The illusion of strategy What does a good strategy look like? How can we recognise the right one when we see it? The problem is, even in retrospect it's hard to recognise a good strategy. As often as not, we end up creating a myth. Successful organisations often point to a clear strategy underlying their growth. Or so they say. The strategies we describe in case studies are often an illusion. They probably contain elements of truth, but it’s a retrospective truth, one which can only be determined after the event when we’ve had a little time to think through what really happened. How so? In the first type of situation, we observe what’s happening. Unfortunately, most of our competitors can do pretty much the same. Fact is, most of these simple situations have already been “solved” – someone has already found a way to exploit the dynamics. In the second type of situation, strategic analysis is a waste of time. However, things look different in retrospect. We can now see what a successful strategy looks like.
| Act Different Making Hope a Business Strategy Hope -- the belief that things could be better and that you can make them better -- can help companies prosper, says Shane J. Lopez, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Kansas School of Business, Gallup senior scientist, and a leading researcher on hope. But first, leaders must understand what hope is and how to unleash its power in the workplace. It's hard to be successful without being hopeful. Hope is an active stance, says Lopez, author of the forthcoming book Making Hope Happen. It helps people launch new businesses that thrive and dream up new products that sell. Make goals meaningful. "Hope taps into a human desire to be part of something bigger," he says. Strategize hope and plan for "what ifs." One way leaders can teach employees to prepare for "what ifs" is to ask them to compare their future self to their current self. Help employees understand how they can use hope to make the workplace better. Intrusive support is a kind of complementary partnership.
New business models for electric cars—A holistic approach Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Strasse 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany Received 9 July 2010, Accepted 15 March 2011, Available online 7 April 2011 Choose an option to locate/access this article: Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Check access doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.03.036 Get rights and content Abstract Climate change and global resource shortages have led to rethinking traditional individual mobility services based on combustion engines. Highlights ► We present a systemic instrument to analyze business models for electric vehicles. ► Provide decision support for an enterprises dealing with electric vehicle innovations. ► Combine business aspects of the triad between vehicles concepts, infrastructure as well as system integration. ► In the market, activities in all domains have been initiated, but often with undefined or unclear structures. Keywords Business models; Electric vehicles; Morphological box
8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap When starting your business, we know there's a lot to handle and think about. There's your (growing) team, your intellectual property, product management and a pinched budget, all while you're trying to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship. But even without millions your brand can make an impression. 1. Yes, it's annoying when things go awry with a purchase or brand experience — maybe something got lost in the mail or a credit card was accidentally charged twice. People don't often tell their friends, "I bought something on Fab, and it was delivered right on time" — that's expected (and, from personal experience, it's typically what happens). Jumping through hoops makes a customer feel special, and it also impresses them and develops brand affinity. "We operate on a very lean marketing budget as a young startup," says Jamie Viggiano, director of marketing at TaskRabbit, adding that word of mouth is a major driver of the startup's new customer base. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Business Strategy News, Strategic Marketing & Management | Management Today Britain's 10 oldest family businesses 15 April 2014 Family businesses will contribute £218bn a year to the UK economy by 2018. As these firms show, keeping it in the family can be a recipe to success. Diageo is going deeper into emerging markets Just as everyone else is getting out of emerging markets, Diageo is taking the brave step of increasing its presence in India by buying up its biggest spirits manufacturer. Debenhams' profits dive as House of Fraser sales hit record The department store has promised decisive action. World Health Organisation: 'E-Cigarettes should be treated exactly like tobacco' 14 April 2014 Leaked documents show vapers could be about to join smokers in the smokers' shelter. Tesco just can't keep out of the US The supermarket is planning to open seven stores selling its cheap-as-chips F&F clothing range on the East Coast. Cambian is 2014's most under-hyped IPO 11 April 2014 Sleeping chairman: How to alienate all your shareholders in one fell swoop 10 April 2014
Toolbox | There’s a toolbox, filled with stuff to help you along the way. There are two basic tools and lots of additional tools. Two basic tools The two basic tools are the Role Cards and The Method roadmap. Role cardsA deck of cards with all the 6+1 role cards represented. The Method roadmapThis tool is called ‘The Lab’. (We’re working on a online webshop. Every phase has its own What-Why-How card. WHAT: what the phase is about and what it means – what you’re going to do.WHY: why the phase is needed; the importance of the phase – why you should do it.HOW: practical hands-on information – how you could do it. + Lots of How-to Tools Besides these basic tools, there are lots of helpful how-to tools (available in English and Dutch). The chart below provides a picture of the Plan B Toolbox (Click to enlarge). Click to Enlarge These are all concrete tools, techniques and tips & tricks, to carry out activities. (We’re always busy creating new tools. You can be part of this exciting movement.
Publications The Evolution Of Strategy 01/03/2013 Last week I asked the question, “Will Big Data Replace Strategic Thinking?” Many of you answered, with a ratio splitting approximately two for one on the side of thinking. But, said fellow Search Insider Ryan Deshazer, “Not so fast! Go beyond the rebuttal!” I agree with my friend Ryan. Both the Harvard Business Review and the New York Times have recent posts on the subject. He further speculates that U.S. monetary policy might do better being guided by an algorithm rather than bankers: “The fact is, you can look at information in real time, and you can make minute adjustments, and you can build a closed-loop system, where you continuously change and adjust, and you make no mistakes, because you're picking up signals all the time, and you can adjust.” However, Lohr and Fox (who wrote the excellent book, “The Myth of the Rational Market”) caution about the oversimplifications inherent in modeling. - Something as complex as monetary policy can be contained in a closed loop system
Gaining attitudes towards electric vehicles Chris Walsh from Cenex finds out what fleet operators really think about electric vehicles after taking part in the Smart Move trial Cenex – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon vehicle technologies – has recently completed a six month study that looked at the feasibility of integrating electric vehicles into fleets, and surveyed the perceptions of fleet drivers and managers towards electric vehicles. The Smart Move Trial took place in the North East of England and was designed to test the hypothesis that organisations that operate vehicle pools and fleets are ideal candidates as early adopters of electric vehicles. The more predictable and planned travel requirements of fleets lend themselves to electric vehicles being more easily and economically restricted to certain applications. Fleets also operate a return-to-base operation where only a limited amount of recharging infrastructure needs to be installed.
New Zealand Partnerships for International Development Fund | New Zealand Aid Programme Our development investment should make a very real and positive difference for people in need, their families and communities in developing countries. We want to show measurable, positive changes to their quality of life. The Partnerships Fund has been established to harness the expertise and innovation of New Zealand charitable, other not-for-profit, private sector and state sector organisations in the delivery of aid activities in developing countries. The Partnerships Fund is: a multi-sector contestable fundfocused on sustainable economic development in a developing countryconstructed around forming partnerships with New Zealand organisations who work with local in-country partners on aid activities.available to fund activities which align with the strategic focus and sector priorities of the New Zealand Aid Programme. Partnerships for International Development Fund | FactSheet (PDF 188kb) How do Partnerships Fund rounds work? The Partnerships Fund application process Confirmed dates
How to put your money where your strategy is - McKinsey Quarterly - Strategy - Growth Picture two global companies, each operating a range of different businesses. Company A allocates capital, talent, and research dollars consistently every year, making small changes but always following the same broad investment pattern. Company B continually evaluates the performance of business units, acquires and divests assets, and adjusts resource allocations based on each division’s relative market opportunities. Over time, which company will be worth more? If you guessed company B, you’re right. In fact, our research suggests that after 15 years, it will be worth an average of 40 percent more than company A. For the past two years, we’ve been systematically looking at corporate resource allocation patterns, their relationship to performance, and the implications for strategy. We’ve also reviewed the causes of inertia (such as cognitive biases and politics) and identified a number of steps companies can take to overcome them. Weighing the evidence Exhibit 1 Enlarge Exhibit 2 Exhibit 3
Business Model Generation