John Kay

I do not think children should be taught that greed is the most powerful human motivation. The people who are most successful in business in the long run are people who are passionate about business, not money.

Few things corrode business efficiency and effective markets more insidiously than the discovery that it is more profitable to win the favour of politicians than to win the approval of customers.

Commercial and economic success, even in technological industries, depends not on the quality of technology, but on the match between technology and the needs of its customers.

The present systems of ticket allocation have much more to do with the maintenance of networks of patronage than the carefully targeted allocation of seats to “genuine fans”.

There are historic lessons to be learnt from the recent high definition format war: the importance of the installed base and the unpredictability of consumer markets.

The corporation’s unique identity is defined by its distinctive capabilities. The matching of distinctive capability to market and industry is the process that defines “our space”.

The chicken game, which frequently ends in tragedy or folly, is a game for movie-going teenagers, not grown-ups.

Farewell to ICI, Britain’s leading industrial company for most of the 20th century. As a national institution, ICI nurtured some of Britain’s best management talent and developed the skills and knowledge behind the country’s most successful postwar industry.

When pressure for brand extension of products and geography is continuous, and the service must be delivered by local partners, it is hard to maintain the brand as a means of quality control.

The debate over the role of competition and competition policy is less about technical arguments than about the nature of society.