dimanche 31 mars 2013

Why Some Companies Successfully Innovate and Others Don't


The recession is over. But its end did not herald a return to business as usual. High rates of new product failure—once considered an inevitable cost of doing business—are now unacceptable. Today's thinner revenue streams, narrower margins, heightened competition, and more limited resources have, if anything, increased the already high levels of stress among corporate survivors and raised the performance bar set by business executives. That has prompted changes in the ways companies invest, manage, and innovate—changes designed to minimize risk.

Among the good management habits of innovative, high-performance companies:

Balance. Investments in breakthrough advancements were offset with spending on incremental innovations. While the rewards of home-run products are potentially very high, their associated risks are even higher. Winning companies don't bet all their chips on blue-sky projects.

Prioritize. Focus on product development projects that align with both market needs and the company's overall business strategy. Struggling to satisfy customer desires is only beneficial when it advances your company's longer-range objectives.

Analyze. Overcome the largest risk in product innovation—products that customers won't buy—by analyzing customer feedback quickly to ensure delivery of products the market is actually asking for. If a product idea is going to fail, or meet only 80 percent of customer expectations, it is a huge advantage to find that out as soon as possible, drop the idea, and move on to other, more appealing projects.

Automate. Top performers delivered products on time by using technology to manage requirements, administer workflow, and prioritize development. Too many companies rely on slower, less reliable manual processes.
There was also a flip side to the study's findings: challenges that consistently elude companies that are still struggling. Chief among them:

Not listening. Failure to hear and consider the expressed needs of customers. Those diverse voices must be considered, reconciled, and balanced to develop a truly successful product.

Not collaborating. Failing to share information and collaborate with customers, partners, suppliers, and other key stakeholders in exploring new ideas. For struggling companies, fewer than half their product ideas came from these sources.

Misalignment. Too often senior management and product-line staff fail to communicate, which often results in their spending time and money on the wrong product priorities.

Uncertainty. The lack of clear decision-making and confusion over product-line ownership leads to decisions based on internal politics, subjectivity, personal influence, and debate skills rather than product merits.

Paperwork. Paper-based methods and other traditional innovation management processes slow down the development life cycle, especially for complex products.

Poor execution. Struggling companies have trouble planning the resources needed to match market opportunities, difficulty managing multiple teams and regions, and a hard time managing the risks associated with new and existing products.

dimanche 17 mars 2013

Greening Fast Food Packaging


Dogwood Alliance’s report “Greening Fast Food Packaging: A Roadmap to Best Practices,” outlines eight key attributes of environmentally friendly fast food packaging, and provides guidance on how to assess environmental impacts in the supply chain. The report highlights leaders in the fast food industry. It also includes a survey to help assess a company’s current packaging.
  1. Embrace Corporate Leadership on Sustainability
  2. Use Full Life Cycle and Supply Chain Approach
  3. Reduce Overall Packaging and Increase Efficiency
  4. Increase the Use of Recycled Fiber
  5. Eliminate Paper Originating from Controversial Forestry Practices
  6. Increase In-Store Recycling and Recovery
  7. Eliminate Toxic Inks, Coatings and Labels
  8. Reduce Carbon Footprint

The full report is available at DogwoodAlliance

mardi 5 mars 2013

Cascades – Industrial Packaging, to exhibit at the 2013 International Boston Seafood Show

The International BostonSeafood Show is North America’s largest seafood trade show, which is taking place on March 10-12, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Visit Cascades-IndustrialPackaging Booth #1180 to meet our friendly staff and learn more about our eco-friendly and innovative packaging solutions for the transport of fresh and frozen fish and seafood products.




lundi 4 mars 2013

Du Marketing Vert au Marketing Eco-responsable


Je vous invite à lire mon article publié dans le dernier numéro de la revue l’Actualité Alimentaire: Du Marketing Vert au Marketing Eco-responsable.

On pourrait penser  que "Vendre vert" aujourd'hui est plus facile que jamais. La preuve : tout le monde marketing semble avoir succombé à cette tendance. Surfer sur la vague verte n'est pourtant pas gage de ventes accrues, de nouvelles parts de marché ou de gains en termes d'images et de "branding".

Depuis plus de deux décennies, l’idée du développement durable s’est largement imposée. C’est tout naturellement que le marketing s’est emparé de nouveaux slogans apparus dans le sillage de ce concept phare répondant à l’intérêt grandissant d’un nombre croissant de citoyens-consommateurs pour la question environnementale. Cependant, le marketing vert n’a pas toujours su résister aux sirènes du « greenwashing ». Ce phénomène appelé aussi éco-blanchiment ou mascarade écologique, est le fait de tromper les consommateurs à propos des pratiques environnementales d’une entreprise ou des avantages environnementaux d’un produit ou d’un service.

Le marketing vert a trop longtemps reposé sur de simples prétentions non démontrées, jouant d’images confuses, voire trompeuses. Autrefois, option de facilité, le « greenwashing » se révèle être une ornière  dont il faut absolument sortir.  Plus que jamais, clarifier les messages du marketing vert est une priorité. L’heure est à l’humilité, au réalisme et à l’authenticité pour les entreprises qui entendent mettre en avant leurs bonnes pratiques environnementales ou mettre en marché des produits véritablement plus respectueux de l’environnement


Nb: N'hésitez pas à me contacter (pak-bec@hotmail.com) si vous voulez consulter l'intégrale de cet article.