The Management of Technology is all about the `tools’ and metrics organisations use to gain competitive advantage. Simplistically it is “a way of doing things better” and may involve the use of anything from computers and hi-tech, to project management processes, to simple hand-held tools. In this context, we refer to the small “t” in technology where organisations manage their technology to best position their products or services to maximise their market share.
The Management of Innovation is all about how an organisation stimulates and capitalises on the ideation process to develop an innovative product, service or system which has either commercial or social value. It’s about hard metrics such as income generated from new products, processes, services or systems as well as success rates in commercialising new offerings.
The Management of People is all about the human interface. It embraces both the employee and the end user. It is about the processes that organisations deploy in the development of their human capital, and how they retain and re-skill existing employees, how they incentivise their people and how they plan for succession to ensure organisational longevity.
This is the process of synthesis, where systemic integration of all organisational activities and performance is used to create solutions, and where a hyper-competitive re-design of the landscape may occur.
1.1 Background Our business landscape, as we know it, is ever evolving. During the past ten years there has been a shift globally from an industrial market economy to a networked creative economy, which requires, amongst others, more independent workers with initiative, creativity and passion. Table 1 (Jarche, 2015) captures the implications of the shift from an industrial market economy to a creative networked economy in terms of core ideas, technology developments, organisational modelling, knowledge distribution and business ideology.
Table 1: Representation of the shift from an industrial market economy to a creative
networked economy
Concept | Industrial Economy | Creative Economy |
---|---|---|
Core ideas | Tangible Goods Best Practices Standardisation |
Intangible Services Emerging Practices Transparency in changing work practices |
Technology | Centralised Factories - Mass Production |
Internet - Mass Customisation |
Organisational Model | Centralised and Fixed | Decentralised and Dynamic |
Knowledge Distribution | Business Schools “MBA” – expert generalists and specialists |
Professional Networked Communities |
Business Ideology | Science of Management -Hierarchies, standardised practices, specialised tasks and jobs, planning and control, predominantly extrinsic | Managing Complexity – Understanding complexity and the necessity to continuously probe-sense-respond and engage workers by enabling autonomy, mastery and a sense of purpose. |
It is against this background that tt100 in collaboration with The Da Vinci Institute identified a need to revisit existing management and leadership frameworks in terms of the Management of People, the Management of Technology, the Management of Innovation and Systemic Thinking principles and practices [PS1] . An engagement with both local and global emerging, small, medium and large entities, over a period of ten years, accentuated the need to reflect on existing management and leadership principles and practices, to inform the co-creation of relevant performance solutions. For purposes of this article the TIPS™ Managerial Leadership Framework (2020) provides a managerial leadership awareness of the multiple sub-systems at play within society, including the workplace, evoking a re-think of existing principles and practices informing work performance. In applying this complex framework, individuals are afforded an opportunity to make sense of how the Management of Technology, the Management of People, and the Management of Innovation within a Systems Thinking context may impact their entity’s performance. In doing so, the emergence of additional and/or similar managerial leadership practices and competencies may afford individuals the opportunity to co-create alternative interpretations, perspectives and/or conceptual frameworks to cooperatively navigate change and add new knowledge to the domain.
Figure 1: The TIPS™ Managerial Leadership Framework
The
seven layers of the TIPS™ Managerial Leadership Framework offer a multi-focal
lens into emerging realities as illustrated by Figure 1.
1.2 The Management of People: The Management of
People is a central pillar that drives organisational performance, growth,
innovation and long-term success. Over the years, the tt100 award-winning
companies have demonstrated that effective people management practices go
beyond traditional human resource practices. Effective people management
extends into strategic realms where talent is aligned with technology drivers
and where engagements are fostered to optimise innovation.
This article explores
the practices of tt100 winners across emerging, small, medium and large enterprises
for the period 2020 to 2023, offering a comprehensive analysis of how these
organisations have excelled in the Management of People.
1.2.1 Facilitating engagement and agility: From the
TIPS™ Managerial Leadership
Framework, it seems that an overlap
between the Management of People and the Management of Technology could allow
for the emergence of principles and practices that result in organisations being
more aligned towards external developments and challenges. On the other
hand, an overlap between the Management of People and the Management of
Innovation may result in organisations being more engaged, both within
and externally.
1.2.1.1 Emerging organisations: Emerging
organisations often face the dual challenges of rapid growth and limited
resources, making people management crucial for their success. The 2022 WHC
(Water, Hygiene, Convenience) tt100 winner in this category exemplifies how a
people-centred approach can transform an organisation’s potential and drive its
success. By investing in continuous employee development and promoting a
culture of innovation, WHC has promoted engagement amongst its
workforce, ensuring continuous participation in the WHC business strategy and
direction.
At WHC, employees are
viewed not just as resources but as critical drivers of innovation. The
company’s ability to pivot during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, was
largely due to its strong focus on employee readiness and resilience. Through
cross-functional collaboration and the empowerment of frontline staff, WHC
ensured that every level of the organisation was engaged in problem-solving and
the development of innovation-related strategies. This approach minimised
downtime and enhanced the organisation’s capacity to adapt to market
disruptions, thereby ensuring business continuity.
Strategically, WHC's
approach highlights the importance of workforce flexibility in emerging
businesses. By cultivating a culture of learning, change and adaptability, they
were able to link their human capital with market demands, demonstrating that agility is a critical lever for competitiveness in emerging organisations.
1.2.1.2 Small organisations: In the small
organisation category, Mochocho IT, the tt100 Management of People winner in
2020, demonstrated how the empowerment of employees can lead to alignment with
technological requirements and enhanced business outcomes. Mochocho’s strategic
approach to people management in predominantly rural settings focused on
creating an environment that combines humanity and structure in a way that
promotes engagement. The human factor manifests in the attention paid to
employees’ well-being, such as by providing daily meals and being aware of their
personal and family circumstances. Structure is created through induction and
training on company culture and policies, ensuring alignment with the
organisation’s business and governance goals.
From a human
resources perspective, this approach exemplifies the imperative to practise people
management so that individual contributions are in synchrony with the
organisation’s overall technology drivers and innovation requirements. By ensuring that employees have the freedom to
explore new ideas within a structured framework, Mochocho delivered
significant advancements in customer service and operational efficiency.
At Tlotlokgolo
Business Investments, a winning entry for Systems Thinking in 2022, a similar
approach was taken, with a heightened focus on employee development and
upskilling. The company strategically invested in enhancing its employees'
skills to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing market. This approach not
only boosted employee engagement but also ensured that the organisation
remained competitive by continuously re-aligning itself to changing
circumstances (primarily of a technological nature). Its success underscores
the importance of developing internal capabilities in small organisations,
where human capital often represents a significant portion of the
organisation’s resources.
1.2.1.3 Medium
organisations: Medium-sized
organisations face unique challenges in scaling their operations while
maintaining their innovative edge. For organisations in this category, such as Accsys,
the 2021 tt100 Management of People winner, the key to success lies in their ability to rapidly adapt
their people management practices to the evolving demands of the market. This
company demonstrated exceptional agility in transitioning to a fully
remote workforce during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their strategic focus
on technology-enabled people management allowed them to develop new products
swiftly, such as thermal and mask detection systems, to meet urgent market
needs. The rapid development of these systems was made possible by a highly
skilled and motivated workforce,
nurtured through ongoing professional development initiatives.
From a strategic HR
perspective, this underscores the importance of organisational adaptability and
the need for HR leaders to foster a culture where employees are both willing and able to embrace
change. Through maintaining a focus on employee agility, medium-sized
organisations can remain competitive by being capable of aligning their
business interest with technology demands, especially during times of crisis.
Aizatron, a winning
entry for Management of People in 2022 and 2023, demonstrated how aligning talent development with technological innovation can ensure sustained
competitiveness in volatile industries while applying smart technologies,
particularly artificial intelligence-based technologies, to encourage social
entrepreneurship and solve societal problems.
1.2.1.4 Large
organisations: In the large
organisation category, the 2021 Management of People winner, Netstar, has
demonstrated that structured and continuous employee development is crucial for
sustaining long-term growth. The company has implemented a comprehensive talent
development strategy, which includes leadership development programmes,
succession planning and continuous learning opportunities for all employees. In
this way, Netstar ensures that its workforce is with the
skills needed to drive both innovation and operational excellence, thereby
demonstrating the ability to align with ongoing developments and engage their peers and customers in developing just-in-time performance solutions for
their customers.
From a strategic HR
perspective, large organisations like Netstar benefit from integrated talent
management systems that link individual performance with broader business
goals. This alignment ensures that every employee understands their role
in the company’s success, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.
Additionally, Netstar’s commitment to fostering a collaborative culture has
enhanced its ability to innovate, as employees are encouraged to engage and share ideas across departments and levels.
1.2.2 Principles and practices: The
emergence of agile and engaged behaviours constitutes the integration of core principles
and practices, informing how
actions at work emerge and ultimately directing prospective managerial leaders
how to show up at work. These behaviours should be demonstrated continuously
and over time, as required to effectively execute mutually agreed
accountabilities and responsibilities at work.
The following managerial leadership principles seem to emerge once the eco-systemic linkages underlying the Management of Innovation and the Management of People processes are established:
1.2.2.1 Demonstrating social and emotional
intelligence
This process involves the
ability to connect and directly to self and others. It also
involves the ability to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions
from co-workers and stakeholders to achieve the anticipated business outcomes
(tt100, 2024).
1.2.2.2 Probing reflective engagements
The term “reflective observation” derives
from the work of Dewey (1910) and Schein (1983) and Kolb (1984). Dewey (1910)
states reflection refers to “... the active, persistent and careful
consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the
grounds that support it.” Dewey (1910)
also indicates that being reflective “...enables us to direct our actions with
foresight … enables us to know what we are about when we act.” The inference here is that knowledge
workers/artisans could develop a questioning approach towards probing problems
and reflect on why things are as they are, and how they could be.
1.2.2.3 Applying computational thinking
People applying
computational thinking tend to demonstrate the capability to translate vast
amounts of data into new, revised or alternative concepts and constructs, and
to incorporate data-based reasoning by applying a combination of algorithmic
and androrythmic principles. In doing so, such individuals tend to develop sets
of problem-probing methodologies, processes and procedures, which will
facilitate the integration of defined problems, the operating contexts and the
implementation of alternative solutions.
1.2.2.4 Personal knowledge mastery: The practice of personal
knowledge mastery includes sensemaking, as the ability to determine the deeper
meaning or significance of what is being expressed. This involves the need at
an individual level to take control of the multitude of existing perspectives
regarding reality and synthesise such, and articulate these perspectives - with
the intent to ground the individual in relation to others. Often, individuals
see grounding as a current point in time, which may become restrictive.
However, personal mastery
is actualised when individuals are not only able to ground themselves in the
present, but also envision a future self, thus harnessing past and presence as
an uninterrupted continuum.
The following managerial
leadership practices seem to emerge once the relevant principles underlying the
Management of Innovation and the Management of People processes are established:
1.2.2.5 Facilitate conversation: Conversation is a powerful
learning tool. People want to participate in decisions that affect their daily
work lives. The practice of facilitating conversations is about a conscious
choice to involve the relevant stakeholders participating in the
problem-probing process. Business leaders should leverage the interest and talent
of those around them by including them appropriately in the decision-making
process. In a systems-thinking environment, a business leader would be able to see the sum of the parts
contributing to the holistic outcomes. By seeking the involvement of relevant
stakeholders, various advantages could be leveraged, such as, but not limited
to, more effective communication, better informed and more quality-orientated
decision-making, increased commitment to action and higher levels of trust.
1.2.2.6 Co-create direction Individuals and teams work
with greater commitment when they are guided by a vision and believe their
efforts can make a difference. By sharing their vision and values, business
leaders keep the mission out front, like a beacon, guiding people toward greater
achievement.
1.3 Conclusion: The success stories of the tt100 Business Innovation Award winners from
2020 to 2023 illustrate the pivotal role which people management principles and
practices could play in driving enhanced business performance and success.
Across all organisation sizes, these companies have demonstrated that the
implementation of people management-related principles and practices goes
beyond HR administration; it is a core requirement for being able to
participate in the creative networked economy. Such participation will
inevitably enable innovation resulting in greater agility and better alignment with
business developments related to technology advancements.
Key takeaways from these companies include the importance of being agile
and aligning with change. By fostering a culture of innovation and ensuring
that employees are equipped to meet future challenges, these organisations have
positioned themselves for long-term success in an increasingly competitive and
dynamic business environment.
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