John Kay

Not all business strategy problems have answers, including those of BT, as Sir Christopher Bland will find when he takes over.

Concentration in the car industry is increasing as the market goes global: a common story, and an untrue one.

Great size is a warning of trouble ahead in the banking industry; and the trouble may be for the taxpayer as much as the shareholder.

If there is not much evidence to support the view that large firms outperform small, or that industrial structures are becoming more concentrated, why do so many people still believe these things are true?

Despite beliefs about the inevitability of size and concentration, and despite vigorous efforts to make them come true, the share of large firms in total output is not going up.

Never has the cult of gigantism gone so far. But what are the real advantages to scale?

While accounting firms are “going global”, their rationale for doing so does not apply to other industries.