In 1997 Toyota started mass production of the hybrid-powered Prius. Today Honda, Ford, Chevy, Saturn and Cadillac all have hybrid-powered vehicles on the market. Market share and consumer pressure are a couple of reasons for an auto manufacturer to move into the hybrid market. However, the manufacturers would like the consumers to believe that providing hybrid-powered vehicles is their contribution to the environment. As the competition for better gas mileage continues, advertising those efforts will continue as well. However, touting better gas mileage might just be smoke and mirrors.

Implementing corporate social responsibility programs may also be done to distract the consumers from other weakness. For example, in my software development company, we have implemented a paperless policy. The company does not create business cards and no paper invoices are sent via postal. Instead, advertising is done on the web and invoices are emailed. Having a paperless business is an example of corporate social responsibility. However, the original reason was that my small business could not afford the additional expenses. The idea that my business was being environmentally friendly was used to distract my customers. My small developing software company had in place a paperless policy that much larger companies strive for. The paperless policy is environmentally friendly and cost efficient and may have been the edge in several winning proposals.

Some companies may use corporate social responsibility primarily as a marketing tool. In most large corporations, every significant contribution is followed closely by a press release. Even though this can be looked at with cynicism, the fact remains that a contribution has been made. The market continues to ask for more ethical and responsible business practice and businesses must respond.

Competing for market share and improving the value of the business will always come down to a cost/benefit analysis. Corporate social responsibility may not always be for the right reasons. Any benefit to the business will be coupled with a benefit to the employee, community, consumer, or the environment. The auto manufacturers will continue to compete to get the best gas mileage until our vehicles are not dependent on gasoline at all. Software companies like mine will continue to make the world digital. The possibility exists that in the future, in order to gain market share, businesses will be compelled to become more involved in the community, the same way they do over television advertising.

In order to take the team in the right direction, a leader must first understand how they can help to accomplish that task. Sometimes it only takes a little bit of enthusiasm to guide a team through a task. Further more, you must know that you have the ability to guide the team. This knowledge usually comes from experience. As an example situation, your team is going to migrate to a new system for work. If you were previously a part of a team that used the new system, and no other team members have used it, this might be a good time to step up and be a leader. In the same situation, if everyone else on your team has used the new system, it might better for the team, to let another member take the lead. I know this seems like common sense, but a simple analysis like this can provide great, often overlooked benefit.

Each team is different. Some teams need more leadership than others. Some teams are full of leaders. In many cases there may even be some office politics involved. The important thing is that you are aware of the dynamics of the team. Sticking with our previous example, having the experience is not always the best criteria. What if your team loves the old system and doesn’t want to migrate to the new system. In this case the ability to persuade and manipulate are probably more important than experience. The dynamics of the team at a given point in time is large factor in deciding how to effectively lead the team to the next milestone.

Once you understand yourself and how you fit into the team, you have the information to best help your team. The leader isn’t always at the front of the pack. Sometimes, it takes leadership to drop back and help bring up the rear. There are many characteristics that make up a leader, integrity, trust, and a positive attitude to name a few. It is up to you to decide when to step up based on your knowledge of your self and the situation. Having the ability to guide your team to the next milestone, sometimes simply means just to be a team member.

Leadership comes and goes. It doesn’t take much to show leadership on any given day. You don’t have to have a title to be a leader. By evaluating your strengths and weaknesses, your team’s dynamics, and your abilities, you can help lead your team every day.

My group, which is by far the coolest, has really taken a lot from this class.  Probably one of the most important concepts is the idea of the “fast-follower”.  In this class, we were the fast follower.  We paid attention to what our competitors did in each quarter and “reverse-engineered” the decisions that worked for them.  In particular, in the 5th quarter, we blatantly copied another teams best brand design.  We changed the name just like an overseas knock-off company would.  Their brand was “Creator” our brand was “Kreator”.  That quarter our Kreator was the highest profit brand we had.  It took some time before we could see the affect that our decision made on the simulation economy.

Outside of class, this was an even more serious realization.  The small company I own, and the small company that I work for need to be aware of the competition.  It would be really easy for another company to take a look at our website and get an idea of how to “reverse-engineer” what we are doing.

One of the goals of a company should be constant improvement.  It’s very easy for a company to design a product and lose enthusiasm when the product is doing well.  This is unacceptable.

Another goal of a company should be proper timing.  A great idea is not enough.  If the company doesn’t have the energy for marketing and sales it shouldn’t expose it’s ideas to the competition.  If a competitor does have the energy for marketing and sales, and has enough energy to reverse-engineer the idea, there is nothing stopping them from becoming the market leader.

Before making business decisions, keep in mind the fast-followers that might be in your industry.  Make sure you have the energy to stay competitive before you enter the market.

Bottom line is: startups don’t have the energy to deal with dead-weight.