360° Biz Blog

My Random Musings On Business

Browsing Posts published by Deepthi Bathina

How can General Managers handle budget cuts?

December 12, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 1 comment

In the current economy, most companies expect GMs to accomplish results with fewer resources and more budget cuts than ever before.  Nothing changes with your budget cuts though – you are expected to achieve the same top line growth and same NOI growth slated for you – just don’t ask us for more $s – sounds familiar? Here is some collective wisdom based on my personal experiences + a discussion we recently had at the BPMA Executive Council:

  • Exercise your “powers of persuasion” to get the resources you need to accomplish results.
    • A colleague of mine mentioned this word ‘power of persuasion’ and I loved the way it was articulated. Since cuts are across all business units, you need to persuade harder against other units and initiatives competing for the same finite resources.  A solid and well articulated business case is very important in these competing situations.
    • The boss may want you to do it all – but again, use your power of persuasion to reduce the number of priorities – need to make the hard cuts!

 

  •  Think creatively and develop synergies with other business units to better utilize existing assets.
    • This tip especially holds true in large companies with multiple business units, where one unit may not be aware of what the other unit is doing from processes and operations perspective. Collaborate with other business units to cut down the costs.

 

  • Rather than hiring FT staff, bring in individuals (contractors) for staff augmentation.
    • If the project requires niche expertise or quick tactical work, consider an external consultant or agency.  Niche needs will take longer to train an internal resource continue reading…
General, Product Management, Strategy none

I did everything right, but why did it fail? …Does the situation sound familiar?

October 5, 2010 Deepthi Bathina No comments

A few years ago, one fine sunny Tuesday morning, as I was trying to get through my regular marketing meetings, our Executive Admin dropped by to deliver a surprise news (not positive though) – that my boss’s boss is visting us in a week and I need to present a full fledged business plan for a new solution which I had proposed in the past. A full fledged business plan, as shown in my template below, will take a good 4 to 6 weeks to develop – however, in this case I didnt have the luxury of time.  To add to my thrill, the V.P of Operations with whom I’m supposed to discuss some key details of the solution, has been on sick leave for a week and wont be back for another 2 weeks.  Struggling to complete the full plan within a week, I have covered every aspect “I” thought was important to the solution – pulled together some credible market research from third parties, worked on financial projections, talked to our key customers, did pricing analysis etc etc.   Given the time constraints, it did not even occur to me that I need to validate my assumptions and run my timelines by the V.P of Engineering team.  After working day and night including the weekend, finally, on the day of the presentation, I walked in with a nicely done power point (including print outs of  the full plan filled with fancy charts) – to present to our Sr. Executives. Surprise! I see our V.P of Engineering seated right next to our President with a not-so-happy smile.

continue reading…

General, Product Management, Strategy none

Business plan templates that work!

September 27, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 4 comments

Based on my experiences writing business plans for both start-ups and Fortune 500 corporations, I have developed a template that can be used as a business tool in any scenario. Given below are two versions - detailed and short. Use the short version first to see if your executives/investors have interest in the idea. If they do,  your time and energy will be well spent on the detailed version, which will take a lot more market research and internal colloboration with cross functional teams to develop. I welcome your suggestions and comments on the template.

Business Plan Template 

1. Executive Summary 

 2. Industry Overview 

 a. Comparison to other Industries 

 b. Current Market Value & Volume 

 c. Market Forecast 

 d. Market Segmentation 

 e. Market Drivers 

 f. Market Barriers 

 3. Competitive Analysis 

 4. Solution Description 

 5. End-to-end solution in two phases (customize the number of phases based on your business) 

 6. Marketing Plan 

 a. Situation Analysis (E.g. SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, 5 Cs, Porter’s 5 forces – if written for a high-tech product, use etc) 

 b. Market Need and Value Proposition 

 c. Potential Market Size and Opportunity 

 d. Addressable Market 

continue reading…

General, Global Marketing, Product Management, Strategy

Fun Photo shoot for JWMI with Addictive Networks

July 19, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 1 comment

Last month, Suzy Welch asked me if I would be interested in being featured in a marketing video for Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI).  I said yes and was totally happy to do it as it is my honor to talk about what I really felt about the Jack Welch MBA and the value it adds to professionals all over the world.  I expected a serious interview when I was scheduled for a video shoot.  Addictive Networks team arrived home on a bright, sunny morning and the whole video shoot was a fun and casual experience – thanks to the energetic team that made it so much fun and put me at ease to talk about my thoughts on JWMI.

Will post the video here when they have it ready. Meanwhile, check out the webiste of addictive networks – it is a trendy digital production and creative marketing firm specializing in cross platform media solutions:

http://www.addictivenetworks.com/

General none

Where High-tech Sales Reps Go Wrong

HBR recently posted a short and interesting article on improving sales in B2B High-tech segment (based on a survey McKinsey conducted on more than 1,200 purchasing decision makers in small, medium, and large companies).  I could  totally connect to it based on my experiences with sales and thought other product managers would benefit from the article as well.

 
Key points:
#)B2B customers say they care most about product and price, but what they really want is a great sales experience. For sales reps, that means getting the basics right.
#)While they may say price is one of their biggest concerns, a satisfying sales experience is ultimately more important.
#)What accounted for 55 percent of the behavior customers described as “most destructive” :  failing to have adequate product knowledge and contacting customers too frequently 
 
Good news is that two factors that accounted for 55% of failures can be corrected through sales training and improving overall sales experience.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Sales_Distribution/The_basics_of_business-to-business_sales_success_2586?gp=1

General, Global Marketing, Product Management, Technology none

What are the questions a Product Manager should be prepared with for an interview?

June 30, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 1 comment

At the second BPMA (http://www.bostonproducts.org/)  Executive Council meeting conducted in June, we did a group discussion on this Interview topic. When we organized the first BPMA Executive event in March, I asked the executives and product managers to suggest some topics for group discussion and it was interesting to see that this Interview topic was chosen by 90+% people in the group.  This interest shows the huge turn over rate we can expect as soon as the economy gets better.

Here are some highlights of our discussion:

Interview Tips for Product Managers:

  • It’s an interview, NOT an interrogation!
  • Interviewers are looking for competence.  They want to see energy, drive, passion
  • Do your homework!  Show that you’re interested! 
  • Interviewing mistake – using the word “I” too much.   
    • Interviewers want to make sure that you will fit into their organization. 
    • Instead, use the words “team”, “collaborate”, and “we”.
  • Remember that it’s a 2-way street:  the interviewer isn’t a pro at doing this.   
    • Relax, be yourself, let them see your rapport.
  • Be honest! – if they ask whether you have experience in a certain area and you don’t, don’t try to talk around it.
    • People don’t expect you to know everything.
    • Don’t exaggerate your experience.

Questions you might be asked:

  • “What is your 30/60/90 plan if you get hired?”
    • It’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you think about processes you might create.
  • How do you keep your ideas fresh?
    • You might bring in/reference aspects of your non-work life, like hobbies, volunteer activities, athletics, etc.
  • What are your top 3 strengths?
    • Good to prepare an answer.  E.g. Leadership, communication skills, passion, etc.

Mix of domain expertise and product management/marketing experience

A perennial issue is the mix between domain expertise and product management/marketing experience.  Demonstrating energy, drive and passion trumps domain expertise, as it shows that you are willing and able to rapidly climb the learning curve on the domain.  Show that you have:

continue reading…

General, Global Marketing, Product Management none

Jack Welch MBA Program – all about Timeless Business Wisdom!

Jack Welch Online MBA program officially launched! 

Snapshot from JWMI website

JWMI stands for Jack’s timeless business wisdom and continued relevance for future leaders and managers. Jack, “The Manager of the Century”,  is the one of the greatest business leaders of all time  - he has extensive insight into what makes businesses win. JWMI is an effort to educate the current and next generation of leaders about Jack’s ideas and principles.

In most reputable business schools,  all key courses include Jack’s principles or examples in the curriculum – strategy, org behavior, operations, global management etc, one way or the other.  They touch his principles to a certain extent, but not to the extent we are incorporating them in the JWMI MBA.  

Other MBA courses tell us what and how Jack resolved many tough business problems but not the thinking behind those decisions. JWMI’s MBA is all about that. Students will learn extensively about Jack’s principles and the thought process that made GE win. They will be able to go back to their own companies and put his ideas into practice.

Here is a recent article  in The Chronicle of Higher Education that talks further about the Jack Welch’s MBA program.

General none

Differences in Product Management dynamics between large and small companies

On Tuesday, June 14th, I led the BPMA Executive Council event which brings together several  product management and product marketing professionals and executives from the New England area. This event was part of the BPMA mentorship program, where key topics relevant to product managers are discussed in small groups. Here are some highlights of the group discussion about ‘Differences in Product Management dynamics between large and small companies’.

Based on your personal experiences, what else would you have added to the below points? You are welcome to add comments.

Messaging:

  • Small companies often have a singular message and one product (or product line).  As the product goes, so does the message
    • In larger companies, you need to reconcile with a broader strategy.  Messaging may be managed (or constrained) by a corporate communications function.
    • Example:  At a Fortune 300 company cited by one of our executives, product marketing needs to fit into/reconcile with not only the $1B business unit’s strategy, but also with the corporate strategy.

 Acquisitions

  • Acquisitions create their own issues.  When a larger company acquires a smaller one, there is tension as the messaging between the two companies often doesn’t fit.
    • In some cases, the acquired company will be left alone – they can still act small.

Resources

  • In large companies, you have more access to resources, more ability to make an impact on the market

Roles & responsibilities

  • You can be more “boxed in” at a large company.  In contrast, in a small company you can easily step outside your “assigned” role.
  • There is also more overlapping of roles in a large company.
    • Often there’s a “who’s on first?” dynamic.
    • There can be uncertainty as to “who is driving the bus?”  What do people expect their roles to be? continue reading…
General, Global Marketing, Product Management

Marketing the importance of Marketing

April 30, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 2 comments

Through my personal experiences and through conversations at several business events, I noticed different kinds of organizations – some are driven by marketing, some by sales, some are driven primarily by R&D and some solely by a handful of top executives.

For now, let us talk about the kind of organizations in which the marketing department is not in the driving seat and in fact a place where no one realizes the value marketing experts bring to the table. I have marketing managers who complain that they are asked to justify their existence every day at work! Why did we even attend this tradeshow? what was the purpose of that research? Did that collateral really lead to any sales? Did that campaign bring in any revenues – what is the proof? If any of these questions sound familiar to you, welcome to the real world. In some organizations, the biggest challenge for the marketing department is to market themselves. The only way to establish credibility and to justify marketing is to show ROI for almost everything you do and then trumpet the results to everyone … of course, it has to be a positive outcome. If not, at least you know what not to do anymore.

Calculating ROI (Return on Investment) for marketing projects sounds simple – but the bigger your organization gets, the tougher it gets to come up with it – you may not have access to add campaign codes to your sales force, your sales operations may be a black hole (the leads go in, but you never know what happens to them), corporate may have restrictions on your communication with customers etc.  Conversely, in smaller companies, it is one of the easiest and most exciting things to do!

continue reading…

General, Global Marketing

Gone are the days of Glocalization – Is Reverse Innovation the future?

April 28, 2010 Deepthi Bathina 1 comment

Glocalization was the fancy name given to the trend where big companies initially developed products at home and then launched them globally with some customizations. This was the popular trend when other developing countries did not offer much market opportunity. Tables have turned now though – emerging economies like China and India are growing rapidly while rich nations are slowing down.

Now, lets look at the opposite of the Glocalization approach – Reverse Innovation! 

Here is an excerpt from a recent HBR article ‘How GE is Disrupting Itself’ co-authored by Jeff Immelt that explains this process very well:

continue reading…

General, Strategy, Technology , ,

Recent Tweets

Powered by WordPress Web Design by SRS Solutions © 2012 360° Biz Blog Design by SRS Solutions