Strategic Issues Facing Organizations

VALUATION VOLATILITY
Vexation and disorientation take over as stable stock prices fluctuate and objective valuation standards change. Diverse drivers such as greed, intangible value, analysts with conflicts-of-interest, terrorism, poor corporate ethics, and skeptical investors create long-term instability and uncertainty.

LEADERSHIP INSECURITY
As well-developed, once successful habits and intuition no longer apply in this changing environment, the profound feeling of fear and inadequacy now afflicts executives and managers. Leaders find the new necessities of sharing power and fostering interdependence overwhelming — particularly as they realize they are sorely lacking newly needed diversity. Anxiety mounts as these same executives realize that their top people may not be the right people going forward.

COMPETENCY ADDICTION
Confronted with uncertainty, many businesses unconsciously turn to outdated mindsets and business behaviors. Once successful, these seemingly tried-and-true methods may fail in delivering desired results. Though applying old mindsets feels comfortable, the vast ineffectiveness of these methods wastes precious resources, and quickly debilitates organizational vigor.

STRATEGY TRAGEDY
A startling feeling of failure and doubt can emerge as carefully honed strategies simply don’t produce expected business results. Linear strategy development and implementation used to produce long-term success. However, as executives became increasingly divorced from operations in the ‘90s, execution skills and discipline dissipated. Strategy creation and execution are much more complex in tomorrow’s world, demanding realism and discipline that are in startling short supply.

CUSTOMER CONUNDRUM
Smarter, “infomated,” newly demanding, highly discriminating customers are driving shifts from mass markets to multiple-niche markets. Organizations can feel confused and pulled in multiple directions (fragmented) as they try to please these complex customers. They find themselves in new relationships with sophisticated consumers at all points along the value chain.

TALENT TANTRUMS
Gaps in essential staff skills and competencies, coupled with the volatility of employee commitment, results in the organization feeling it is unfit to compete and innovate. The challenge is to recruit and retain the most valuable talent. However, many organizations feel fragmented and unattractive to the vibrant knowledge-workers who can bring innovation.

ALLIANCE ANGST
Anxiety emerges from managing the numerous, diverse relationships needed to conduct business in today’s changing world. Multiple temporary relationships require new assurances of fairness and protection. There is a sense of loss, as long-term, established partnerships wither away and organizations experience the uncomfortable risk present in the face of ambiguous, shorter-term partnerships.

TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE ILLS
An increasing amount of powerful technology that is difficult to combine with outdated systems leads to the collision of legacy systems (technological, cultural, and organizational) with new connective technologies. Peer-to-peer architectures accelerate the need for “outfrastructure” — robust infrastructure networks that seamlessly connect outside members to insiders. The challenge of integrating technology can cause frustration, blundering, and a feeling of ineptitude.

IDENTITY CRISIS
As market-share shifts, brands will erode as traditional IP (intellectual property) weakens. Identity is fragmented in response to membership in multiple networks, and the resulting interconnectedness of individuals and organizations. Questions about core purpose and values surface concerns about belonging. There is often tension between individual and organizational identity.