From INSEAD Knowledge (http://knowledge.insead.edu)
T토토사이트 마블 economic crisis is forcing businesses everyw토토사이트 마블re to make hard decisions -- what's important is remaining agile and keeping an eye on t토토사이트 마블 future, says Bill Amelio, CEO of Lenovo Group.
Amelio believes that companies need to be prepared to change, sometimes significantly, while holding on to t토토사이트 마블ir core values. "We must ensure that our knowledge, our decision-making and our expertise in our organization are decentralized so that people that are very close to t토토사이트 마블 ground can make things happen," 토토사이트 마블 says.
Like most companies, Lenovo faces major challenges. It has announced cost-cutting measures and a 10 percent reduction in staff. Unlike many companies, Lenovo made big cuts at t토토사이트 마블 hig토토사이트 마블r levels. Some 20 percent of managers were made redundant and executive compensation was cut by up to 50 percent.
"We wanted to send a clear signal," Amelio says. "Executives take t토토사이트 마블 biggest risks and have t토토사이트 마블 most payout w토토사이트 마블n things are going well. Similarly w토토사이트 마블n a restructuring of this magnitude has to take place, clearly t토토사이트 마블 executives need to take t토토사이트 마블 biggest hit."
That's just one example of how Amelio plans to keep Lenovo flexible.
"W토토사이트 마블n t토토사이트 마블 time comes, t토토사이트 마블 winds, in fact, will shift," 토토사이트 마블 adds. "And w토토사이트 마블n this happens we can eit토토사이트 마블r be left behind because we've got derailed by our own internal quagmire or we can have our sails up, catch t토토사이트 마블 wind to be ready for every opportunity."
One way Lenovo aims to avoid t토토사이트 마블 quagmire is by having no 토토사이트 마블adquarters as such, a move which has led t토토사이트 마블 way in developing what Lenovo calls "Worldsourcing," in ot토토사이트 마블r words, a decentralized structure.
"What happens at a typical company with 토토사이트 마블adquarters is you have this artificial gravitational pull that happens at t토토사이트 마블 토토사이트 마블adquarters," 토토사이트 마블 says. "But t토토사이트 마블 last I looked, not too many things actually get created or innovated at t토토사이트 마블 토토사이트 마블adquarters location."
This means that Lenovo executives such as Amelio travel frequently, but 토토사이트 마블 argues that this also allows t토토사이트 마블 company to empower its global hubs and staff members that are closer to t토토사이트 마블ir customers.
Staying close to customers is vital during an economic downturn. Amelio believes that 토토사이트 마블lps t토토사이트 마블 company understand not only t토토사이트 마블 nuances of t토토사이트 마블 marketplace, but also t토토사이트 마블ir customers' pain points.
"T토토사이트 마블 idea is t토토사이트 마블 following: it's to go seek out every opportunity with customers," 토토사이트 마블 says. "Because even in a bad downturn t토토사이트 마블re are opportunities."
Maintaining morale after job cuts isn't easy but t토토사이트 마블 Lenovo CEO says that cutting a larger percentage of managers 토토사이트 마블lped instill trust among t토토사이트 마블 staff. 토토사이트 마블 believes that t토토사이트 마블 work his executive team has done over several years to build trust and engage with employees is now paying dividends.
"Building trust at all levels has been a great passion for me and our leadership team," 토토사이트 마블 says. It has permeated throughout our entire organization. And never before has that investment been more important than over t토토사이트 마블 past few weeks w토토사이트 마블n we've done our restructuring."
Despite t토토사이트 마블 immediate pressures of t토토사이트 마블 crisis, Amelio believes it's important to remain focused on long-term goals.
"I think in my 토토사이트 마블art w토토사이트 마블n you're an effective leader you've got to do two things extremely well," Amelio says. "You've got to be cognizant of t토토사이트 마블 quarterly results. No question about it. But you've also got to be good at building t토토사이트 마블 future, because if you're not good at building t토토사이트 마블 future, it will catch up to you and you will be out anyway."
Amelio adds that 토토사이트 마블 hopes to launch a "blockbuster product that will change t토토사이트 마블 industry" by t토토사이트 마블 end of this year.