Big car-makers ‘nibbled’ to death
Seeing in the Economist these firms seeking billions in aid recalls a comment years ago by Tom Peters re their long, slow demise. They were not killed by overwhelming force of much stronger rivals – they were ‘nibbled to death’ – by Germans in high-performance saloons, by Japanese in compacts, then SUVs, and now in hybrids. What puzzles me in all this is that they had access to what they needed to win these smaller battles. These same firms have for decades had much more efficient, well-designed models in their European and other subsidiaries. Shows how powerful a force against professional strategic management ‘not-invented-here’ can be.
More on strategy in the crisis
More from McKinsey Quarterly on the crisis A new era for management. Links in this intro article seem not to work, so here are direct links to articles I found useful, plus one on consumer sectors that may do better or worse than others. Read more
Strategy in health-care
I see Booz Allen organised a Diabetes Thought Leader Roundtable Discussion, bringing together diverse groups to discuss this major healthcare challenge. Strategy for such societal issues is especially challenging vs. corporate cases precisely because of the multiple actors and agencies involved. An integrated model of how these all interact is essential if effective, coordinated policy is to be achieved … Read more
When a new business model is essential
The music industry is a great example of where ‘changing the business model’ – aka ’strategic innovation’ or transformation – has been essential. So although I have poured cold water on this idea for almost all firms at almost all times, it’s worth looking at this case. Read more
Previous strategic incompetence in banking
Watched a great TV series recently The Ascent of Money presented by Professor Niall Ferguson. If you cannot view it, the book is probably good too. It makes the dry and obscure world of banking and its origins brilliantly accessible. One little nugget in the latest episode reminded me, though, that it’s not long since the last time those clever folk in banking messed up so badly that governments had to bail out the disaster at our expense – remember emerging market debt? Read more
Simple strategy dynamics case example
Most of the corporate work I do on strategy can’t be made public, so here’s a small case from the non-profit sector that nevertheless demonstrates the principles of strategy dynamics. [It's not just businesses that need strategy!]. Download the report at the end of the full post, but please read and appreciate the background before doing so. I am grateful to Andrew Daw and Doug Cowper, past and current UK presidents, for permission to make this report public. Read more
Strategy – a troubled discipline
Managers may not know or care, but this really matters. I’ve argued for professional strategic management before [search the archive], but if there’s a crisis in the discipline itself, there’s little chance of ever achieving that aim. Be clear – the academic topic of strategy is in real crisis. Students don’t like the courses, recruiters don’t value what they learn, executives don’t use its tools, and academics don’t want to be part of the field. A recent academic journal has some reasonably accessible discussion about the issue [not free I regret]. Here’s more about the problem, why it has come to pass, and possible solutions. Read more
Strategy in asset-heavy firms + model
the Economist says Mr Obama plans big spend to fix US infrastructure. Origins of problems that led to bridges collapsing, water mains bursting, and massive sewage leaks are easy to see – politicians can always put off long-term investment in favour of short-term give-aways. But CEOs face similar temptations. Read on for a detailed explanation of this topic and an exercise to try for yourself … Read more
Strategy in cyclical industries
The world’s biggest basic materials firms are suffering along with others as the world economy collapses, and the Economist points out that taking on loads of debt to grow and acquire others did not help. But these industries have always suffered cyclicality, even when not buffeted by extreme market conditions. Pity is that we have known how to steer away from these dangers for many years. Seems to me the same principles would have been useful to a great many other firms over the last 5-6 years. Here’s the essentials and an article that explains more … Read more