Nature - the 'think, feel, do' continuum

By Ramola Kumar Nature has its own dynamics. While observing living systems, one can notice a pattern. It is revealed that they often resist change, but they also develop, adapt, and evolve. Just like business entities. The connection and communication networks of nature create climates of trust and mutual support. And effective leaders recognize emergent novelty and incorporate it into organizations’ designs. And, to be successful, it is vital that we understand nature better. To improve the quality of life. Just like business organizations. Nature’s lessons are too many. It is often said, “The closer we are to nature the closer we are to God.” Nature surrounds us - trees, rivers, mountains, fire, mother earth, the wind and even animals, who exhibit unique behavior which can be applied to daily life and even, to strategic thinking. What can businesses learn from Nature? This article will bring to light some of the critical ways in which we learn from nature and how these learnings can help us think and perform better. One can observe a pattern in the elements of nature and behavior and growth of organizations. Earth - grounded, steady The Earth - in our culture we say ‘mother earth’ and not just earth or the planet. The earth’s magnetic gravitational pull helps us in being grounded and remain steady as we forge ahead in life. It holds us in place, so strategically we should strengthen our core businesses and processes, keeping in mind resource optimization, while studying the environment and also know the lay of the land. In light of the above, Thermax in the 1990’s undertook internal structural changes to strengthen the company from within. They restructured the company into six core businesses in the areas of energy and environment and they brought in a performance-oriented culture as opposed to the prevailing family culture. Thermax undertook greater innovation in a disciplined and systematic manner. Result - the company came back with greater inner strength at its core processes. Similarly, Star became Star Plus in1999 after breaking away from Zee TV. It launched KBC, which was focused on the audience and not on programming basis. By strengthening its program for the consumer, it increased its centre of gravity, gaining a strong competitive posture. Water- pushes ahead, opening avenues Water - it takes the shape of the container/its surroundings and like the river, it pushes its way ahead through boulders, rocks and even smoothens them eventually. The river looks back only momentarily, gathers its energy and forges ahead in a wave-like motion. It opens up tributaries as it flows. This teaches us to look at options as we move ahead. Dabur’s trail reveals a pattern like water. In the year 2000, it undertook a multi-pronged growth strategy. It outsourced businesses such as IT and entered some emerging and sunrise markets in categories of skin care, packaged fruit juice and toothpaste. It entered the rural market and expanded overseas to sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey. Dabur has used several options, forged ahead and proven itself to be a true Indian multinational. Similarly, the river flows relentlessly meeting its destination after many a hurdle and breaking many a boulder into softer, smaller rocks. It teaches us to deal with difficulties patiently. Larger problems can be broken down into smaller manageable issues and then managed more effectively. Also, one needs to look at the various options available and then surge forth, just like its tributaries. It is calm at times and it can be angry at times. In difficult situations one needs to be calm and avoid being angry. Anger can lead to poor decision-making. Similarly, we need to be aggressive/ passive at times depending on the prevailing environment. The brand Vi John, which started as a local shaving cream, is today a brand giving tough competition to P&G. It started in 1960 from Delhi and is now managed by the third generation of the family, operating in the north, west and east and is also eyeing the south. Like a river meanders its way here and there, they have grown throughout the country. With an English name, good product quality and strong partnerships with their distributors, they have made dent into MNC brands. Wind - unexpected bursts, but finds direction Wind - when unexpected events happen, one cannot predict and there is little direction for the way ahead. This is the case of the wind; it suddenly comes from nowhere and can raise dust and storm, even as it remains calm. In this situation one needs to concentrate on one’s present strategy, be determined and stay put. When the 2000 slowdown-recession hit the market, the consumers were hit, they were buying less and naturally the sales all across decreased. This hurt Shoppers Stop. In catching up with the winds blowing hither thither, Shoppers Stop shut down unprofitable formats of businesses such as Arcelia and Brio without compromising the customer experience at its other outlets. They repositioned and relaunched the brand. There was a lot of cost-cutting and suppliers were extending their credit period to them as a special case. With all these changes they were able to control the businesses - through strategic changes in the eye of the storm. Fire - swift and consuming Fire - by itself, is no force but when it gets air, dry timber, and wind, it gains momentum and grows hotter, consuming everything in its way. One should never leave such power to chance. Idea in 2005/06 was a regional player covering only 40% of India. They increased capacity expanding the base station count from 4,000 to 10,000 and laying 65,000 Km of fibre optic cable. Idea also started its internet services and it built a massive contact centre seating more than 25,000 call centre executives. Today, it has 3 million shareholders, 116 million customers and around 8,000 employees. It is the 3 rd largest mobile operator in the country. It did not leave anything to chance, it grew rapidly and enormously. Similar was the case with Hotmail. Since its launch in 1995, it spread like fire and caught on rapidly, growing to be one of the largest networking systems. Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith wanted to start a company that would develop Java programming tools to help publish databases on the internet, instead they ended up offering free web-based email. It took off like wild fire, with free email messages at hotmail.com . In February 2012 Microsoft, who bought hotmail in 1997, closed it and moved its users to outlook.com . Similar was also the case with Facebook. The Sun - timeless, eterna l The Sun - its return is always desired. It gives without asking. It is timeless, eternal and its routine is fixed. Cult brands that have outlived market and environmental changes represent the sun in their timeless presence and eternal fulfillment towards customer satisfaction such as Levis, Johnson and Johnson, Harley Davidson, Amul, Lux . These brands continuously rejuvenate their presence on think-feel-do continuum wrt the consumers. The tree - anchored, stand tall The Trees - they have a strong anchor which helps them to stand tall against all elements, against all odds. They give shade and care for all creatures, who come to them for any support. HUL is the strongest tree ever with branches that shade every brand of the company. Their absolute focus on the consumer and the markets has helped them deliver customer value and with tight cost control gaining that rupee, which the customer did not spend on them. This led them to make the anchor strong, also, through leveraging technology to improve product quality. Similarly, Godrej has diversified into real estate even while protecting all other divisions and their brands. The Mountains strong, steadfast The Mountains - they are strong, steadfast and give inspiration to remain calm, come what may. The Khemka’s wind mill project worth 2500 crore in 2011/12 is a good example of perseverance and steadiness. In the last three years Khemka increased the firm’s installation performance 6 times, increasing their revenues 5 times and profits 11 times. His company ReGen Powertech has started manufacturing turbines with more indigenous components, saving upto 35% in costs. Local production and supply chain with increased advantages in market knowledge and optimization of logistics including transportation costs and nearness to the consumer - have all been advantageous to the company. Like the mountains, with effective cost management they made a strong base and will be able to manage the solar energy competitors coming up. In fact, the oldest corporates and MNCs operating in India such as Godrej, Phillips, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, and Procter & Gamble all represent strength and inspiration as their strategic thinking and planning, took them through turbulent periods of India’s independence, yet they came out strong and shining as corporates par excellence. Like Nature’s insights, these organisations fought, held their ground, achieving unparallel success and building trust and confidence, even in their ever-evolving markets. References: Business Today June 10 2012, August 5, 2012 (The author is Dean, the Delhi School of Communication)

Nature - the 'think, feel, do' continuum

Corporate brands continuously rejuvenate their presence on the 'think-feel-do' continuum vis a vis the consumers, displaying a pattern that can be detected in nature.

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