.  But I wonder if the people at GM are having their Kodak moment by seeing this as a manufacturing problem only?

Have they worked out the real value in the Holden brand itself?  Even if not manufactured in Australia, have they asked how ‘the Aussie’ cultural attachment to a century-old brand could be leveraged going forward right now to reinvigorate sales and imagination.

With the speedy changes in consumer sentiment, values, needs and beliefs, have the GM leaders missed the mark by seeing this as a manufacturing issue only?  Do they really know what their modern customers want from them?  What do the consumer’s value about their industry? What makes them relevant today? What are they very good at other than being a local car manufacturer in a globalised world?

And as a final thought… If you take out the brand names and industry specific references in this blog and replace it with your own, how does the above relate to your business and industry? What are you doing to keep relevant?

 

Margaret Armitage

Coach & Mentor

Share this article:

Food for Thought

Like many of us, I have an interest in good food and good business.  In recent days I have been following the George Calombaris story in the press and it’s brought up a few key principles in business that are worthwhile remembering.

But before the sharpened knives of the “blame game” come out to cut down this tall poppy, let’s acknowledge that entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted.  Calombaris, together with his business partners took risks.  It is the nature of entrepreneurship to take risks, lead with passion, grow and build brands, put personal reputations on the table, hire, fire, serve clients etc.

As his tale unfolds, the course that Calombaris is currently being served poses lessons that all of us in business can learn from.  The following thoughts are a taster…

As Entrée: it takes courage to put yourself out there as the brand and as a person. It means that when things are going well, you remain humble. And when it’s not going that well, fails or falters, it’s going to be tough on you personally.

Key ingredients: How I show up (especially in the tough times) determines how I will be regarded respected and remembered.

Matched with: the question – As a leader, how do I show up? In different situations – whether under stress or otherwise. Who am I being? Am I aware enough of my own beliefs, behaviours and attitudes, and how these ‘rub off’ on those around me?

As Main Course: with the sizzling pace of fast growth that Calombaris experienced comes the need to efficiently fill the capability needed to build sustainability.  Late last year we witnessed his issues with payroll.  No doubt other aspects of his enterprise probably lacked the depth of skills needed to keep his plates spinning.

When we start our businesses, they are generally small enough for us to do pretty much most things that that business needs to keep going. Chief cook and bottlewasher.

But as it grows, we need to remind ourselves that we are good at some things and not others – that there are people passionate about the things that we are not.  Calombaris’s story reminds me of the need to put the right skills in the right areas of the business. Being one of the most creative chefs in the country doesn’t mean that you’re a good business manager, payroll specialist, etc.

Key ingredients: For my own business that means I need to trust others to do the stuff that they are good at, and passionate about. And frankly, it’s a reminder that I’m crap at doing many things in my own business (and that is “OK”).

Matched with: Knowing that – to avoid too many cooks in my kitchen, I need to be clear about roles and responsibilities, delegate to skilled and reliable people. Trust that – as a team we are going to cook up a feast!

To Finish: in leadership I must be courageous in every step I take. Business is not for the faint hearted and the risks I take and the decisions I make have consequences that effect more than just me. Regardless of the outcome, I must own it, fully.

Matched with: Surround myself with “A-Players.”  Find the right people to grow my business with me.  Be OK with the fact that the right players today may not be up for the journey.  Know that at times I need to change my ingredients – and hence my menu to ensure a winning team in an ever changing environment.

Bon appetite.

Share this article: