The Force Behind the Change

If your score is 3 or more, an archetype change - that is, a change in either your organization's archetype or the market environment(s) in which it operates - is clearly indicated.  The most common situation creating such a need for change is the movement of a product or service from one market environment to another.   Products and services do not stay in one place on the grid, but tend to move through the archetypes over time.  Typically, they begin in a frontier environment, then become more vulnerable to competition as other organizations enter the market with similar products.  Soon the competition becomes more difficult and intense, creating a jungle market.  A culling process follows, as weaker and less-competitive organizations leave the market, get absorbed by competitors, or close up shop.  After a time, the competition is sorted out and a few remaining competitors control the remaining battleground market.  Occasionally a single ruler organization emerges out of a battleground or jungle and holds sway over the market.

In another, less common pattern, a frontier product becomes a source of significant profits for an organization, which leverages the demand and desirability of that product into control of the market.  Thus the product moves directly from a frontier into a kingdom, over which the organization rules for some time.  Eventually, however, other large players may attempt to muscle their way into the market; if they succeed, they move the product into a battleground or jungle.

These dynamics are normal and go on all the time, and management needs to always be watching for potential transition points.

Some organizations were built to operate in one particular archetype, and to change these organizations significantly would be to undermine their very missions and reasons for being.  Thus, in some cases, when a product moves from one market environment to another, an organization may be wisest to let that product go (i.e., sell that unit or brand to a competitor) rather than attempt to redesign the organization's culture.  This is a very difficult decision to make, and it often begins with disconnecting the product’s operations from those of the rest of the company.

In any case, any organization needs to know what its strengths are, and it needs to develop a commitment to honing them and staying true to them, despite the lure of continuing profits (which often turn out to be much smaller than anticipated).  Often this entails developing new products that represent the best the culture can develop and sustain.

Key Issues in Changing Market Environments
If you choose to change the market environment(s) in which you do business, this will mean some or all of the following:

• setting a new market direction
• creating new (and/or adapting old) products and services
• attracting and keeping a new kind of customer
• using (or creating) different distribution and/or marketing channels
• developing new or different technologies
• making relevant changes in your organizations infrastructure to support the new business line(s)

Often this may mean going back to something your organization used to do well, and perhaps used to focus on.

In addition, part of making the change to a new market typically includes affirming the organization - its design, its strengths, its culture, the way it operates, and the way the people within it interact.  Indeed, the very fact that a decision was made to switch markets rather than revamp the organization suggests that the organization is strong, vibrant, and worth maintaining.

Nevertheless, as you prepare to enter a new market environment, your organization will probably need to make some changes in four general areas: strategic direction, performance, growth, and people. 

The strategic direction of your organization will be modified somewhat to reflect:

• where your revenue will come from
• the ease or difficulty of doing business in the new market environment
• the complexity of the products or services your organization will be providing
• the channels your organization uses to bring these products or services to market

Your organization will also likely need to redefine performance.  Typically this involves both what is measured and how it is measured.  For example, performance in a frontier market is typically measured by the number of new products or services rolled out, and/or by the number of new markets penetrated or created.  In contrast, performance in a battleground market is measured by the volume of products or services sold and by the number of points of distribution secured.

Growth may need to be redefined as well.  In a kingdom market, an organization needs to grow by adding resources and territory, thus giving it the power to control margins.  In a jungle market, however, organizations grow and thrive by being lean and steadily adding value to its products or services. 

Changing your market may also change the type of people who can best serve your organization.  In a frontier market, for example, you most need independent thinkers with fresh ideas.  In a battleground market, however, your success depends upon a clearly-defined hierarchy in which people carry out orders in precise detail, without question or hesitation.

Key Issues in Adapting Your Organization
If you choose to change your organization, the required transformation will involve some or all of the following:

• the organization's structure
• the way decisions are made
• the prevailing style of management
• the way tasks are organized and carried out
• how the parts of the organization are aligned
• the way information is disseminated
• the organization's reward system
• how HR operates
• the amount and kinds of contributions that people make to the organization
• how individual jobs are designed

An entire book could be written on the possible variations and changes in these organizational elements.  Indeed, later sections examine these changes some depth and in detail.   For now, however, let me simply suggest some of the kinds of things you will need to consider.

In a pioneer organization, the materials needed for production may not be easily or readily available, or even totally understood by those who deal with them.  Often the people working in a pioneer organization will have to make decisions without having all the information they need.  At times they may rely on intuition or educated guesses; if necessary, they are willing to address any problems later through patches, upgrades, etc.  Reiterations of processes typically need to be built in to ensure quality. 

In a warrior organization, however, materials are readily available and are purchased in gargantuan quantities in order to achieve the lowest possible price.  Roles and responsibilities need to be very clearly delineated, and decisions need to be made according to strict, unvarying procedures.  Additional iterations of processes should be strenuously avoided because of the additional costs they inevitably incur.

Another example: all the parts of a ruler organization are aligned to maintain market dominance.  While customers do need to be served, the organization's emphasis should be on protecting or expanding its territory, and maintaining or increasing its margins, rather than on pleasing everyone.  Growing the brand is more important than keeping everyone happy.  Small, marginal, or highly-demanding customers should deliberately be ignored and allowed (or even encouraged) to go elsewhere. 

In contrast, everything in a hunter organization is aligned to serve the interests of its very demanding and highly discriminating customers.  Reporting relationships, job designs, and performance measurements are all built around satisfying and keeping customers.  Because there is typically little or no brand loyalty in a jungle market, a hunter organization must align its processes and functions to deliver the highest possible quality at the lowest possible price.

Key Issues in Strengthening an Existing Alignment
If your organization and the type of market it serves are already aligned - that is, if they are already in the same quadrant on the grid - you now have the opportunity to bring your organization and its market closer and closer together.  To do this, your organization needs to get ever clearer about its business strategy, and then to constantly support and reaffirm its operating systems to reflect that strategy.  It may also mean modifying those systems when necessary.  (This was really the message of the Total Quality movement.  A high TQM score simply shows that an organization's strategy and operating systems are working together with maximum synergy.)

Your basic strategy should be to focus on continuously improving 1) the performance of your operating systems and 2) their alignment with your market.  These should be constantly monitored and adjusted as necessary.  Concentrate on the following:

• task/job design
• organization structure
• information dissemination (both internal and external)
• decision-making
• human resources planning, development, and management

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Keys to Market MasteryThe 21st Century Shift in Markets Over the last twenty years, globalization and technological changes have greatly accelerated the rate at which products and services typically move from one market environment to another.  Organizations that used to operate in the same environment for decades now must face significant change - and very difficult choices - after only a few years, and sometimes after only a few months. Read More The Force Behind the Change If your score is 3 or more, an archetype change - that is, a change in either your organization's archetype or the market environment(s) in which it operates - is clearly indicated.  The most common situation creating such a need for change is the movement of a product or service from one market environment to another. Read More Making the Choice For many years, managers would adopt the style of their leader and assume that the leader's knowledge and instincts about the market would be sufficient.  Decisions were often reached intuitively, and results often derived more from what was not done than from what was done deliberately and strategically. Read More