Why smart companies need to get moving

The pollies are back in town, the insurance companies are struggling to redefine a flood and the RBA is hinting that this might all be enough to justify a counter-inflationary hold on rate rises.

That means smart companies need to be fast out of the blocks in releasing new products, terms of trade and segmented marketing programs to make the most of rising business expectations.

It is vitally important to capitalize on rising levels of confidence, customers and business prospects need to find out the changes prime customers are going to make to previous business patterns and find ways to achieve a business-as-usual relationship during the balance of this financial year.

The latest US Conference Board leading economic indicator for Australia resumed its upward trend after pausing in the third quarter of last year but still suggests that economic growth will likely be moderate in the near term. The strengths and weaknesses among the leading indicators have been roughly balanced over the past half-year.

Positive contributors to the index — in order from largest positive contributor to smallest — are sales-to-inventories ratio, money supply, yield spread and gross operating surplus.

Rural goods exports and share prices declined while building approvals remained unchanged in the final quarter last year.

That projection is supported by the latest Australian weekly consumer confidence ranking, which rose to 121.9 – up 4.2 points in a week since February 5-6, 2011 – according to the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating conducted on February 12-13. Consumer confidence is now 2.7pts lower than a year ago, February 13/14, 2010 (124.6).

Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says the rise has been driven by Australians having increasing confidence in Australia’s economy and in their personal financial situations during the next 12 months after the Reserve Bank left interest rates unchanged and said they would not be rising in the near future.

In terms of the economy as a whole 36% of households (up 3%) expect Australia will have “good times” financially during the next 12  months compared to 26% (down 5%) of consumers who say we’ll have “bad times” financially.

In terms of personal finances 44% (up 3% – the highest since May 15/16, 2010) of Australians expect their family to be “better off financially” this time next year compared to 14% (down 2%) who expect to be “worse off financially”.

Smart companies will recognize the extent to which they are oriented towards the domestic market and the construction market or are focused on achieving more strategic goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Results-oriented and Time-based.

Only that SMART focus on emerging business trends and innovative programs will enable profitable and productive efforts to cope with a long-term growth economy that is facing post-disaster turbulence.

This is also a chance to evaluate your team’s capacity to adapt to new technologies and businesses processes, and to seek capital support for longer-term development priorities.

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Dr Colin Benjamin is an entrepreneurship and strategic thinking consultant at Marshall Place Associates, which offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up a universe of new possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Colin is also a member of the global Association of Professional Futurists.