Posted by Stacy Jackson
Lately I have been re-reading parts of Jim Collins' Good To Great, a book based on research into how good companies transform themselves into great organizations. Among the many interesting points/revelations in the book, Jim Collins describes how great companies have a culture of discipline while merely "good" companies often have a disciplinarian culture. The difference between the two is this:
- A culture of discipline is made up of self-disciplined people who engage in disciplined thinking and take disciplined actions consistent with the organizational goals. The culture is self-sustaining.
- A disciplinarian culture is made up of leaders who drive results through fear or sheer force of will. A disciplinarian culture may not be able to sustain the good results upon the departure of the disciplinarian leader (fear follows the leader out the door).
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So what, you may ask, does this have to do with foodservice trade promotion management (TPM)? It has a lot to do with it actually. Foodservice manufacturers that thoughtfully undertake change in their approach to managing their TPM processes must have:
- A self-disciplined champion or group of champions. If you or your leadership team becomes anxious about the change or bends under pressure from those afraid of changing "the way we do things," the results the organization seeks will likely not come to fruition. The whole point of change is to get a different result. Those organizations that cannot fully embrace the discipline required to change may be setting themselves up for failure at worst or for limited benefits at best.
- Disciplined thinkers. The disciplined thinkers are ready to confront brutal facts about the discoveries made after implementing a new trade promotion management solution. Those brutal facts may include realization of the amount of claims paid in error prior to the new solution's implementation, concern over product performance, issues of acceptable sales force engagement/administration of contracts, deduction balances and rebill issues. The period of illumination is not for wimps. Out of the pain of discovery, though, comes the opportunity to create rock-solid rules for deal negotiations, claim settlement, deduction management, etc.
- Disciplined action. Working with a solution that provides transparency into the actions of each user in the hierarchy will create a type of "natural selection." Those people willing to manage pending claims (claims with errors), fix flawed contracts, quickly address expiring contracts, and address deductions within the rules of the system/within the specified time frames will see an increase in return on investment, sales force efficiency, and cost avoidance.
Those who do not immerse themselves fully may not see organization benefits, and they may even see losses at an individual level. Some companies may tie bonuses to contract management metrics or create penalties that are addressed during performance appraisals. People who understand the rules and consequences (whether reward or punishment) will either play by the rules or go elsewhere - so long as the consequences are real and enforced.
Want to know your organization's capacity for greatness? Check out the tools section of Jim Collins' website today at www.jimcollins.com/tools.html.
Want to become great in trade promotion management? Contact us to discuss your organization's needs. Answers Systems' ContractPro solution is a software and outsourced service designed for the unique and specific needs of the foodservice industry.
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