As shown above, the Singer & Friedlander Plc deals with a wide variety of products and services and this is constantly expanding. Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance only deals with a proportion of these above.
The Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance team based in Glasgow have many years of experience in providing flexible finance to customers based across the U.K., in many sectors, including:
Manufacturing
Engineering
Professional Practices
Vehicle and Plant Hire
Local Authorities
Construction
Printing
Transport
S & F Commercial Finance also provides finance to private individuals for major acquisitions, such as light aircraft.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION
INTRO:
The culture of an organisation is essential in encouraging innovation. The leaders/directors of the company play a crucial role in setting the climate and working the ways and attitudes they expect from others.
Cultures supporting innovation are characterised by openness and communication plays a key role with face-to-face communication being vastly encouraged. Innovative cultures are characterised by freedom, trust and information freely available to those that need it.
The key underlying theme at Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance is COMMUNICATION. The manager believes this is an important ingredient of their company’s attitude towards innovation and quality. Informal communication is vastly encouraged between all levels of employees. Instead of emails and memos, company employees are encouraged to discuss ideas in person (face to face). Layout of office is modern, flat and open plan without boundaries between departments. This was deliberately created to encourage ad-hoc meetings and face-to-face communication. Openness and trust is an integral part of the company.
“We use an open door management system in our company. Our door is open all the time. You are lucky if our door is closed 1 hour in 40. We want people to feel senior management assistance is available at all times. We also want to hear ideas and opinions from all levels of staff. We want this idea to cascade down through our organisation”.
The manager also believes they play a key role in building the culture of the organisation.
“We must lead by example. Work the ways we expect from others.”
Rating: * * * * * *
STRETCHING TO ACHIEVE
INTRO:
This aspect is related substantially to performance. People should be stretched to achieve and organisations should demand and expect high levels of performance from their people. Mediocrity is not tolerated, but the company strives to motivate and encourage their people. Staff should be allowed to take risks, to persevere and to vanquish obstacles when surrendering would be the easy way out.
Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance believes that stretching the staff to achieve is a key aspect for innovation.
“We encourage our people to be 100% committed to this company and want them to work to the best of their ability”.
Objectives are mutually set at all levels of the Singer & Friedlander company and are cascaded down through the organisation. Regular team meetings are obligatory and there is a briefing session every week by senior management.
The managers hold performance meetings every quarter with all members of staff as well as annual reviews. The company offers performance-linked incentives such as profit sharing which is based on team performance.
Ceremonies are held regularly to reward and recognise the good work from members of staff. “This always goes down well as there is a drink afterwards” says the manager.
“The main aim of our company is to motivate our staff to work to their full potential, to take risks once in a while and to not to bottle up any problems they have. We operate on a “no blame” culture here.
Rating: * * * * *
PEOPLE FIRST
INRO:
Companies wishing to be successful at this day in age must recognise that their people are the only genuine origin of long-term competitive advantage. Companies should strive towards supporting, encouraging, thanking and rewarding their staff for success. Companies should aim to employ and hold on to the deserved people as well as looking for flexible, open people rather than typical system followers.
At Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance people always come first. The company is built around the individual, the personal dignity of each and the recognition of personal contributions.
It was not that long ago that a member of staff suggested an idea to the manager to improve the business further. The person wondered why the company had never entered the niche areas of financing recovery trucks and fairground equipment. With all the market leaders dominating most of the marketplace the company had to target neglected areas to stay successful. So, the management gave the employee their full backing and support and researched the selected niche areas. They entered the market and at this present date Singer & Friedlander is the market leader in financing recovery trucks and also makes successful profits from financing fairground equipment. The employee is now one of the managing directors of Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance.
Recruitment for the company is crucial. Extreme care is taken to select those who can bring something special to the company. Bright, young people possessing flair, openness and adaptability often without much experience are often favoured.
Rating: * * * * *
TEAMING WITH NETWORKS
INTRO:
Organisation to become profitable and prosperous must acknowledge the power of teams within and outside their organisation. Team members do not only include people inside the company but also working with the company but outside it. These involve suppliers, partners and clients to name but a few.
Partnerships and alliances create a form of trust and also expand vision and insight.
At Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance. The business is divided into operating units so that the performance of each contributing unit can be more closely monitored.
The company believes in a team approach throughout their supplier relationships e.g. funding, systems.
Singer & Friedlander have shown how important teaming with networks can be when they created joint venture relationships with companies around the UK. With Britannia Rescue (a car recovery club with 500 members) Singer & Friedlander created a special finance scheme for all members. This has paid of extremely well as this venture lead straight to another similar venture. Kenning Car & Van Hire has 300 franchisees / agents across the UK. Here, the company saw the opportunity to create preferential and flexible finance terms for Kenning’s customers. By utilising this co-marketing approach it was discovered that the brand strength of both companies had become enhanced by this joint venture and had become doubly powerful.
“By aligning ourselves with these 2 companies, when the approach was made to the end user, i.e. Kennings agents / franchisees, the borrowers automatically valued the joint venture relationship and the perceived seal of approval in both directions”.
Rating: * * * * *
HANDS–READY TOP MANAGEMENT
INTRO:
Organisation must realise that control, systems, and command are detrimental to innovation. However, lack of control and supervision can lead to problems. A balance must be found. Leaders and managers should show support and trust to any projects and allow freedom but involve oneself where required. This shows a degree of control but also freedom.
At Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance, management believe key to being a good manager is to take an overview of the business by looking at the wider picture. The secret is to spot trends that may affect the development of the business. However, it is important that management are able to focus on fine detail as and when required. They believe in giving staff “de-facto” authority.
“What this means is that we aim to give people a level of authority to make their own decision in order to provide them with the power and confidence to do the job to the best of their ability”.
The key aspect that came across when interviewing the manager of Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance was the support and commitment that the management show to projects and new ideas.
“We also believe in fostering innovation and creativity by allowing each member of staff a substantial degree of freedom”.
The company also believes in the “Management by objective”. This is where each individual makes their own plans and strategies to achieve company goals. After management approves this, each employee is allowed a high degree of freedom to work within these initiations imposed by these plans.
The manager summed up their management technique in one comment:
“We aim to show support, dedication by efficient communication, coaching, productive feedback and mutual understanding”
Rating: * * * * *
MAKING IT HAPPEN
INTRO:
Successful organisations today have realised the aspect of “making it happen”. A company must be proactive rather than reactive. To be innovative does not just happen. It requires work, commitment and management. “Making It Happen” is all about generating ideas through informal and formal approaches. Sometimes relying on intuition rather than in-depth analysis. Managing the risk is a key factor and usually involves a multi-stage process with end of stage reviews. A company however must also strive to foster and preserve their competitive advantage using patenting, trade marking and registering for their designs.
Being a “secondary” bank (not a high street name), Singer & Friedlander have learned the skill of making things happen. Being overshadowed by the huge banks such as Royal Bank Of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Clydesdale to name but a few, the company has learned that generating new ideas through hard work and commitment is paramount for survival.
The manager believes that generating new ideas mostly comes from feedback from past ventures and from feedback from customers and clients.
Singer & Friedlander have made it happen by bending the rules slightly and entering areas of the markets that other companies and banks do not risk to enter, e.g. aviation equipment finance, fairground equipment finance. Areas like these above are neglected by the major companies so S & F must take advantage.
The company has also made it happen by allowing staff to make quarterly presentations to the management where staff are free to express new ideas and strategies that they think will benefit the company.
Overall, the manager felt that the company hade made it happen by:
“Steadily growing and managing our organisation, listening attentively to customers, trusting and respecting people and being committed to quality and innovation”.
Rating: * * * * *
CONNECTING WITH THE CUSTOMER
INTRO:
Organisations to be prosperous and acknowledged must have a substantial understanding of their markets and customers in which they operate. They must also have a regular and actual awareness of the needs and wants of their customers. This also applies to needs that have not yet been fully recognised.
The aim of Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance is to finance vehicle and equipment of any type for any growing business.
“We aim to fully understand the needs of our customers. We are constantly seeking feedback from customers concerning the suitability of our products relative to their financial needs”.
The company also runs several free phone lines dedicated to specific areas of their business. E.g. aircraft finance, truck finance, etc. The company feels that it is imperative that potential customers. The company feels that improving customer service can lead to a growth in sales despite the heavy competition.
The Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance website is used to promote products, but not to make sales. It is designed to warm up customers, provide information and to attract them to the company. S & F actively trawls internet news groups and bulletin boards looking for trends and has an e-mail dialogue with 20-30 customers a day. Constant revisions are made to marketing strategy in the light of information received.
“We aim to create partnerships with customers and clients through the basis of trust and respect. The input from clients on new products and services is valued as this is what makes the company more successful. We want to know we are giving the customer what they want”.
Rating: * * * * *
NEW MARKET VISION
INTRO:
Some companies to gain more acknowledgement and to become more successful challenge and replace the already established market formula with a new vision. A company may need to alter the manner in which it accesses their markets. This can be achieved in numerous ways such as adapting company processes or altering distribution channels.
Singer and Friedlander believe that larger companies and banks can be restricted by their size in being able to create flexible and innovative solutions in a short period of time. This is why Singer & Friedlander carefully analysed and identified areas where quick decisions and prompt customer service could create strong niche areas of operation. As Singer & Friedlander are a small secondary bank then targeting these neglected niche areas are vital for survival.
One prime example of when the company targeted a niche was when they identified in the pro market place, particularly the pro health market place and opportunity to change their product delivery system. It was here that Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance created an online web based financial product for the dentistry sector (denta-lease.com). This was an online leasing evaluation system where potential borrowers could find information on various options in order to select the most efficient and appropriate finance. Singer & Friedlander’s first customer was financed for a complete dentist surgery refit worth £95, 000.
Another example of new market vision was when Singer & Friedlander realised that larger companies and banks had historically financed aviation equipment e.g. .light aircraft by way of an aircraft mortgage. This type of finance was identified as being a cumbersome method of obtaining security.
Singer & Friedlander identified the opportunity to finance aviation equipment on a higher purchase of leasing agreements in the same way an expensive motorcar would be financed.
“We took a risk with this with this venture. However, it has paid off now as a healthy share of business now comes from this type of finance”. We aim to continually identify niche areas of the market that are neglected by the major leaders.”
Singer & Friedlander believe that strict head-on competition should be avoided and that areas where competition is less severe are noticed as this is the area where the opportunity to improve margins are more available.
Rating: * * * * *
KNOWING HOW TO WIN
INTRO:
This is a vital element for a company to prosper and win in their marketplace. The company must be aware of where they stand against competition. They must compete on a basis of their own strengths and avoid direct competition when triumphing is not likely. Businesses should compete on quality and service rather than competing on cost.
As mentioned before, Singer & Friedlander is a secondary bank (not a high street name) so they learned how to play smart in their marketplace. Competition from banks such as Clydesdale and Lloyds TBS is much too strong to try and face head on. This is why the company aims to dominate the areas of business which the major market leaders neglect. These niche areas mentioned in previous chapters include recovery trucks, tow trucks, aircraft and fairground equipment.
The company analyse competitors’ statistics and information annually to find out where they stand relative to businesses and companies in the same market sector.
Rather than compete on cost Singer & Friedlander believe that:
“Innovation, flexibility and quality of service are of paramount importance for survival”
Rating: * * * * *
BARRIERS TO INNOVATION & CREATIVITY
After close analysis of Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance it became clear that even though the company was continuing to be successful there were still a few barriers to creativity that exist within the organisation.
- Being such a small organisation, Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance cannot enjoy the economies of scale that are available to other larger, leading finance organisations. (Lloyds, Royal Bank). The opportunity to enter these organisations market place is out of the question as S & F would not even make a slight dent in it.
- As a small lending organisation, there is a limit to the amount of risk that can be taken when creating new products, services and new markets. E.g. The opportunity to finance larger aircraft than at present is available. However, the level of funding required in order to confidently enter this market is an automatic limitation for a company as small as S & F.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
There are very few recommendations available, if any to assist S & F with creativity and innovation. For such a small organisation it must already possess a high degree of creativity and innovation to succeed in amongst such volatile competitors. The company is smart enough not to enter the directly competitive market and has been creative and innovative enough identify areas in the market where the company can succeed. The company has also not just done this but also altered and created new business processes and products which in turn have not only helped S & F but also satisfied their loyal customers.
DID S & F PASS THE INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY ANALYSIS ?
Based on 9 aspects
RATING
Building a culture of innovation * * * * *
Stretching to achieve * * * * *
People first * * * * *
Teaming with networks * * * * *
Hands-ready management * * * * *
Making it happen * * * * *
Connecting with markets * * * * *
New Market Vision * * * * *
Knowing how to win * * * * *
34 / 45
In conclusion, Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance definably passed the innovation / creativity audit as they have employed the right kind of staff, generate new ideas, no when and not to take risks and view innovation, creativity and adaptability of paramount importance to their business.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Amabile, Teresa. How To Kill Creativity: Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 1998, pp77
- Isenberg, J. Daniel. How Senior Managers Think: Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1994, pp81-90
- Ainsworth-Land, Vaune. Imaging and Creativity: Journal of Creative Behaviour, 16, 1, 1982, pp5-29
- Singer & Friedlander: Performance, refinement and dependability. Business Money magazine. Issue 92, Sept 2001, pp 33-36
- Henry, Jane. Creative Management. London: SAGE, 2000
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- website for Singer & Friedlander Commercial Finance
- Kelly, Andrew. “Singer and Friedlander make R/KYV their standard for the Millennium”
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