First Friday Book Synopsis

MAY 14, 2011

The Future of Management Gary Hamel with Bill Breen Harvard Business School Press (2007) With all due respect to today’s business bestsellers, most of the best books have already been written on the most important subjects.

Hamel 75

Hamel Books Management Review 75

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Take Hamel and Prahalad's 1990 HBR article, "The Core Competence of the Corporation," which suggests that firms should identify some activity at which they already excel or could plausibly excel in the future, and make that the centerpiece of their strategy. So what did Hamel and Prahalad add?

Prahalad 15

Prahalad Hamel Core Competence Leadership 15

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Prahalad and Gary Hamel referred to that in an award-winning HBR article Strategic Intent. As Hamel and Prahalad point out, a snapshot by itself yields little information about "whether the driver is out for a quiet Sunday drive or warming up for the Grand Prix.". Two decades ago, the late C.K.

Power 15

Power McTaggart Prahalad Hamel 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 22, 2012

Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad's 1989 HBR article "Strategic Intent" brought about a discontinuous shift in my career — from a professor of accounting to a researcher on strategy and innovation. Hamel and Prahalad have an entirely different point of view. This latter view has strongly influenced my work.

Goal 9

Goal Prahalad Hamel CPA 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad laid out their view in the Harvard Business Review classic "Core Competence of the Corporation." While scale can create real advantage, it also can carry downsides such as molasses-like decision making processes or inflexibility.

Company 15

Company Competitive Advantage Prahalad Hamel 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad laid out their view in the Harvard Business Review classic "Core Competence of the Corporation." While scale can create real advantage, it also can carry downsides such as molasses-like decision making processes or inflexibility.

Company 15

Company Competitive Advantage Prahalad Hamel 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Prahalad , the guru of “ core competence ,” doing a strategy audit for a huge Indian conglomerate. The company, Prahalad tells the CEO, is simply too complex and diverse. A provocative—possibly apocryphal—story has the late C.K. It needs to shed a few divisions and find and focus on an integrative core competence.

Core Competence 8

Core Competence Prahalad Supply Chain Hamel 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

Prahalad and Gary Hamel's HBR classic Core Competence of the Corporation made popular the notion that knowing and mastering core business factors can be leveraged across products and markets. Here, Nokia understood that its sole strengths are not enough to win.

Core Competence 14

Core Competence Prahalad Film Hamel 14

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 1, 2012

The power of mindsets is brought home by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad's story of four monkeys sitting in a cage with a bunch of bananas hanging from the roof, accessible by a set of steps. Whenever the monkeys try to climb the steps to get to the bananas, they are blocked by a blast of cold water.

Banking 15

Banking Prahalad Hamel Emotional Intelligence 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 12, 2012

Core insights are a complement to the familiar notion of core competencies , which were first advocated by Gary Hamel and the late C.K. I call these types of insights core insights, a concept which I first introduced in my book, Innovation X. But whereas core competencies are about know-how, core insights are about know-why.

Core Competence 14

Core Competence Prahalad Hamel Brand 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

We need — using the language from Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad in their HBR piece — Strategic Intent. On the other hand, we have quarterly objectives we pay attention to, but these shorter term tactics can lack inspiration.

Mission Statement 15

Mission Statement Document Prahalad Hamel 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

We need — using the language from Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad in their HBR piece — Strategic Intent. On the other hand, we have quarterly objectives we pay attention to, but these shorter term tactics can lack inspiration.

Mission Statement 15

Mission Statement Document Prahalad Hamel 15

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad called this concept strategic intent. In nature, the purpose of a system is hardwired. Nobody has to tell a pacemaker cell in the heart what it is supposed to do. However, in organizations it is incumbent on leaders to set direction. Google strives to “organize the world’s information.”

Organization 8

Organization Airlines Prahalad Hamel 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad called this concept strategic intent. In nature, the purpose of a system is hardwired. Nobody has to tell a pacemaker cell in the heart what it is supposed to do. However, in organizations it is incumbent on leaders to set direction. Google strives to “organize the world’s information.”

Organization 8

Organization Airlines Prahalad Hamel 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 23, 2012

The well-known article on core competencies by Prahalad and Hamel (1991) best defines and lays out this rigorous task. The final piece of this puzzle: in order to make it real, you must also have a deep knowledge of your company's capabilities in order to know what you can and cannot do.

Core Competence 8

Core Competence Prahalad Hamel Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 12, 2015

Prahalad and Gary Hamel’s 1990 article, “ The Core Competence of the Organization ”). Aggressive outsourcing and partnering to improve efficiencies (perhaps a reference to “ The Origins of Strategy, published in 1989 by the granddaddy of strategy consulting, BCG founder Bruce Henderson).

Strategy 8

Strategy Porter Blue Ocean Strategy Luehrman 8