Statistical Analysis System - Research Paper Example

?Type here The Factors that made SAS Corp. a success About the Company Statistical Analysis System abbreviated as SAS came into being at North Carolina State University as part of a project for the analysis of agricultural research. The demand for such software kept on building from then onwards, hence, the company came into being in 1976. The objective of the company was to facilitate customers coming from all sorts of industries and fields, ranging from pharmaceutical companies to banks, academic, and government organizations. SAS did not look back from then onwards. Continuous research and development helped the software achieve new milestones in the industry with the ability of the software to run on different platforms and across multivendor system architecture, which it is still famous for. One interesting point worth mentioning here is that the company kept on expanding and becoming more and more global each day, the internal corporate cultures and values have remained the same throughout. It is a privately help company. The solutions provided by the company have helped client organizations innovate and improve their performance. The company motto is ‘The power to know’ and this is what they do for their customers, they help the customers make better, informed decisions. The company proudly states that they impact every single person every day they believe that they have role in the daily lives of everyone. SAS has been able to help organizations utilize the greatest and most powerful asset they possess, the data and has helped them in turning it into useful information. SAS is uses at more than 50,000 sites in more than 100 countries around the globe including the 93 out of the top 100 Companies on the Fortune 500 Global list of 2010 (About SAS, 2011). Right from its birth, the company had a unique organizational culture. They had instilled a unique value within the employees of the organizations that the business of doing business is everyone’s job. An example of this approach is back in the early days, when a shipment of user manuals came, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and formed a human chain to ship those manuals to the storage space on the second floor. The company always maintained their focus on the customers right from the start. They had employees listened to the customers and tried to answer their queries and take their suggestions into consideration. Emphasis on the satisfaction of employees was as important as customer satisfaction. The company offered a flexible work environment and a employee-friendly culture and it did so right from its start and has maintained its trademark up till now. They have also gained continuous recognition from FORTUNE, Working Mother, BusinessWeek, and Mother Jones Magazines for their great work place environment. Not only the company managed to maintain a great work culture at its head office, it has also managed to do the same while earning recognition for it at the same time. In 1999, SAS Australia was the first office outside USA to be recognized as a great place to work. Other offices around the world also started getting recognition for the same reason later on. In USA, SAS has been consistently in the list of “100 Best Companies to Work for” since 1998 and it was named no. 1 in the same list during 2010 and 2011. The above-mentioned statistics and information highlight the success of the company from the time it came into being. Several factors are responsible for making a corporation successful. SAS has emphasized and implemented certain strategies and indulged into a work culture that has made it largest privately held software company and the no. 1 employer in the United States. Critical Success Factors SAS CEO, Jim Goodnight regards employees as their most valuable assets and this has clearly been one of the main reason behind their exceptional success in the past 35 years of their existence (Culture, 2011). Several changes have evolved in the business model as well as the employee model, however, one thing that has remained constant is connection between employee satisfaction that drives customer satisfaction. The company has maintained that if the employees are happy, the customers are also happy. Moreover, one of the major aspects or reasons behind success is that what is spoken regarding people, quality, and service is backed by actions. This is why, there is a strong trust relationship between the employees and their leaders. Success factor # 1 – Putting employees first The organization rightfully identifies that the employees are human beings and they have life outside the organization that they should be allowed to look after and pursue. The employees at SAS trust the company that it will always put their best interest first, and hence, they also put the organization first. Understanding the human behavior and characteristics of the employees has also helped SAS grow and provide it with the optimal turnover rate of less than 3% (Work Style Magazine, 2011). Every human being wants to feel respected and trusted, and this is exactly the kind of relationship built between employees and top management; trust and respect. The trust between managers and employees empowers employees to make informed decisions at all levels and divisions. This trust also makes an employee feel worthy and enthusiastic about fulfilling expectations of the top management, hence, driving him to do more and work while aiming high (Cantoria, 2011). Success factor # 2 –Inculcating confidence in employees The employees at SAS understand the success of their company is not a bubble, it is sustainable and hence, they focus their energy on producing high quality work. They are confident that the organization would treat them fairly, help them grow professionally and academically, while also help support their personal lives. They are sure that they are very important for the success of the organization and this drives their ideas, creativity, and considerations while working at SAS (William, n.d.). Success factor # 3 – Direct Communication The organization has managed to maintain a direct link between the top management and the employees distributed all across the globe. There is an open and honest culture at SAS, and a framework of executive communication. The framework requires the executives to speak directly and honestly with employees, answer their questions frankly, and take ideas and feedback. SAS has long implemented one-to-one meeting and small group meetings since its birth. The company has gone through the trouble of implementing various strategies for effective communication among the executives and the employees. An example of this is the introduction of the SAS leadership live program, modeled after Larry King Live. These shows enable topic based interviews to occur between a moderator and various SAS leaders and also enable on-air questions. Blogging and other more recent methods of communication has also been put into place to reduce deadlocks that arise when organizations expand and grow (Lyman, n.d.). Success Factor # 4 – Equality When organizations expand, they tend to ignore their lower tier staff. However, at SAS, staff in areas like landscaping, security, food service, healthcare, and recreation and fitness as SAS employees. SAS has not outsourced these areas to external organizations, and hence, these employees are treated similar to the employees involved in producing and selling the software. This culture cultivates a unified will in everyone working at the organization of continued growth and prosperity for the whole organization. Success Factor # 5 – Customer Focus SAS from the time of its birth has always focused on getting to know the customer better. The company’s prime focus was on fulfilling customer needs. Customer focus in the company has always been there. The first formal invite to customers for their suggestions and feedback came as early in 1976, with the first SASware Ballot. The front desk employees at every point of contact were responsible for making a conscious effort to listening to customers and responding to their unique needs (History, 2011). Besides the above-mentioned factors, integrity, professionalism, strong bonds and an ideal working place have all worked towards transforming SAS into the leading organization that it has become today. The most important factor has been the early realization of the company that employee satisfaction drives customer satisfaction and their devotion towards the realization has played the most important role in driving the success of SAS. References About SAS, (2011). Company/About SAS. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from Culture, (2011). SAS – The power to know. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from Work Style Magazine, (2011). Work Style – A worldwide observatory in work style changes. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from Cantoria, Ciel S. (2011). Landing a Job at One of the Best Places to Work. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from William, (n.d.). What’s the magic? HOW does a company like SAS get ranked #1 two years back to back? Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from History, (2011). Focus on the customer. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from Lyman, Amy (n.d.). SAS Institute - 2010 #1 Company to Work for in America. Retrieved on June 15, 2011 from Read More