Harvard Business Review

MARCH 21, 2017

Walmart has held a low-price leadership position from its start. The company’s obsession with competing with Amazon also seems to have taken Walmart’s focus off its brand identity in everyday low prices. In its announcements and ads about the new free shipping service, product prices have not been mentioned.

IT Strategy 11

IT Strategy Strategy Core Competence Price 11

CO2

APRIL 30, 2013

In both of the cases I’ve outlined here, the organization’s culture usually dictates its strategy. When it doesn’t (when strategy isn’t shaped by culture), customers and employees tend to get thrown by the bull. Hire around your culture, not the technical needs of the position. So, what is your culture?

Executive Coaching 134

Executive Coaching Operations Strategy System 134

Skip Prichard

JUNE 26, 2019

If the overall experience doesn’t please and excite the customer, a company is hard-pressed to outsize its strategy. I have sat through many strategy meetings listening to bright leaders dream up bold plans without vetting their financial feasibility. Other companies turn strategy into a big annual leadership retreat.

Strategy 78

Strategy SWOT Company Customer Loyalty 78

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

Effective leadership, like a good marriage, hinges on how you deal with the tough stuff. When confronted with a problem or dispute, we either move away (flee the scene, rely on others for resolution), move against (quietly using positional power to quell opposing arguments) or move toward (make nice, give in). This is natural.

Parcell 13

Parcell Agility Executive Coaching Learning-by-Doing 13

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 27, 2017

Among the 75% of employees with disabilities who say they have market-worthy ideas, 48% say their ideas went ignored by people with the power to act on them, 57% feel stalled in their careers, and 47% feel they would never achieve a position of power at their company, no matter how high-performing or qualified they are.

Compliance 8

Compliance Chief Operating Officer Innovation Survey 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 16, 2016

Using the same 1 – 100 scale ask yourself: How well does our organization support the achievement of our strategy? If your organization is incapable of delivering its strategy, the strategy is effectively worthless and your company’s purpose will go more or less unfulfilled.

Banking 14

Banking Strategy Film Operations 14

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Companies that separate the roles of CEO and chairman and appoint strong outsiders to the latter position may have one advantage: they are more likely to benefit from strong governance. Hayward’s leadership had contributed to BP underplaying safety its U.S. Take the case of BP. operations in favor of financial performance.

CFO 8

CFO Crisis Mass Marketing IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 11, 2018

Under the leadership of Anthony Tersigni, Ascension’s president and CEO, the organization has sought to become much more efficient at delivering health care. Ascension has another solid reason for pursuing its strategy. Ascension’s strategy has no downside, only upside.

Health Care 8

Health Care Insurance Cost Price 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

For every company wrestling with evolutions in its strategy, success depends as much on matching the operating model to those evolutions as it does on the soundness of the strategy itself. For individuals, they make sure that difference-making talent is in mission critical positions.

Strategy 8

Strategy Company Banking Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Nokia was so immersed in executing its strategy that it lost sight of its purpose. Personal leadership is indispensable to operationalizing your purpose. Few imagined that this juggernaut, brandishing vast resources with such steely determination, could be quickly brought down. In retrospect, it seems inevitable.

Strategy 13

Strategy Company How To Supply Chain 13

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 18, 2012

Recognizing that the company's command-and-control culture wouldn't work in the 21st century, he defined leadership as leading by values and created a unique collaborative organizational structure. Never confuse charisma with leadership. They listen as well as they speak. The key to that is to build a sustainable culture.

Globalization 15

Globalization Golden Parachute Short-term Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

The term it used to describe its strategy was "retailtainment" — making it fun for customers to do business in an industry that was devoid of personality. The world didn't need another bank on the corner, and then we came along," said Dennis DiFlorio, who spent nearly twenty years in leadership positions, including chairman. "We

Banking 18

Banking Retail Open-book Creativity 18

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 8, 2015

Growth: A TV cable company offers special subscription plans for new customers, aiming to achieve a strong market position within 24 months. Price leadership: A no-frills airline constantly advertises the lowest fares on any route served. Positioning: A watch company prices different brands along a predefined, brand-led price corridor.

Balanced Scorecard 8

Balanced Scorecard Company Price KPI 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 12, 2014

The company’s twenty years of entrepreneurial success had positioned the company to reap greater financial rewards using a more disciplined operational focus. However, by the middle of the decade, Google was growing, YouTube was forming, and “operational excellence” wasn’t a differentiating strategy in technology.

Strategic Fit 8

Strategic Fit Rogers CEO Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 23, 2016

The company better aligned the workforce mix to its strategy, by optimizing different talent acquisition channels, manager spans of control (number of workers reporting to them), and worker mobility. Educate leaders on how and why to optimize a blended workforce.

Strategy 8

Strategy Span of Control Finance How To 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 27, 2015

For each city or region the right mix of programs depends on what outcomes the leadership of that area is trying to achieve. The type of capital required and its source depends on the type of business, its stage of life, and its strategy for the future. A supplier might need a working capital loan to finance a big order.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Policies Banking Innovation 8

Strategy Driven

JANUARY 24, 2011

Why was this once-dominant player unable to execute and maintain its market position? And Its Execution Gap Closer Round-Up Execution Gap Closer #1: Netflix Netflix received considerable media attention this year as it demonstrated its ability to successfully execute its strategy to provide video over the Internet. So what happened?

Execution 67

Execution Company 360-Degree Feedback Cooper 67

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 13, 2017

For example, large biopharma companies compete in many categories and tend to accumulate an array of follower positions. But that drags down shareholder returns. Redesign the Operating Model. Thinking “customer-back” or “frontline-back” provides a powerful lens through which to eliminate work.

Zero Based Budgeting 13

Zero Based Budgeting Organization Budgeting How To 13

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 22, 2011

It isn't enough to explain the connection between your company's purpose and its strategy — and between that strategy and its execution — once. Recognize and reward individuals and teams who come up with smart solutions and positive change. Think broader than the typical CEO-delivered message. And don't disappear.

Strategy 15

Strategy Education Content Storytelling 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 9, 2016

Almost every organization today is putting customer experience (CX) at the core of its strategy, aiming to provide products and services that meet customers at every touch point. But who is going to break down silos, connect the dots of the customer experience, and drive its improvement?

Marketing 9

Marketing Content Insurance Brand 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2011

HP finds itself in a complicated position. It can be easy to dramatically expand revenue and profits when you are the upstart in an emerging sector — but once you're on top, sustaining this leadership position isn't easy. He blamed the Japan earthquake, the anemic PC market, and a troubled services organization.

Software 12

Software Technology Intellectual Capital Marketing 12

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 8, 2016

Its strategy to get out ahead of the competition rested on the innovative, hard, vacuum-sealed packaging its then-parent company, Jacob Suchard, was using in Europe at the time. That’s when the brand shifted its strategy, once again, and developed the long-standing “Better Beans. Better Coffee” positioning.

Brand 100

Brand Brand Management Advertising Management 100