Last update: April 13th, 2000
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French version
Facing new challenges on the market, Companies have to update their strategies and management style. From now on the triple law of Quality, Cost, Delivery (QCD) rule the world. Originaly written in French this opinion reflects an European point of view, based on European examples.
Mastering costs is fundamental in an ever increasing competitive environment with paper thin profit. Quality is long a basic customer request and is no more marketing highlight. On the contrary, poor quality immediately turns against those not mastering it. Delays, quick deliveries are the third customer concern. Buyers face now a huge offer, thanks to e-commerce no more limited in space, and this situation turned customers to rule and demand. What are basic features nowadays were previously introduced as special features and highlights.
In its early years, mass production supplied a market demanding above all low-cost goods, made available to anybody. This market couldn't be fed up so great the needs and so few manufacturers. Customers had to accept delays, prices and quality as imposed by the suppliers. In 300 years this situation improved very slowly, as prices dropped with new competitors coming up, and new customers to attract. Even so better quality was awaited by the market, the initiative was still manufacturer's side, and any improvement was explained as a new highlight. After WWII, new raising countries - competitors - the gradual saturation and breackbown of markets reinforced quality as a marketing argument. But in less than three decades, customers turned it as an unquestionable requirement. As price and quality were no more manufacturer's choice, they had to fight on delays from now on.
This spiral of evolution turned in an ever increasing speed.
The most competition-exposed (e.g most marketing advanced) companies give us hints about the next (r)evolution; customization of goods. Customization is actualy proposed as a limited choice in a more or less rich display of options, but it seems logical that soon clients will issue their own specifications, design the products they want and ask manaufacturers to deliver them QCD.
I dare this forescat: QCD will turn QCDC, the last C beeing the C of Creativity.
For the time beeing, triple law of QCD rules companies, wich have to be efficient and reactive. None of the three parts of QCD can be considered isolately, because they're strongly nested;
Quality influence costs and delay, to seek the lowest manufacturing cost makes no sens if its impact upon quality remains ignored, beeing responsive without insuring quality is as well.
Management style follows the new trends. Nowadays, every manager must be plural, having a global vision, the QCD vision.
Especialy in small and medium size companies, limited workforce gives extended responsibilities to a small number. This is also true in bigger companies, and despite the splitting into specialised divisions, the need for global management rises. Until recently divided into independant organizations, companies have to break the walls to improve internal communication. So they started to challenge the new trend by downsizing, setting up small integrated and responsive structures, discovering the power of networking.
There is a general tendancy of flattening corporate organization, it scale having less levels.
First cause, likely to be aknowledged by the companies and acceptable for their members is the necessity to improve internal communication, to accelerate information flow and suppress internal walls.Second reason is survival in this changing world requests to be flexible, in order to be ready to adapt any new environment. So companies got cautious regarding careers; as their planning horizon got shorter, forecast of activity often doesn't exceed few months for the happy ones. Bessides market trends, social environment and local gouvernment policies can add unexpected constraints; tendancy of labor time reduction in Europe, for example.
How could companies not get cautious about wages, raises and careers, (wich in Social Europe) would engage companies long into the future, beyond their own predictable horizon?
To keep motivation and loyalty, continue to nurture skills, horizontal promotions come up as substitute to vertical ones; the matter is variety and interest of the job, rather than status or prestige position.
To favor internal partnership, and gain even more efficiency, companies setup
project groups; structures with a leader in charge of cross management, yet still belonging to his/her original
division, nor having real power.
An other variant is cross functional organization, gather members of different divisions and a project
leader reporting to top management.
Ad hoc structure, a mini-company more or less dependant from the global organization and devoted to a specific project is also an option.
Thus, more and more companies recruit people having this "leader" ability to drive cross-functional teams. With the changes in market and the trends in management, business changes too. To drive the keen skills in the company or group or team, an additional skill is requested; plural manager skill.
Specialists and experts in their fields, are getting outfavored (?) by generalists, themselves turning into specialists, not in specific field but for the whole process. They are able to have a global vision, manage the very different - sometimes opposite - requirements of newest management trends and needs.
Targeting QCD, how could such a manager do without knowledge in several domains?
Real power is not necessarily a maater of status, but more and more "functional". Its the hierarchy of skills.
Example; workcell leaders have to care about one or several small structures, but without a leader status.
An other example is project leader coaching various teams, keeping statutory supervisors or chiefs, higher in the organization chart. His "power", what gives him value to the company is his coordination skill and the ability to see with a global vision.
These high potential, central characters may experience the company's suspicion, as it should not become a kind of hostage of a member concentrating on himself all knowledge and strategic issues of a project. Division managers can try to fight to keep their territory, their prestige, status and other local advantages.
To the first problem, companies often react with groupware and sharing information and knowledge (knowledge management),to secure knowledge, know-how and make it to internal "shareware".
To the second problem, it is most often up to the leader, with diplomacy and care, to find the way to good cooperation and teamwork. In serious cases, top management will have to give him back-up, stop the conflicts for the sake of business. In some cases a compromised "armed peace" is preferable to an open war.
Interesting job, but risks of conflicts, suspicion from above, and slow promotion…
Top management is "plural" in essence. His point of view from highest level gives top executives "naturaly" a global understanding, thinking and vision. Close to the "supreme" power, they know the strategic issues and can advise for company's decision.
At the other end, workers and employees are invited to extend their skills, take initiatives,
get more involved and even take more responsibilities. This is empowerment.
This evolution
in management is possible / necessary after the lightening of middle management and promotion of autonomous
units. Empowerment is generaly welcome by the (shop) floor workers, gaining a kind of recognition
and a feeling of valuable position in the system. Depending previous management style, some workers feel also
less stress from top down; no more foreman nor team leaders.
Yet the foremen and team leaders experience mixed feelings and generaly regret the loss of power and old rules. I remember many of those characters' authority beeing a matter of position in the chart rather than skill or natural unquestioned leadership. It is no surprise the resistance to change is found mostly in middle management, in the cross fire of constraints; to become themselves plural, no more statutary power, a feeling of forseekness from top and position challenged from beneath.
In time, all employees will gradualy join the global vision, under pressure of QCD. The growing importance and diversity of challenges for executives and managers will request multiple and very different skills. They will be asked to coach their teams rather than direct them.
To find these features gathered in a single person, mastering different skills, seems
difficult.
Plural manager candidates will probably be chosen accordingly to their personnality and
potentials rather than formal scholar background.
Beeing a real "leader" is not a matter of mastering techniques or theoretical knowledge.
Anyway what do graduation mean after 10, 15 or 20 years, when techniques and technologies long changed,
when the actual challenges did not even exist?
Plural manager must be able to manage a broad panel of various activities and communicate efficiently, coach team members without directing. He'll have to analyze situations and anticipate evolutions, have the backup of network of skills, be able to find information and knowledge and finaly be able to adapt himself to evolutions.
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