Takeo.Smith's Profile

Nice post, Scott. I thought that the company’s emphasis on user interface design, high touch and responsive customer service as well as deep understanding of the customer was interesting. While you state that the company only produces a single product, it seemed like their approach to the product that they produce is relatively complex. I wonder if this has some bearing on, or even necessitates, the human-centric focus of their operating model. I thought your point about Basecamp’s engineers producing products for customers that are similar to them was an interesting one.

Great post, Scott! I especially enjoyed the insight into how ArcelorMittal leverages R&D to make both process improvements and improvements in the quality of the overall process in order to stay relevant in an extremely competitive environment. I wonder if there is a disconnect between the automation-related capital expenditures made by AccelorMittal and the investments that the firm makes in its people. Do employees perceive automation as a threat to their jobs and does that have a negative effect on their efforts to invest in recruiting and retaining the high quality employees necessary to complete the varied and complex tasks required of ArcelorMittal employees? In a situation in which ArcelorMittal has to repond to increased pressure from foreign competitors, which of these initiatives will be the first to go?

Great article! I enjoyed the points about the synergies between the athlete-centric innovation at headquarters and how that fits into both product design and initiatives like N+ Training club. I thought the points about re-organizing Category Offense around consumers was an interesting way to get around the size of Nike’s organization. I wonder what initiatives exist to promote cross-unit collaboration in order to cut down on waste and redundant efforts? It seems like there might be some commonalities between the business units that might be lost by organizing them around specific sports.