1338 Posts Found

Logistics alliances-formal or informal relationships between companies and logistics providers-are rapidly emerging in Europe, North America, and, increasingly, East Asia. A McKinsey survey shows that their success depends on six best practices.

Content: Article | Authors: Graham Sharman, Peter Van Laarhoven, Shyam Lai | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Operations, Strategy

The goal of business strategy is to gain sustainable competitive advantage in order to be able to achieve the organization’s purpose and objectives. Business strategy is most effectively broken up into three core components: business horizon, business focus, and business performance.

Content: Article | Author: Jeffrey Nielsen | Source: CEO Refresher | Subject: Strategy

Shooter on site. Epidemic. Major power outage. Is your organization prepared to deal with crisis? HBS professor Michael Watkins explains what you need to know, and offers a checklist to evaluate your preparedness.

Content: Article | Author: Michael Watkins | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Operations, Strategy

Newcomer and veteran companies alike are using the Internet to pursue some dangerous paths to profitable growth. As a consequence, the gulf between the pursuit and achievement of profitable growth is widening. Professors Subramanian Rangan and Ron Adner help managers distinguish between what is technically feasible and what is strategically desirable, explain the full implications of seven widely held strategy misconceptions, and offer decision frameworks … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ron Adner, Subramanian Rangan | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy

A look at two different and complementary strategic planning models:
1. Industrial Organizational (I/O) Model
2. Resource-Based Planning Model

Content: Article | Author: Mark W. Sickles | Source: CEO Refresher | Subject: Strategy

Properly analyzing a business investment requires a valuation tool that can measure the unique characteristics of the opportunity and evaluate the resulting information in terms of the current financial markets, says Silicon Valley’s Amram. To achieve that goal she offers three tools for measuring value – Discounted Cash Flow, Real Options, and Decision Analysis – and “valuation templates” that allow the tools to be customized … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Martha Amram | Subjects: Finance, Strategy

BIS Banking systems had the “Midas touch,” literally. During the 1980s, the company journeyed to the number one position in the world of the specialized financial (banking) software industry. MIDAS, its flagship software package, became the installed system for more than 400 banks around the world. But in April 1990, the company somewhat lost that touch, because despite its diffusion and success, BIS missed the … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Paul Verdin, Van Heck | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Finance / Banking | Company: BIS Banking Systems

From state-regulated monopoly to pan-Asian powerhouse, the Singaporean telecom SingTel has come a long way. In this two-part case study, Research Fellow Sarah Meegan and Professor Peter Williamson focus on SingTel’s mobile operations, asking you to consider the firm’s history, its acquisition of Optus, and the challenges it faces in managing its network of partnerships and executing its regional strategy.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Peter Williamson, Sarah Meegan | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Telecommunications | Company: SingTel

In 1984, a small band of Canadian street performers set out to breathe life back into the tired circus industry. In creating Cirque de Soleil, a unique amalgam of circus, opera, theater, and spectacle, founders Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier turned what used to be traditional circus shows for kids into unconventional entertainment, primarily targeted to adults. This case explores how this troupe went … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Ben Bensaou, Chan Kim, Matt Williamson, Renée Mauborgne | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: Miscellaneous, Strategy | Company: Cirque de Soleil

MobilCom has an ear for its business – the reselling of mobile phones – and its sharp senses have also picked up on a diversification opportunity in Germany. Should this young, successful company plunge into the action, or is the deal too much to handle too fast? In their case studies, Erol Ali Dervis and Professor Laurence Capron explain how this company handled those questions. … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Erol Ali Dervis, Laurence Capron | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: Industry Specific, Strategy | Industry: Telecommunications | Company: MobilCom AG

What motives propel international expansion? It seems like it’s a trend for so many businesses, but in the case of Vedior, Professor Paul Verdin and Nick Van Heck query the real benefits and the classic expansion dichotomy of Europeanisation versus localisation.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Nick Van Heck, Paul Verdin | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: International, Strategy | Company: Vedior International

INSEAD Professor Subramanian Rangan and Brian Coleman explain that through more than 100 successful years in business, Reuters advanced through countless communication strategies – from carrier pigeons to an Internet portal. So how did Reuters manage its development, from flying through the air to flying through fibre-optic cables?

Content: Case Study | Authors: Brian Coleman, Subramanian Rangan | Source: INSEAD | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy | Industry: Publishing | Company: Reuters

As in any relationship, the keys are respect, long-term commitment, and not asking the lawyers to settle your differences.

Content: Article | Author: Rosabeth Moss Kanter | Source: Business 2.0 | Subjects: Management, Strategy

The faster big business cleans up its ethical mess, the sooner we can address the real crisis of capitalism. Giant companies dominate the landscape — from media to medicine, banking to broadband. But talented people don’t want to work for them, customers hate doing business with them, and Wall Street doesn’t want to invest in them. A candid appraisal of why so many big companies … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Keith H. Hammonds | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Strategy

Unless the distant goals of meaning, greatness, and destiny are addressed, we can’t make an intelligent decision about what to do tomorrow morning — much less set strategy for a company or for a human life. Nothing is more practical than for people to deepen themselves. The more you understand the human condition, the more effective you are as a businessperson. Human depth makes business … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Strategy, Wisdom

Combining financial and nonfinancial measures to get a true picture of business performance requires an understanding of how four basic perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard click.

Content: Article | Author: Ivy McLemore | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subjects: Management, Strategy

The Balanced Scorecard has helped Boeing, Sears and other companies achieve radical improvements in their management systems’ performance. The key to capitalizing on this tool is customizing it for your company’s needs.

Content: Article | Author: Ivy McLemore | Source: Business Finance Magazine | Subjects: Management, Strategy

Content: Book | Author: Willie Pieterson | Subject: Strategy

Preparing a company strategy can bury you in data. Make it easier by drawing a strategy picture, advises this excerpt from Harvard Business Review. Here’s how Southwest Airlines found “The Big Picture.”

Content: Article | Authors: Renée Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Strategy

Our strategies must be tied to leading-edge customers on the attack. If we focus on the defensive customers, we will also become defensive.

Content: Quotation | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Strategy