Remaining relevant. One of the hardest things to accomplish in the fast-paced world of business. Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine of the Harvard Business Review write about how Amazon continuously audits its business model in order to make necessary changes and keep up with the industry.
Amazon questions its operations and any plans for expansion it may have. It essentially became its own harshest critic and has proved to be successful because of its ability to face what may be unpleasant truths. It seems basic, but that is the beauty of it. When I read this article, I was surprised at how it appears that many companies probably do not do this enough. As you might may have guessed, the first company that came to my mind was Blackberry. Applying what I gained from this article, Blackberry’s inability to face the fact that its products were soon becoming irrelevant caused the company’s growth to stagnate and allowed for Google and Apple to walk on the company. Blackberry is not the only example of this however. When Microsoft released its MP3 player, Zune, in an attempt to compete with Apple’s famed iPod, it failed. But even then, Microsoft realized it was a failed campaign and discontinued the Zune. The lesson to be learned for business owners is that maintaining a business does not just involve expansion, but it entails criticizing your own operations in order to better your company.
Original article: Harvard Business Review
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