Tara McCarthy, Manager, Consumer Foods Division, Bord Bia

At a recent conference made up of CEO’s in Ireland, speakers set themselves the challenge of identifying the key success factors in today’s “new” business environment. We have all heard the expression “Don’t Waste a Good Recession” but a more cautious note was heralded by many CEO’s burnt perhaps by previous optimism. The top 5 success factors identified and shared on the day were as follows:

1. People and Culture: This was a common thread spoken of by many, clearly for most they are a significant resource that must be wisely managed. Ireland is no longer a low cost economy but the key message from this forum is that we must be smarter in how we work that economy. We should strive to allocate our staff to the areas where they can add most value and outsource the rest. The culture of an organisation was also seen as a core value and strength to a company. This informs how a company behaves and will shape the ability to implement many of the following factors.

2. Flexibility and Nimbleness: Speed and agility of reaction was seen by all as a core skill required in these challenging times. For many it was not about being an early adapter of trends but a fast follower who could adopt secure trends quickly.

3. Differentiation: Given the recognition that Ireland is not a low cost economy the advice was to make every effort to avoid the commoditisation of your products and services. Differentiation of your product and service is the best protection to the company
4. Establishing more strategic customer relationships: Building upon the previous point being customer led is core to the continued success of any organisation. It is clear that as customers move faster it is harder to keep up but never was it more important to continuously focus on building a strategic relationship with customers.

And last but by no means least…

5. Luck!: We all need it