Supply Chain

The Amazon Cure: How Businesses Can (and Should) Create Long-Term Value and Leave the Island

April 9, 2013

Uncertainty is appearing on the horizon for businesses. Can they change course to avoid it, or is it too late?

You haven’t read about it in a travel magazine, or seen it in a commercial on TV, but many businesses have been vacationing on a new island. “Uncertainty Island,” that is.

This undesirable destination is marked by the inability to innovate and think with a long-term perspective. Excuses about politics, Wall Street, and global recession serve as diversions on this island. The result is a plague of short-term thinking that is spreading rapidly across company cultures today.

Fortunately, I have the solution in my latest video – The Amazon Cure.

A few months ago, you may have seen Tompkins’ video on the Amazon Effect, which talked about how e-commerce giants like Amazon are transforming the market. The Amazon Effect really hit a note with companies across the globe, and this year I wanted to offer a remedy for companies who are feeling this impact.

The Amazon Cure is all about promoting innovation and investing in your company’s future. Don’t get caught up in short-term “solutions,” whether they be firing some of your best executives or letting your decisions go adrift. The Amazon Cure follows the model steered by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, which values risk-taking and investments that promote sustainable growth.

Companies need to stop making excuses and follow the Amazon Cure with these four steps:

Focus on the long-term investments and innovation that bring you real value
Make mistakes and learn from those mistakes
Have the persistence to keep working
Focus on the customer

Check out the full Amazon Cure video, and also take a look at Tompkins’ most recent paper, Leveraging Supply Chains for Increased Long-Term Value, which explores the value creation framework to tap into new areas of innovation.

It’s time for businesses to catch a plane away from the horrible Uncertainty Island and look at long-term ways to be successful.

The plane is boarding — is your business coming?

Best,

Jim

About the Author

Jim Tompkins | CEO

Dr. James A. Tompkins is an international authority on leadership, logistics, material handling, outsourcing, and supply chain best practices. As the founder and CEO of Tompkins International, he provides leadership for Tompkins globally.

His 30-plus years as CEO of a consulting / integration firm and his focus on helping companies achieve profitable growth give him an insider’s view into what makes great companies even better. Listen to an interview of Jim Tompkins on the Business Leader Radio show.

As a high-level business advisor, his unique perspective prepares corporations and executives for the future.

To share his knowledge and provide up-to-date information on supply chain and business trends, he developed the GoGoGo! Blogand Global Supply Chain Podcast.

He has written or contributed to more than 30 books and eBooks, including Caught Between the Tiger and the Dragon, Bold Leadership, Logistics and Manufacturing Outsourcing, The Supply Chain Handbook, andNo Boundaries. Jim has been quoted in hundreds of business and industry magazines such as The Journal of Commerce, Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and FORTUNE, and he has spoken at more than 4,000 international engagements.

Jim has served as President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Materials Management Society, and the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education, and Purdue has named him a Distinguished Engineering Alum. He has also received more than 50 awards for his service to his profession.