1338 Posts Found

Consistent alignment of capabilities and internal processes with the customer value proposition is the core of any strategy execution.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Execution, Strategy

The expansion of services may be the most important business trend of the past two decades. But trying to grow new services can create a series of unexpected obstacles.

Content: Article | Authors: Dianne Ledingham, Jim Gilbert, Sarabjit Singh Baveja | Sources: Bain & Company, Harvard Business School (HBS) | Subjects: Management, Strategy

In a balanced technology portfolio, short-term projects must meet the immediate needs of the business, while longer-term investments should address the strategic priorities of the future. These include investments in pacing technologies, i.e., those that will create future competitive advantage. However, although most new technologies require at least a decade of development, today’s strategic plans rarely devote significant attention to timeframes beyond three to five … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: C. Gail Greenwald, Stephen E. Rudolph | Source: Prism (Arthur D. Little) | Subjects: Management, Strategy

Many US companies already market their products or services internationally. However, today’s competitive global business environment demands that all companies, large and small, new and old, give consideration to the strategic option of expanding their markets to other nations. This option can hold the potential for increased competitiveness and step-change increases in revenue and therefore cannot be ignored.

Those companies that have a well-established international … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Blaise J. Arena | Source: CEO Refresher | Subjects: International, Strategy

Grow or die – it’s a call to arms spreading throughout America’s corporations. Growth is appearing at the top of many management meeting agendas. It’s prominently featured in glossy annual reports and confidential strategic plans. It’s optimistically discussed with investment analysts. Its pros and cons are debated around the water cooler and on e-mail.

This article, excerpted from the book Go for Growth! Five Paths to … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Robert Tomasko | Source: Prism (Arthur D. Little) | Subjects: Management, Strategy

The race to change the rules of the game in an industry has two distinct legs. First, the company works toward perfection of its complex business system – learning to achieve industry-leading levels of performance, tuning its value proposition and developing a viable economic model. In our sample, the first leg required an average of 4.5 years. That was the time it took FedEx to … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy

Strategy gurus often assert that winning comes from “thinking out of the box” or “reframing the problem.” They are wrong. Across the 55 industries we studied, only four common ideas accounted for 80 percent of successful breakouts: power retailing (Home Depot, Circuit City); bypassing one or more steps in the value chain (Frito-Lay, Dell Computer); focusing, simplifying and standardizing (McDonald’s, Nucor); and megabranding (Disney).

The … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Strategy, Trends / Analysis

Show me a [person] who is afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a [person] you can beat every time.

Content: Quotation | Source: FinanceProfessor.com | Subjects: Competition, Personality / Behavior

By the looks of things, Americans are still not making many friends overseas. According to recent studies, many global brands aren’t having an easy time shaking off their “American-ness” as they aim to win over new audiences, either. How can a brand manager feel protected? Bain’s Alan Colberg and Orit Gadiesh say the answer is to localize.

Content: Article | Authors: Alan Colberg, Orit Gadiesh | Source: Brandweek.com | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Strategy

Many of the Western multinationals operating in Asia have a head start when it comes to achieving the potential benefits of cross-border integration. They already have an international reach that spans the region through established subsidiaries and experience of how to adapt to local conditions. But arguably the presence many multinationals have established in Asia is more suited to prospering in yesterday’s competitive environment rather … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Peter J. Williamson | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: International – Asia, Strategy

Multinationals need a disciplined approach to selling in emerging markets. They can’t launch consumer products with a scattershot approach.

Content: Article | Author: James A. Gingrich | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: International, Strategy

In biological ecosystems, “keystone” species maintain the healthy functioning of the entire system. Why? Because their own survival depends on it. This book argues that business ecosystems work in much the same way – one company’s success depends on the success of its partners.

Based on more than ten years of research and practical experience within industries from retail to automotive to software, The Keystone … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Authors: Marco Iansiti, Roy Levien | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy

Given that commoditization is as inevitable as death and higher taxes, you need to review your strategies on how to deal with this transition… without resorting to denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Outlined here are a few strategies, and one reversible “non-strategy.”

Content: Article | Author: Guy Smith | Source: MarketingProfs | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Strategy

A business model should enhance a company’s special strengths and core competencies: how it wins customers, attracts and deploys economic and human capital, leverages the capabilities of suppliers and business partners, and earns profits. Effective business models are rich and detailed; their components reinforce each other. Change any one thing and you have a different model.

Content: Quotation | Source: Outlook Journal (Accenture) | Subjects: Business Plans, Strategy

Managing strategic relationships isn’t easy, but it can be rewarding if it’s done right.

Content: Article | Author: Larraine Segil | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subject: Strategy

Big companies don’t communicate as well as small companies, so they have a lot going against them. What do they have going for them? Muscle. Strength. Capital. So what does that say to you? Go to bat more often. Take more swings. The small company’s got to be right. They can knock themselves out of the water with a bad move. Big companies don’t have … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: STERNbusiness (NYU) | Subject: Strategy

I recently asked a question to a senior supply chain executive:
“When should you trust your trading partners and when should you withhold information from them?”

His answer:
“Never and Never.”

His answer was only partly tongue-in-cheek. It highlights a dilemma we all face. When important information is withheld, it leads to enormous inefficiencies or even disasters in the supply chain. Trust is needed to streamline decision … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Bill McBeath | Source: TechnologyEvaluation.com | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy

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This book is expensive-almost $120-but worth knowing about, we think. The authors, who are with CREAX Information Technologies in Bangalore, describe the decision-making framework known as the Analytic Hierarchy Process, which is used worldwide, and discuss how it works in business, defense, and governance. In a nutshell, AHP helps structure the complexity, measurement, and synthesis of rankings for making decisions related to forecasting, resource allocation, … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Authors: Kanwal Rai, Navneet Bhushan | Subjects: Management, Strategy

In the field of supply chains, there are many different strategies, fads and cures for a variety of problems. There is an abundance of information that outlines every new concept and idea on how to improve supply chain performance. But what works for one company or industry will not necessarily work for another. Given the diverse needs of different industries and businesses, one-size-fits-all or try-everything-until-something-sticks … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Kearney | Subjects: Operations, Strategy