Менеджеры и менеджмент (Executives and Management) - 7 стр.

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One of the biggest problems is not really understanding business strategy. You cannot just introduce prod-
ucts one after the other.
There has to be a portfolio strategy. You need aging products that require no investment but which will
generate cash to fund embryonic products. That's very hard to do and it's essential to have experienced man-
agement. One of the pitfalls of many firms is that once they have succeeded in a certain product line, they try to
develop a new product line without continuing to improve the old one.
But developing second-generation products and getting them to market is becoming increasingly difficult.
As technologies grow more complex and new ones emerge, development costs are rising and product life cycles
are shortening. The chances of generating enough funds from a first product to finance a second product are
very slender.
Market-niche strategy
The situation is made even more difficult as the classic small high-tech company product – the personal
computer – increasingly becomes a "commodity" with little to distinguish it from similar products. To survive
at all, high-tech companies are becoming increasingly dependent on market-niche strategy.
With a glut of general-purpose computer systems on the market you have to make a market-niche selection
to fill a gap in special-purpose systems.
You have to draw up your marketing plan before your business plan and product development. A big mis-
take many companies make is rushing to develop their product and only later starting to worry about the mar-
keting.
Team play and delegation
In the early stages of a high-tech company, creativity is important. Next comes the leadership stage, in
which the company is driven by a charismatic, high-energy entrepreneur. Then routinely follows an autonomy
crisis, in which the individual no longer can make all the decisions. S/he has not built a team. Then s/he may be
thrust aside and a more professional manager brought in. This is the delegation phase.
Idiosyncratic management
Traditionally, the correct strategy for a startup firm that has successfully reached a certain size is to bring in
professional management. But finding a competent manager who understands technology is as hard as finding a
technologist who can manage.
The traditional dichotomy between the scientist-innovator and businessperson may be a major stumbling
block. Yet, universities to this day frown on mixing science and commercial education, and the commercially
oriented scientist is still looked down on. Companies often have to conduct in-house training programmes to
deal with the problem, training technical experts in commerce and commercial people in technology.
The killer
Successful companies stress the need for strong balance sheets and prudent financing. High-tech companies
need to be "loose" about such areas as technical creativity, new product development and marketing. But they
must be "tight" about management and financial control. The ratio should be around 20 % loose, and 80 %
tight, too often it's the other way round – and that's a killer.
T a s k 4. Food for thought.
Now check your memory; tick the correct answer. Should you hesitate refer to the previous text
again.
1. A high-tech manager needs to have

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