Don Tapscott
Often the term “business model” is used more or less synonymously with “business strategy.” For example, Adrian Slywotzky describes it as “the totality of how a company selects its customers, defines and differentiates its offerings (or response), defines the tasks it will perform itself and those it will outsource, configures its resources, goes to market, creates utility for customers, and captures profits. It is the … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Business Plans, Strategy
Beyond Utopia: The Realist’s Guide to Internet-Enabled Supply Chain Management
The solution to more efficient supply networks lies not with “frictionless” technologies, but with shared objectives and insights across the extended enterprise. Call it “Federated Planning.”
Editor’s Note: this article offers an interesting, “against-the-grain” argument against the “perfect information” proponents of SCM.
Content: Article | Authors: Anne Chung, Keith Oliver, Nick Samanich | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Operations
The Dilemma Doctors
Dr. Trompenaars, a 48-year-old Amsterdam-based consultant of French and Dutch descent, and Dr. Hampden-Turner, a 65-year-old British writer with a long history of social science research in America, are the two most prominent figures focusing on cultural diversity in business today. Their “dilemma theory,” as they call it, argues that we can never grow to become great business leaders until we actively strive to embrace … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Art Kleiner | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: International, Management
The Organization Model
And the New Economy Winner Is…Europe
The European Union is emerging as a formidable competitor among world economies, thanks to an aptitude for cross-border management and an ease with cultural diversity.
Content: Article | Author: Stuart Crainer | Source: strategy+business | Subject: International – Europe
Bring on the Super-CMO
Faster than a brand strategist, stronger than a line marketer – and in demand at companies worldwide.
Content: Article | Author: Steve Silver | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Trends / Analysis
The Myth of Customer Satisfaction
“Why are customers who say they’re satisfied not necessarily repeat customers? Because satisfaction is a measure of what people say, whereas loyalty is a measure of what they actually do. Many managers still don’t recognize this fundamental difference, so they use customer satisfaction and customer loyalty interchangeably, as though they were synonyms.”
Content: Article | Authors: Arthur Einstein, Mark Klein | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Customer Related, Management
John O. Boochever, Thomas Park, and James C. Weinb
It’s important for the CEO to view the parts of the CIO’s organization devoted to providing infrastructure services (e.g., company networking, systems management) differently than other “business-facing” departments. The former are not strategic activities – frankly, they’re more akin to utilities than core businesses – and it’s unfair to judge them on the basis of return on investment. They’re requirements and costs of doing business. … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Management
CEO vs. CIO: Can This Marriage Be Saved?
Improving organization and communication will help chief executives and chief technologists form a more perfect – and profitable – union.
Content: Article | Authors: James C. Weinberg, John O. Boochever, Thomas Park | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management
How Snap-on Tools Ratchets Its Brand
The way to create a world-class brand is to give customers what they need, when they need it, and never let them out of your sight.
Content: Case Study | Author: Glenn Rifkin | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Industry Specific, Marketing / Sales | Industry: Automotive
A Framework for Thinking About Cost Drivers
Inside Dell Computer Corporation: Managing Working Capital
The secret to excellence lies in doing many things well. It also requires staying focused on the goal even when tempted to do otherwise.
Editor’s Note: this article is from 1998 but for those not too familiar with Dell it will be of value.
Content: Case Study | Author: Lawrence M. Fisher | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Industry Specific | Industry: Personal Computer
The Barista Principle – Starbucks and the Rise of Relational Capital
How did a small Seattle company turn itself into a global synonym for java and joe? The answer, we believe, lies with an ingredient as central to Starbucks’s business as the premium coffee beans it roasts: Relationships.
Starbucks is not the only company that firmly believes that an emphasis on relationships should be more than simply management rhetoric. Nor is it the only company that … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Gary L. Neilson, Ranjay Gulati, Sarah Huffman | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Best Practices, Case Related
The Internet as Integrator – Fast Brand Building in Slow-Growth Markets
To link and augment marketing communications programs, spin the Web around them.
Content: Article | Author: David Aaker | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Marketing / Sales
Coffee Consumption
Capturing the Value of Supply Chain Management
Twenty one years after its development, Supply Chain Management, once deemed a promising new way for companies to manage operations, has failed to achieve its promise, according to a new survey of large companies worldwide by Booz Allen Hamilton. Although companies spend more than $19 billion annually on information technology systems to improve their supply chain performance, nearly half of the companies in this survey … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Dermot Shorten, Harriet Engel, Peter Heckmann | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Operations
Mark Klein and Arthur Einstein
Why are customers who say they’re satisfied not necessarily repeat customers? Because satisfaction is a measure of what people say, whereas loyalty is a measure of what they actually do. Many managers still don’t recognize this fundamental difference, so they use customer satisfaction and customer loyalty interchangeably, as though they were synonyms.
Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Customer Related, Marketing / Sales
Noel M. Tichy
Noel Tichy is currently professor of organizational behavior and human resource management and director of the Global Leadership Program at the University of Michigan business school. Between 1985 and 1987, Dr. Tichy served as the GE’s manager of management education at its Leadership Development Center in Crotonville, N.Y.
Content: Thought Leader | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Industry: Education / Training
What FreshDirect Learned from Dell
And what other e-tailers might learn from make-to-order pioneers.
Content: Case Study | Authors: Barrie Berg, Martha Turner, Tim Laseter | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Industry Specific, Operations | Industry: Food Products/Service
Symantec’s Strategy-Based Transformation
How fresh leadership, serial acquisitions, and a new market made CEO John Thompson’s billion-dollar promise come true.
Content: Case Study | Author: Lawrence M. Fisher | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Industry Specific | Industry: Software