By Fatima Muhammad
JEDDAH — Companies need to reconsider the way they do their strategic plans and they need to create and follow new expectations rather than follow trends that might not last for long, said consultants who were discussing methods that companies may follow to overcome challenges that they might face at present.
Ahmad Zaidan, organizer of the seminar entitled “Making companies Flourish During Economic Transformation”, said that they come up with the idea to create this seminar as they have realized that many companies are seeking to know their position in the coming strategic plans of 2020 and 2030.
He added that there is a feeling of fear and decline in terms of profit, cost-cutting, employee layoffs, and even closure of some businesses. “We need not simply watch and hide, but rather talk.”
Hisham Dinana, a consultant and the main speaker, said employees must be involved in the strategic plans that the company is doing, adding that any failure is always attributed to the gap between managers and their employees. He noted that due to the current challenges, the companies need to redefine success. For example, he said, if success used to mean generating a profit of 40%, it can now mean generating 15% profit. He added that the goal now for companies is to guarantee that they will advance in a sustainable manner. In this regard, some companies need to study again their target consumers and decide on the needs that they will provide.
Samir Baamir, member of the consultation committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said companies need to spend 80% of their efforts in looking for accurate information to base their assumptions. Unlike before, now the government is providing accurate information and these information are made available to everyone through the General Statistics Authority, he remarked.
The seminar was held at the JCCI, in cooperation with EFESO Consulting on Tuesday.
© The Saudi Gazette 2017
