诺基亚启示录：企业巨头缘何应变乏力

    陈旧狭隘的指标。虽然所测即所得，但我们测量标准的更新却不够频繁，因此出现了大量盲点。等到诺基亚开始把苹果和谷歌当作竞争对手看待的时候，已经太晚了。我的一个朋友在本世纪初是英国一家大型全国性报社的负责人，他花了一年多时间才说服同事把谷歌加到竞争对手名单里，这家报社用竞争对手表现作为检测自我表现的基准。那么该怎样制定指标呢？把相关市场定义得越广泛越好，这样你的市场份额就会更少。另外，对消费者行为要特别仔细地衡量——他们的忠诚度是否降低了？转向了哪些品牌？为什么会发生转变？

    无权的一线员工。对行业环境变化的第一手卓识来自于前线员工——销售员、与第三方共事的研发人员以及采购经理人。但他们的想法很多没有提出，即使提出的那部分，也总是淹没于管理层需要注意的其他纷杂事务中。解决这个问题方法相当复杂，但应该包含依托于技术的系统，能将一线信息与公司高层快速共享；同时还要有非正式渠道和跨部门特别小组来应对具体威胁和机遇。

    缺乏多样性。诺基亚的高级管理人员都是差不多年龄和背景的芬兰人，这绝对影响了他们对不断变化的经营环境的理解力。当然，我们都会觉得，和世界观相似的人工作更愉快，结果就出现了不可避免的盲点。如何解决这个问题？录用参照系与我们不同的员工，或者起码要想办法把他们的见解拿来讨论。上世纪90年代，印孚瑟斯（Infosys）实施了一个名为“青年之声”的项目，以期使平均年龄约为50岁的管理团队人员能听到30岁以下员工的见解。

    对失败不够宽容。当一个公司越来越大，越来越成功时，就会越厌恶风险。管理者们说他们想创新产品、创新服务，但他们指望所有的尝试都能成功。不用说，这种态度会导致员工过于谨慎呆板。这个问题的解决方法很清晰：营造一种鼓励尝试、宽容错误的文化。谷歌、亚马逊（Amazon）以及在线影片租赁商Netflix都是很好的例子——他们都有过失败的产品，但大家都能接受，把它们当做尝试的一部分。（财富中文网）

    你认为建立一个适应性强的企业会有哪些障碍？来分享你的故事吧！敬请参加我们的建立适应性优势的黑客马拉松（需要注册），与我们一道携手攻克人力资源难题。黑客马拉松由英国特许人事与发展协会（Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development）和管理革新交流（Management Innovation eXchange）合办。

    朱利安•伯金肖是伦敦商学院战略与国际管理学教授。他是管理实验室的联席创始人及研究主管。

    译者：默默

    Old and narrow metrics. What gets measured gets done, but we don't refresh our choices of measures frequently enough, and we end up with massive blind spots. Nokia didn't think of Apple and Google as competitors until it was too late. A friend of mine took the reins at a major national newspaper in the U.K. in the early 2000s, and it took him more than a year to persuade his colleagues that Google should be added to the list of competitors they used to benchmark their performance. The solution here? Define your relevant market as widely as possible, so that your market share is as low as possible. And measure customer behavior very carefully -- are they defecting? To whom? And why?

    A disenfranchised front line. The first insights into changes in your business environment come from the people on the "front line" -- salespeople, developers working with third parties, purchasing managers. But their voice -- if it is raised at all -- typically gets drowned out among all the others clamoring for executive attention. The solutions here are far from easy, but they include technology-based systems for sharing front-line information quickly with those at the top, as well as informal networks and cross-cutting task forces designed to address specific threats and opportunities.

    Lack of diversity. Nokia's top executives were all Fins of similar age and background, and this surely hampered their ability to make sense of their changing business environment. Of course, we are all more comfortable working with people with similar worldviews and as a result we end up with inevitable blind spots. The solution? Hire people with different frames of reference from our own, or at least find a way to bring their point of view to the table. In the late 1990s, Infosys (INFY) had a program called "Voice of Youth" designed to bring the insights of the under-30 crowd to the attention of the 50-something executive team.

    Intolerance of failure. The bigger and more successful a firm becomes, the more risk-averse it becomes. Executives say they want innovative new products and services, but they expect them all to succeed. And, needless to say, this attitude breeds caution and rigidity. The solution here is clear: you need to find ways to develop a culture that encourages trial and error. Google, Amazon (AMZN), and Netflix (NFLX) are all great examples -- they have all had their share of dud products, but everyone accepts them as part of the package.

    What do you think gets in the way when it comes to creating an adaptable organization? Share your story -- and help us hack HR by joining the Building an Adaptability Advantage hackathon (registration required), a joint production of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK and the MIX.

    Julian Birkinshaw is Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School. He is co-Founder and Research Director of the Management Lab (MLab).