Senator J. and his presence in the political games

Senator conveys a "Mister Rogers" presence. One can infer that he speaks softly and treats his employees with kindness and understanding. The Cavalier King Charles spaniel and two Maine moon cats Senator owns, further support this reputation of a warm persona. With 27 years of loyalty and commitment to P & G, Senator sets high goals for himself and his company with expectations of superior quality and value. Yet, he remains a realist and foresees potentially bad times due to P & G's traditional "cycle of inconsistency." By inspiring innovation within the stodgy culture and cutting costs throughout P & G, Senator establishes himself as a dtree of change. He is not flashy and he does not offer large bonuses. He has an understanding of the industry, and realizes the importance of focusing on core products to create organic growth. Communication from the management down the hierarchy is facilitated by methods like "innovation reviews" with each business unit and catchy, easily translatable clichés that P & G's diverse and multilingual workforce can buy into. Senator continually strives to move P & G towards his vision of a flexible, collaborative and global corporation that satisfies the needs of consumers through innovative product creation. II. Environment in depth look. P & G is also looking to make more key acquisitions in addition to Iams, Wella and Clairol. Senator continues to push to create an innovative and flexible culture P & G where business units and managers collaborate with each other creating economies of scope. Innovation will be discussed further in section III. Lastly, P & G will still focus on their master brand building abilities. III. A Learning Organization and Senator's Innovation Strategy A learning organization "facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself" positively towards change. This reflects the innovative and collaborative culture Senator aims to create at P & G. He approaches this strategy through 6 tactics: 1. Customer Focus vs. Science Focus - P & G views their brands as consumers, not as scientists. This means they have a consumer responsiveness focus. They innovate to satisfy customer needs. For example, instead of furthering the science of their Pamper's diapers by making them the driest diaper, the Pamper's division now focuses on "helping moms with baby's development." 2. Empowerment of Designers - P & G has realized that what is important is the consumer's experience with their product, not the product itself. Looks, smell and feel of a product all add to the experience. Therefore, the design staff is incorporated throughout the product development stages to make sure products are fashionable and desirable. 3. One on One Consumer Research - Focus groups do not provide insights into customer needs and aiding innovation. Instead, when researchers observe people performing everyday activities, they are able to discover ways to better satisfy the needs of consumers. P & G brand marketers spend an average of 12hrs a month with consumers, up from 4hrs before