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Make the Most of Incidental
Interactions
"Dell is the kind of company where everyone
rolls up sleeves and get personally involved in the details of our business
every day," says Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computers. "This is, in
fact, how we got to be successful: As managers, it's not enough to sit
around theorizing and reviewing what those who report to us do. We
frequently meet with customers and attend working-level meetings about
products, procurement, and technology, to tap into real source of our
company's experience and brainpower.
"Why bother? It's a way to get close to our
people, for certain. But that's not all. Our day-to-day involvement in the
business helps us establish and allows us to maintain one of the Dell's
critical
competitive advantages:
speed.
In this case, "staying involved in the details" allows for
rapid decision making
because we know what's going on...
More
Getting
Feedback
from
Customers and Suppliers
"Turn your customers into teachers," advises
Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computers.
Dell start their innovation process with asking
their customers, "What would you really want this thing to do? Is there a
different way to accomplish that?" Then they meet with their suppliers and
ask, "Can we do this in a different way?" Then they try to come up with a
totally different approach that exceeds the original objectives.
To continually bring information from the
outside world into Dell, with an eye toward staying as competitive as they
can, Michael Dell uses a variety of innovative approaches. He says, "I also
enjoy roaming around outside the company to see what people think of us. On
the Web, nobody knows I'm a
CEO.
I'll hang out in chatrooms where actual users commonly chat about Dell and
our competitors. I listen to their conversations as they discuss their
purchases and their likes and dislikes. It's a tremendous learning
opportunity."1
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Thinking Unconventionally and
Making a Difference1
Selected Breakthrough
Innovations |
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1984 The
company becomes the first in the industry to sell custom-built
computers directly to end-users, bypassing the dominant system of
using computer resellers to sell mass-produced computers.
1986 Dell unveils the industry's fastest-performing
computer, pioneers the industry's first thirty-day money back
guarantee, and offers the industry's first onsite service program.
1996 The company's quiet bid to sell custom-built computers
over the Internet quickly becomes a public revolution when the
company announces that sales over dell.com have exceeded $1 million per day. Dell introduces
also its first custom custom-made web links for customers. Called
"Premier Pages", the links allow customers to tap directly into the
company's own service and support databases.
1998 Dell establishes web-based connections with its
suppliers to speed the flow of inventory and quality information. |
Dell
Competitive Strategies...
Sustainable Competitive Advantage...
New
Business Model...
Venture
Management at Different Growth Stages...
Ignoring
Conventional Wisdom and Looking at Things Differently...
Building a
Learning Culture...
Creating a Competitive Culture...
People Partnership...
Managing
Creativity...
Questioning Everything...
Asking Effective
Questions...
Encourage Smart
Experimentation...
Preventing Bureaucracy...
Continuous
Improvement Strategies...
Virtual Integration
Incentive Motivation...
Employee's Incentives to Improve Efficiency...
Learning from Failure...
Freedom to Fail...
Measuring Innovation...
Market
Segmentation...
Customer Partnership...
Listening To
Your Customers...
Turn Your
Customers Into Teachers...
Focus on Customer Satisfaction...
Value
Innovation: EON Solution...
Coaching Corporate Customers...
Adapting to
Cultural Differences...
Simplicity...
Just-In-Time
Manufacturing...
Timely
Advertising...
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