Slow - the new fast for business success
Contact:
Ian McCarthy, 778.782.5298; ian_mccarthy@sfu.ca
Derek Moscato, SFU Business, 778.782.5038; drmoscat@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210; marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
How fast is fast enough to be successful in business? Or too fast? Or just not fast enough? New research by Simon Fraser University researchers dispels the notion that the activities of firms must be uniformly high speed to attain business success.
Those who simply characterize business environments as high or low speed overlook the fact that an industry’s velocity – the rate and direction of industry change – has many dimensions and that different speeds and directions of change are appropriate.
In their article A Multidimensional Conceptualization of Environmental Velocity recently published in the Academy of Management Review, a team of SFU Business researchers argues that the focus on being uniformly fast may be misguided.
Professors Ian McCarthy and Thomas Lawrence, research associate Brian Wixted and PhD candidate Brian Gordon say the fashion industry is a prime example. It’s characterized by slow sales growth but also by a “rapid fire” attempts to source the lowest cost materials. Add to that fickle customer demands and constant shifts in production.
“The notion of time is very different in people’s minds,” says McCarthy. “You require very different cognitive abilities to succeed in different velocity regimes.
“Time is not a universal constant around the world,” he adds. “As a result people have very different time management and time coordination approaches.”
McCarthy points to the laid-back lifestyle and resistance to heavy commercialization of B.C.’s Gulf Islands, a growing draw for tourists as well as entrepreneurs. “You’ll see customer service is slower there – and so is the pace of life. Their residents live longer, healthier and happier lives.”
For firms, that might translate to a more nuanced, multi-speed approach to business. “What’s important is determining your velocity regime – the multiple rates and directions of change in your world – then ensuring that business activities are organized and coordinated to be entrained to these different velocities,” says McCarthy.
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