The one-third formula

Thoughts on Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

Over 5 billion poor at the Bottom of the Pyramid are below the radar screens of most companies. If these 5 billion microconsumers who are at the bottom of the pyramid are mobilized and targeted for your product/solution/service, they would be an engine of great corporate growth across the world for you.

Technology is becoming cheaper. Even the poor now have access to similar technology as the rich and are buying similar equipment like mobile phones, may be with lesser bells and whistles. More people at the bottom of thepyramid are moving up from living under a dollar a day. Democratizing Commerce is going to be the goal ahead for companies that want to reach these 5 billion at the bottom of the pyramid and get rich from the wealth these 5 billion consumers spend.

Thoughts on leadership

Leaders must lead. You can't lead unless you are future oriented. In reality, leadership is about the future, It is about hope that we create for our team in the future. Leadership eventually is about embracing change. Leaders are like Sheep Dogs, they are always behind pushing the sheep ahead. Just like the sheep dog, leaders can bark but not bite, Don't lose thegood sheep in your team. Direct them like a sheep dog does in the right direction.

Thoughts on competitive advantage and core competencies of a firm

Consumers and firms are changing their roles. The power of the consumer and the power of the company is getting re-balanced. Everybody in the company has to create value – 5 billion micro consumers are waiting to buy. In the age of the internet, the source of underlying advantage is technology. Cost of technology is not going to be a limiting factor but our capacity to understand how to use this technology is going to be.

Talent is one of the critical resource for running companies. Capacities to get people from different parts of the world willbe a competitive advantage. Today, talent matters more than we thought. Technology matters more than we thought.

Thoughts on innovation

Very few companies have proven themselves to be adept at inventing new markets and quickly entering emerging markets. Very few are passing this simple innovation test. Curious ofwhat this test is, just ask yourself, "Are we deriving one third of our revenue this year from Products/Solutions/Services that didn't exist in our offerings couple of years ago?". If yes, yours is an innovative firm. If not, you have to pace up your innovation and idea engine.

The Champions Group evolved primarily in the marketing outsourcing space in the last decade driving focus on our "marketing data quality" as our "core competency." Ourgrowth from a small company to over a 1500 people firm has been driven by intense focus on innovation. Today, we could be offering a range of marketing outsourcing solutions, but we keep ourselves on the edge asking "Are we making more thana third of revenue via new ways that didn't exist a couple of years ago?". The answer keeps guiding us on the Innovation path ahead!!