1338 Posts Found

Only a small minority of companies succeed in creating shareholder value over long periods of time, even when they manage to grow revenues. Many companies enjoy temporary spurts of growth, only to see their gains erode under the onslaught of competitors. And even those who achieve sustained revenue gains are often surprised to find no corresponding gain in shareholder value. Yet a handful of companies … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Chris Zook, James Allen | Source: Bain & Company | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy

To get from where your business is to where it wants to go, you have to pay attention to the missing steps or “strategy gap.”

Content: Article | Authors: Brian Hartlen, Dave King, Dennis Ganster, Michael Coveney | Source: Darwin Magazine | Subjects: Management, Strategy

Neither first movers nor followers are doomed from the start. What matters are the interactions between different causes and different effects.

Read the companion opinion pieces
Brigitte Cerfontaine on ‘Entry strategies’
Content: Article | Authors: Regis Coeurderoy, Rodolphe Durand | Source: European Business Forum (EBF) | Subject: Strategy

Corporate alliances have made a number of companies much more profitable-and made business a lot more complicated.

Content: Article | Author: Howard Muson | Source: Across the Board (ATB) | Subjects: Management, Strategy

Are we spending too much on technology? This provocative Harvard Business Review excerpt suggests that IT no longer conveys competitive advantage, so invest your capital elsewhere.

Editor’s Note: read a series of letters from business luminaries discussing the original controversial HBR article, along with the author’s reply at:
Content: Article | Author: Nicholas G. Carr | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy

Customer segmentation: More than just a marketing tool. Customer segmentation is at its most powerful when used as a fundamental part of the strategic process and not simply as a marketing tool. After aligning an organization to serve targeted groups identified and focused upon by a sound segmentation, a company can beat the competition with a differentiated and defensible value proposition.

Content: Article | Authors: Dorie Krawiec, Vijay Vishwanath | Source: Bain & Company | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Strategy

Emerging technologies signal their arrival long before they blossom into full-fledged commercial success. However, the signal-to-noise ratio is initially so low that one has to work hard to appreciate the early indicators. The weak signals to be captured usually come from the periphery where new competitors are making inroads and unfamiliar technology paradigms are emerging. The periphery, however, is crowded with possibilities that may or … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Management, Strategy

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Bad strategy decisions lead to layoffs, budget cuts, ruined careers, personal stress, and the pain of the saddest words in the English language: “What could have been.” The best antidote is the words “what if?” – if they’re spoken before the decision gets made.

This article will provide a framework to assist managers in creating a great strategy efficiently and effectively. It will discuss:
– … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Mark Chussil | Sources: CEO Refresher, Competia | Subject: Strategy

Without plenty of attention and TLC, a joint venture may well run aground.

Content: Article | Author: Roy Harris | Source: CFO Publishing | Subjects: Management, Strategy

This article discusses new models for planning strategic investments in times of uncertainty. The three are:
1. Contingent road maps
2. Four-Region Framework Portfolio Management)
3. Strategic Evolution Principles

Content: Article | Author: Hugh Courtney | Source: Optimize Magazine | Subject: Strategy

Because analysis is not synthesis, strategic planning is not strategy formulation… ultimately the term strategic planning has proved to be an oxymoron.

Content: Quotation | Source: ILRU/NCIL | Subject: Strategy

Cisco. Sony. Palm. Contract manufacturers gave OEMs more supply chain headaches than solutions. What went wrong. What needs to be done.

Editor’s Note: I think this is an interesting counter-balance to the arguments made by Don Tapscott in “Rethinking Strategy in a Networked World (or Why Michael Porter is Wrong about the Internet)”

Content: Article | Authors: Bill Lakenan, Darren Boyd, Ed Frey | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Outsourcing / BPO, Strategy

Most companies battened down the hatches during the recession of the early ’90s. But the more successful competitors pressed their advantages.

Content: Article | Authors: Francis Malige, Richard F. Dobbs, Tomas Karakolev | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy

The Harvard strategy guru errs when he says partnerships erode competitive advantage, the author contends. Instead, they are now central to business success.

Editor’s Note: This article is basically a long retort to a HBR article by Michael Porter; though it makes some valuable points, its tone sounds like the desperate complaints and pleas for justice of a vanquished opponent…

Content: Article | Author: Don Tapscott | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Strategy, Trends / Analysis

Corporate identity is a crucial component of all firms, yet it is often overlooked until a crisis forces companies to confront change, argue Wharton management professor John Kimberly and colleague Hamid Bouchikhi. Managers at Nissan and Danone Group took identity into account when instituting change, the researchers suggest, while managers at Vivendi and Hewlett-Packard didn’t. Ford is wrestling with the issue now. Kimberly and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Change Management, Strategy

In normal times, four boundaries limit the scope and nature of a company’s business: regulations, competition, customers’ attitudes, and the organization’s ability to change. In times of crisis, however, the boundaries often shift dramatically, and those shifting boundaries can become the means through which companies improve their competitive position.

Content: Quotation | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Competition, Strategy

INSEAD scholars W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne say the key to success isn’t about your company or industry. It’s about smart strategic moves.

Content: Article | Authors: Des Dearlove, Stuart Crainer | Source: Chief Executive | Subject: Strategy

There is substantial shareholder value hidden in servicing products after they are sold. In fact, over time, service may actually contribute more to earnings than sales do. The authors describe how companies can establish service as a differentiator with high margins, even in difficult economic times, including a discussion on four typical stages of organizational development.

Content: Article | Authors: Brian M. Sprague, C. Edwin Starr, David J. Standridge | Source: Outlook Journal (Accenture) | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Strategy

Looking at which e-commerce companies succeeded, and which crashed and burned, shows that being a first mover is often a disadvantage, according to two venture capitalists.

Content: Article | Authors: Geoffrey A. Moore, Peter Fenton | Source: Context Magazine | Subject: Strategy