| Open up the organisation |
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CFO Pekka Piironen, Grey-Hen Oy The world is changing – the automotive business changes with it In an open organisation, different parties compose, create, and develop the automotive business together. It takes the participation of customers and partners as well. 
The internal organisation of the business must be developed. Teams specialised in the sales of new cars or trade-ins must share their information and support decision making across organisational boundaries.
The viewpoint of these large companies that set an example for others has not primarily been cost efficiency, but something completely different. So what is this viewpoint that is distinctive to the actions of these companies and to the Finnish automotive business as well? Individuality got the better of Fordism The standpoint for the actions of these companies is a network. The network, which can sometimes be global, provides the company with antennas. These antennas sense the needs of the customers on different markets. They can include the customers into the product and process development of the company. They bring the customers close to the organisation so they can become a vital part of it The antennas can at best enable a worldwide cooperation with universities and they help recruit students. They help the company find such partners that can utilise common resources. The antennas guide the company to new ideas and innovations. It is a question of communication as a channel for ideas, actors, partners, resources, and know-how to reach the company. Communication transmits these things from one party to another. Communication is actually a central factor that separates two phases in economic development: Fordism and Post-Fordism. Fordism is a phase that began with Ford's industrial automobile manufacturing. It meant an extremely organised and efficient industrial assembly line production. The obvious problem was that the system wasn't able to transform. It was extremely cost efficient, but dangerously inflexible. A customer received a vehicle that was exactly the same as the others, and there was no room for variation. Back then, the demand for cars was endless. Fordism started to generally break down between 1970’s -1990’s. This had many reasons. People started to have everything they needed, and they looked for variation. At the latest in the 1990’s, people were no longer satisfied with the standard models. They began to demand special properties. At the same time, the state and environmental organisations began to demand cleaner cars. The automotive factories had their own demands to create a brand and keep their share of the market. Here is the difference between the rigid Fordism and the communicative Post-Fordism. Now competition is about flexibility, constant discussion and the openness of organisation. Customers involved in development Finnish car sales are not unconnected to other branches of economy, or in a broader sense, to global economy. The changes in the automotive field are fully parallel to those on other branches. All are affected by the same general conditions. Then what do the above mentioned phenomena mean for the Finnish automotive business? How is the position of customers and partners changing in an open organisation? The customers and partners can no longer remain just as bystanders. The business must actively create an organisation, where customers and partners are truly involved in, and not just separate organisations. Such open or shared organisation has the customers and partners working together with the company. In an open organisation, different parties compose, create and develop the business together. If these parties are separate, such innovation doesn’t take place, because the parties don’t feel like they are sharing common resources and creating something new together. It’s also a question of trust. For example, when a customer gives feedback on a form, it doesn't make them feel a part of the development team, and as such they aren’t as invested in the development. A quick feedback is an expression of opinion, but not really taking part in the actual development work. This kind of cooperation between different parties promotes mutual learning, experimenting, and innovation. For example, we can copy good methods from other branches or from our own industry, and by developing and adjusting them we create new innovative methods. The dealerships that can create innovation are those that determine the development of the branch. Open cooperation to improve organisation This cooperation will inevitably change the internal organisation in the automotive business. The sales of new cars and trade-ins may have been divided into two separate organisations or teams, but it means nothing in this cooperation. Originally this division has been done to achieve specialisation, but now the specialisation lies in the cooperation itself. It lies in the cooperation and communication between teams and team members. People have different skills and know-how and with communication we can combine these two fields. Teams specialised in the sales of new cars or trade-ins must share their information and support decision making across organisational boundaries. Then the methods based on the company strategy will get better emphasised and the skills from both types of sales will benefit each other. Cooperation ensures that decisions have been well thought out from different viewpoints - especially focusing on the profit of the entire company. Open cooperation that provides mutual learning, experiments, and innovation, requires management systems to support it. These systems direct the open cooperation to the direction of the company vision. In an open organisation, the systems are necessary tools for business management. They make the open and innovative cooperation more goal-oriented, methodical, and edgy. However, the use of these systems must be well understood in the organisation. Teams must know what the system reports mean and indicate; they must know how to redirect their work. The reports must lead to action! For the top management of the business, the system shows that the operations are directed towards the common vision and that the company strategy is realised.  This article was published in Suomen Autolehti magazine. |
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