I’m interested in another class of companies—young, well-run firms in emerging regions like the sub-Sahara. Like their Western counterparts, they’re creating a disproportionate number of jobs. But these young African companies are playing a more crucial role than gazelles do in driving market growth.

To belabor the metaphor, I call them Impalas, after the lean, swift gazelles indigenous to Africa. Impalas provide technology-enabled and outsourcing services to a growing number of multinational (MNC) service providers – mobiles, airlines and banks – in Johannesburg, Accra, and Nairobi, etc.  They share many of the characteristics of gazelles, but there are some notable differences.

Impalas make it possible for their MNC clients to devote more of their limited resources to building their core capabilities. For example, telecoms can concentrate on expanding their network infrastructures and building their brands while their resourceful Impala partners supply customer care and data services.

Business process outsourcers (BPOs) and large enterprises work together around the world—this practice is commonplace. Africa is different because it’s growing so rapidly. Only China’s consumer markets are growing more quickly.

Despite it’s rapid rise, the sub-Sahara’s growth trajectory is unsustainable because of  acute capability gaps in the region.  Companies are struggling to meet the needs of their customers. As African markets mature, Impalas are providing vital, high margin services like customer care, back-office support, and data analysis that require advanced technical and managerial talent.

Just as U.S. policymakers are advised to remove barriers to gazelles’ growth, African governments ought to lend a helping hand to Impalas which are creating jobs and raising standards of living for their citizens.

That’s been happening in economic hot spots like Botswana and Mauritius, but elsewhere on the continent, progressive economic policies are scarce.  Lack of access to capital and excessive regulatory burdens stifle young African companies.  Policymakers in Africa are missing a critical opportunity to move their economies forward at a time when the continent is poised for more growth.

There is an opportunity here for Western companies that can see and are willing to seize opportunities in Africa.  Partnering with Impalas on knowledge-exchange projects can be rewarding. Impalas benefit from acquiring tools and skills that Western companies have developed, and Western companies can become players in one of the most dynamic markets in the world.  Of course, it’s imperative to choose such opportunities wisely.

***

As always, I’d love to find out what you think about this subject…

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The term ‘gazelle’  was coined by David Birch of Cognetics (c. 2001) to describe a class of companies that “run fast and jump high.”

Related posts:

1. Dispatch from West Africa Astute Afr

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It sounds esoteric, but it’s not. ‘The Art of Seeing Customers’ is my term for a concrete, effective process that organizations can use to transform their services based on focusing on their customers. The approach helps businesses refine their services by considering not only on ‘what’ customers seek, but “how’ and ‘why’ they seek it.

By balancing customer needs with business objectives, companies can design more pleasing services and and engage customers in the kind of dialogue that encourages them to buy.  My team and I use this technique with our clients on a regular basis. We begin by determining the customer’s “purchasing drivers” — what are customers’ needs, desires and expectations.

Why is this important? As organizations mature and grow, they can lose sight of the human factor and they lose their ability to adapt their services to customers. The Art of Seeing Customers is a counterbalance that helps shift the organizational focus back to the customer.

Visual Mapping

In our practice, we use visual maps of both the physical and digital “touch points” where customers interact with the brand.  My favorite modeling tool is the storyboard — a visual representation of service scenarios assembled in a narrative sequence.

A skilled facilitator typically works with small, cross-disciplinary teams of employees to visualize current and desired-state customer scenarios. The teams consider the customer’s perspective as they map out system interfaces, business rules, and work flows.

In the process, participants consider broader questions:  Who is our customer?  What are they looking for, and how has that been changing over time? Why do they choose our product over our competitor’s?  And, how can we tip the scale in our favor?

Case in Point

One blustery January night in Chicago, Betty, a harried corporate lawyer, spots an ad in a lifestyle magazine for an upscale spa near Santa Barbara.  The ad portrays a picturesque, mission-style resort on the Pacific.

Intrigued by the ad, Betty visits the spa’s online channel which opens with a brilliant, full-screen image of terracotta  facade against a periwinkle sky. The warm interior of the spa’s restaurant features a deep hearth.  That shot fades into a well-composed image of a woman holding a glass of wine as she peers reflectively at the setting sun.

Other images that catch Betty’s eye show leisurely, ocean-front biking and whale-watching on a catamaran at dusk. Lastly, she sees a massage table with thick, white towels with a description of the spa’s signature experience, a calming, herbal-oil massage treatment.

Each gem-like image fades smoothly into the next, and each invokes the resort’s “inviting, serene and understated” ambiance.

Over the next couple days, Betty’s mind drifts back to images of the spa.  Her company is involved in a tough merger deal and she’s knee-deep in paperwork. Outside, the temperature falls into the negative teens as a winter storm advisory is issued.

On the third day, Betty receives a cordial email from the spa, along with a stark photo of waves lapping a deserted beach. A 15% discount is applied if a package is booked within the next week. She’s also given a link to a third-party portal where prior guests share positive reviews of the property.

The following day, as the city is gripped by lake effect snow, Betty phones the spa.  Prompted by a modulated voice responder, she’s quickly routed to a sales representative. A real woman’s voice is heard, “Thank you so much for calling…”

The promotional discount code informs the saleswoman that Betty had visited the spa’s site and checked availability in late February. The woman asks Betty about the weather in Chicago. Betty books a 7-day package.

The package costs more than Betty intended to spend, but she feels like it’s a treat that she’s earned. The winter storm continues unabated, and she smiles.

Capturing value

The magazine ad was evocative and the salesperson was skillful, but Betty’s intention to buy was shaped by a consistent stream of messages that reinforced her initial impression and encouraged her to notice how much the spa’s features matched her needs and desires.

If the spa had only focused on its ad or its direct sales channel, they’d have missed several critical opportunities to influence Betty’s intention to buy.

But, they didn’t miss a thing. The “customer journey” had been refined by the company’s staff during a storyboarding workshop. The “visioning team,” including members of guest services, marketing, and sales, was led by an external facilitator who teased out scenarios about the sales process that were later visually rendered.

During the three-day workshop, scenarios were poured over by team members looking to imbue touch points and messages with the spa’s themes, “inviting, serene, and understated”.  The participants redesigned the sales and marketing processes in subtle ways that had a profound impact.

Taking the guest’s perspective helped to surface ideas for engaging prospective customers. Participants enriched the spa’s website with more compelling images and descriptive content, while a chat channel was added. The team also developed a personalized email campaign to open the door for a more intimate and productive dialogue with prospective customers.

While traffic and sales increased which was the goal of the exercise, service and morale improved, too. At the end of the workshop, the participants said that they saw the spa’s guests in a more empathic light. Team members also gained a deeper appreciation of their peers’ challenges and contributions to the sales process.

The company hadn’t planned for nor could they measure employees’ attitudinal differences that accompanied the bump in sales, but the effects were noticeable. A guest services manager put it best, “The vibe is different around here. It’s like the feeling you get when you slip off a pair of tight shoes. We’ve got our groove back.”

How did so much good come from merely contemplating drawings? That’s The Art of Seeing Customers.

***

As always, I’d love to hear your perspective…

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iPad To Go

It’s been a hectic but interesting summer crisscrossing the Atlantic for work. I like catching up on reading during long flights but hate schlepping books, so the iPad is a Godsend.

The sleek tablet lets me carry an array of books, films and music.  When I’m too jet lagged to read a dense book, I skim magazines or catch videos. It’s thrilling to have such a wide assortment of mind candy.

One of my favorite apps is WIRED Magazine’s developed by Adobe Digital for Condé Naste.  The app lives up to its hype of providing an immersive, highly interactive experience.  Gorgeous images and crisp typography rotate with the device, and the layout is just plain sexy. I find myself returning to the app to figure out why it’s so alluring.

This isn’t an app review, but rather an observation and a suggestion that digital publications like WIRED Magazine are having a profound impact on our aesthetic sensibilities. “The iPad effect” is changing the way we experience information and there are implications for all of us interested in connecting with our audiences.

Death of a Salesman

Curiously, the idea for this piece came not from something I viewed on an iPad, but on a conference room screen where PowerPoint slides were presented by a software vendor.  The salesman, Frank (not his real name), was trying to convince my colleagues and me to buy his company’s well-known, hosted CRM software.

The slides were mind-numbingly predictable. An “Agenda” slide was followed by seemingly endless “features and benefits” in bullet form, followed by the “Next Steps” which, thankfully, signaled the end of the ordeal.  Sound familiar?  I remember looking at my watch and thinking, “Forty-five precious minutes lost forever”.

Of course Frank’s intent was to convince us of his “value proposition,” but I came away with the impression that his company is out of touch. His pitch created doubt in my mind about the brand.

Sadly, I’ve endured countless corporate slide decks like that before, but I don’t recall ever feeling such aversion. The contrast with the sleek iPad apps I’d been seeing made Frank’s presentation seem like a relic from the Industrial Age. The starkness of the contrast is the “the iPad effect”.

Design-forward apps are exposing us to more compelling images and interactive features, and we who rely on presenting information to influence audiences ought to take notice.

Redesigning Design

The need for rethinking our presentations isn’t new.  Edward Tufte and, more recently, Garr Reynolds (the Presentation Zen guy) have been preaching — often to the converted — about how and why our presentations need a makeover. The “information architecture” movement has been raising awareness about design literacy for decades.

But, old habits die hard. Despite the consciousness raising, ‘Death by PowerPoint’ still takes a heavy toll in business.

Now comes the iPad to show us what’s possible. A new visual design zeitgeist is emerging and there’s no going back.

This is just the beginning. We’ve only seen the first generation of iPad apps. They’re working now to make the next iteration sleeker and more interactive. Other developers around the world are working on breaking the design code, too. The next generations of information will be more alluring.

What are the implications? It’s time to put the old paradigm to rest. Design is the next frontier. And that’s good news.

***

What do you think? As always, I’d love to hear your views on this subject.

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Want more info?

Here are two new books on improving design: Garr Reynolds’ latest (’09), Presentation Zen Design, and Nancy Duarte’s (’10) Slide: ology.  Thanks, Nancy, for the great advice over the years.

Some brilliant ideas concerning the “design behind the design” are found on Boxes and Arrows.

Related: design thinking helps us to radically re-imagine the way we solve problems in business. The design firm, IDEO, has some terrific resources.

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The World Comes to Africa

As the World Cup gets underway this week in South Africa—the first ever to be held on the African continent—the world media is turning its attention there.

Typically, coverage of Africa by the international media is limited to stories about intractable problems—disease, war, famine, and corruption. Many of the World Cup stories are taking a similar tact. Stories about the South Africa’s five new stadiums underscore the nation’s mounting debt while other pieces highlight its security concerns.

A lot of the coverage reflects the world media’s skewed view of Africa as a monolithic place that’s plagued with tragedy. Severe challenges do exist, but many African societies are quietly building their institutions and infrastructures.  It’s time the outside world views Africa through a broader, more accurate lens.

Scale and Diversity

Africa is a vast and diverse continent where triumph and despair co-exist with everything in between.  It’s the “in-between” that tends to be overlooked in coverage about Africa.

Outsiders tends to underestimate Africa’s scale. As writer John Reader points out, the U.S., China, India, and New Zealand, together with most of Europe, could all fit within Africa’s coastline. This enormous continent contains almost a quarter of the world’s land mass.

The continent is amazingly diverse. The continent’s billion people inhabit 53 countries and speak over two thousand languages arguably making it the world’s most diverse region.  Africa’s diversity extends to its topography, climate, and culture.

Despite its remarkable diversity, most outsiders tend to picture Africa as a homogeneous region instead of as a melange of distinctive ethnic groups and cultures that influence everything from art and music to social structures.

Author Richard Dowden observes, “Every time you say ‘Africa is…’ the words crumble and break.  Every generalization must exclude at least five countries. And just as you have nailed down a certainty, a defining characteristic, you find the opposite is true.”  Stark contrasts and rich diversity are Africa’s defining features.

Failed States and Model Nations

One need only look at Africa’s recent history to get a sense of its diversity. During the last decade, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was ravaged by an incomprehensibly violent civil war where millions perished. Somalia maintained its role as one of the world’s most lawless and dangerous states. Zimbabwe, endowed with abundant natural resources became known for its delusional ruler, Robert Mugabe, who decimated his nation’s economy. It’s understandable that such dire cases grabbed the headlines and shaped the world’s perception of Africa.

But during the same period, Botswana, Seychelles, Mauritius and, to a lesser extent, Senegal, Zambia, and Namibia encouraged private investment, grew their economies, and improved their living standards.  Kenya focused on building its tech sector and similar initiatives were launched in Ghana and Tanzania.  Oil-rich Nigeria took steps to reform its institutions and diversify its economy.

In light of Africa’s stark contrasts and rich diversity, it’s fitting that the World Cup is hosted by South Africa, a nation where eleven languages are recognized as official and many more are spoken.  South Africa has the continent’s largest and most diversified economy, but it faces serious challenges including steep unemployment and the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates.  Here, too, great promise and opportunity co-exist with poverty and despair.

I’ve been traveling to Africa since the mid-80’s and whenever I think I’ve found an explanation for why things are the way they are, I’m proven wrong.  There’s always an exception. Diversity rules in Africa.

I’ll be watching the World Cup matches and rooting for the six African teams who qualified. They’re all underdogs, but I’ve learned never to count Africa out.

***

Post-script:  It was a treat to experience the World Cup from Accra, Ghana. The country’s Black Stars team beat the USA to make it to the quarter finals.  Here are images from that trip.

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What do you think? As always, I’d appreciate your perspective.

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One of the best things about my work is what my colleagues and I call the “hat trick”.  In sports like cricket and hockey, a hat trick is accomplishing a feat three times in a contest.  I’ll explain what a hat trick is in my world and why it’s thrilling to pull one off.

Our mission is to help clients enable their customers to enjoy richer, more satisfying service experiences.

A hat trick is when we not only help clients to better meet the needs of their target customers, but also enable them to increase customer loyalty and revenue. We do all this while also cutting service costs — sometimes up to 20%.  Almost every assignment offers hat trick potential.

Generally, companies recognize the benefits of improving their customer touch points. But behind the touch points, and where we concentrate, is an elaborate ecosystem of people and information distributed across the company’s organizational, geographic, and technological boundaries.

Systems perspective

‘Service system’ refers to the dynamic interplay of people and information used to control customer touch points.  I’m convinced that the service system is a company’s most powerful value-creation engine. High performing companies know that fine tuning service systems to meet the needs of target customers pays big dividends.  We help them figure out how to do it quickly and efficiently.

Our systems perspective enables us to see a client’s business processes holistically rather than merely focusing on particular components.

Systems thinking has been around for a long time, but many companies are built around managing functions — a model of operations management that has its roots in the manufacturing era. Think of an auto plant where each functional unit adds a new component to the chassis as it moves along the assembly line in a linear fashion.

But today’s service processes don’t function like assembly lines. Instead, they operate concurrently and interdependently, transcending traditional organizational boundaries.  Processes must not only operate together cohesively, they must also continually improve the way they function together.

The systems paradigm is universally applicable regardless of the company’s business model or size. It applies just as well to Fed-Ex and Amazon.com as it does to a family restaurant, though the scale and complexity of enterprise-grade service systems are obviously greater than those of smaller businesses.

In larger organizations, processes within the service system are like islands linked by bridges which are seldom joined in ways that are as simple or as seamless as they can be.  In many cases, service systems include processes that are handled by partners that sit outside organizational and even geographical boundaries.  That’s why it’s critical to see, and help others to see, the whole picture.

Four questions

How do we begin? To understand the structure and relationship of processes within a service system, we ask four basic questions:

1. What is being done?
2. Why is it being done?
3. Who is doing it?
4. How is it being done?

After asking stakeholders these questions and probing, we produce a visual map of the service system to enable stakeholders to see patterns in the value creation chain.

By depicting service systems visually, we can identify sources of untapped value and also spot activities that add little or no value. When the stakeholders see how processes work within a larger system, they can more readily see how people and information interact to create value.

It’s fascinating to watch a room full of stakeholders seeing a map of their service system for the first time.  Most “process owners” find it instructive to see how they fit into the overall value-creation process. The mapping exercise helps everyone determine the direction and scope of changes that lead to creating more value — improving customer experiences while saving money.

No two problems are alike. But it’s nearly always possible to reduce complexity, and the savings can fund targeted service improvements.

In the end, the company becomes more competitive and profitable, their target customers enjoy a better experience and, of course, my team and I are thrilled. What’s not to love about a hat trick?

***

As always, I’d appreciate learning your perspective on this subject.

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Want more info on this subject?

I recently re-read Peter Senge’s ‘94 classic on systems thinking, The Fifth Discipline, and it’s remarkably applicable the challenges of our knowledge-based, global service economy.  It’s still one of the most influential books on the subject.

I’d also suggest a current (2010) book, Systems Thinking for Curious Managers, by Russ Ackoff (”the dean” of systems thinking).  I’d also recommend his insightful paper (PDF), On Why Few Organizations Adopt Systems Thinking.

Related:

I’d also suggest Roger Martin’s new book,  The Design of Business which cites case studies of design-oriented strategic transformations made at P&G, RIM, Cirque du Soldier, etc.

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Distinguished scholar and visionary

The distinguished business scholar, C. K. Prahalad, died unexpectedly last week of a lung ailment at the age of 69. His contributions to the pursuit of business strategy and innovation are unparalleled.  He’s had an enormous influence on my work and that of my peers.

Dr. Prahalad was more than a celebrated management guru, he was a visionary.  He redefined the way that a growing number of global businesses deal with developing markets, and he helped to shape a new economic paradigm.

The Indian-born Prahalad received his doctorate from Harvard and taught at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, but he never strayed far from contemplating the social and economic issues that affected his native India.

A recurring theme in his work concerned the centrality of the customer in today’s global, interconnected marketplace. He urged business leaders to “co-create” or develop products in tandem with their customers.

During the much of his career, his focus was on corporate strategy at multinational enterprises. Among his  notable works were “The Core Competence of the Corporation” (Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1990), and a 1994 book,  Competing for the Future, both of which which he co-wrote with Gary Hamel.

The Bottom of the Pyramid

However, C. K. Prahalad is best known for his 2004 book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.  In that work, he argued that businesses stand to reap benefits from serving the world’s poorest people or those at “Bottom of the Pyramid” (BoP) who live on $2 or less per day and who comprise a majority of the world’s population.

“Four billion poor can be the engine of the next round of global trade and prosperity,” he wrote.  “If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up.”

His view of serving consumers in emerging markets, or “inclusive capitalism”, was eye-opening for many business leaders who had long ignored the needs of the poor and, in so doing, missed important opportunities.

Accessible and affordable products

Dr. Prahalad identified several obstacles in serving BoP consumers. For example, he observed that poor consumers typically have unpredictable income streams and they subsist on daily wages. They tend to buy only when they have money on hand, and only what they need that day.

Accordingly, he pointed out that single-serve packaging, for items like shampoo, condiments, tea and coffee, and aspirin, is well suited to this population, noting that a single-serve revolution is sweeping BoP markets.

In order to make products accessible and affordable for BoP consumers, Dr. Prahalad challenged business leaders to re-think traditional value chains by determining which components can be outsourced and which need to be “centralized” to minimize costs while maintaining quality.

Dr. Prahalad also recognized that emerging markets are “laboratories” for innovation.  He argued that reverse or “trickle up” innovation — goods and services made in and for developing markets — can transform industries in developed markets.

Examples  of “trickle-up” innovations include micro-lending, mobile-banking (”M-banking”), low-cost mobile phones, low cost hotels, and even car manufacturing where Tata Motors’ Nano – a car made for Indian consumers that sells for $2,000 USD – is slated to be sold in developed markets.

Lessons learned

Western businesses have only begun serving BoP markets, but a growing number of us are learning from consumers and entrepreneurs in developing markets about how to restructure our own business models.  The lessons we’re learning about lean manufacturing and virtual distribution chains from BoP markets are already transforming global markets.

The most profound change that we in the West have in serving BoP consumers is one of attitude. As we drop our assumptions and learn to better understand the needs of low income consumers, we’ll be able to tap the full measure of opportunities that Dr. Prahalad envisaged.

C.K. Prahalad spoke poignantly about how much the developed world can gain from serving and ultimately raising the living standards of people at the base of the Pyramid. He’s inspired my colleagues and me to see both developing markets and consumers through sharper, more accurate lenses, and we owe him an inestimable debt of gratitude.  He’ll be sorely missed.

***

As always I’d appreciate your perspective.

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Want more information about Dr. Prahalad? Here is the Times Of India’s eulogy.

This is an ‘07 video clip featuring his discussion of  “the good and not-so-good” news about globalization’s impact on the Bottom of the Pyramid.

This video features an interview with Dr. Prahalad via Thinkers50 which named him “the most influential business thinker in the world” in 2009.  Here is his keynote address to the Acumen Fund Fellows Class of 2009.

I  recommend Dr. Prahalad’s ‘08 book, New Age of Innovation, co-written with M. S. Krishnan.

Finally, here are assorted posts on this blog referring to Dr. Prahalad and emerging markets opportunities and issues.

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“So you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go?” ~The Clash

Why customers do what they do

It feels like we’re at the dawn of a new era in understanding how people — namely our customers — make decisions, and some businesses will benefit enormously. More importantly, customers will soon enjoy more kinds of services designed to better meet their needs.

Our collective thinking is being informed by discoveries in behavioral sciences and behavioral economics about the role of the unconscious mind and the centrality of emotions in driving behavior. Many of these findings are now verifiable through neuroimaging tools.

Among other things, we’re realizing that people aren’t Vulcan-like beings who make choices on a cold, purely rational basis. Individuals — our customers — are complicated and swayed by factors beneath the level of consciousness.

Insights about how people are wired have been rolling in for decades. But lately, these insights have penetrated the mainstream consciousness due, in part, to the popular writers like Ori and Rom Brafman (Sway) and Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational), among others, who are distilling social science discoveries for mass audiences.

These findings aren’t causing companies to rethink their missions—not yet, anyway. Delta Airlines and Verizon aren’t transforming their business models to accommodate social science breakthroughs, but a subtle and profound shift is occurring.

Out with the old…

I’ve been encountering more clients lately who are moving away from outmoded assumptions about service and toward conducting research to learn what factors drive their customers behavior. Instead of relying on the “if you build it, they will come” principle, businesses are trying to figure out precisely why their customers are buying, or not.

For example, the traditional service model emphasized customer satisfaction (“C-Sat”) which many practitioners still believe is predictive of repurchasing behavior. C-Sat has been universally regarded as a proxy for service quality, but research shows that emphasizing satisfaction alone is an overly narrow focus.  Multiple drivers, unique to each context, play a far greater role in influencing customer loyalty.

In fact, research shows that customers will tell a service provider that they’re ’satisfied’ yet switch away from the brand for any number of reasons.  Ironically, a majority of people who defect reported that they were ‘satisfied’.

Recently, my team assisted a U.S. retailer that had been suffering from declining retention rates. The company wasn’t aware that their new interactive voice response (IVR) menu frustrated customers who’d been reporting that they were ’satisfied’ overall.  By asking exacting questions and conducting a proper analysis, the company was able to prevent further market damage.  The fix turned out to be cheap, simple and quick.

The big news isn’t that companies are rejecting C-Sat, but that they’re taking a refreshingly thoughtful, behaviorally-grounded view of their customers which is opening the door for interesting, potentially sweeping changes.

Not so long ago, presenting behavioral research to the “C-suite” caused their eyes to glaze over. Now, forward-thinking leaders are requesting this information to support their business decisions.

What’s next?

It does feel like we’re entering a new era in understanding customers, but we’re only in its nascent stages. Applied behavioral psychologists don’t yet have a seat at the table, but the business community generally seems to be more receptive to their findings.

I think we’ll recognize the next stage when traditional organizations focus on using behavioral research to design services that are more compatible with human needs. Until then, keep your eye on the agile, innovative companies who are internalizing insights about their customers.  You’ll recognize them by their customers who are enjoying richer, more immersive service experiences and returning for more.

***

As always, I’d love to hear your views on this subject….

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Want more info on this subject?

Scholars who are contributing to the growing body of social sciences and economics knowledge include Amos Tversky, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, and Robert Shiller.

Here’s info about my company’s (Osprey) decision-support services and Customer Insight Lab.

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Downtown Cape Coast, Ghana

Pulsating business scene

I spent the last couple weeks on assignment in Accra, Ghana. On this trip, I’ve seen more growth than any time since my company started working there in ‘07. This is a period of unprecedented business activity and promising new projects within and beyond the mobile sector.  Meanwhile, new competitors from around the world are streaming in. This corner of Africa’s business scene is pulsating.

Astute businesses here are taking steps to preserve their client base and deepen relationships with their customers. We’re privileged to work with a new generation of African business leaders with the courage and determination to transform their offerings to meet the needs of an emerging class of consumers.

These are exciting times to work with African business leaders who take seriously their mandate for investing in new technologies and business practices.  We’re helping them gain competitive advantages by improving the service systems that support touch points, by adding new service channels, and by harvesting business intelligence, among other initiatives.

Building competitiveness

The most effective strategy for businesses to gain a competitive edge here is to understand and meet the customer needs better than their rivals.  Forward-thinking leaders here know that competing on service will help preserve their customer base and attract new customers even as the marketplace grows more crowded with aggressive new entrants.

Developing insights about customers’ preferences and purchasing drivers helps companies here achieve competitiveness as well as profitability.

It also creates jobs. Thriving regional businesses are Africa’s greatest engine of job creation and economic growth.  That’s why we’re committed to collaborating with leading African businesses, knowing that their success means more jobs and higher living standards across the region.

What it takes to work here

This question comes up frequently in my circles. I think Western companies operating here require a distinctive set of leadership and communication skills. Traditional business skills are necessary but not sufficient to address the complexity and scale of challenges on this continent.

But what’s needed for Western companies to operate effectively in this environment? We’ve explored this question with business leaders in various sectors as well as academics, entrepreneurs, and technology innovators.

Our conclusion is that it’s not enough to bring an open mind. We must be skillful listeners. That means checking our assumptions at the door and listening with the intention of gaining deeper insights about the market and, most importantly, the customer.  Deep collaboration with partners and clients is key.

Africa’s dynamism and complexity require going beyond merely tolerating ambiguity. Ambiguity, a ubiquitous feature here, must be embraced.  “Leaning into” uncertainty is critical to problem-solving in this market.

It’s critical to drop the need for control, otherwise it’s tough to handle the inherent ‘push-pull’ of a region that’s steeped in tradition while it grows so rapidly.

The ability to consider competing, often “fuzzy” options helps us work with stakeholders here to produce the imaginative, yet practical solutions that the region demands.

Finally, operating in the region requires extraordinary levels of patience and perseverance.  Change rarely happens in sweeping strokes here. Instead change occurs through “successive approximations”.  One step forward, two back but always moving ahead.  Patience — never my strongest card — is essential.  (Note: I’m working on it.)

People, Process and Technology – Redux

Succeeding here requires mastery in choreographing people, process and technology, and we help clients focus on all three dimensions — what we refer to as “service systems”.  Of the three, ‘people’ is the most critical and challenging to optimize.

Africa’s leading companies are now investing heavily in their people because they know, in the end, that this the only sustainable ‘differentiator’.

On this trip, I observed how one company in particular, a leading business process outsourcer and partner, transformed its organization into a high performance business by nurturing its talent.  It accomplished this feat by fostering competition among its teams while encouraging buy-in and autonomy among team members.

Watching their evolution over time has been both heartening and instructive. Today, I’d stack them up against any competitor in the world. This kind of innovative, customer-focused organization is poised to meet the needs of customers in any market.

Lessons from Africa

Like all prior trips to Africa, this one was a valuable learning experience on several levels.  I encountered a new generation of leaders and was impressed by their willingness to invest in becoming more competitive. The vitality of the continent’s nascent mobile-web industry is breathtaking.  Keep an eye on this exciting space…

I also learned more about my company on this journey. I’m reminded that what separates us from our peers is our passion for and commitment to producing substantial results for our clients and their customers across the sub-Sahara.  It’s energizing to work on a continent of one billion people whose economic growth is only surpassed by China, and I never forget what a rare opportunity it is.

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What do you think?  I’d appreciate hearing your perspective.

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Want more info on this subject?  You’re not alone.  There’s a plethora of books about conflicts and coups in Africa, but there are fewer resources about doing business on the continent.  I’ve previously recommended Paul Collier’s ‘07 book, The Bottom Billion, which remains relevant.

In ‘07, TED organized Africa: The Next Chapter, a series of talks which included the first TED conference held on the continent.  The series featured a stellar lineup of speakers on a range of topics about Africa.  Since then, TED has added new presentations about business development in Africa to the series, and  I heartily recommend it.

Here are some of my prior posts about the sub-Sahara.

I’d appreciate hearing your recommendations about resources on this topic.

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Evening at Cape Point on the tip of South Africa

While the business world is preoccupied with the global economic recovery, a mobile revolution is quietly reshaping the marketplace in the developing world. In Africa, mobile phones are providing access to communications for millions of people who’ve never had fixed communications let alone cell phones. I’ve written before about the impact that such ‘leapfrogging’ is having on African business.  Now, we’re beginning to see exciting and substantial commercial projects taking shape, particularly in the service sector.

By the numbers

To call this a ‘revolution’ is hardly hyperbole. Consider the scale of mobile industry’s growth in Africa. According to a recent report by the International Telecommunications Union, the number of mobile subscribers skyrocketed from 5% of Africa’s population in 2003 to over 30% by the end of 2008.  Today, some 400 million Africans have mobile phones — that’s 100 million more than in North America.

Since only a third of Africa’s billion people have handsets, there’s plenty of room for more growth ahead. But, the interesting story, I think, is how the mobile phone is already remodeling African economies and creating promising, new opportunities for businesses and individuals in the region.

Mobile phones are enabling rural and low income people to join the economy while creating a stable infrastructure for businesses and emerging consumer markets.  Mobile communications are making it possible for new services to develop and thrive.

At the junction of mobile and web

Africa’s mobile subscribers are using handsets to access services that consumers in developed markets typically get from the fixed internet. The junction of mobile and web is a green field for inventive engineers and entrepreneurs.

New, innovative mobile applications are being developed in sectors ranging from banking, agriculture and fishing, medical, education, to government and non-profits.  It seems that every week, we read about a novel way that mobile technology is being used to meet the consumer needs.

M-banking, as mobile-banking is known, is arguably Africa’s most successful mobile-enabled service sector so far. Last year, m-banking initiatives were launched in almost every country across the continent. As banks and mobile operators join forces to deliver m-banking programs, Visa and MasterCard are watching the sector closely hoping to ‘leapfrog’ into markets where no viable payment infrastructure currently exists.

Kenya’s Safaricom was one of the first mobile operators anywhere to roll out an m-banking program, M-Pesa. Originally it was used solely for money transfer but Kenyans are increasingly using M-Pesa to pay their utility bills.

Taking this a step further, m-banking is enabling another layer of services — known as ‘m-commerce’ — where goods and services can be bought, sold or traded. In remote regions where the fixed-line communications are thin or non-existent, m-commerce can enable buyers and sellers of goods and services to find each other.

What’s next?

As new land-based and submarine cable deployments slated for later this year make 3G widely available in many parts of Africa, we’re likely to see m-commerce grow which should mean more investment by the business community and, ultimately, more jobs for Africans and improvements in their quality of life.

Africa’s mobile revolution is bringing as many challenges as opportunities. Governments on the continent must keep pace with dynamic mobile economy by taking courageous steps to encourage outside business investments.   African governments must develop templates for working collaboratively with businesses to enable their citizens to enjoy the benefits of the mobile revolution.

One thing is clear: there’s no stopping the growth of the mobile industry in developing markets, especially in Africa. The mobile phone is helping to put the continent on a path toward greater economic sustainability.  I find it utterly fascinating to see how innovative businesses and imaginative people are harnessing the power of connectivity in Africa.

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As always, I’d love to know your perspective.

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Want more info?  Here’s an October ‘09 piece in the Guardian, “Africa Calling…” and a New York Times article from the same period.

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I’d written recently (”Out of Africa, Help for Haiti”) about an open-source tech platform developed in Kenya called Ushahidi which enables people in crisis-affected areas to text their location and make urgent requests or provide assistance for those needing it.  Ushahidi’s disaster relief system is being used in the aftermath of Haiti’s quake, and now it’s being used to provide vital disaster relief in Chile.

While every crisis presents a different set of challenges, the lessons that Ushahidi’s team learned in Haiti enabled them to customize the platform for Chile in a matter of hours.

My interest is in how technology made in developing regions can be used in other regions.  As in the case of Haiti and many other disaster-affected regions, a robust Kenyan tool is being used to relieve suffering in another hemisphere.  I think this story deserves more attention.

Ushahidi-Chile is now requesting information on anything concerning building collapses, medical emergencies, vital communications, food and water distribution, or similar issues.  Interested parties can also notify Ushahidi volunteers in locations to information via Twitter by using the #chile or #terremotochile hashtags.

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Post-scrip: March 3, 2010 – Newsweek piece, ‘Ushahidi’ Technology Saves Lives in Haiti and Chile

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