Good - But good enough?

Switzerland is successful and very competitive, ranking third in IMD’s World Competitiveness Index (see flashlight). However, according to Arturo Bris, Professor of Finance and Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre, Switzerland will only be able to advance to the top if it improves in terms of agility and speed. Peter Vogel, Professor of Entrepreneurship at IMD, thinks the key issue is how one is positioned at the precise moment that everything comes to a standstill globally – something that has made this crisis different from all others before it. Defensive capabilities are central to this issue: do firms have reserves or are they sailing close to the wind and are relying on a fair-weather model? In fact, the focus of attention should always be the client. A recently published study by auditing and consultancy firm PwC clearly points to client focus as a factor of success. Nevertheless, companies often see clients as nothing more than sales markets, or squeeze their business model to suffocation. A crisis like the coronavirus brutally exposes all flaws. The question of how fast a firm can react quickly follows. Indeed, the goal should always be to develop solutions together with clients.

A good example is Wilhelm Schmidlin AG from the canton of Schwyz. Urs Wullschleger is its managing director and owner, together with his brother. When they took over the family business 13 years ago, the third generation to do so, they had thought about how to stand out from the crowd in the market in order to be more resistant to a potential crisis. Today, his company is able to produce bathtubs, shower trays, and washbasins exactly to measure, not just in standard sizes but also as bespoke items, and deliver them at very short notice and with extreme reliability – something that the competition does not offer at all. This is a decisive competitive advantage, made possible only by locating production in Switzerland. Such agility and speed are helping Schmidlin navigate the crisis: price plays a somewhat subordinate role for the customer due to the obvious added value of custommade products coupled with short delivery times. The SEF.Interactive participants agree: agility is crucial. However, all stakeholder groups must be involved if the best solutions are to be found.

It is important to analyse the business entirely from the customer’s point of view; this makes it possible to really focus on the customers, and is the only way to become faster and simpler – and thus, in a sense, prepare for the next crisis. Urs Wullschleger also gives the participants a tip moving forward: “if you don’t have a specific idea for the further development of your own business model, it will help if you can at least optimise your processes so that you are faster and more agile than your competitors.”

In their self-assessment, the SEF business leaders rated themselves between ‘sufficient’ and ‘good’ in terms of agility and speed; so, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Moreover, 50% think they need to adapt their business model accordingly.

Faster and more agile

33