Tomorrow we know if SAS will keep on flying. And for how long...
I will change now! And this time I mean it. This is the addicts repeated promise to everyone. But unless the person is willing to undergo a complete mental metamorphosis the value of these insurances quickly decreases to zero. About the same principle applies to companies.
The difference is that the promises in the corporate world has cool names rather than saying "I will never drink again". SAS Turnaround 2005, Core SAS, the SAS Group Strategy 2011 are examples. This week it was time for yet another vision of the future, the almost Star Trek-sounding: 4Excellence Next Generation.
We have, in other words, heard it before.
Maybe SAS instead an example of a phenomenon called "disruptive innovation". To cut the b/s it could be translated to "a very good idea".
An important reason for the change in the airline industry is that pioneers as Ryanair came to an important insight: airplanes are actually buses that operate at high altitude. No people getting on the regular crowded morning bus to work expects curtains, steaming towels and complimentary champagne for outrageous prices. This observation changed a business model, and the rest is history.
The concept of "disruptive innovation" was coined in the 90s by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. It's about ideas that change the rules of the game in whole markets.
Clayton Christensen was fascinated by how even apparently successful and well-run companies could be reduced to mediocrity or even eliminated by this concept.
Are you as fascinated?