Beating the west at its own game
Commercial success with innovation depends less on the innovations themselves than on the other qualities of a firm. Sony’s use of Bell Labs technology is the classic example.
Manager from Mars
For all the analogies, war is not business. Sun Tzu will not tell you much about business strategy.
Blurring of responsibility
You can be responsible to people to whom you are not accountable; and you can deal with interlocking and conflicting responsibilities. Why do so many thoughtful people fail to realise this?
Facing supermarket forces
Is Wal-Mart’s entry into the UK market a sign of global retailing? It’s an interesting move, when Wal-Mart itself is solidly small-town American.
Evolution, executives and blurred vision
Incremental rather than radical change is usually the best business strategy. When radical change is needed it will usually be provided by new businesses altogether.
The myth of excellence
In the black-and-white world of business opinion, Marks and Spencer is now firmly out of fashion. But corporate success depends on establishing and defining one’s own self.
The car that lost its way
BMW has a chequered history, and if the current management had learned lessons from the past they would never have purchased Rover.
Perennial hits hard times
What makes a successful retailer? It seems that Marks and Spencer may have forgotten the capabilities that put them on top.
Why the last shall be first and the first shall fade away
Being the first to innovate is rarely the road to riches many presume. Business history is paved with industries dominated by followers.
When consensus does not really mean agreement
Just as universities need to tell people to stop quibbling and work towards a common objective, companies need to realise that clustering around a corporate conventional wisdom that has not been subject to analysis and debate is also not a recipe for success.