The 5Rs
Competing in a Global Economy
How does a company that already has a culture of continuous improvement most effectively manage the known and unknown challenges of a global on-demand economy? Consider the following elements for success: the 5Rs.
- Responsiveness
The starting point: being alert to all of your customers’ needs, not just when you have the time or the people to do it, but always. Consider your customer first and foremost – and treat each customer as if your business depended solely on them; because it does.
- Rhythm
Matching your output rate to actual customer demand isn’t as easy as you might think. Actual demand is not the same as your production capacity. It is providing exactly what your customers want, when they want it – no more and no less. Overproduce and you’ll have excess inventory. Underproduce and you’ll have unhappy customers.
- Reliability
This encompasses more than your products. If customers know they can count on you to meet their needs on time, with quality products, they will remain loyal – and because of the huge impact of word-of-mouth, perhaps send you more business.
- Responsibility
Your responsibility to all your stakeholders is to do more with less and leverage your resources efficiently. Customers are stakeholders, too, and their interests must be embedded throughout your entire enterprise.
- Relevancy
Perhaps most important: being willing and able to adapt to the stated and unarticulated needs of customers, through value innovation. If you can’t or won’t adapt to customers’ needs, then you will soon become irrelevant to them. If you listen to your customers and learn from them to create products, services and solutions that are relevant to their changing needs, you will ensure a continuous, long-term relationship.
