What Are 3 of the Most Agile Companies in America?

Former Corporate Manager Reveals Which Companies Can Turn on a Dime

Companies that lack agility can’t compete.  Agility is the bottom-line competitive advantage in these days of unprecedented turbulence, uncertainty and volatility.

That’s the opinion of Mike Richardson, a former corporate manager and author of Wheel$pin: The Agile Executive’s Manifesto (www.mydrivingseat.com), and his point is that it’s agility that drives a company’s ability to compete in the business world.

“Everyone in the business press today seems to write endlessly about the challenges of the current economy without acknowledging the fact there are companies that are doing quite well, thank you, despite the economic downturn,” Richardson said. “There are some companies and executives that don’t rely on a healthy economy to make money. In fact, there are a few who simply rise to the occasion. That’s what being agile in business is all about.”

According to Richardson, the three companies that do that better than many others in America are:

• Apple Corporation – The passing of Steve Jobs, while tragic, will not end Apple’s reign at the top. In his time at the company, he instilled a culture of agility that will not go away. Apple began at the dawn of the computer industry and it survived as a computer manufacturer even though its operating system was arguably mimicked by Microsoft to become the standard for PC computing. Instead, Apple set out to achieve excellence in the areas that Microsoft and other manufacturers did in a mediocre fashion. It carved out a niche for itself in the graphics and publishing industry, where it is still a standard. After being ousted at Apple (and forming Pixar, which revolutionized the film industry), Jobs would return to use iTunes to revolutionize the way music publishers distributed music, even as he introduced iPods to revolutionize the way we would all listen to that music. Apple then set the new standard with mobile devices with its iPhones, and finally returned to computing to revolutionize portable computers with the iPad. Apple never met a storm it didn’t weather nor an industry it couldn’t change.

• Ford Motors – When the auto industry fell so hard that it had to turn to the government for a bailout, Ford Motors turned the corner. They took the bailout, and then took over. After ceding the top sales spot to Toyota and falling near bankruptcy, the company bounced back with new models, a new strategy and an earnings year that returned them so resoundingly to profitability, the company paid back its government loan in full. When Toyota stumbled after having to recall millions of cars, Ford stepped back in, surpassing their Japanese rival as a quick follow-up to its post bail-out resurgence. After all, agility isn’t always about being able to dodge the bullet, but rather, it is also about how quickly you come back after it strikes you squarely in the chest.

• Yahoo! – Over the last few years, the media has not been kind to Yahoo! As it has dwindled in prestige next to Google, the punditry has rumored it has been on the sales block for years with no interest from buyers. Recently, however, Yahoo! has made some moves that have surprised the critics. It started with a landmark content deal with ABC News, and then quickly followed up with announcements of eight made-for-Yahoo! scripted episodic shows to drive its entertainment platform Yahoo! Screen. Recently, rumors that Microsoft is interested in acquiring Yahoo! have started to hit the press, putting the bloom back on the rose of one of the Internet’s first major search engines.

“These are companies who have faced opportunity and adversity, not with panic, but with poise,” Richardson added. “They deserve to be recognized not only for what they’ve done, but also to be used as an example of what all American corporations should strive to become.  Agile”