BCG’s Competing for Advantage
The Global Advantage Diamond from BCG looks useful to diagnose competitive advantage in rapidly developing economies (RDEs). It maps four issues – market access, resource access, local adaptation and network coordination – to produce a diamond map relative strengths of you and competitors. Read more
Business model innovation: BMI
A clear and practical paper from BCG explains nicely what a business model is, what ‘innovating’ it means, and when and how to do it. The only caveat is the superior total shareholder returns it claims comes from BMI innovators vs. traditional innovators – it likely excludes BMI innovators who failed. So by all means check it out, assess whether BMI is appropriate for you, but if not, get back to driving performance in your existing business model.
More items on strategy in the crisis
Amongst the continuing stream of articles on this, some good ones [I've left out some bad or downright dangerous ones] include: Read more
Beware new challengers
BCG reports on the companies from rapidly developing economies who are growing fast to join the ranks of the multinational elite. Read more
Seize Advantage in a Downturn
More (mostly) helpful advice re the downturn from HBR is Seize the advantage in a downturn in which David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter of BCG offer thoughts to stabilize your business and find opportunities … but beware! Read more
Other consultants’ warnings on the downturn
I realise I’ve focused on what McKinsey has had to say on the downturn, and especially on the failure to warn of the subprime nonsense, so thought I should check out the other big consulting firms. Not so easy, as they mostly don’t publish their own views quite so firmly or accessibly as happens with the McK Quarterly.
Why am I banging on about this? If those advisors had been urging caution when it was obvious trouble could be building, and their clients had listened and acted, then much of the over-commitment that made the boom-to-bust so serious would never have occurred. What, for example, would have happened had these firms all blown the whistle on the subprime bubble early in 2006? The world might have been a very different and happier place than it now is. So what did the consultants have to say on this and the impending downturn generally?
More executive sense on ‘knowledge’
Harald Borner, global head of talent at SAP points out that they have every conceivable technology tool to collect and share knowledge, and help people find out anything they may need to know Read more