I was amused to read today that the value of Rebecca Addlington’s Olympic Bronze medal is less than three pounds or “less than the price of a sandwich”. The writer makes the mistake of basing value on the cost of the metals used in striking Olympic medals.
The true value of any item is in reality a function of a number of factors, as is the value of any business.
Olympic Games are held every four years and at any meeting there are a finite number of medals awarded. For any event there’s just one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze medal. So, here’s an item that can only be won, and can’t be bought – unless the winner chooses to sell.
I’m not suggesting that she would want to part with something that symbolises the culmination of twelve years of dedication and hard work, but if Rebecca chose to sell she could significantly increase the value of her Bronze medal by putting it into a collection along with the two Gold medals she won in Beijing four years ago. Value and rarity are usually strongly linked.
The value of a trophy in many ways parallels the value of a business. A business that has a track record of dedication to quality of its products and services, improving performance year on year, and operating in a niche market will attract a significant premium if it were to be sold.
Rebecca won her Bronze with a time that was faster than that which won her a Gold four years ago. The competition has got better, just as business competitors can up their game. There’s always been a need to be aware of competition, but perhaps never more so than in the present economic climate and with the rapid advances in technology.
And of course no athlete, not even those like Rebecca who do individual sports, would achieve much without a team around them. With athletes that team comprises fitness trainers, coaches, dieticians, physiotherapists, sports psychologists. Successful business owners surround themselves with experts in finance, marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and the market value of the business reflects the strength of that team and the processes that link their efforts.
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Business Management – what can Amir Khan teach us?
The link between business management and sport is usually confined to “team building” exercises and a few former sportsmen becoming inspirational speakers.
I suggest that business managers could learn much from the examples set by sport and sportsmen. Amir has joined a growing list of British boxers, for example Herol “Bomber” Graham and Frank Bruno, who could hit hard but never learned how to protect their glass chins. Boxing used to be called The Art of Self-Defence, and whilst there’s strong evidence that attack is the best form of defence, the boxers who have stayed top of their game have the all-round attributes of attack, defence, superb physical fitness and mental toughness.
Business management needs all those attributes too. Successful businesses need to be lean and mean, quick to attack opportunities, work hard to strengthen their weaknesses, and business managers need the mental toughness to deal with the difficulties that stand in the way of achieving long-term goals.
Managers need to work on developing businesses with all-round strengths and a basis of robust systems. Once they have these in place they should be prepared to take quantifiable risks.
Look at the performance of the England team in Euro 2102. The defensive system could hardly be faulted, but we didn’t have a forward able to hit a barn door with a banjo. We didn’t have all-round strength, so we failed.
One final thought on the subject. We all like to have confidence in the people we’re buying from, so it’s important that businesses have marketing that makes justifiable claims and customer service that can fully support those claims. Think here of the many British sprinters who, having made the podium in some minor events, seem more interested in adopting weird hair styles and wearing bling than in training for success at major events.
Contrast Michael Johnson. Four Olympic Gold medals and eight World Championship Golds. Now there’s a man who deserves to wear golden running shoes! Talent, perseverance, and his success as a coach and as an articulate commentator prove that he was smart enough to plan for the future.
I suggest that business managers could learn much from the examples set by sport and sportsmen. Amir has joined a growing list of British boxers, for example Herol “Bomber” Graham and Frank Bruno, who could hit hard but never learned how to protect their glass chins. Boxing used to be called The Art of Self-Defence, and whilst there’s strong evidence that attack is the best form of defence, the boxers who have stayed top of their game have the all-round attributes of attack, defence, superb physical fitness and mental toughness.
Business management needs all those attributes too. Successful businesses need to be lean and mean, quick to attack opportunities, work hard to strengthen their weaknesses, and business managers need the mental toughness to deal with the difficulties that stand in the way of achieving long-term goals.
Managers need to work on developing businesses with all-round strengths and a basis of robust systems. Once they have these in place they should be prepared to take quantifiable risks.
Look at the performance of the England team in Euro 2102. The defensive system could hardly be faulted, but we didn’t have a forward able to hit a barn door with a banjo. We didn’t have all-round strength, so we failed.
One final thought on the subject. We all like to have confidence in the people we’re buying from, so it’s important that businesses have marketing that makes justifiable claims and customer service that can fully support those claims. Think here of the many British sprinters who, having made the podium in some minor events, seem more interested in adopting weird hair styles and wearing bling than in training for success at major events.
Contrast Michael Johnson. Four Olympic Gold medals and eight World Championship Golds. Now there’s a man who deserves to wear golden running shoes! Talent, perseverance, and his success as a coach and as an articulate commentator prove that he was smart enough to plan for the future.
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