BUSINESS
Defend Your
Company by Attacking It From Within
.jpg” alt=”Defend your company by attacking it from within”>By Theodore F.
di Stefano
E-Commerce Times
11/15/12 5:00 AM PT
The
team should be charged with, among other things, determining ways to sabotage
the company. That is, they should be brainstorming how a competitor could
effectively challenge and undermine their company. They will be looking not
only at what competing products/services could be coming down the track, but
also how outsiders could somehow obtain access to company secrets.
For
those who aren’t familiar with the acronym SWOT, it means, “strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”
.wikipedia.org/”>Wikipedia defines this
strategy as “a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths,
weaknesses/limitations, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in
a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business
venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are
favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective.”
SWOT
analysis applies especially well to a tech venture, because tech companies have
to be constantly aware of the ever-changing threats to their products and to
their very existence.
What
I am proposing is that tech companies — and other companies that operate in
quickly changing environments — have an in-house team devoted exclusively to
trying to “sabotage” the company. By sabotage, I mean trying to
anticipate what competitors could do, in some fashion, to hurt your company.
This team should report only to top management.
Creating an Effective SWOT Team
The
proper creation and structuring of a SWOT team is absolutely critical if the
team is going to be an effective management tool. For this reason, I have
outlined several of what I consider key factors to the creation and
implementation of such a team:

The team
must have unfettered access to the workings of the business.
The team
should work in isolation and have very little contact with most of the
staff.
Information
will be garnered mostly from the executive team that is responsible for
reporting to the company’s board of directors.
Members of
the SWOT team must sign confidentiality agreements and non-compete
agreements before they start their work.
The team
should be composed of at least four members and no more than six members.
Having more than that many usually becomes too bureaucratic and unwieldy.
One person
in the team will be designated the lead person. This person will be
elected through a vote of the members of the team.
The members
should represent the disciplines of technology and business.

The Purpose of the Team
The
team should be charged with, among other things, determining ways to sabotage
the company. That is, they should be brainstorming how a competitor could
effectively challenge and undermine their company. They will be looking not
only at what competing products/services could be coming down the track, but
also how outsiders could somehow obtain access, either through legitimate or
illegitimate means, to company secrets, processes or customer lists.
On
a more positive note, the team should also be constantly looking to the future
in order to best determine what new products and services will keep the company
growing and profitable. This is why, especially for a technology company, the
team must include members steeped in the products and services of the company.
For
example, if certain company patents are due to expire within a couple of years,
the team should be looking at ways by which the company could approach the
inevitable event in a proactive way in order to best respond.
Reporting to Management
Ideally,
this team should present an annual, detailed report to the board of directors
outlining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the company.
In a perfect world, the team leader will have annual access to the board of
directors without any interference from management, including executive
management.
The
team should also generate reports on a quarterly basis. These reports can go
directly to the top executives of the company and include a complete SWOT
analysis.
A
monthly report can be created that will enable management to check up on the
activities of the team, what the team has done in the prior month and in what
direction it is heading.
An Inspired Team
The
members of the team should be highly motivated and competitive. They should
have specific goals, approved by the team leader, that aim to poke holes in the
firewall that protects the company from unwanted incursions and unexpected
competition. If the company does not have such a firewall, the SWOT leaders
should immediately report this fact to the executive team and ideally help to
create one.
Besides
protecting the company in a defensive way, the team should be striving to
create new products or services. For example, one international technology
company I’m familiar with created a SWOT team to both protect and enhance its
product offerings. The technology members of this team were given the special
title of “research scientists.”
I
met some of these research scientists and they were among the brightest and
most interesting people I’ve ever met. They were absolutely absorbed in their
work and were, understandably, somewhat isolated from the other hundreds of
employees who worked for the firm.
I
was given the opportunity to take a tour of the SWOT area of this company. This
was located in a corner section of an upper floor that had rather tight
security. Since I don’t have a technological background, I was allowed to walk
through this area.
What
I noticed was that these people were operating in a highly isolated manner
without any obvious supervision. They were on their own and allowed to work
quite independently. These individuals seemed to revel in their job, and I
sensed a friendly competition among them.
One
of them told me that they were having fun playing dual roles: one was to attempt
to sabotage the company and the other was to create new products or processes
that would bring value added to the enterprise. Additionally, one of the
members of the team confided that they would get healthy year-end bonuses if
their bifurcated work bore fruit — either by finding ways an outsider could
sabotage their company or developing a major advancement.
Although
it would seem that one would need a split personality to have such a job, the
people I met appeared quite “together” and reveled in their dual
roles.
Assembling
an effective SWOT team is a crucial endeavor that can affect the success and
longevity of your business. Good luck! .gif” alt=”http://www.ectnews.com/images/end-enn.gif”>

BUSINESSDefend Your
Company by Attacking It From Within.jpg” alt=”Defend your company by attacking it from within”>By Theodore F.
di Stefano
E-Commerce Times
11/15/12 5:00 AM PT The
team should be charged with, among other things, determining ways to sabotage
the company. That is, they should be brainstorming how a competitor could
effectively challenge and undermine their company. They will be looking not
only at what competing products/services could be coming down the track, but
also how outsiders could somehow obtain access to company secrets.For
those who aren’t familiar with the acronym SWOT, it means, “strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”.wikipedia.org/”>Wikipedia defines this
strategy as “a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths,
weaknesses/limitations, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in
a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business
venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are
favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective.”SWOT
analysis applies especially well to a tech venture, because tech companies have
to be constantly aware of the ever-changing threats to their products and to
their very existence.What
I am proposing is that tech companies — and other companies that operate in
quickly changing environments — have an in-house team devoted exclusively to
trying to “sabotage” the company. By sabotage, I mean trying to
anticipate what competitors could do, in some fashion, to hurt your company.
This team should report only to top management. Creating an Effective SWOT Team The
proper creation and structuring of a SWOT team is absolutely critical if the
team is going to be an effective management tool. For this reason, I have
outlined several of what I consider key factors to the creation and
implementation of such a team: The Purpose of the Team The
team should be charged with, among other things, determining ways to sabotage
the company. That is, they should be brainstorming how a competitor could
effectively challenge and undermine their company. They will be looking not
only at what competing products/services could be coming down the track, but
also how outsiders could somehow obtain access, either through legitimate or
illegitimate means, to company secrets, processes or customer lists. On
a more positive note, the team should also be constantly looking to the future
in order to best determine what new products and services will keep the company
growing and profitable. This is why, especially for a technology company, the
team must include members steeped in the products and services of the company.For
example, if certain company patents are due to expire within a couple of years,
the team should be looking at ways by which the company could approach the
inevitable event in a proactive way in order to best respond. Reporting to Management Ideally,
this team should present an annual, detailed report to the board of directors
outlining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the company.
In a perfect world, the team leader will have annual access to the board of
directors without any interference from management, including executive
management.The
team should also generate reports on a quarterly basis. These reports can go
directly to the top executives of the company and include a complete SWOT
analysis.A
monthly report can be created that will enable management to check up on the
activities of the team, what the team has done in the prior month and in what
direction it is heading. An Inspired Team The
members of the team should be highly motivated and competitive. They should
have specific goals, approved by the team leader, that aim to poke holes in the
firewall that protects the company from unwanted incursions and unexpected
competition. If the company does not have such a firewall, the SWOT leaders
should immediately report this fact to the executive team and ideally help to
create one.Besides
protecting the company in a defensive way, the team should be striving to
create new products or services. For example, one international technology
company I’m familiar with created a SWOT team to both protect and enhance its
product offerings. The technology members of this team were given the special
title of “research scientists.”I
met some of these research scientists and they were among the brightest and
most interesting people I’ve ever met. They were absolutely absorbed in their
work and were, understandably, somewhat isolated from the other hundreds of
employees who worked for the firm.I
was given the opportunity to take a tour of the SWOT area of this company. This
was located in a corner section of an upper floor that had rather tight
security. Since I don’t have a technological background, I was allowed to walk
through this area.What
I noticed was that these people were operating in a highly isolated manner
without any obvious supervision. They were on their own and allowed to work
quite independently. These individuals seemed to revel in their job, and I
sensed a friendly competition among them.One
of them told me that they were having fun playing dual roles: one was to attempt
to sabotage the company and the other was to create new products or processes
that would bring value added to the enterprise. Additionally, one of the
members of the team confided that they would get healthy year-end bonuses if
their bifurcated work bore fruit — either by finding ways an outsider could
sabotage their company or developing a major advancement.Although
it would seem that one would need a split personality to have such a job, the
people I met appeared quite “together” and reveled in their dual
roles.Assembling
an effective SWOT team is a crucial endeavor that can affect the success and
longevity of your business. Good luck! .gif” alt=”http://www.ectnews.com/images/end-enn.gif”>