Marcel Tardif, based in Montreal, Canada, has an MBA and a doctorate in higher education pedagogy. His professional background includes 1st secretary general at Laval University Teachers, Quebec, Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, Ottawa, Secretary General Canadian Cable Television Association, CEO Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Director General Canadian Securities Institute, Director General Investment Dealers Association of Canada, Director General Quebec Chamber of Commerce and CEO of several companies including his own company now. He has published six books. Five are on the topic of management. He has published hundreds of articles and papers.
His company, PerformInfo Inc., works with businesses to help them raise their global performance level.
Strategy precedes structures. Strategy is the position of a company's products or services in a specific market according to the existing supply from competitors to respond to the products and services that competitors will also supply.
Structures are the response to demand. Strategy is the positioning of the products in the Market. Structures must follow the Strategy.
When it comes to Strategy, there is
Strategy is the servicing of the client, and the client needs to be defined by the business.
The biggest problem is determining how to position the organisation's products and services in the Market. Companies must conduct surveys and keep up with the demand to service the Market.
First of all, understand the client.
Recently the supply chain has been affected. What has changed the most is the structure of how the client is being serviced. E.g. e-commerce is coming of age and being used more intelligently. In most businesses, tasks can be done from a distance, and technology is enabling this change.
There is a lot of talk about adaptability and agility, and the various capability of an organisation to adjust and change is linked to the Culture.
Peter Drucker is famous for his quote: "Culture eats Strategy for breakfast". In this situation, many leaders still don't know how to breakfast appropriately.
We usually evolve our thinking with the technologies that are available at the time.
Most companies have not changed. Only the top 9% of companies in any sector really perform well. Information is not available, technology is not available, and skilled labour is not available are common excuses used by the bottom 91% of companies. In fact, these things are available, but the leadership of the underperforming companies don't know how to use them or identify them so that they are helpful in their various processes.
Strategy in most companies is decided by the top managers or the leadership team. This is an error. The operating Strategy, the day-to-day servicing of the customer, should be determined by the front line members in the organisation. They are the ones that respond to the clients. They have to respond to the fluctuations in demand. Most companies do not see it this way. They don't delegate.
Manpower is the most critical asset of the organisation, but they are not treated as such.
PerformInfo has a model which promotes the hiring of business partners rather than employees. The partners become shareholders in the organisation. The result is a flatter organisation. The best organisations do not have a hierarchy. Everyone participates in the decision-making process. The level of engagement does produce a higher return on investment. The 20 most efficient organisations that have been found have, on average, an annual ROI of 294%.
Summary:
Strategy precedes structures.
Strategy is about meeting the demands of the clients. This drives the purpose and Mission of the organisation.
Structure determines how the client can be serviced.
Organisations need a flatter structure. Get it closer to the ground because the client is at the point of contact with the organisation.
Strategic thinking and behaviour usually lag technology. The sooner the correct technology is embraced, the sooner the service level to the client can be increased.