I have just come back from the ‘International System Dynamics Conference’ [no, you've probably never heard of it], and seen reported a staggeringly brilliant piece of work done for the World Health Organisation [WHO] on its strategy for eradicating Polio.

I get to read a lot of reports done by MBAs at the end of their programs, mostly strategy assessments for some opportunity an organisation is facing. There is a pretty standard pattern

A method, approach, framework or whatever is likely a ‘professional’ tool if two skilled people, given the same problem, would pick the same tool, seek the same information, process that information in the same way, and come out with something like the same answer.

It is interesting to learn that Chinese companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find the technical, functional and managerial talent they need to sustain their break-neck growth. We have seen the ‘war for talent’ raging amongst organizations in already mature economies for many years, and I guess it was inevitable that China would hit [...]

I recently came across a US-Govt-wide initiative to standardize terminology for strategic plans. It appears to have implications not only for Govt agencies but also for organizations who work with Govt. The initiative seems to be driven by the Association for Information and Image Management [AIIM] - see www.aiim.org/standards/.
The thread that deals specifically with strategic [...]

baltic capesize index boom and bust capacity expansion economist baltic capesize index boom and bust capacity expansion economist The Economist reports that the Baltic Capesize index, which measures the cost of chartering huge ocean-going vessels used to transport iron ore and coal, has hit record highs, driven by surging demand for raw materials.
Let’s guess [...]

Management and investors really do need to understand ‘total returns to shareholders’ (TRS), so all such folk would do well know how TRS really works. A better way to understand TRS would be pretty good as class 1 in any MBA strategy class too, and strategy profs [and their economist colleagues] could try explaining how their theories - largely [...]

A timely reminder to be disciplined about the businesses in your corporate portfolio - especially now there may be tempting bargains to be picked up at apparently bargain prices. Simply investing cash flow in ‘attractive’ businesses is not good enough. The value generally goes to the owners of the business being bought. The rule is [...]

I have just come back from an academic mini-conference looking at the resource-based view of strategy [RBV]. Though this has been around for about 20 years, and increasingly dominates business-school research and teaching on strategy, it does not seem to touch the real world too much. Central to the idea is that only resources that [...]

I see in the Economist that Starbucks will close a further 500 stores in America (in addition to the 100 closures it announced earlier this year), and reduce its workforce of roughly 172,000 by around 7%. I am still waiting for anyone in McKinsey to confirm that they stand by their recommendation for firms to [...]