| IHRSA Report | First Set ®
The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association is a not-for-profit trade association open to investor-owned and member-owned fitness, racquet and athletic facilities. Associate memberships are available to manufacturers or suppliers of products and services of use to IHRSA members.
800-228-4772 USA & Canada 617-951-0055 International 617-951-0056 FAX
www.ihrsa.org www.healthclubs.com E-mail:
info@ihrsa.org
IHRSA Board of Directors
Art Curtis: Chairperson Millennium Partners Sports Club Management, LLC 617-476-8910
Mike Raymond: Curves International 254-399-9285
Susan Cooper: BodyBusiness Health Club & Spa 512-459-9424
Sandy Hoeffer: Clubsource Development Partners 415-459-1500
David Hardy: Franvest Capital Partners 780-953-4273
Kilian Fisher: IHRSA Europe Council +353 89-4322125
Chuck Runyon: Anytime Fitness 651-438-5000
Kay Yuspeh: Elite Fitness & Racquet Clubs 262-786-0880
Bill McBride: Club One 415-477-3000
Richard Bilton: Companhia Athletica +55 11-5181-2000
Carol Nalevanko: DMB Sports Clubs 480-609-6979
Brent Darden: TELOS Fitness Center 972-458-2582
Scott Gillespie: Saco Sport & Fitness 207-284-5953
David Patchell-Evans: Ex-officio GoodLife Fitness Clubs 519-661-0190 ext. 238
SPECIAL ADVISOR EUROPE
Christian Pierar: De Fitness Organisatie +32 9-232-5036
Art Curtis IHRSA Chairperson
Innovate Out of Slow Growth!
The great recession may be over, but things certainly aren’t back to normal—or, at least, the normal that we knew before 2008. Now, we’re trying to understand how we can help our clubs prosper given a slow-growth environment in which buying behaviors have changed dramatically.
Those of you who’ve fared the best during the prolonged economic downturn probably did so by playing good defense. However, in a new book, Accelerating Out of the Great Recession, How to Win in a Slow-Growth Economy, authors David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter, of the Boston Consulting Group, argue that defense isn’t enough to prevail in a slow-growth economy. To win, you have to go on the offensive. One of the most effective ways to do so, they remind us, is to
focus on innovation. A study conducted recently by Accept Corp. found that there
were several characteristics common to highly innovative com- panies, as well ones shared by the least innovative.
The top innovators understood how to:
• Balance investments in breakthrough advances with spending on incremental innovations in existing processes, products, and services.
• Prioritize by focusing on projects that aligned both with market needs and the company’s overall business strategy.
• Analyze customer feedback effectively, right from the start, so they could make adjustments or drop an idea early on if it wasn’t well received and, then, move on to the next idea.
On the other hand, the poor innovators: • Didn’t listen to customers or truly understand their wants and needs.
• Didn’t collaborate with their customers and other stakeholders, including staff and suppliers, when developing new ideas.
• Were misaligned, with poor communication between senior management and line staff, resulting in resources being spent on the wrong ideas, or leading to poor execution of viable ideas.
• Were uncertain because of a lack of clear criteria and decision-making processes. As a result, decisions were made on the basis of internal politics and subjectivity rather than an idea’s actual merit.
• Executed ideas ineffectively. They found it difficult to allocate resources to match a new market opportunity, and, simultaneously, to keep their eye on the ball with respect to their core products and services.
So, how does your business stack up in terms of innovation? —| – Art Curtis,
acurtis@millenniumptrs.com
www.
ihrsa.org | JULY 2011 | Club Business Internat ional 89
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