Self Improvement...

A small revolution in training has begun during the last few years which could lead to managers having greater control and freedom over their career development. Instead of paying lip-service to the notion of self-development, several companies are seriously trying to formalize the concept.

The underlying philosophy is that the manager takes responsibility for his or her own training. The company helps to assess and to articulate the needs and supplies the tools to manage his or her career.

A formal self-development scheme allows the manager to learn at his own place at home or at work. The company facilities can be used for additional knowledge and to improve and to update existing skills. This can be done on a planned, long-term basis with as much flexibility built into the process as is required. He can also alter the training plan as the needs and the demands of the job change, instead of waiting for the company to update established training courses.

For the employer, the advantages of this form of training are clear. First, there are good financial savings compared with sending people on training courses. A self-development scheme also relieves the strain in terms of time and resources on the company's training department. Because self-development schemes consist of a comprehensive range of training aids, the company can provide training on those skills which cannot normally be covered by traditional external courses.

Self-development consists of several sub-parts: 1) research and development, 2) farming out and 3) licensing and marketing agreements.

Research and development. By definition, R&D comprises new product efforts from inception to steady sales growth. It is the usual method of growth. Most companies' research begins with a new product idea or the emergence of new raw materials. Some research starts with a market problem generated by a customer complaint or request.

Developing products through R&D is a well-known and complicated process. It requires a lengthy and zig-zag path in search of an unsure success. It's a risky endeavor. A considerable amount of money must be spent prior to any sizable return. In the formulated products field, about $ 1 to $ 1.5 is expended for every $ 1 worth of sales generated over the first year. A typical R&D project can result in sizable initial losses--losses that need to be recouped over the life of the product.

Such investment can be justified. If the R&D project has a sound basis initially (a likely new concept or the solution to a real market problem), the odds of success improve. The company will add a fitting product to its lines--a product that is finely focused, carries no excess baggage and, in all likelihood, will be attractively profitable.

Farming out. Contracting out part or the entire R&D efforts to other companies is an under-used option. If a company invests in small, outside entrepreneurial companies, helps them mature and then gains control of the product, a win-win situation develops. The entrepreneurs profit from the use of new capital and expertise. The investing company profits from an economical R&D project. This method uses the smaller firms' efficiency of designing new products. Many large firms have, in part, structured their own R&D groups to emulate a small company's ability.

Licensing and marketing agreements. Growth from a product license or marketing agreement is also a form of using outside R&D efforts. It is a quick method of expanding revenues, especially when the products gained are synergistic with a company's capabilities.