November 2022
Make Strategy Happen
In their book The Execution Premium, Harvard’s Norton and Kaplan stated that 80% of companies never achieve the full value of their strategy. That is a frightening statistic. In our experience, the greatest reason is that short term needs take precedence over long term strategic choices. So, what can leaders do differently to be among […]
September 2022
The Impact on Strategy in the Midst of Uncertainty
Uncertainty…Has inflation peaked? Are we in a recession? Will the federal reserve increase rates? Will supply chain challenges be resolved? We have written often about the challenges business leaders face and the impact of uncertainty on strategy management. Two of our most recent articles on the subject were Strategic Thinking in Turbulent Times, May 2022 […]
July 2022
Make Strategy Happen
Watching the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews’ Old Course this year was exciting, particularly watching how players were tested on a very challenging golf course. Each player had his strategy going into the tournament, but to win they needed to execute. To win, they needed remained flexible by adapting to course conditions, changing weather, […]
May 2022
Strategic Thinking in Turbulent Times
Here we go again…supply chain challenges continue to cause shortages driving costs up; tightening labor markets are pushing wages higher; global energy prices are at new highs due to geopolitical disputes; and these external factors threaten to push the economy toward a recession. We are in another challenging business cycle that demands changes to how […]
April 2022
Strategic Thinking in Uncertain Times
Our businesses are entering new challenging times. Inflation is at a 40-year high, energy prices have almost doubled, material costs are rising, and the federal reserve will be taking steps to slow the hot economy. On the heels of the pandemic, we now face new geopolitical risks, and it’s time once again to prepare for […]
March 2022
Why is it So Hard to Achieve Our Strategic Objectives?
Does this sound familiar to you? You’ve held your strategy meeting with your leadership team late last year, identified strategic objectives and initiatives, assigned responsibilities and you were off and running. Everyone was on board, or so it seemed. What’s happening? Why are we not making any progress against these initiatives that are critical to […]
February 2022
Make Strategy Management a Competitive Advantage
There was a great article by Bain & Company written in 2017 entitled Strategic Planning that Produces Real Strategy: Is your planning process a competitive weapon or a waste of time? We liked the article back then and still do because it supports everything about our strategy management framework. The authors are careful not to overstate by […]
January 2022
Six Cs of Successful Strategy Execution
In their book The Execution Premium, Harvard Business School professors Norton and Kaplan found that 70% of companies fail to achieve the full value of their strategic plan. A Brightline survey carried out in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit found that 53% of executive leaders believe that a failure to deliver on strategic objectives […]
December 2021
Our Top Ten Strategy Quotes for 2021
As is our custom each year, we have selected our top strategy management quotes to inspire you in the new year. 2021 continued to be challenging, with new variants of Covid, supply chain shortages, inflation, and a lack of skilled workers, to name a few. But private and family businesses have demonstrated an incredible resilience […]
November 2021
The Most Common Strategy Mistakes
Michael Porter is the founder of the modern strategy field and one of the world’s most influential thinkers on management and competitiveness. He is a professor at Harvard Business School and author of 19 books. If you’ve studied strategy at all, Porter is a must read. We wrote about Porter’s interview with Joan Margretta, Porter’s […]
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