strategy+business: STRATEGY & LEADERSHIP

China's Mid-Market Innovators

by Edward Tse, John Jullens, and Bill Russo — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

A new category of global competitor -- low-price, high-quality Chinese business-to-business upstarts -- is shaking up the competitive landscape around the world. The conventional strategy for many multinational incumbents, of trying to divide the market with "just good enough" products for the low end, will no longer suffice. Global multinationals must change their overall ways of doing business.

The Steve Jobs Way

by Jon Katzenbach — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Most business leaders would be thrilled to achieve Steve Jobs's level of market success, but should they aspire to lead like him? Steve Jobs may have been, as Walter Isaacson says in his eponymous biography, "the greatest business executive of our era," but he was a mercurial, demanding, and tyrannical one. Applied to the wrong strategy, market, or product, his behaviors could sink a company. In the end, what made Jobs such a successful leader was his much-lauded talent for envisioning and delivering breakthrough products and services.

The Right Role for Top Teams

by Rob Cross and Jon Katzenbach — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Analysis of informal networks offers a potent leadership model for the C-suite: Make top teams the hub of the enterprise, and watch performance improve.

Strategy: An Executive's Definition

by Ken Favaro, with Kasturi Rangan and Evan Hirsh — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

What is a business strategy? Many executives struggle with this question. Here is a succinct, pragmatic answer. Strategy is different from vision, mission, goals, priorities and plans: it is the result of choices made to maximize long-term value.

Connections with Integrity

by Reid Hoffman — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The venture capitalist who cofounded LinkedIn reveals the surefire system that he has used since high school for evaluating potential business relationships. Peoples' attitudes about alliances range from purely transactional to deeply altruistic, and this outlook determines the kind of partner they will be, either on a social network or in a face-to-face deal.

Three Games of Strategic Thinking

by Tim Laseter and Saras Sarasvathy — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Corporate decision makers struggling with uncertainty need not always gamble the same way; they can choose from a trio of business strategy paradigms - planning and positioning, organization learning, and constructive transformation - that have each proved useful for different companies at different times.

Navigating the First Year: Advice from 18 Chief Executives

by Ken Favaro, Per-Ola Karlsson, and Gary L. Neilson — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

CEOs who took part in Booz & Company's 2011 study of CEO turnover share their thoughts about the difficulties they faced, the successes they achieved, and what, in retrospect, they might have done differently in their first year on the job.

CEO Succession 2011: The New CEO's First Year

by Ken Favaro, Per-Ola Karlsson, and Gary L. Neilson — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

As the worldwide economy recovers, the number of companies appointing new chief executives is on the rise. Just as the recovery has been unevenly distributed, however, so too are those new CEOs -- not just geographically, but also in terms of their backgrounds and experience. More and more in the last several years, new chief executives are coming to their position from the outside, as boards of directors look for new blood from other companies and other industries, in hopes of introducing fresh thinking into their executive mix. In 2011, the 12th consecutive year Booz & Company has been following the fortunes of CEOs at the world's 2,500 largest public companies, 14.2 percent of those CEOs were replaced.

Is Your Company Fit for Growth?

by Deniz Caglar, Jaya Pandrangi, and John Plansky — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Companies that cut costs thoughtfully and deploy their resources strategically will be prepared for the next round of expansion. Drawing on experience from Ikea, Aetna, SABIC, Pitney-Bowes, and elsewhere, this step-by-step article shows the three actions (set prorities, optimize costs, reorganize for growth) that can make a company ready for growth.

Managing in a Multipolar World

by Paolo Pigorini, Ashok Divakaran, and Ariel Fleichman — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In a world with multiple centers of power and influence that are changing the way business is done, multinationals need a coherent and flexible global enterprise management model that can adapt to (and get ahead of) rapid evolutions in the market. To enable success, companies should focus on three key areas: organization structure and footprint, decision rights and controls, and leadership and talent.

The Two Levels of Strategy

by Ken Favaro — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Business strategy is best distinguished from corporate strategy by the different perspectives that business leaders and strategic planners must bring to bear. Business strategists must answer questions about customers and capabilities; corporate strategists about the overall portfolio of businesses.

Diagnosing Your Top Team's Span of Control

by Gary L. Neilson — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

What is the right number of direct reports for any incoming C-level executive? It depends on your company's purpose, the length of your tenure, and other factors. This article leads readers to Booz & Company's Span of Control online tool, which can help determine an appropriate span of control, based on the leader's specific situation.

Netflix Wasn't All Wrong

by Ken Favaro with Kasturi Rangan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Six months after video rental company CEO Reed Hastings was forced into a strategic retreat from Qwikster, strategists can still learn a lot from his decision.

Big Pharma's Uncertain Future

by Alex Kandybin and Vessela Genova — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The business model that drove the major drugmakers' success isn't working anymore. The survivors will be those that make smart strategic bets supported by winning capabilities.

The Capabilities Premium in M&A

by Gerald Adolph, Cesare Mainardi, and J. Neely — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

A new Booz & Company study of inorganic growth strategies shows that deals made to enhance or leverage capabilities consistently outperform other mergers and acquisitions. In analyzing more than 300 transactions in eight industries, and in looking at successful serial acquirers ("Pac-Man" companies), the same conclusion holds: Deals made with a capabilities perspective are far more likely to generate value over time.

Aerospace: Shorten the Product Launch Cycle

by Jono Anderson and Randy Starr — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Technology: Digitize the Verticals

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Industrials: Embrace Strong-Form Product Management

by Dan Holland, Barry Jaruzelski, Arvind Kaushal, and Marian Mueller — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Winning Moves for 12 Industries

by Thomas A. Stewart — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Every industry faces its own challenges from this year's turbulent, uncertain business environment. Booz & Company researched the capabilities systems that could pave the way for business growth and development in a dozen key sectors.

Automotive: Prepare for Black Swans

by Michael Beck, Brian Collie, Scott Corwin, Evan Hirsh, and Jan Miecznikowski — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Chemicals: Deploy Natural Supply Chains

by Dennis Cassidy Jr., Jayant Gotpagar, and Marcus Morawietz — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Healthcare: Cut Costs, Strengthen Segmenting

by Gary Ahlquist, Gil Irwin, Minoo Javanmardian, and Jack Topdjian — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Retail: Become Better Curators

by Deniz Caglar, Nicholas Hodson, Karla Martin, and Marcelo Tau — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Retail Banking: Build Customer-Oriented Capabilities

by Paul Hyde, Ashish Jain, and Corey Yulinsky — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Pharmaceuticals: Go to Market More Effectively

by Peter Behner, Rick Edmunds, Marcus Ehrhardt, and Greg Rotz — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Telecom: Provide Experience

by Bahjat El-Darwiche, Roman Friedrich, Michael Peterson, and Karim Sabbagh — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Wealth & Asset Management: Bolster e-Relationships

by John Rolander, Srini Venkateswaran, and Gauthier Vincent — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Consumer Packaged Goods: Invest in Shopper Marketing

by Matt Egol, J. Neely, and Richard Rawlinson — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Seven Value Creation Lessons from Private Equity

by Vinay Couto, Ashok Divakaran, and Deniz Caglar — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Although public companies do not enjoy certain liberties that highly concentrated private ownership affords, their boards and executives can learn from the best practices of private equity firms, adapting them to the realities and constraints of their own business model. Here are seven lessons from PE on how to build a value creation regimen.

The Top 10 M&A Fallacies and Self-Deceptions

by Barry Jaruzelski, Marian Mueller, and Peter Conway — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

With merger and acquisition activity heating up, here's a due diligence checklist for regaining clarity.