What Is The Most Important Factor In An Organisations Success?

There are many different opinions on what makes an organisation successful, the most common factors thrown around are the: products; processes; technologies; people and leadership of the organisations respectively. Everybody in management has their own opinion or philosophy on what makes success, but surely if there was a correct answer, then every organisation would be successful? In this entry of my blog i explain the reasons behind why each theory is important, what my own personal opinion on the most important is, and why.

Every successful organisation and company has product (or service,) with a unique selling point, a reason why people should buy your product over every other product on the market. Its one of the first rules of business, but there are cases of quality products that have not been successful, and visa versa. In 1939 the New York Times predicted that the television would fail, because, "The average american family would simply not have enough time to sit around watching it." Today the television is a device that many people would be lost without, and many people use every single day. A great product with bad marketing is not going to sell, yet a little bit of genius marketing will have tacky nic-nacs flying off the shelves. 

Mainly in production and manufacturing companies, processes help a production line flow. The aim of a solid secure process is to prevent 'dead time' where production stops and money is lost. Successful processes help minimise waste by cutting down on the amount of times machines are changed over or parts go rusty etc. Inventory is classed as a liability in good processes because it can be lost, stolen damaged or just purely get in the way. Processes increase profitability by reducing costs and also decreasing lead time to the customer making processes and improvement of processes extremely important in modern manufacturing. Companies such as Motorola and Toyota have lead the way in developing processes with: lean; 6sigma; 5S; Kaizen and other continuous improvement techniques, squeezing every penny and reducing every defect out of their processes possible.

Being at the forefront of technology in any field is important. People always want the biggest and best thing they can get. We are definitely in the 'gadget age', where companies are bringing out new technologies and investing billions in creating the next best thing. Technology can be used in many respects, whether its the technology of your product, process, quality control etc. Advanced technology gives the companies that created it a legendary status, people want the best name, and if a company is notorious for having the best technology then  theirs are the products that will sell successfully. 

Companies are nothing without employees, yes there are companies that can make mass amounts of profits with minimal quantities of employees, but generally the workforce is a major part of companies. People have personalities, whereas machines do not. Peoples personalities gives people them an extra element of uncertainty. Attitudes of your workforce can implement on their productivity, willingness to learn and the quality of their work. Keeping employees happy can improve the profitability of a company because people are more inclined to work hard in an environment where they feel happy and comfortable.   

Companies give management and directors lucrative salaries for their leadership skills and man management. Employees need guidance and motivation, the best managers can inspire workers to contribute more and provide their best work. Managers organise work so orders deadlines are met, without good managers contracts could be lost because of below-par work or late deliveries, all these factors makes management and organisation an important factor is business.

Every single one of these factors are important to an organisations success, without any of these a company would have a significant hole in their infer structure. In my personal opinion i am drawn to people being the most important. Money can buy technology and research. People with good attitude are priceless, worth their weight in gold. I, myself have worked for companies with good people, and also with people who have more negative attitudes. Good people with good attitudes will go the extra mile for a company, no matter the products, technology or management, whereas even with best managers and tech, bad attitudes stick to people, and can spread between workers. Attitude is infectious, one person in a team can make or break your team and its commitment. Attitude to work is vital in my opinion, it is something I thrive on and believe in completely. I believe that if you are not trying your best then you do not deserve your job or where you are today.