A relevant aspect in the performance of organizations is size. There is a size at which the company begins to operate as a “corporation”. The basic difference is that below this point business competence practically does not exist. People are competent. If any of these people leave the company, they create a knowledge vacuum and a long and dangerous break in continuity. The company only grows to the extent of the possibilities of a few people.
On the contrary, beyond this point, the greatest competence becomes that of the company itself, and its philosophy, technology, processes, patents, systems, manuals, files and specialized departments constitute its philosophy. The predominant scheme is now that of "teams". No one else can understand it alone. The most important decisions are now collegial, ensuring unity of action, general understanding, commitment and improvement in their quality. The supporting thesis is that the collective imagination always trumps the individual mind. It is urgent to reach this size.
Another is the definition of goals. If you don't have goals, you're not going anywhere.
And, whoever does not clearly disseminate and share their goals, is alone, and if this does not generate chaos, it certainly generates a great dispersion of efforts and a great waste of talent. It is common, when asking about the company's goals, the directors hesitate to provide them, when not, resort to their drawers, folders and documents to define them. The same happens with managers, bosses, supervisors, etc., in charge of spreading and pursuing them. This is because companies tend to define numerous and extensive goals, impossible to memorize and put into practice. In short, this situation is equivalent to the company not having objectives, mainly clear, so that everyone, without exception, can help to pursue them, behaving as a team. This issue, however, was radically resolved by the Japanese business management model, defining that “survival” is the sole objective of all human organizations. The rest are just means of survival. In open markets, for example, the only way to survive is to compete, and the only way to compete is to offer better quality. Quality, therefore, is a means, not an objective.
Considering that the survival of a company is not only threatened by the Consumer Customer, when they prefer the product of the competition, but by all its audiences: investors (shareholders) when disenchanted with the results, decide to migrate to other opportunities; Employees, who can paralyze it with strikes, sabotage or lack of motivation, due to discomfort with the conditions or rewards for work; “Neighbors”, who, upset with the levels of environmental pollution or the lack of a positive social balance between the company and the community, may hunt for their operating license, not renew it or not agree with its expansion; we have to face everyone as the company's Customers and include their needs in the planning of their projects. Satisfied customers, that is, met in all their needs dictated by the "market" (more specifically, by the competition) and not their desires (unlimited, by nature), is what is conventionally defined as Total Quality Management, that is, , in all the foundations of survival, which does not mean maximum, unlimited quality, or even the often cited and indefinite “excellence”.
Of course, it's more difficult to serve four customers than just one. The number of plans, goals and control items (variables) increases significantly and the mobilization of all people becomes even more essential, but there is no other way to replace an existence under permanent risk by one with a total guarantee of survival.
A practical and infallible resource for this increase in difficulties is resorting to the “Better Knowledge Centers” regarding the company's business. They are always engineering or service companies with experience in the same technological area and market, and equipment manufacturing companies. Add to these, technical publications and international conferences specialized in the subject, and the source is complete and has the best possible quality.
If the company needs to be internationally competitive, don't mirror it to any competitor, identify your Benchmarks and know all about them, don't read any brochures, or attend any seminars. Reserve your (her) time and money for the best you can.
The assembly of connection links between these sources of better knowledge with the company, and the establishment or development of an internal reception, decoding and diffusion capacity, is the indispensable complement to guarantee and increase the efficiency of the process and reduce its costs. Establishing control items that measure this effort is indispensable.
Logically, without Human Resources to match these purposes, there will be no success. Humanity only improves if people improve; a country only improves if its citizens improve; a family only improves if its members improve and, similarly, a company only improves if its employees improve. And, it should be added, you cannot confuse ten years of experience with ten times the experience of a year.
This cruelty, however, is often committed by companies against their own employees. Because they do not develop their human resources at the same time, many companies end up with aged and not experienced staff. Leading companies around the world invest 3 to 5% of their employees' time (workload) in technical and behavioral training programs.) And beware: this is not an average! Both are indispensable. Technical development results in more efficiency and quality, and behavioral development in more productivity.
Normélio Moura da Costa was the first Chief of the Off-Shore Maritime Terminal in Tramandai - RS, Superintendent of the Mataripe Refinery, Superintendent Director of Estireno do Nordeste, first President of Caraíba Metais, post-privatized, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mineração Caraiba.