Factors Critical to Success
-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer
Cramming for my exams in the minimum time at my disposal did offer me a few insights into the big bad world of business. When learning about the strategies that corporations must formulate to make profits and stay in the game, I chanced upon the “Critical Success Factors” (CSF). In simple English, the CSF are those key aspects of a business that must be addressed by top management if the organization is to taste success.
In today’s dog-eat-dog world, there is a glut of products and an equal number of producers, so the trick in surviving and scoring over the competition lies in adding value to the goods and services offered. It’s not as easy as it sounds – value has to be defined before it can actually be added to the product.
Peter Drucker, in his book The Practice of Management, makes the very valid point that customers do not buy products, they only buy the satisfaction that comes from using or owning a product. In today’s status-conscious society, needs and wants are driven by brands and the prestige they bring with their association. Accordingly, manufacturers seek to differentiate their products based on the values most sought after by customers.
So today, we as consumers, have online shopping avenues, home delivery for certain goods, fuel-efficient cars, and a host of other services that distinguish one provider from another and add value to the goods they offer. For this value-added strategy to succeed, the CSF have to be defined in clear and unambiguous terms by the top strata of management.