Test and Improve the Market Focus IQ of Your Firm

Just as a person’s IQ gives some indication of his or her verbal, analytical and numerical aptitude, a firm’s market focus score gives an indication of how well its skills, resources and capabilities are utilized.

(PRWEB) December 2, 2005 -- According to Dawid J Malherbe, Chartered Marketer, one of the primary objectives of any firm should be to develop a superior market focus (orientation) and the creation of superior customer value through the optimization of skills, resources and capabilities. By improving what he calls the 4C key market performance areas, namely Customer Focus, Company Focus, Competition Focus, and Corporate Strategy Focus, a sustainable competitive advantage can be achieved.

The optimum integration of the 4C key market performance areas makes up a firm’s market focus and gives an indication of a firm’s market orientation and its market focus IQ.

Improving a firm’s market focus has to start with an honest and objective assessment of the key market performance areas. For this purpose Dawid developed the Market-driven Assessment Model (MDAM) as a benchmark to measure a firm’s market focus IQ in each of the 4C key market performance areas.

The MDAM gives decision-makers an in-depth report of how their firm is measuring up to industry benchmarks. The MDAM requires the scoring (on a scale of 1 to 7) of 21 key statements describing the current status of each of the 4C market performance areas. It then generates a value-adding, personalized and customized report containing analysis and proposals on how a firm can improve each of its 4C key market performance areas.

The MDAM also utilizes IQ parameters in its audits and score interpretations. An interesting correlation also exists between these market focus score interpretations and that of an individual’s or group’s IQ score interpretations.

Just as a person’s IQ gives some indication of his or her verbal, analytical and numerical aptitude, a firm’s market focus score gives an indication of how well its skills, resources and capabilities are utilized. It is generally accepted that a human’s actual IQ doesn’t fluctuate much over his/her lifespan. Fortunately, this does not apply to the market focus IQ of a firm. By implementing the right measures and strategies (such as those proposed in the MDAM reports and the Market Focus Audits), a firm can drastically improve its market focus IQ, resulting in better performance, growth, and profitability.

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