Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit
We found that your industry’s performance is responsible for almost half of your position on the [economic profit] power curve. Industry impact is so substantial, in fact, that you would be better off as an average company in a great industry than a great company in an average industry. But here is the kicker: mobility on the curve is possible—but rare. The odds of a … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Strategy
Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit
At some level, it is easy for the CEO to deal with uncertainty by playing the portfolio game of spreading investment like peanut butter around numerous businesses, knowing that not every bet has to pay off for the total plan to work. The problem is that a portfolio game on the corporate level becomes a matter of all-in commitment for an individual-business-unit leader. We have … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Strategy
Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit
Uncertainty is not only everywhere in and around strategy—it is the very reason we need strategy. Without uncertainty, we would just need a plan to go from A to B.
Content: Quotation | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
Eight Shifts that Will Take Your Strategy Into High Gear
Developing a great strategy starts with changing the dynamics in your strategy room. Here’s how.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit
Business strategy, at its heart, is about beating the market; that is, defying the power of “perfect” markets to push economic surplus to zero. Economic profit—the total profit after the cost of capital is subtracted—measures the success of that defiance by showing what is left after the forces of competition have played out.
Content: Quotation | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Economics, Strategy
Eight Shifts That Will Take Your Strategy Into High Gear
Developing a great strategy starts with changing the dynamics in your strategy room. Here’s how.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
How to Confront Uncertainty in Your Strategy
Lack of certainty about the future is the very reason you need a strategy. Instead, embrace probability.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
Strategy to Beat the Odds
We identified ten performance levers and, importantly, how strongly you have to pull them to make a real difference in your strategy’s success. We divided these levers into three categories: endowment, trends, and moves. Your endowment is what you start with, and the variables that matter most are your revenue (size), debt level (leverage), and past investment in R&D (innovation). Trends are the winds that … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
An Incumbent’s Guide to Digital Disruption
No matter how strong their ingoing balance sheets and market share—and sometimes because of those very factors—incumbents can’t seem to hold back the digital disruption tide. The champions of disruption are far more often the attackers than the established incumbent. The good news for incumbents is that many industries are still in the early days of digital disruption. Print media, travel, and lodging provide valuable … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Clayton O’Toole | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Strategy
Mastering the Building Blocks of Strategy
Increase your likelihood of developing effective strategies through an approach that’s thorough, action-oriented, and comfortable with debate and ambiguity.
Content: Article | Authors: Angus Dawson, Antoine Montard, Chris Bradley | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
The Strategic Yardstick You Can’t Afford to Ignore
A systematic scan of the economic-profit performance of nearly 3,000 global companies yields fresh insight about where and how to compete.
Content: Article | Authors: Angus Dawson, Chris Bradley, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Strategy
Have you tested your strategy lately?
Ten timeless tests can help you kick the tires on your strategy, and kick up the level of strategic dialogue throughout your company.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy
Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit
80 percent of the variance in revenue growth is explained by choices about where to compete, leaving only 20 percent explained by choices about how to compete. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of the allocation of time and effort in a typical strategy-development process. Companies should be shifting their attention greatly toward the “where” and should strive to outposition competitors by regularly reallocating resources … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy