Growth Strategy & Direction

1. Growth Strategy & Direction

2. 10th Annual International
Software
Testing
Conference in India 2010
Vinay Srinivasan
vinay.srinivasan@techmahindra.com

3. Abstract
 Understand the Nature of Strategy for Growth
 Identify the Keys for Growth
 Analyse the Forces Affecting Growth
 Analogy between Natural and Generic Growth Strategy
 Strategy for Tailoring Growth in IT Industry
 Steps Towards Growth Strategy
 Areas for Growth in IT Industry
 Directions for Growth including Optimistic Growth Strategy Models

4. Nature of Growth
 Growth in General
 Time Bound
 Measurable Quantity

5. Nature of Growth (continued…)
 Growth in case of an Industry
 Increase in Strength
 Increase in Opportunities
 Increase in Revenue
 Specific to period of Time
 Specific to a Region
 Strength:
 Capital Investment
 Intellectual Capital
 Resources
 Assets
 Technology
 Skills
 Competency

6. Nature of Growth (continued…)
 Opportunities:
 Markets
 Stocks
 Domains
 Technology
 Revenue:
 Income from Turnover
 Income from Sales
 Income from Services
 Appreciation
 Increase in Stock value
 Other sources having monetary values

7. Growth Strategy
 Strategy
 Ways for reaching a particular Target
 Achieve the Goal
 Growth Strategy
 Identifies the Keys for Successful Growth
 Steps towards Growth
 Growth Directions

8. Keys for Growth
 Knowledge, Intelligence, Wisdom, Decisiveness
 Knowledge:
 know-how developed by processing available data and information
 Borne out of Studies and Understanding or by Intellectual Means
 Experience gained through Practice
 Transfer of Know-How with the guidance from other persons possessing knowledge
 Intelligence:
 Borne out of Knowledge
 Based on the collected Facts and Figures
 Based on Events and Forecasts
 Based on Judgment and its Outcome
 Wisdom:
 Developed when the Knowledge Matures and Realization occurs on real world things
 Useful for developing Insight
 Useful for Foreseeing Things that might happen
 Useful for Making Wise Decisions
 Decisiveness:
 Taking the Right Decisions
 Ready to face the Outcome of the Decisions
 Conclusive on what needs to done
 Key to the Treasure for the Growth and for the Growth Strategy itself

9. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Strength:
 Stimulus or Force or Will Power or Confidence
 Provides the Opportunity for Growth
 Key to the Potential for Growth
 Innovation, Invention
 Innovation:
 Idea/Concept/Science
 Revolutionizes the development of Principles
 Develops and Applies Principles to meet the requirements
 Reduces the effort involved in doing a Task
 Reduces the Time required for obtaining a Solution
 Invention:
 Applied Principle
 Development of a Solution or Technology
 Derivatives of Innovation
 Innovation and Invention are like Key to the Brains for Growth

10. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Competitiveness, Leadership, Domination
 Competitiveness:
 Ability or Strength of an Individual or a Group or an Organization
 Perform well in Challenging Situations
 Possess the Capability to compete with others
 Leadership:
 Excel in Competition
 Excel in identified collection of Roles/Tasks
 Capabilities to Guide others
 Domination:
 Possess Leadership characteristics
 Overcome Competition from Others
 Subject others to their own Authority
 Key to Achieve Success in Growth
 Undergoing Specialization/ Selecting Niche Areas:
 Learning and Developing Skill in certain Type of Work
 Tasks of Specifically Assigned or Developed Functionality
 Special Areas or Segment of Work
 Tasks which are difficult to Undertake by Ordinary Means
 Work Areas which are High in Demand
 Key to explore Specific Areas of Growth

11. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Talent/ Skill
 Talent:
 Special Ability or Potential or Flair to perform particular Tasks successfully
 May be possessed Naturally
 Can lead to development of Skill
 Skill:
 The ways of performing a Task are studied
 Task is accomplished in a continuous improvement process
 Develops Accuracy in Performing Tasks
 Can Transform Novice into Professional
 Can Transform Professional into Expert
 Key to make Progress Work towards Growth
 Assets:
 Items with economic value and which can be converted to Cash
 Includes Cash, Cash Equivalents, Short Term Investments, Amount Receivables,
Prepaid Expenses, Inventory, Investments, Fixed Assets, Tangible Assets and
Intangible Assets
 Key to the Foundation and Support for Growth

12. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Resources:
 Meets the Requirement of a Job or Task or towards Growth itself
 May be available in Limited Quantity
 When exhausted they might no longer be available until they are replenished
 Often referred to Human Resources
 Key to the Utilities for Successful Growth
 Technology:
 Applies Innovation or Engineering a Science Principle
 Is an Outcome which arises when Specific Science Principle is put into Practice
 Can be a Technique or a Tool which can help or complete a Specific Task
 Key to the Muscles for Growth
 Quality:
 Like a Perception and it may differ from one Person to another Person
 Can be based on a mutually Accepted Standard
 Can be said to satisfy Factors like: Ease of Use, Appealing Look, Stability,
Consistency in Performance, Meets user Requirements, etc.
 Determines the Factors of Growth like: Quality of its Infrastructure, Resource
Skills, Processes, Practices, Product and Services
 Like a Cultivation Process and is the Key to Promote Growth

13. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Brand, Brand Image & Marketing
 Brand:
 Like an Identity
 Brand Image:
 View or Opinion as perceived by others
 Helps to gain Popularity
 Win Trust among its Clients
 Will be helpful for Marketing
 Marketing:
 Promotes Brand Image through Advertisement and Client Interactions
 Identifies and pulls the Sources of Opportunities and Revenue
 Undertakes the sales of Products, Services and earn Revenue
 In one way, Responsible for Initiating Work Engagements
 Key to Pull Appropriate Sources for Growth
 Opportunities:
 Circumstances which are in Favor
 Can be similar to the Natural Environment or Climate or Season
 When worked on properly, will yield fruits like Revenue, etc.
 Key to the Requirements for Propagating Growth

14. Keys for Growth (continued)
 Revenue:
 Income gained by selling Products/ Services
 Trades in the Opportunities and earn Cash by delivering Products and Services
 Key to the Life for Growth
 Communication:
 Means of exchanging Information or Data
 Happens between its Staffs, Management, Executives and its Client, etc.
 Should be Reliable, Significant and Strong
 Key to the Reliable Input for Growth
 Management:
 Means of controlling the Utilization of Resources, Assets, etc.
 Essential for taking crucial decisions
 Key to Leadership and Control for Growth

15. Steps Towards Growth
 Value Proposition:
 Ratio of the Growth Benefits to the Cost for the Growth
 Whether the Growth till certain stage or beyond it will be beneficial or not
 If the Benefits outweigh the Cost then the Growth can be progressed
 If the Costs outweigh the Benefit then the Growth will have to be saturated
 Determining Profit & Loss:
 Simulate a Financial Statement for expected Revenue
 Net Income after deducting the Cost and Expenses
 If there are proposed Profit then the Growth should be initiated
 If Loss is foreseen then the Growth should not be initiated
 Proposed Return of Investment:
 ROI = Income to be gained - Investment to be made
 Proposed %ROI = ROI/ Investment to be made
 The Better the ROI, Better will be the prospects of the Growth

16. Steps Towards Growth (continued)
 Analysis of Vulnerabilities and Risks
 Vulnerabilities:
 Diminished Capital
 Depreciation of Assets
 Low Stock Values
 Outcome of Weakness
 Caused by Internal Factors and can be overcome
 Risks:
 Reduced or Loss of Opportunities
 Loss of Revenue
 High Wage Demands
 High Attrition
 Outcome of Vulnerabilities, Known and Unknown Internal and External Factors
 Can only be minimized
 Crucial in deciding on the progress of Growth

17. Steps Towards Growth (continued)
 Analysis of Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats
 Strengths:
 Can include Capital Investment, Intellectual Capital, Resources, Assets, Technology,
Skills, Competency, Confidence, Willpower and Motivation
 Potential for the Growth is more when Strength is more
 Potential for the Growth is less when Strength is less
 Weakness:
 Opposite of Strength
 can include Diminished/Less/Inadequate Capital, Lack of knowledge, Lack of Skilled
Resources, Inappropriate/ Highly Unfit/ Highly Depreciated Assets, Out Dated/ Phased
Out/ Unfit Technology, Incompetency, Distrust, Lack of Confidence, Lack of Willpower
 When the Weakness is more than the Strength it is better not progress with the Growth

18. Steps Towards Growth (continued)
 Opportunities:
 Markets, Domains, Stocks and Technology
 Determines the circumstances favorable for Growth
 Favorable circumstances will aid the Growth
 Unfavorable circumstances will block the Growth
 Threats:
 Like external Forces
 Rivalry, New Entrants, Alternatives
 Change in Technology, Government Policies
 Socio Economic and Political Factors
 Natural Calamities and Disasters, etc.
 Negative Impact on Growth
 Affects the Opportunities to a greater extent
 Reduces the Revenue
 The Strength will have to be increased
 Wait till the Opportunity improves
 If mild then increasing the Strength alone might be sufficient

19. Steps Towards Growth (continued)
 Areas for Growth:
 Software Areas like System Software Development, Application Software
Development, Embedded Software, Operating Systems Software Development,
Product Software Development, Software Testing, Database Development,
Intelligence Mapping, Data Mining, Performance Engineering, Process
Engineering, Service Oriented Architecture, Touch Screen Technologies, Visual
Programming, DNA Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Avionics, Cloud
Computing, ecommerce, Electronic-Security, Network Programming, Neural
Networks, Web Programming, Communication Systems, Mobile Telephony,
Biometrics, Operational Support System, Decision Support System, etc.
 Domains like Banking, Insurance, Investments, Law, Transportation, Shipping,
Logistics, Petroleum Industry, Defense, Aerospace, Space Research, Healthcare,
Sanitation, Water Works, Public Administration, Telecom, Media, Radio,
Television, Manufacturing, Automobile, etc.
 Communities like Open source and Freeware, etc.
 Setting up the Centre of Excellence in Areas of Coding, Testing, etc.

20. Directions for Growth

21. Directions for Growth
 Incremental Growth:
 Varies for specific variations in the strength, the Opportunity and the Revenue
 Is in the form of a Logistic Sigmoid Curve
 Revenue may fluctuate at certain points depending on the Opportunity
 May also remain constant, where the Strength and the Opportunity are Constant
 Industry with Small Capital
 Industry with Less/ Restricted Specialisation
 Industry with Less Resources
 Industry with Less Opportunities
 Industry with Less Revenue

22. Directions for Growth

23. Directions for Growth
 Cumulative Growth:
 Area of Growth will be between the Strength Curve and the Growth Curve
 Trying to Grow further beyond maximum Opportunity may result in Loss
 Each Growth will encompass other inner Growths
 Strength from one Growth can be used as add up for another Growth
 Strength from different Growth can be grouped and developed further
 Resources can be trained to gain additional Strength
 Work together with other Teams
 Gain the Strength in other Opportunity Areas of Work
 Strength increase in terms of Capital, Assets, Infrastructure
 Spread across Geography
 Increase in Resources
 Propagate towards existing, new Opportunities like Markets, Technology
 Increase in Revenue

24. Directions for Growth
 Alignment:
 Adjustment or Orientation of certain Growth Areas takes place
 Horizontal and Vertical Alignment
 Increase/ Expand/ Spread/ Widen in Shape
 Strength to Bear, Hold
 Distribute and Balance the weight
 Promote Growth
 Horizontal Alignment is in the form of Domains like Banking, Insurance,
Embedded Systems, VLSI, Aerospace, Telecom, Networking, ecommerce, CRM,
HRMS, etc.
 Vertical Alignment is in the Form of Capital, Infrastructure, Skill, Resources,
Technology, Development, Testing, Products/ Applications, Services, Support
and Maintenance, etc.
 Horizontal and Vertical Alignments of the IT Industry grow along with and
towards the direction of Opportunities
 Brand, Brand Image and Marketing which are like Roots and grow along with
and towards the direction of Sources

25. Directions for Growth
 Focused Growth:
 Concentrated Alignment
 Uniform Horizontal Alignment
 Banking alone, Insurance alone, Telecom alone, etc.
 Increasing Vertical Alignment
 Testing alone, Development alone, etc.
 Diversified Growth:
 Growth in different Areas or Segment
 Different varieties of Products/ Application/ Services of same Opportunity
 Different Opportunity, same Technology
 Different Technology, same Domain, Different Domain and so on
 Increase the Revenue and support for other Branch or Child or Sibling units
 To Recover from Loss, towards its Normalcy

26. Directions for Growth
 Uniqueness and Differentiation
 Uniqueness:
 Only one of its Type
 Software Product or a Software Service Type
 Differentiation:
 Distinguishing features as compared to the Others of its Type
 SAP, Siebel, Oracle DB, Windows OS, MAC OS, AIX OS, Unix OS, etc.
 Software Development, Software Testing, etc.
 Facts which are helpful to distinguish one Type of Nature
 Identify various Traits, Tendencies, and Aspects of Work

27. Directions for Growth
 Internal Growth:
 Increase in Strength like Skill, Technology and Quality, etc
 For each Branch, Projects, Resources, etc.
 Developing the Skills of the existing IT Resources
 Hiring new Resources and Training them
 Increasing the Capital
 Pooling the Revenue/ Income towards Capital
 Strengthening the Domain level Expertise
 Improving Marketing Skills
 Improving Quality Continuously
 Conducting frequent Audits to check Quality
 Achieving high rate of Customer Satisfaction
 Conducting frequent Seminars, Workshops

28. Directions for Growth
 Restructuring:
 Act/ Process of Re-Organizing the Structures
 Prevent a Collapse of the structure or to Minimize Damage
 Prevent Loss or Recover from Loss
 Recover from Unfavorable Circumstances
 Promote Re-Growth
 Situations like Diminished Capital, lack of Investments, Lack of Skilled
Resources, Lack of Appropriate Technology or Phased-Out Technology, Lack of
Opportunities, Lack of Revenue, Natural Calamity, Disaster may cause
Unfavorable Circumstances leading to Restructure
 Ratio of Resources like Management Staff, Skilled Resources, Production/
Service Staff, Marketing Staff, Administration and Support Staffs need to be
determined
 Filter out Important Resources
 Ratio needs to be worked out again along with the Salary Restructure along
with the need and necessity to maintain minimum Resources
 depend on the Strength of the Capital; Cash in Hand, Residual Cash,
Investments, Stocks, Quality of Products/ Services, Technology, Infrastructure,
Opportunities, Market Potential, Scope to Market, Revenue for Growth, Forecasts
for Profit, Loss and Growth

29. Directions for Growth
 Restructuring (continued…):
 Unfit Resources will have to be withered away and Filtered out Resources needs
to be Trained and Sharpened so that they can work better when the
Circumstances Improve
 When the Circumstances are going to be Worst, decision will have to be taken
on how to maintain the required Bare Minimum Resources
 Curb New Hires, Conduct Retrenchment
 identify the needs and necessities to be implemented so that Seed of Re-Growth
can be preserved
 Growth can be initiated once the Favorable circumstances occur

30. Directions for Growth
 Expansion:
 Process of occupying and growing in other areas of the Growth with increasing
the Strength, having more than one Alignment and initiating new Growth
 Can take place when the Growth increases for a wider Horizontal Alignment and
for various Vertical Alignments
 Also expansion of Growth increases when new Industries are started
 possibilities of Expansion in Growth in the form of New Acquisitions or Mergers
or through the means of Partnership

31. Conclusion
 A Good Growth Strategy will only be successful when it is executed in
Right time, by Right Skilled People
 Further Extensive Planning is required to chart down the Strategy and
Schedule the Tasks and Activities, so as to reach out the Target and
achieve the Goal.
 Other than this Adequate Strength, Right Favorable Opportunities will be
necessary to implement the Appropriate Growth Strategy and realize the
Revenue.

32. References
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

33. About the Author
 Vinay Srinivasan:
 Has wide Experience in IT
 More than 10 Years of experience in the IT Industry
 Holds:
 Graduate Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
 Post Graduate Degree in Computer Applications
 Post Graduate Diploma in IT Management
 Working as:
 TechLead at TechMahindra

34. Contact Details
 Email:
 vinay.srinivasan@techmahindra.com
 srinivasan_vinay@yahoo.com
 Phone:
 +91-20-66273000 Extn: 4665
 +91-9823104620
 Fax:
 +91-20-66273329

35. Thank You