Beat the Competition -- Innovation or Death....
Innovate or Die!
Here in the UK due to a lack of innovation we are seeing the ghastly truth in that phrase. In 2005 one of the best and longest established automobile brands was lost when the Rover business went belly up. Under new Chinese owners the brand may survive but will now never have the same marketing cachet. Now in 2006 are we seeing a similar situation develop with Jaguar? Currently owned by Ford the Jaguar business is struggling and has cost Ford Billions of dollars as it has tried to update manufacturing facilities and bring new models to market. The recently introduced XK model is a superb motor car incorporating many innovations. It's built from Aluminium and with great performance is getting rave reviews. I still look forward to owning one some day. However, despite the innovations and rave reviews the decline in sales of the Jaguar Mark continues. Why should this be so? The Jaguar business is not making money and Ford is in some difficulty so, rightly, hard questions are being asked. Because of my long held ambition to own a Jaguar sports model I am watching the developments with more than just a business interest. What is currently happening to Ford and Jaguar has happened many times before and is a warning to us all. Along come competitors with innovative ideas and operational practices who soon start gaining on the older established perhaps less responsive business. In this case Ford is facing Japanese and some European competition as well as home market competitors all of whom are fighting in the same market place for their share of the action. This is Fords' corporate challenge. How does this affect Jaguar and what can we learn from it? This is why business is so interesting. The Jaguar problem stems from a number sources. Despite the updated manufacturing facilities and innovative new models the sales decline continues. The reasons seem to be one of perception. The new models have some manufacturing links to Ford models, perceived value issues and lack of exclusivity. The new XK can be seen to be similar to older models in previous Jaguar ranges. Perhaps it's not sufficiently exclusive or innovative. This means that innovation in business must cover the whole spectrum. Design, construction, materials, facilities, styling, performance, marketing branding. Get part wrong and we can see the result. I have experienced this in other industries and when the rot sets in no matter how much you change and innovate to try to catch up it can be terminal and it's horrible. I fear the massive investment and commitment to Jaguar by Ford may be about to fail. So what do we in our careers and small businesses learn from this? To me it is essential in career and business terms part of your time must be spent keeping upto date and facing change. Personal development through life long learning and career training is essential. We must keep upto date. In our businesses it is essential we look at what we offer in relation to market needs and keep innovating, or die. In smaller businesses continuous effective marketing is often secondary to the pressures of executing contract tasks and working 'in the business'. As a small business owner you must keep developing an effective marketing program. This is the one area in which if you don't innovate may cause your business to die. Tip A market is never saturated with a good product, but is very quickly saturated with a bad one - Henry Ford
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