We live in a time of constant change, a time that is influenced by economic shifts, fast-moving technological advancements and uncertainty introduced by geopolitical challenges. Business execution with consistent quality in such a competitive and dynamic environment assumes ever-increasing importance. Under these compelling circumstances, business leaders need to maintain their focus on today’s imperatives and deliver results while making strategic, long-term decisions.

Globalization, business dynamics & fierce competition is virtually cutting away market share for almost every industry segment & therefore business is getting tough to make any significant profit margins as subsequent operational costs are rising in a situation to compete with the various market domains.

I strongly believe that cutting costs at operational level and making operations lean in real sense to achieve higher levels of performance is the mantra. The vision of companies to invest in technology and management practices thereby raising competition barriers to ensure maximum ROI from the available resources certainly help them to grow.

There is indeed no second thought that upon achieving the desired level of organizational efficiency through application of various management techniques without jargon, companies gain enormously well.

Nurturing human talent within organization is another important aspect that gives a boost to an enterprise leading to high performance supported by total commitment to develop and implement good human resource management practices. Business environment is changing rapidly, perhaps faster than ever and companies have to transform their abilities in adapting and re-inventing themselves in response. This requires willingness to take risk and to accept change in themselves and their organization.

There is an urgent need to mould organizations that are adaptive, entrepreneurial, and innovative. This change should be brought in by management of the organization, the demand of the future on the management is different from the past. Change is not an option. The truth is we can’t even slow it down.

Transformative Leadership

Transformative leadership brings effective business transformation which involves pursuing the organization’s fundamental purpose, within the context of its core values, in ways that effectively and optimally meet and reconcile the current needs of the target market and of key stakeholders. The objectives of transformation must therefore be defined in terms of adapting what the business organization does, or how it achieves this, to realign the organization with a continuously changing external environment and then optimize its ability to pursue its fundamental purpose.

There are majorly two types of transformations and its objectives:

Strategic Transformation Objectives are concerned with realigning the organization more effectively with the exact needs of its target market. They might be based, for example, on introducing a new product or service, or making changes in marketing or branding to appeal more effectively to customers.

Operational Performance Objectives are concerned with effectively balancing the needs of the market with the needs of other stakeholders, such as employees and shareholders. They are usually focused on improving either a) efficiency, or b) cost-effectiveness and may involve changes to internal operations or the way that people interact within the organization.

How to Set Objectives for Successful Transformation

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, organizations of all types need to undergo frequent transformation to remain competitive and meet the changing needs of their clients or customers. However, many MSMEs carry out transformation initiatives in response to immediate pressures or challenges, without any clear sense of their ultimate objectives. Unsurprisingly, their costly change initiatives fail to deliver the intended business value.

I strongly believe that effective transformation involves pursuing the organization’s fundamental purpose, within the context of its core values, in ways that effectively and optimally meet and reconcile the current needs of the target market and of key stakeholders.

The objectives of a transformation initiative must therefore always be defined in terms of adapting what the organization does, or how it achieves this, to realign the organization with a changed external environment and optimize its ability to pursue its fundamental purpose.

Identifying Fundamental Purpose and Core Values

To achieve this, it is first essential to properly identify the fundamental purpose and core values of the organization and to understand their importance in driving business success.

Often, micro, small and medium companies confuse their fundamental purpose with income generation or selling particular products; instead, this should always be defined in terms of the human needs or combinations of needs that the organization ultimately serves.

Doing so will provide clarity and clear direction over time while enabling the organization to introduce new business strategies or product offerings to reflect changing market conditions and transform effectively to support these.

An organization’s core values are important in determining the types of relationships that an organization has, both within the organization and with external stakeholders such as customers and business partners. Setting objectives that are aligned with these core values is important to help build and retain the trust and respect of stakeholders and secure their co-operation in meeting these objectives.

Following are transformative decisions every MSME business owner should take immediately to see a transformational change in his/her business towards desired growth and profitability:

• Strategize business correctly to achieve desired results by setting goals to solve a particular problem in the market.
• Define vision, mission, and values for building sustainable business growth with laser focus on what is right.
• Comprehending business challenges in the ever-changing economic framework
• Plugging of loopholes in business dynamics both internal and external
• Have an experienced second line of command by the side to handle new rising challenges in the business.
• A clearly defined roadmap to future business supported by a business plan
• Comprehending your customer requirement with new perspective
• Save time by preventing mistakes by redesigning business model.
• Save costs by understanding the right way to utilize available resources.
• 1Learn new ways and tools to retain teams for sustainable business growth.

Vinod K. Pandita is an internationally acclaimed business consultant, turnaround coach, profitability specialist, leadership mentor and author. He is on a mission to transform MSMEs for their growth and profitability using his transformative legacy frameworks.