As I gaze out of my hotel balcony door I see a cloudless blue sky; although it is before 10am the sun is already a bright ball of fire beating down on the parched earth.  It is only the cacti who seem content to endure these harsh and arid conditions.  As I write this article I am attending a business conference in Phoenix, Arizona.  Arriving late last night I missed the cool spell, only 36° C yesterday.  Today is rather warmer at 40° C, and the temperature is predicted to rise to 41° later in the week.  They often say, “if you cannot stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”  Today I am thinking, “If you cannot stand the heat then stay out of Arizona.”

My situation has caused me to consider the question, “Where is the hottest place in business today”.  It seems to me that the warehouse is a fair contender, sandwiched right between the customers and the suppliers, with both exerting opposing pressures.  On the customer side, we face demands for ever improving levels of service, faster fulfilment, better accuracy, and deliveries within very tight time windows.  On the supply side there is an ever increasing reliance on imported products, or components, from half way around the world.  Inevitably the result is longer production lead times and deliveries open to the vicissitudes inherent in a long range transport system; weather delays, port delays, customs delays.

So this leads us to our new saying for 21^st century business, “If you cannot stand the heat, then get out of the warehouse.”  In terms of survival in the business environment today, we need to look to the cactus as a model.  It has acquired the attributes necessary to sustain life in extremely harsh conditions.

In the right conditions, longevity of life is one of the attributes of an oak tree, with many specimens having survived hundreds of years.  The truth is that beautiful and imposing as they are, an oak will not survive very long in the desert.  I make the proposition that in the business sense our ‘green and pleasant land’ has become an arid desert.  If our businesses do not adapt to the new conditions they will not survive.  We need to bring to our businesses the necessary attributes to prosper in the harsh environment of the 21^st century.

Howard Turvey, Managing Director, Proteus Software

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For further information contact Howard on moreinfo@proteussoftware.com  or call +44 (0) 121 717 7474