Octopus model of Strategic Management

This is the first expose of Octopus model developed by the author. For the sake of brevity and to connect the model to the aspect of Strategic management of the most difficult resource to manage – Humans. This article covers the bare necessity for the subject. It is only in the realm of fiction that only one work is shown in narrative of a film or TV show. Amazingly even police serials show only one case usually and at the most two cases in interest of clear communication to the audience while reality is different and difficult. It affects not only corporate but also us as citizens as it affects Government projects also. Recently, in reaction to serious side effects of COVID vaccine, a storm of discussion initiated on whether the Governments all over the world could have started on remedial medicine instead of investing resources on vaccine which by definition is a long process for a scientific and specific reason. Here is one of the places where the octopus strategy would have worked.

There are many models and solutions for resource allocation of a firm. Resource allocation is the process of assigning and managing assets in a manner that supports an organization's strategic planning goals. Resource allocation includes managing tangible assets such as hardware to make the best use of softer assets such as human capital. According to a survey, “43% of projects spike the budget, and 49% cannot adhere to deadlines.” The study also reveals that only 26% of organizations use resource management for successful resource allocation.”

No matter what technique you use, the Octopus model should be the strategy. You are aware that even in projects, teams are made up and members may be involved in various projects simultaneously. They may or may not have the same role. Technical requirements may enforce some member to accept same role in more than one project. If the company is large, similar qualified and experience members may be allotted different projects. For example, a Chief engineer may be head of an engineering project which his junior may head in another project while the earlier chief engineer is in staff relation (dotted relation) in case of need where his junior is heading the project.

Let us first see how the OCTOPUS is chosen as a model. This non vertebrate creature of the sea is millions of years old and posses unique neurological network we call muscle memory. While many bigger animals like us have one brain moving limbs, the limbs of an octopus are known to have independent memory even for some time after they are cut off. It is said that a cut arm of an octopus continuous feeds imaginary food to its imaginary mouth.

This does not mean that the teams be cut off from the top management and report only when project is done but this technique is to foster creativity avoiding bureaucracy or even over pressurizing the top management distracting them from the projects and other duties which cannot be delegated fully. Some of the main features of the Octopus model can be enumerated as:

1. The velocity of progress is not bogged down by step by step approval. More the approvals more are the divergent views of armchair suggestion givers.

2. Each team is driven hard to achieve within the time frame. Non interference does not mean non reporting of progress at periodic levels of a reasonable frequency.

3. Innovative thinking out of the box is the environment created here as the main objective is defined in a broad manner. Details are left to the team. Ford’s black paint was initially applied by hand brushing to the Model T in multiple coats, a process that, in the end, took about a week to complete. This caused a terrible production bottleneck for Ford’s innovative mass production process, even though the black paint dried faster than all other available colors. Model Ts undergoing the painting process at the end of the assembly line jammed warehouse floors of the automotive plant.

DuPont Company’s “Duco” paint was a new coating technology which made a step change in productivity by reducing the painting and drying time from many days to a few hours. In this situation DuPont was the Octopus arm who was told to solve the car paint drying bottleneck. They may have tried even heating solutions but settled on a new chemical composition as the answer. Its more simple to use the Octopus model when outside consultants are involved as there a corporate barrier of interference.

4. No stone wall. Underlying the Octopus model is hypothesis that projects and ideas which are stonewalled by antiquated opinion holding persons in high positions will not take egoistic decisions to the detriment of the corporate. The famous Indian example is that of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan whose application to All India Radio was rejected as the interviewer found his voice ‘too deep’.?But the critical decision that was fatal to a company was that of Kodak. They had themselves initiate research for Digital cameras which is acknowledged s the main reason for their demise.

Those unfamiliar with the history of this case will be surprised to know that once a global leader in films of still camera and other imaging products had to face difficulty due to a single bad decision. Digitization was not a hit in their face as a surprise but they had themselves developed the first digital camera. Millions were invested in research. Kodak engineer Steven Sasson in 1975 built a prototype from a movie camera lens, a handful of Motorola parts, 16 batteries and some newly invented Fairchild CCD electronic sensors. Later when they were all set to launch the world's first commercially available digital camera members of the senior management team put a stop to the whole endeavor.They were worried about hurting the performance of their film division - which relied on selling single-use rolls of films to customers with non-digital camera devices. Even when?they were told that they had at most, 10 years until digital would completely displace film - they continued to resist in order to ensure that they met their own short term financial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). ?Had the Octopus model been used this would not have been the case as the developing team would have pitched their invention to all the Directors and senior management who would have used their collective wisdom to note that main objective of the project / research was achieved, instead of KPI of one division.

Essentials in Octopus model of resource allocation.

1. Management should form teams and give broad objectives, budgets and time frame.

2. Periodic report of budget and time frame can be used but only in case of need and not control. Projects such as research and invention are more of an art though in the commercial world one cannot pander to the artistic delays of the persons. A fine line needs to be drawn but not a thick line of control.

3. Totally out of the box thinking should be main stay of the team members with active co-operation and scientific reasoning without pulling rank amongst team members.

4. The Octopus arm as a team then goes on its own quest of solution finding rather than wait for the senior management respond to their needs. India’s mission to Mars is the best example for this point. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) project could not source a rocket thruster for direct path to Mars due to budgetary constraints. MOM was able to keep mission costs down by basing MOM’s design on that of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first Moon probe.?Because the PSLV (which was available from the Chandrayan project) did not have the power to place the 1,350-kg (3,000-pound) probe on a direct trajectory, the spacecraft used low-power thrusters to raise its orbit over a period of four weeks until it broke free of Earth’s gravity on December 1 and headed to Mars.

One would like to conclude that the Octopus model of Strategic Management has only advantages which should urge you to apply it at the first available opportunity.