OCTOBER 2014 / NO. 1
TAGS: PHILIPS, SHELL, ING BANK, DNB, ACCENTURE, UNILEVER, DSM, ARCELORMITTAL

False decisions at Philips, Shell, ING Bank and DNB

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”, Albert Einstein
“Information that cannot be ignored does not come from databases, IT-systems or from the internet. It is the result of analysis”
As you can see from the statements above, one cannot do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and expect to be in business tomorrow! Do you want to learn new methods, new insights and foresight, new perspectives, and techniques, to get motivated, inspired and learn how to compete successfully in the future? Why is this of importance? The best ideas in the world are not in your head, your organization, or your industry: most come from looking around.
Here are some interesting perspectives we would like to share with you:
  • The CEO of Philips stated: “It’s not because the circumstances are currently not good, but because of the lack of belief and the willingness to take risks and to walk an extra mile. If we stay in the harbor we get nowhere. So let’s take our sailing boat and look for the wind. Too many people behave as managers and we have to push them more into the direction of entrepreneurship”
  • The CEO of Shell admitted that it was wrong to invest $ 24 billion in shale gas and oil in the USA. It seems that Shell entered this market far too late. The Shell’s CEO has since left the company
  • The CEO of ING admitted that it was a fundamentally wrong decision to integrate banking and insurance in 1991. Banking and insurance have different dynamics, the speed is different and the people are different. The CEO has since left the company
  • The CEO of DNB, The Dutch National Bank, stated that the Netherlands will emerge from the economic crisis because of his good feeling on some indicators. He classified this as “anecdotal evidence”
  • More than 60% of the Top-25 listed Dutch multinationals have lost on competitiveness based on ROI, on profit potential, on the consistency of results and on future growth expectations, according to international research from Accenture. This includes companies like Unilever, DSM, Philips, ArcelorMittal and Shell
“Most managers are not able to make the connections. They collect information from Google and don’t understand the context. That’s not knowledge, that’s information”, Rob de Wijk, University of Leiden
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