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Three Common Misconceptions in the Connector Industry
Scenario 1: Products aren’t selling, and the boss blames employees for lack of effort
A connector manufacturer has a broad but shallow product line, with most products remaining at the stage of copying designs and competing solely on price. When sales stagnate, the boss immediately assumes that salespeople aren’t working hard enough or that the team lacks drive. As a result, he tightens attendance policies, intensifies performance evaluations, and demands more reports.
But what’s the real issue? It lies at the operational level – products lack competitiveness. Customers aren’t buying not because sales staff are lazy, but because the products themselves don’t offer compelling reasons to choose them over alternatives.
Using management tactics to solve operational problems is merely treating symptoms, not root causes. Adding ten more reports won’t change the fact that the product remains unchanged.
Scenario 2: Deliveries keep getting delayed, and the boss blames overly complex processes
Orders frequently miss delivery deadlines, triggering constant customer complaints. The boss believes the problem stems from excessive internal bureaucracy, so he streamlines approvals and reduces steps.
The real issue lies in operations – there’s no effective planning system. Salespeople hand orders directly to production without coordination, and when production sees missing materials, molds under repair, or full production lines, everyone scrambles to fix the crisis. This isn’t about simplifying approval flows; it’s about the entire end-to-end process – from order receipt to delivery – not being properly aligned. Streamlining approvals won’t fix poor planning. First, you need to map out and optimize the order fulfillment chain before discussing process improvements.
Scenario 3: Profits keep declining, and the boss blames weak cost control
Profits continue to shrink, and the boss attributes this to high costs. He cuts expenses, cancels training programs, and halts R&D investments.
The real problem is strategic – your business segment is being eroded by price wars. The mid- to low-end connector market suffers from oversupply and severe product homogenization. No matter how much you cut costs, you can’t compete with rivals using recycled materials or cutting corners.
The right solution isn’t cost-cutting – it’s shifting to a higher-value niche. This is a strategic decision, not a management issue.
02
Overmanagement
A Neglected Corporate Disease
More common than “confusing concepts” is “overmanagement.”
The most typical signs of overmanagement are: ever-longer processes, thicker rulebooks, more reports, and increasingly frequent meetings. Employees spend most of their time not actually doing work, but rather “proving they are working.” The company’s management costs grow at a rate far exceeding revenue growth.
A connector manufacturer owner once complained to me: “Last year I hired three management executives. This year sales haven’t increased, but management expenses rose by 30%.” I asked, “Then what problem were you hiring them to solve?” He thought for a moment and replied, “I just felt the company should be more formal.”
“Formality” isn’t an end goal – it’s merely a means. To pursue formality for its own sake is to use management as a cover for operational weakness – because management actions are easier to implement than business decisions, allowing leaders to at least appear “to be doing something.”
At its root, overmanagement often stems not from flawed management methods, but from a leader’s lack of trust in employees.
Because of distrust, approval steps are added; because of distrust, multiple layers of oversight are imposed; because of distrust, every action must be reported. What’s the result? Trust doesn’t increase, but efficiency plummets, and employee motivation and creativity are gradually eroded.
The essence of management is to inspire people’s goodwill and creativity – not to suffocate everyone with rigid processes and rules. Trust is not the enemy of management; it is management’s greatest lever. Replacing surveillance with accountability, and delegation with initiative, proves far more sustainable and effective than enforcing compliance through monitoring.
On the flip side, overmanagement breeds a group of people who manage without leading – especially those sitting in management roles who do nothing productive.
“Idle managers” aren’t referring to those with light workloads, but to individuals who don’t directly serve business goals or create customer value, yet hold approval power and decision-making influence. Their biggest “contribution” is constantly creating obstacles for frontline workers – this process must be approved, that signature must be signed, this report must be filled out, that meeting must be attended.
Even more insidious and dangerous is that these people usually don’t act maliciously. They genuinely believe they’re “doing management” and truly think “standardization is essential.” Yet the outcome remains the same: the true operators – the ones who understand business and fight battles – are strangled by layers of bureaucracy.
In a healthy company, the number of managers should be a fraction of the number of front-line staff – not the other way around. Management positions must be evaluated based on whether they help frontline teams better serve customers. Roles that don’t create value should be eliminated; processes that don’t support winning should be simplified; systems that fail to boost performance should be abolished.
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A Few Suggestions for Connector Business Owners
First, solve problems at the level where they occur.
If customers aren’t buying, don’t rush to enforce attendance policies – ask yourself first: Is your product competitive? Is your positioning right?
If deliveries keep getting delayed, don’t immediately impose performance evaluations – first check whether the end-to-end process from order receipt to delivery is working smoothly.
If profits are declining, don’t hastily cut costs – instead, reflect: Does your industry still have a future?
Operational issues can only be resolved through operations – changing industries, products, customers, or business models. Management cannot fix the problem of “no one wanting your product.”
Second, management must align with the current stage of business development – neither ahead nor behind.
In the startup phase, survival through raw efficiency matters more than formalized processes; in the growth stage, establish basic professional standards but avoid over-fragmenting management; during expansion, delegate scientifically and shift the CEO’s role from executor to rule-setter; in maturity, break down departmental silos and reduce internal friction; in global operations, ensure strategic resource allocation at the group level.
The achievements of each stage form the foundation for resolving challenges in the next. Companies must focus resources on addressing the most critical issue of the moment. Every step of premature management translates into real money spent on useless documentation.
Third, avoid excessive management. Keep it simple until the business direction has proven effective.
The test of whether management is excessive: look at employees’ work logs and assess the ratio of time spent actually doing work versus filling forms, attending meetings, or navigating procedures. If the latter exceeds 30%, your management burden is already too heavy.
Fourth, the more critical the role, the greater the trust and authority you should grant.
For core technical staff and key executives, excessive oversight and approval processes will either stifle initiative or drive them away. Trust fosters responsibility far more effectively and sustainably than surveillance enforces compliance.
Fifth, companies cannot afford idle personnel – especially those in management roles.
If your company has developed a group of people who don’t directly face customers, don’t participate in product delivery, and whose main job is “coordinating” and “approving,” seriously question their value. A competent manager should act as an amplifier for operators, empowering frontline teams to perform better – not as a bottleneck slowing them down.
Sixth, the CEO’s level of insight defines the company’s ceiling.
A leader who understands only management will gradually suffocate the business. Only a leader who grasps operations can guide the company in the right direction.
Many entrepreneurs start as technicians or salespeople, building success through skill and customer relationships, achieving tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. They’ve proven their capabilities. But when scale increases further, they begin to feel overwhelmed – not due to lack of ability, but because they lack a systematic operational mindset.
Management skills can be learned, but operational insight requires insight. Instead of spending every day in the office reviewing processes and revising systems, invest time on the front lines – observing customers, products, and competitors. When a CEO broadens their vision, the company’s strategic direction becomes clear, and management gains genuine leverage.
Conclusion
Business strategy determines whether a company can survive – choosing the right industry path is key.
Management determines how far a company can go – establishing sound systems defines sustainable progress.
But the order matters: business strategy always comes first, and it always outweighs management.
The connector industry is undergoing a transformation from “scale expansion” to “high-quality development.” In the general standardized segment, homogenized capacity has concentrated, intensifying price competition and exposing structural mismatches between supply and demand. Meanwhile, in high-value areas such as high reliability, high speed, and high voltage, effective supply remains insufficient, while some popular segments face potential overcapacity risks due to blind production expansions. At the heart of these issues are often strategic missteps – choosing the wrong path, setting the wrong positioning, or heading in the wrong direction.
Clarify your business strategy first, then discuss management. Only when the direction is correct does management make sense.
Once again: don’t use management tools to solve problems rooted in business strategy.