Steve Jobs on Technology, Customers, and Marketing

With the announcement that Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's CEO this week, I thought it worthwhile to post this video ( 1997 vintage - sorry for the grainy quality ). If you listen close enough, I believe you find the essence of Steve's approach to Apple.

Steve is responding to a question from the audience. Observe how he thinks through his answer and then speaks - not in a defensive tone, but more informative and, I believe, insightful to his thinking related to Customers, Marketing, technology and infusing this culture into Apple.

click here: http://bit.ly/p2WQAH
Enjoy

Barriers to Business Growth

Why is it that some companies find the energy, flexibility and control to generate consistent growth, while others begin strong only to evaporate like they never existed? What makes one company survive and thrive while others with equal potential perish like dinosaur’s of past?

Many books and articles are written each year in an attempt to explain this business phenomenon – sometimes, simply referred to as ‘barriers-to-growth’.  Academia types take great pain in analyzing all elements of an organization and then provide long and detail explanations as to how and why companies atrophy. Others focus on a particular aspect or set of influences that they believe inhibits corporate growth.

Global Marketing believes there are barriers to growth, but the reasons are more straightforward and simple than imagined. Once recognized, business leaders and CEO’s can blast through these so-called barriers-to-growth!

Read full article - http://bit.ly/qJICLB

Smart Business by the Numbers

Early-on in my business career I was told that you can’t  manage or control what you don’t measure. This seems simple enough, yet many organizations lack the discipline to gain from this basic business tenet. 

Managers know how well their companies are performing from a financial perspective.  Sales, shipments, and profitability are metrics that are very visible in most companies. Ask these same managers about their on-time delivery percentage, customer satisfaction level, cost of quality level, or cost-to-serve a customer and you may get a blank stare. Today’s highly competitive world demands more. Searching for added productivity and achieving improvements are yielded only when you understand how the present process is performing – internal to your operation and external to your customers...

Read more... http://bit.ly/pUZplL

More Apple interface solutions appear in industrial use

Whether it's timing or awareness, the more I look the more I find Apple technology solutions in our industry.  Latest is from Prosoft in the form of a client for the iPhone - http://bit.ly/p4SXzz

And then there is Syclo (http://www.syclo.com/)  with their mobile platform aimed directly at industrial applications utilizing their any device support platform with available interface to iPhone and iPad. 

Within the past 12 months , Siemens introduced mobile interface clients to iPhone and iPad through a number of their major divisions.  And I'm sure there is more coming...

Why?  Because Steve Jobs made the platform and interface easy to use.  Think about that the next time your Marketing and R&D folks design something new.

Business lessons from Jack Welch

I don’t think anyone can argue with Jack Welch’s business results at GE.  His legacy and business leadership has been documented many times over the years.   When you dig deep and strip away bits that grow over time, you find fundamental lessons one can learn from his leadership and business style.

Welch joined General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior chemical engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at a salary of $10,500 annually. While at GE, he blew off the roof of the factory, and was almost fired for doing so.   Welch was displeased with the $1,000 raise he was offered after his first year, as well as the strict bureaucracy within GE. He planned to leave the company to work with International Minerals & Chemicals in Skokie, Illinois.[1]

Reuben Gutoff, a young executive two levels higher than Welch, decided that Welch was too valuable a resource for the company to lose. He took Welch and his first wife Carolyn out to dinner at the Yellow Aster in Pittsfield, and spent four hours trying to convince Welch to stay. Gutoff vowed to work to change the bureaucracy to create a small-company environment.

Welch stayed and the rest is history.

iPad discussion already in progress

Just found that Automation & Control discussion group is already talking about iPad and Android use in their work place and Advantech offers a SCADA client solution (http://bit.ly/nBXjws) -- check out the full Automation & Control discussion as part of LinkedIn here:  http://linkd.in/nJhPBh

Apple iPad/iPhone seep into industrial use

Apple's innovative product platform with products such as the iPhone and the recently introduced iPad are helping to shape markets in ways I can’t imagine Apple design Engineers envisioned.  

Let’s take a look at some features - the platform is interoperatable, cost-effective, and the products are flexible, and extremely intuitive to use.  Can it be that simple?  

Apple’s success is driven mainly by Steve Job’s incredible vision. However, vision only takes organizations so far – execution matters.  Apple must have some impenetrable pass/fail criteria for any new product idea.  Perhaps it goes something like this - invent technology that isn’t limited to a market/application where the User gains significant value.  Additionally, make the technology transparent, yet incredibly intuitive to the User.   From the outside looking in, this is exactly what they have done on their platform - perhaps it is that simple.

Stay in front of YOUR business, or your Competitors will!

Which existing customer is your business about to lose? What potential customers will go to your competitors instead of you? What new threat will assault your business next week, next month or next quarter? When opportunity knocks is your business ready? Is your organization as fast, agile and competitive as it can be?

My thoughts on staying ahead in today's environment.  http://bit.ly/mPXPTH

Marketing in tough times - What Winners do!

It's market deja vu - all over again!

I wrote this article a few years back -- seems more appropriate today.

"You don’t need a degree in economics to understand that the markets are sluggish around the world. In general, companies are nervous. A level of investment paralysis has occurred. These are uncertain times. When will it change? When will the good times come back? How can I maximize my organization’s market position during this murky financial period?"

Technologies that will change the world

3D printers, sensor networks, virtual humans and other technologies under development now will drastically change our world in the decade to come, according to Cisco chief futurist Dave Evans.

Read his top 10 technologies that will change the world over the next ten years - Interesting thoughts.

Frank

Market Segmentation - A vital growth tool

Before you commit to yet another marketing campaign, let me give you an opportunity to look like a hero. It’s a simple, but little used (particularly in the industrial arena) marketing tool called market segmentation. And it will provide significant growth opportunity with little-to-no additional investment.

What is market segmentation?

Read my article - http://bit.ly/nAw9Je

Marketing's Mandate - Innovate or Evaporate!

Historically, the guiding "P"s’ of marketing (price, promotion, positioning and product) provided some measure of success - no longer.

In today’s competitive environment, this approach only gains you market entry and, at best, relegates you to fitting in or even losing market share depending on how you execute your plan.

Sustainable success demands innovative and non-traditional thinking by those that clearly understand their customers’ problem.

Read entire article - http://bit.ly/q4ao9D