Orientation Focus and Product
Slogans, such as “We have them, the good things!” and “Advances through Technology” create, with regard to the guiding distinction decision orientation, a different orientation than “You are in good hands with us” or “We clear the path”. Sometimes it is simple, because the product, as such, virtually dictates a decision-making premise with regard to the internal or external as a focus. The software must solve customer’s problems and the truck must be, technically, state-of-the-art. Accordingly, the sales or development department of a respective organisation would know that it is difficult or easy to emphasise their own interests in the internal decision-making processes. As trivial as this may seem, in many organisations, the priority of one or the other pole is neither explicitly stated, nor is it represented in conflict situations or in the meetings structure.
In other cases, it is decisive for an organisation, whether one concentrates on the requirements and the quality of a product, or whether one gives priority to the wishes and concerns of the customer. What is decisive (!) is that the corresponding values, rules and norms are also accepted by the functional areas of the organisation, which then run into difficulty. Otherwise they enter into the wrong battles and the struggle for an orientation focus is given too much energy in too many places.