Framework 141 Design Elements and Characteristics for Future Success (Consumer Products Organisations)

Introduction

Aiming to maintain current and develop future profitability in an increasely unpredictable world. It is important to maintain incremental efficiencies. However, flexibility and agility are becoming more important to handle the complex future; these require a different mindset, ways of working and measures of success.
"...the challenge organisations face in rapidly adapting to the future that will keep changing at  an unprecedented rates while optimising how they operate today..."
EY, 2022

Need to consider the short-term, medium-term and long-term in an integrated way

Traditionally frameworks are based on the assumption of predictability to build a sustainable competitive advantage in terms of scope, scale and efficiency.

Five critical design elements

Future frameworks will need 5 critical design elements:

i) dynamic ecosystems

ii) digital DNA

iii) talent flexibility

iv) innovation platforms

v) enduring purpose

Six key characteristics for future success

i) integrated networks rather than functional silos (networks to encourage interaction, collaboration, etc with other stakeholders, external and internal)

ii) multiple business models rather than single ones (instead of one effective business model, you will be exploring, testing, scaling, etc different business models simultaneously, ie plurality dilemma)

iii) dynamic internal and external relationships rather than rigid functional capabilities (how to manage so that achieve the right mix of deep expertise and cross-functional generalists; may be best to outsource some capabilities rather than keep in-house)

iv) adaptive and expandable scale rather than slow and big (need to be able to experiment, pilot, test and scale new products and/or services much faster than currently done; need to move at the speed of the market like software companies; less control over aspects of the life-cycle of products and/or services)

v) growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset (moving away from risk averse, ie no mistakes, to a mindset that allows thoughtful risks and learns from mistakes; move from 'what is' to 'what is possible' mindset, ie
"...a truly agile organisation is made up of individuals adept at thinking and behaving in agile ways..."
EY, 2022

vi) agile innovation rather than waterfall innovation (innovation is more than just R&D; involves all aspects of your business like processes, systems, relationships with stakeholders, etc; need to continually innovate.)

(source: whatfix, 2022)

The waterfall framework is used in traditional project management, ie
"...A waterfall cascades from one plateau to another in one flexible unchanging system..."
whatfix, 2022

It involves a plan, has hierarchical control with production being standardised and generally inflexible.

However, agile is adaptive, self-managed, continually assessed and reviewed as whether it is suitable to end user.

If in a traditional project management environment and you want to blend agile characteristics in; you need to keep in mind the following issues:
- how to integrate agile into your ecosystem
- how to be prepared for the possible impact that agile may have on your work culture
- how to encourage team members and clients to understand and value agile approach.

Summary

 
(source: Ernst & Young, 2022)

Six key characteristics for success:

i) integrate networks rather than functional silos (a move away from isolated incremental changes to integrated, collaborative interactions within the organisation and external stakeholders)

ii) multiple business models rather than a single one (rather than just one winning business model,  there will be a range of different business models being explored, tested, scaled, etc simultaneously to handle the unprecedented rates of change)

iii) dynamic internal and external relationships rather than rigid functional capabilities (need to reframe capabilities so that there is the right mix of deep expertise and cross-functional generalists; this will include outsourcing)

iv) adaptive and expandable scale rather than slow and big (organisations will need to experiment, pilot, test, scale, etc more rapidly, ie move at the speed of the market - this will mean less control; managing product life cycles, ie
"...Need to think and act more like software companies..."
Ernst & Young, 2022

v) growth mindsets rather than a fixed mindset (need to move away from a culture of safe incrementalism and/or being risk averse to creating a supportive environment that encourages staff to take calculated, thoughtful risks, make mistakes and treat them as learning experiences; need to encourage staff to be adept in thinking and behave in agile ways; need
"...to shift a company's culture from a fixed 'what-is' to a 'what's-possible' mindset..."
Ernst & Young, 2022

vi) agile innovation rather than waterfall innovation (this is more than product R&D, as it involves the whole organisational ecosystem continually changing via innovation)

(source: whatfix, 2022)

The waterfall framework is used in traditional project management, ie
"...A waterfall cascades from one plateau to another in one flexible unchanging system..."
whatfix, 2022

It involves a plan, has hierarchical control with production being standardised and generally inflexible.
However, agile is adaptive, self-managed, continually assessed and reviewed as whether it is suitable to end user.

If in a traditional project management environment and you want to blend agile characteristics in; you need to keep in mind the following issues:
- how to integrate agile into your ecosystem
- how to be prepared for the possible impact that agile may have on your work culture
- how to encourage team members and clients to understand and value agile approach.

Summary

"...It's the accumulative effect of these characteristics that really makes a difference..."
Ernst & Young, 2022