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“Competitive Intelligence” Shouldn’t Just Be About Your Competitors

Harvard Business Review

For the next year, Jessica Eliasi, then the director of Competitive Intelligence at Mars Chocolate, travelled the world running “competitive simulation” games with local market teams from Russia to Mexico to Turkey to England. She then fed the results as market intelligence input into a senior leadership competitive game.

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The Best Companies Know How to Balance Strategy and Purpose

Harvard Business Review

Before the iPhone was introduced, in 2007, Nokia was the dominant mobile phone maker with a clearly stated purpose — “Connecting people” — and an aggressive strategy for sustaining market dominance. In 2006 alone, Nokia introduced 39 new mobile-device models. The Gap Between Strategy and Execution.

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Why Elon Musk’s New Strategy Makes Sense

Harvard Business Review

The first installment had been written in 2006. It outlined Tesla’s automotive strategy and it has been pretty much followed to the letter. The second installment moves Tesla beyond the traditional car market, with a plan to reconfigure our cities, energy systems, and our impact on the environment.

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Tinkering with Strategy Can Derail Midsize Companies

Harvard Business Review

In 2006, they hired an experienced president to manage their rapidly growing business. But because midsize companies lack the resources of big companies, which can experiment with multiple new strategies and launch pilot projects, midsize firms are at risk when they divert scarce resources from their core business.

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Your Organization Wastes Time. Here’s How to Fix It.

Harvard Business Review

Look closely, and you’ll find that most companies have stretched their brands and product portfolios to customers and markets in which they are undifferentiated and profits are weak. Companies with foresight will make this change before the market or an activist investor demands it. Redesign the Operating Model.