Commoditization can begin internally. Organizations whose business leaders treat their internal business units as a commodity often suffer from unbalanced culture, poor communications, stagnant revenue and profitability due to an inability to compete externally. “O.k., I might see my internal units as a commodity, so where do I begin?”
Information Technology is an obvious starting place. Many business leaders see I.T. as a commodity, “keep the lights on”, “break-fix”, necessary part of the organization. Their perspective might come from I.T.’s ability to get that part of the business really right more times than not and the business gets stuck with the perspective that I.T. is the sole innovator in the company. Have you ever thought, “They are doing great work fixing tech widgets, so let’s leave them alone”? Read on.
What do you change when you realize that might be you? First, start with I.T.’s ability to forge organizational relationships and utilize them as a change agent. Internally, there is no better organizational unit to have on your side when big change is coming. Regardless of whether or not the change is actually I.T. related, they generally have the organizational perspective that you need. Add value through I.T. and give them a chance to be involved in the business.
Another great example in leveraging internal units beyond their actual business goals is with Marketing. Many business leaders often see marketing as an external communicator, and they probably get that part of the business really right, so why not leverage them internally? Realizing that your Marketing department is really good at communication and leveraging them internally to do so is a good first step.
External organizational impact starts internally. In order to understand the path your organization is going, look internally at the perspectives of the business leaders to the internal units of the organization. Don’t get caught thinking your internal business units are a commodity and let them add value in non-traditional ways. You won’t regret it.
