In my own opinion, most businesses are operating under very challenging

circumstances in Zimbabwe. In an environment where income streams are

not well-defined and where there is political and economic challenges,
businesses suffer. The social fabric of Zimbabwe has been stretched and we
are going back to the years that we would rather have forgotten by now if we
were ones to learn our lessons. The situation is definitely not one for the
faint-hearted. It is one that needs businesses to be quite savvy if they are to
remain operational and strong. Old methods do not quite suffice anymore in
this new environment. As I was thinking of this, I thought about the book
Blue Ocean Strategy written by Kim and Mauborgne which I read recently
after it was recommended by my friend Jonah Nyoni. Besides that, it is a
book penned by two friends, which by the way is something that I find so
motivational. It is a book that light-heartedly spells out the reason why
businesses need to be thinking at another level.

brand savvy with Stha Magida

A Blue Ocean Strategy may come out of a Red Ocean Strategy

Most businesses are currently caught up in the Red Ocean Strategy. In this
strategy, businesses compete in existing market space. In most cases, this
market is flooded and tired. Companies strive to outcompete each other in
this place. The strategies are about how we can beat the competition on our
product and offerings. In the meantime, the competitors are also thinking
about the same and meeting over the same strategies, which in most instances
are repeated and are just camourflaged but are essentially the same strategy
used over and over and exchanged by the competing companies. The Red
Ocean Strategy is about exploiting the existing demand. Sadly, in an
environment like ours, the demand is actually diminishing. The cake slice
gets thinner and thinner every day and the business has to try and hold on to
that little piece of the business. It is about the make value/cost trade off. This
is the conventional belief that companies can either create greater value to
customers at a higher cost or create reasonable value at a lower cost. This
strategy can work in the short run but it is a lot wiser for people to fast
embrace the Blue Ocean Strategy.

The Blue Ocean Strategy concerns itself with creating uncontested market
space. It seeks to make the competition irrelevant. The strategy clearly brings
out the fact that the only way to beat competition is to stop trying to beat it.
Companies that use this strategy create new products that will create and
capture new demand. New demand is always important if the company is to
survive and grow. Sticking to old ways that are clearly not growing the
company’s bottom line may prove to be frustrating and may cause a whole
set of problems, including demoralisation of the staff. The Blue Ocean
strategy can lead to expansion of the business through increased profits. A
Blue Ocean Strategy may come out of a Red Ocean Strategy. Companies that
are already in existence may make a solid decision to come out of the usual
way of doing things and go into uncharted grounds.

Technological advancements make the Blue Ocean Strategy a must. How

many of you still remember listening to music from the vinyl records? I doubt
that my younger son would know what a vinyl record is if he were to see it
now. Technological advancement saw music being put on cassettes and later
on CDs. If the music companies had stayed put on vinyl, I wonder where we
would be as a nation. These advancements and continuous improvements
have seen supply exceed demand in most industries. Also, what has become
clear is that in overcrowded industries, differentiating brands becomes harder
in both economic upturns and downturns. This suggests that the strategy of
the olden days is disappearing as the new strategists are now gunning for the
Blue Ocean Strategy. Companies must no longer compete head-on in a given
industry. Strategic moves from this kind of doing business must now take
force.

In conclusion, Blue Ocean Strategy follows a strategic logic called value

innovation. This is the cornerstone of this strategy. It focuses on making the
completion irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and the company,
thereby opening up new and uncontested markets. Innovation without value
tends to shoot beyond what buyers are ready to accept. This is not good for
the company as it then tends to be more futuristic.

Till next week, keep reading and remain brand savvy.

1. Blue ocean strategy: introduction

The blue ocean strategy seeks to bring differentiation to organizations and brands like
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe to
create awareness and presence in a new market place and create demand amongst
consumers. The blue ocean strategy focuses on creating demand in the uncontested
market space, and by doing this, it makes the competition unrelated and irrelevant.
Through the blue ocean strategy, industry players like Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the
Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are able to reconstruct the market
boundaries as well as the industry structure through their strategies and actions. Under
the blue ocean model and framework, the industry structures are assumed to be
flexible, and not rigid.

With Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in

Zimbabwe, the blue ocean model and framework has allowed the company to explore
new market spaces that have not been competitive, or actively utilized by players
existing in the present business environment. By doing so, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating
the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe has been able to create new
demand, rather than fight over and encroach existing competitive space. In doing so,
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
has been able to experience rapid growth as well as enjoy increased profits. When
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
adopts the blue ocean strategy, it changes the rules of the game and eradicates the
competition – rendering them unimportant, and irrelevant factors of the environment.

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For businesses, the blue ocean signifies a deeper section of the ocean that is
unexplored and holds unlimited potential and opportunities for growth and expansion.
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
adopts the broader blue ocean strategy through different means and frameworks.

2. Blue vs Red Ocean

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe

differs in its adoption of the blue ocean strategy to achieve rapid growth in unexplored
market spaces. While Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe also actively pursues the red ocean strategy, it is also an avid
follower of the blue ocean strategy. The choice of strategy differs based on the product
nature and offerings, as well as the business goals, and market development.

The red and the blue ocean strategy for Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of
Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are different in the following ways

Red ocean strategy Blue ocean strategy

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe competes with existing players
in existing market spaces, and defined
industry boundaries
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe Tries to grab a share of
demand from the existing pie
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe Makes the value-cost trade-off
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe chooses a specific direction for
differentiation – based on low cost and
related strategic activities
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe Creates new market spaces rendering the
competition to be irrelevant, and redefines the industry
boundaries
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe creates new, and innovative demand, and
bakes a new pie altogether
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe Breaks the value cost trade-off
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe continues pursuit of differentiation through
low-cost strategies and activities

3. Four action framework

The four actions framework by Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-
Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe has helped the company explore and refine buyer value
more intricately. The Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe Company has made use of the four actions framework in
reconstructing or developing new value curves or strategic profiles for the company and
its various offerings in uncontested market spaces. However, when a new value curve is
created, companies typically face a trade-off between differentiation and low cost. Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe has also
been able to break this tradeoff by challenging the strategic formation, foundation and
logic of the industry – thereby challenging the industry boundaries and working at large.

3.1. The four strategic actions for developing new buyer value curves

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe

breaks the tradeoff through four simple strategic processes and ways – highlighted as
the four actions in the four action framework.

3.1.1. Eliminate

With elimination, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms
in Zimbabwe identifies and shortlists the factors through which a given industry has
competed over a long period of time, and which may be eliminated now. These factors
include, for example, obsolete technology, mundane operational processes, and
stringent human resource policies.

3.1.2. Raise

Under this option, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe is able to identify the factors that it wants to rise well above the
industry’s average in its own settings and operations. These factors will give the
company an edge over other players and will provide it with a competitive advantage.
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe,
therefore, focuses on developing these factors for a sustainable advantage. These
factors include, for example, its organizational culture, human resource training and
policies, technological innovation, and market research capabilities – for example.

3.1.3. Create

Under the action of create, the Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-
Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to develop and identify strategic factors and
capacities that are new to the industry at large, and have never been introduced before.
With these capacities, the company is able to maintain and control costs, and is at the
same time, able to offer higher value to the buyers. The company is also able to create
sustainable advantage and a refined first-mover advantage through the development of
these capacities that will give it a sustainable advantage.

3.1.4. Reduce

Under this strategic option and choice, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of
Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe assesses and reviews a given industry, and
identifies factors and aspects that it should reduce in its expansion plans to be able to
maximally benefit from untapped market spaces and related opportunities. These
factors are reduced considerably in comparison to industry standards.

4. Six path framework

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe

makes use of the six paths framework under the blue ocean model and framework to
reduce, contain and identify the search risk that many businesses are challenged within
their expansion plans. By using this framework, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to identify the numerous
possibilities associated with expanding into an untapped market space, which allows it
to reconstruct the industry boundaries and structures towards innovation and new value
creation.

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4.1. Six paths

The six paths that Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe makes use of are:

4.1.1. Industry

Compared to red ocean players who focus on competing with exiting rivals within an
industry, blue ocean players like Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-
Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are able to expand beyond existing players. Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe looks at
alternative industries, and alternate possibilities in its expansion and growth plans, and
as such, renders existing competition irrelevant.

4.1.2. Strategic group

Red ocean players focus one existing strategic groups for positioning possibilities, Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe, on the
other hand, looks beyond the existing strategic groups within an industry, and in turn,
creates new strategic positioning and groups with first-mover advantage, and through
exploring new market possibilities ad spaces.

4.1.3. Buyer group

Red ocean players continually eek to serve better-existing consumer groups. Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe in turn
also focuses on creating new demand and creating new consumer groups to be able to
expand its overall customer base. In doing so, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to redefine the buyer group and
consumers for the industry – by identifying new and potential consumer groups as well.

4.1.4. Scope of product or service offering

Red ocean players focus on improving the core product offering to e babel to better
serve the consumers. Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe, in turn, seeks not only to meet consumer expectations but to move
across to be able to delight them. This is done by the company by focusing on
consumer service, adding complementary offerings, as well as enhancing the service
offerings for the consumers.

4.1.5. Functional-emotional orientation

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is
able to innovate the functional-emotional orientation of the industry through its strategic
choices and direction, as well as creativity and foresight. Mhuri Enterprise Innovating
the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to develop and create
new market spaces and new demand for its products and offerings – highlighting
innovation which is needed for redefining the industrial focus, and changing the balance
of emotional and functional orientation within a given industry to better appeal to the
target consumer groups.

4.1.6. Time

Red ocean players adapt to external trends and patterns in the external environment
and incorporate them in their strategic decisions and directions. Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe in turn, seeks to
influence the external trends and patterns in an industry’s environment. Instead of being
reactive, it is more proactive in nature and actively seeks to enhance the business
environment through influencing it over time with its actions, strategies and
philosophies.

5. Three tiers of non-customers

To tap into unexplored market spaces and create new demand, Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe has invested
considerably in market research, and in understanding consumer trends and behavioral
patterns. This research is especially focused on non-customers, and how to unlock
them to create new demand for the company’s offerings. While Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe strives to maintain
and expand its current consumer base, it must do so by tapping into new consumer
groups.
 Figure 1 non-consumer groups of an industry

The first group of non-consumers for Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of
Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are those who make minimal purchases of industry
products – only out of necessity and are deemed to be non-customers. The second
group involves those consumers who decline an industry’s offerings. This group has
awareness about the industry’s offerings and benefits, but refuse to participate as active
consumer groups., and instead, refuse to make the purchases altogether. The third
group is the most away from the company, and have not considered the industry’s
offerings as a possibility al att. These consumers are not interest or non-aware of the
offerings.

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe

makes use of blue ocean networks and models to pull in the non-consumers and
convert them into customers through strategic decisions and planning.

6. The sequence of creating a blue ocean value

innovation
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
has made use of the blue ocean strategy optimally by making use of the framework to
sequence its strategy to be able to gain the highest benefit and profit from it. Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe makes
use of the optimal sequencing for value innovation under the blue ocean strategy i.e.
buyer utility, price, cost, and adoption. By making use of this sequence, Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to
tap into the blue oceans of untapped market places and make sure that its growth is
coming from unused market spaces, and is organic in terms of demand creation. With
this sequence, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms
in Zimbabwe has also been able to reduce the risks of expansion and
internationalization, and at the same time, also ensured that maximum value is created
and enjoyed not only by the customers but also by the company itself in the untapped
and new market spaces.
 Figure 2 sequence of creating buyer value under the blue ocean model

6.1. Blue ocean value creation sequence

The sequence adopted by Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale
Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe makes perfect sense for expansion and business
development.
1. Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe ensures that its product offerings are developed, and marketed to
convey exceptional utility for buyers and consumers in its markets. Though Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
manufactured products that require a low emotional attachment, the offerings
and products are often repeatedly purchased for the gratification they offer. For
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe, this is achieved through marketing activities, where the company
markets, and advertises its products to deliver exceptional buyer utility.
2. Based on the product offerings, its nature, and its characteristics, Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
ensures that the offerings are appropriately priced. This pricing strategy is
maintained not only to attract new consumers, and penetrate existing consumer
groups, but also to attract, and appeal to the masses. The products are priced to
attract the maximum number of buyers from the target audience groups of the
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe Company’s products to determine the affordability of its audience.
This affordability and purchase will lead to a ripple effect in terms of buzz
generation for the product.
3. After securing the revenue aspects of the model in the sequencing, Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
also ensures that it contains the costs of operations and manufacturing so as to
derive a profit from its operations. Profit here is defined as the price of the
products less the cost of production for the company – and involved fixed and
variable costs. Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe ensures that its costs are maintained through economies of
scale and that its product prices are not driven up because of the increase in
costs. This price maintenance is important to attract the target consumers and
benefit from the blue ocean maximally.
 4. Finally, Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe assesses the business environment and the consumer market and
reviews it for any obstacles or hurdles in the process of adoption of the products
in the blue ocean region. The company eliminates these hurdles and obstacles
earlier along the way to prevent Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of
Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe form actualizing its goals and targets.

7. Buyer Utility Map

Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe

also makes use of the buyer utility map in its exploration of untapped market spaces for
purposes of growth and expansion. The buyer utility map helps Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe understand
consumer’s betters, and also allows Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of
Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe to think, and perceive from a buyer's point of view.
As such, the company is able to explore the demand side better, and also allows Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe to devise
innovative ways to enhance the buyer utility that are different dim the conventional utility
measures. Exploration of the demand side also helps Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the
Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe develop new experiences for
buyers with its offerings – to help enhance their relation and interaction with the
products, and increase the offerings’ appeal. Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value
Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is thus able to identify different and
various utility spaces that its offerings can potentially fill.
 Figure 3 utility maps under the blue ocean model

The utility maps are based on two dimensions - The Buyer Experience Cycle (BEC) and
the Utility levers.

7.1. Buyer experience cycle and utility levers

The BEC is the cycle or process through which a consumer interacts, consumers, and
disposes of the product. It generally occurs in six phases – and runs from purchase to
disposal stage.
The utility levers, in turn, are the ways through which Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the
Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe can increase and enhance the
utility of its offerings across the six stages of BEC for the consumers – thereby
increasing the overall utility of the product.

7.2. Utility maps and value creation in the blue ocean

By identifying new and different utility spaces for consumers, Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to identify
new ideas and concepts that will help it tap into new consumer groups, and convert
non-consumers onto avid consumers of its offerings. At the same time, the buyer utility
amp also helps Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms
in Zimbabwe in identifying spaces for differentiation of its products and creating new
value propositions for the consumers – playing on the differentiation aspect as well.

8. Value innovation

One of the tools that Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-
Farms in Zimbabwe employs in its application of the blue ocean strategy is the value
innovation model or framework. With the value innovation framework, Mhuri Enterprise
Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is able to continually
and simultaneously pursue a strategy of differentiation and low cost. By doing this,
Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is
able to create enhanced and increased value for not only itself but also for its
customers. This enhanced and increased value is developed because of value
innovation.

8.1. Creating value innovation: buyer vs. manufacturer

Value innovation is the pivotal factor that has helped Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the
Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe in developing and creating new
demand by identifying and tapping into unexplored market spaces. With value
innovation, the company has been able to continually refine its market-creating strategy,
and develop new markets for its products, and product invocations. For value
innovation, it is important to understand that customers gain value from the product’s
utility less than the price paid. In contrast, value for manufacturers or companies – such
as Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe,
is derived based on the product’s price less the cost. Value innovation for Mhuri
Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe is
achieved by aligning the aspects of price, cost, and utility. With this value innovation, a
value leap is developed which enhances the value of the product for the customer as
well as for Mhuri Enterprise Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in
Zimbabwe.

When asked at an analysts briefing whether NMB would venture into store
banking after Century Bank and Kingdom, then deputy group CEO James
Mushore answered tersely: “We don’t do business in the supermarkets.”

BY NDAMU SANDU

He would tell analysts in subsequent briefings of the bank’s strategy of

targeting the high net worth individuals.

It was the norm during that time to have the rich clients as a niche market
resulting in a number of banks putting stringent requirements that would bar
those from the lower class.
A revolution that happened years later saw the introduction of point of sale
machines and banks jostled for supermarkets to do business with.

Banks tussled for the bottom of the pyramid following the introduction of
mobile money. The previously shunned market could now have money in the
wallet, thanks to the simplicity in the know-your-customer process by mobile
operators. In one swoop, banks were left clutching at straws as mobile money
spread its tentacles.

Latest statistics show that mobile payments constituted the bulk of

transactions in 2015, accounting for 87,9% of transaction volumes. Point of
sale accounted for 5,64% of the transaction volumes.

Disruptive innovations have swept across all sectors of the economy, leaving
behind casualties — the slow learners and those resistant to change.

The theory of disruptive innovation was first coined by Harvard professor

Clayton Christensen to explain the phenomenon whereby innovation
transforms an existing market or sector by introducing simplicity,
convenience, accessibility, and affordability where complication and high
cost are the status quo.

Remember Zupco had monopoly in the provision of transport service? The

deregulation of the transport sector in 1993 took it by surprise and reduced it
to a pale shadow of its former self. Commuter omnibuses came on board and
took over the provision of urban transport services.
Technology specialist Norbert Matuku said products of disruptive
innovations had a different set of attributes from the existing products that
were normally produced by established firms.

“The advent of commuter omnibuses [kombis] into the transport ecosystem

led to the demise of Harare United as the domineering player in urban
transport,” he said in a paper on disruptive innovation. He said commuter
omnibuses addressed the time factor as passengers could not afford to wait
for hours, as was the case with the conventional buses that required 76
passengers to fill up.

Fixed telephony service was at one time a symbol of status as people received
calls at wealthy neighbours’ homes. When the monopoly of the then Postal
and Telecommunication Corporation was broken, mobile telephony services
came on board offering a convenient service as subscribers would move
around with handsets.

Mobile operators have not been spared as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and voice
over internet protocol applications have eaten into their revenue streams.

A recent report by the Postal and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz)

showed that the proliferation of alternatives for communication such as
WhatsApp and VoIP solutions such as Skype and Viber had led to a decline
in international traffic.
Data from Potraz showed that international incoming and outgoing traffic
declined by 0,3% and 1,2% respectively in the third quarter ended September
30 2015.

Analysts say disruptions in the economy were fuelled by the transition of the
economy to the bottom of the pyramid and the advent of ICTs.

Business strategist Dennis Magaya said the upper and middle classes were
collapsing while credit dried up as the economy was driven by smaller
denomination transactions.

“We are becoming a $1 economy. As such, traditional corporates struggle to

follow the money in the informal sector,” he said.

Magaya said ICTs were changing all business fundamentals on a massive

scale and speed.

“It’s not about cash to invest, but the ability to adopt and innovate. In most
cases, the ICT investment required is minimal compared to the investment in
mind- set change,” he said.

Magaya said companies had to adopt business models by continuously

validating their core business, core competencies, core assets, core products
and core customers to create value and growth.

Companies, he said, should also design and implement a holistic digital

strategy, avoiding ad hoc or reactionary approaches.
“Ask yourselves how digital strategy can be used to increase customer
experience, increase service uptake, improve business efficiencies and
most importantly in the Zimbabwe economy, to drive costs down,” he said.

He said companies had to review and change business processes

to accommodate innovation, market shifts, increase customer demands and
reduce costs.

Magaya said disruption was creating serious strain on skills and experiences
required to lead and manage business and in many cases, “leadership is stuck
in the past and not continuously training”.

Are Zimbabwean companies ready to embrace innovation?

Matuku said while senior managers and the “old guard” did not want to admit
that they were a stumbling block to disruptive innovation by continuously
focusing on incremental innovation, the reality was that big firms would
collapse if disruptions were not adopted as part of the strategy.

“Organisations should adopt a structure that allows the accessing and

integration of the acquired knowledge into the firm’s innovation process.
Fighting disruptions is not the answer, it is a futile exercise. Established firms
should therefore thrive to take lead in disruptions,” he said.

Magaya said the drive towards innovation had been slow and big corporates
were being conservative.
“If you exclude the use of mobile and internet, there will be
limited innovation. Companies take innovation as an accidental process
rather than a strategic approach. As a result, you don’t find a department or a
process or structure specifically designed to drive innovation,” Magaya said.

He said there has been limited investment at the low end of the market and in
the end “innovation is generally called ‘kiya kiya’, which are business short-
cuts aimed at survival rather sustainable drivers of value and growth”.