Tips from the Top Presents an Interview with William Park (MBA 1996): Digital Impact's Founder and CEO
Vik Bhatia, MBA2, and Yasmin Zarolia, MBA2
Issue date: 4/21/03 Section: News
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William Park's (MBA 1996) company, Digital Impact, has survived the rise and fall of the Technology sector. In this edition of Tips from the Top, he shares the differences in managing a company in a 'bull versus bear' market. His thoughts on recruitment, communication, and performance appraisal would make any HR professor proud.
TFTT: A recent article in the Oakland Tribune (July 1, 2002) attributed your company to helping companies such as the Gap, Hewlett-Packard, and Peets Coffee and Tea continue to grow their e-Commerce sites. Would you characterize this as consistent with the company's vision? What is the relative importance of vision in today's business environment?
Park: It's more important than ever. In a bull market, vision can be overlooked because the rising tide raises all boats and people run like crazy. In this economy, however, people need to know what they are going to go through since they will be asked to do more with fewer resources.
Vision is irrelevant if not matched by values and strategy. Vision and values must be aligned. Further, if you have a solid vision statement, you can bounce strategies off of it and only pursue those that are consistent with the vision. Spending time on your vision statement makes it easy to discard strategies that aren't relevant.
You need to show all stakeholders where you're going and why it's important. You need to give them a reason to be a part of the company. That's why vision is even more important in today's business environment than in a bull market.
TFTT: The last 2-3 years have obviously been very difficult, especially for businesses related to e-commerce. How would you characterize the importance of the leadership team to a company's survival?
Park: The importance of the management team doesn't change in a bull or a bear market. The composition of the leadership team, however, does change. In a bull market, visionaries are invaluable for driving growth and creating new products. In a bear market, managers need to take a more short-term orientation and focus on metrics more so than ever before. They need to run the company with fewer resources. Some managers may thrive in one environment, but not the other.
TFTT: A recent article in the Oakland Tribune (July 1, 2002) attributed your company to helping companies such as the Gap, Hewlett-Packard, and Peets Coffee and Tea continue to grow their e-Commerce sites. Would you characterize this as consistent with the company's vision? What is the relative importance of vision in today's business environment?
Park: It's more important than ever. In a bull market, vision can be overlooked because the rising tide raises all boats and people run like crazy. In this economy, however, people need to know what they are going to go through since they will be asked to do more with fewer resources.
Vision is irrelevant if not matched by values and strategy. Vision and values must be aligned. Further, if you have a solid vision statement, you can bounce strategies off of it and only pursue those that are consistent with the vision. Spending time on your vision statement makes it easy to discard strategies that aren't relevant.
You need to show all stakeholders where you're going and why it's important. You need to give them a reason to be a part of the company. That's why vision is even more important in today's business environment than in a bull market.
TFTT: The last 2-3 years have obviously been very difficult, especially for businesses related to e-commerce. How would you characterize the importance of the leadership team to a company's survival?
Park: The importance of the management team doesn't change in a bull or a bear market. The composition of the leadership team, however, does change. In a bull market, visionaries are invaluable for driving growth and creating new products. In a bear market, managers need to take a more short-term orientation and focus on metrics more so than ever before. They need to run the company with fewer resources. Some managers may thrive in one environment, but not the other.