Managers ought to cultivate an innovative work-place culture if they want to outsmart their rivals.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore
According to Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore, spreading the responsibility of coming up with innovative products and making it first to market differentiates market leaders from their competitors.
“We have managed to stay ahead in the telecoms market because our employees feel they owe it to themselves to come up with the next big thing in their specific departments,” he said.
“This way, you have a staff that is developing solutions that they believe in rather than merely shifting with the market forces.” Two months ago, Safaricom reported a 38.9 per cent increase in profits compared to Sh12.6 billion posted in 2011 that was buoyed by M-Pesa, SMS and data revenues.
Profits for the year ended March 2013 stood at Sh17.5 billion, making it the most profitable Company in East And Central Africa.
The firm has made several iconic products like M-Pesa and M-Shwari that have risen not only its clout in the international scene but also placed the country in the spotlight as a mobile driven economy.
However, with growth in voice revenues slowing down and telecoms in the country having to diversify their offerings, Safaricom has found itself facing a challenge in staying ahead of the pack.
“We are never looking backwards and even now the figures for the first quarter are behind us,” explained Mr Collymore.
“We are always looking for the next innovation because business is a lot like rallying where you don’t have rear-view mirrors in rally cars because you don’t need to dwell at what you’ve passed.”
Collymore said the company would consider providing content and connectivity support for the government’s free laptop project if approached by the State.
By Frankline Sunday, The Standard
