Skip Prichard

JUNE 26, 2019

I see three common pitfalls trap companies when they’re building and executing their strategies. Failing to focus on the customer often results in companies selling a product or service that their customers don’t need. If the overall experience doesn’t please and excite the customer, a company is hard-pressed to outsize its strategy.

Strategy 78

Strategy SWOT Company Customer Loyalty 78

leaderCommunicator

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Leaders need their employees to stay on board during the changes and continue to contribute to its strategy. Businesses with high levels of employee satisfaction, productivity and working teams pay attention to building trust. Trust has an impact on an organization’s ability to cope with change and to continue to engage its employees.

Restructuring 151

Restructuring Learning-by-Doing CEO Business Model 151

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Your business thrives on how effective its marketing strategy is. Marketing is a concept that can almost consume a business that hasn’t got its strategy in order. Ask yourself, why you are selling these products? What are these products communicating to people about your business?

Marketing Strategy 52

Marketing Strategy Marketing Strategy Brand 52

Eric Jacobson

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Panhandle developed its strategy around dealing with this uncertainty. We met with a company in North Carolina -- Steele Rubber Products, Inc. -- that produces replacement rubber parts used by collectors when they are restoring classic automobiles. But growth was easier for some businesses and more difficult for others.

Travel 70

Travel PR Learning-by-Doing Open-book 70

Eric Jacobson

OCTOBER 13, 2014

Panhandle developed its strategy around dealing with this uncertainty. We met with a company in North Carolina -- Steele Rubber Products, Inc. -- that produces replacement rubber parts used by collectors when they are restoring classic automobiles. But growth was easier for some businesses and more difficult for others.

Travel 75

Travel Learning-by-Doing PR Open-book 75

Eric Jacobson

JULY 2, 2014

Panhandle developed its strategy around dealing with this uncertainty. We met with a company in North Carolina -- Steele Rubber Products, Inc. -- that produces replacement rubber parts used by collectors when they are restoring classic automobiles. But growth was easier for some businesses and more difficult for others.

Succession 78

Succession Travel Learning-by-Doing PR 78

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. So, what is your culture? Discover and address your cultural blind spots.

Executive Coaching 134

Executive Coaching Operations Strategy System 134

Leading Blog

JANUARY 3, 2022

From Estée Lauder’s William Lauder and Fabrizio Freda, we learned to partner for change to open new channels for marketing products before traditional avenues close off. You show yourself a leader when you do not have to get involved in everything.”.

CEO 309

CEO Skills Crisis Marketing 309

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

You know you’re product inside and out, you’ve got a track record at driving through sales and you’re a great manager. Having an IT strategy in place means that while your business continues to grow and succeed, your IT systems can support that growth and contribute to it. There are many things that you’re good at in your business.

Consultative 10

Consultative Technology Budgeting Reputation 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2017

By seeing exactly where and how people spend their time — rather than relying on recollections, anecdotes, or assumptions — executives have a solid basis for taking actions that will raise productivity. The company had experienced lackluster sales growth, especially outside of its core product category.

Software 10

Software Metrics CRM B2B 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2017

When Bernstein hid a set of production lines from managers’ view, the performance of employees on those lines increased by 10% to 15%. Tactical performance is how effectively your organization sticks to its strategy. The second type, known as adaptive performance , is how effectively your organization diverges from its strategy.

Organization 13

Organization Tactics Call Center Metrics 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 9, 2012

The innovator's quest has been to find the win-win proposition: a great new product that can create differentiated value for consumers while supporting differentiated profits for the producer. But its strategy of customizing hardware for telcos had the unintended effect of imposing high customization costs on would-be developers (i.e.,

Innovation 13

Innovation Supply Chain Telecommunications Core Competence 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 11, 2018

Likewise, inspirational leadership, the repetition of value statements, and letting people be themselves are important, but they are by-products of a healthy culture, not the drivers of one. ” Another might interpret a teamwork behavior as “collaborates effectively through encouraging productive disagreements.”

Teamwork 15

Teamwork Consensus Attrition System 15

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 22, 2016

As a result, big box retail must shift its strategy — from competing on access and selection to staging big experiences and providing big discounts. PwC has observed that niche products, experiences, and services uniquely suited to individual tastes, interests, and aspirations have become “the new consumer indulgence.”

Retail 9

Retail Discount Reis Supply Chain 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

They created an excellent product in record time, in time for launch in the 2009 holiday season. Verizon would not have been able to so quickly and successfully change its strategy without being willing to question and overhaul traditional organizational structures. I prefer to think of it as resembling improvisational theater.

Execution 8

Execution Strategy COO CEO 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2012

We also acquired India's largest media products distribution company to deliver magazines, books, and DVDs to thousands of vendors across the country. In March 2012, we sold off the company to India's largest retailer, the Future Group, which was keen to own the business as part of its strategy to grow private label brands.

Marketing 13

Marketing Film GDP Media 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 16, 2016

For example, as it grew, Facebook found that its early “move fast and break things” culture had to be funneled into focused technical teams and product groups to make its product development process faster and less erratic, and for it to have a chance of meeting the demands of its new public shareholders following its IPO.

Banking 14

Banking Strategy Film Operations 14

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2014

But in the meantime, Google’s choices in marketing and distributing its new product get to the heart of the tension between new opportunities and existing strategy. Glass product manager Steve Lee is quoted as saying: Major new consumer tech products are rarely brought out of the lab at this stage of development.

Strategy 10

Strategy Early Adopters Innovation Proposal 10

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Seeking to extend its technological edge (particularly in miniaturization), it acquired more than 100 startup companies while pursuing a vast portfolio of research and product development projects. Nokia was so immersed in executing its strategy that it lost sight of its purpose. In retrospect, it seems inevitable.

Strategy 14

Strategy Company How To Supply Chain 14

Harvard Business Review

JULY 18, 2011

By that he means that all the things a business does — not just its logo and visuals, but also its strategy, call to action, customer service, communications with customers, and people — combine to determine what it stands for. Intrinsic differentiation can come through in the look, feel, sound, smell, or taste of a product.

Brand 15

Brand Positioning Marketing Productivity 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 16, 2014

The company repositioned itself on four strategic factors: product range, image, store presentation, and price. On image, McDonald’s moved from its unhealthy pigeonhole to a more wholesome position through advertising, in-store nutritional information and product labeling. It next turned to suppliers.

Innovation 8

Innovation Competitive Advantage Supply Chain Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

For example, “You seem to be suggesting that we really need to focus on elevating our gross revenue before we invest in a new IT strategy. What Would Make You More Satisfied and Productive at Work? Clarify the conflict by talking through each party’s stance. Is that right?” Tell me more about what you’re seeing as the downside.”.

Parcell 13

Parcell Agility Executive Coaching Learning-by-Doing 13

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 8, 2015

If the product manager in a consumer packaged goods company is focused on gaining market share within her category (perhaps because her bonus is predicated on that), a low-price attack by a competitor is likely to trigger a price decrease for her own product, even if the profit suffers more from the price decrease than from the market-share loss.

Balanced Scorecard 8

Balanced Scorecard Company Price KPI 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 26, 2013

Only the largest of enterprises could afford the best technologies, and even for those with the largest bank accounts, IT strategies were limited to basics like CRM , ERP , or email. IT abundance will affect every job, product, and customer interaction. Today, though, Carr''s prediction is coming true. Why is this?

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Competitive Advantage Information Technology How To 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

Business-critical roles — that is, the jobs that are central to differentiating a company from its competitors and successfully executing its strategy — will also change. But new sources of crop, weather, and other data have created new opportunities to boost farm productivity. Take insurance, for example.

Company 12

Company Insurance Engineering Software 12

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2014

So they begin tinkering with their core strategy, burning up resources while their companies wander off their tried-and-true growth path. The tales of two companies, cell phone accessories retailer Cellairis and skin care products maker Rodan + Fields, illustrate the dangers of top-level strategic tinkering.

Strategy 8

Strategy Wireless Company Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 31, 2015

What should be the value proposition that differentiates our products and services with those customers? These are the choices that a business strategy comprises and they should drive the decisions a business unit’s management team, functions, and staff make every day, including pricing, R&D, where to manufacture, and many more.

Execution 8

Execution Strategy Mission Statement Definition 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 25, 2016

Tesla’s initial strategy began like a start-up: to build a minimum viable product to test the market. Its strategy of coming into the market from the high end did not fit the typical demand-side disruption playbook. As if becoming the first American car entrant in almost a century weren’t enough.

Strategy 8

Strategy Automotive Mass Marketing Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 29, 2012

But what about the more strategic risk areas, such as those related to emerging market entry or acquisition growth strategies? What about the risks that could affect the financial performance (or even the very survival) of the enterprise—risks like brand degradation or product relevance? What does maturity look like in practice?

Risk Management 14

Risk Management Maturity EBITDA Management 14

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2011

For a powerful example of how this understanding can shape strategy, consider the electric razor industry. The natural assumption is that these three companies' products compete directly against each othe — rafter all, they're all selling electric razors, right? Braun simplified its merchandising and brand strategy.

Management 15

Management Retail Brand Merchandising 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2014

For over 50 years, Wal-Mart has pursued essentially the same strategy of “offering the lowest price so its customer can live better.” Wells Fargo has become the most valuable bank in the world by sticking to its strategy of building a value proposition around selling more products per customer than anyone else.

Company 8

Company Supply Chain Airlines Health Care 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. Among other steps, it elevated the role of customer segment heads, giving them authority over products and channels for those segments.

Strategy 8

Strategy Company Banking Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 18, 2012

Executing this strategy required seamless integration of IBM's product capabilities with its geographic reach. This meant abandoning IBM's existing organization, in which product silos and geographic entities operated independently and frequently were more competitive than collaborative. It is not about you.

Globalization 15

Globalization Golden Parachute Short-term Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Look at Sealed Air , the $8-billion global leader in the food safety, facility hygiene, and product protection market, for example. The LG India team outdid both domestic and foreign rivals in tailoring its strategies and operations to the Indian market.

Globalization 8

Globalization CEO Long-term Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 16, 2016

It used to be “What’s your IT strategy?” ” Then it was “What’s your internet strategy?” ” Now it’s “What’s your digital strategy?” Does digital technology affect the value proposition to your target customer?

Strategy 8

Strategy Technology Strategic Planning Globalization 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 2, 2011

They may have done a swell $2 million strategy study for a client, but then have to watch from the sidelines as a more broadly based firm swoops in to do the $15 million project — a total systems redesign, say, or a corporate reorganization — entailed in implementing the strategy. Monitor & Co., Of course not," he replied.

Consultative 15

Consultative Strategy McKinsey Porter 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 7, 2018

That digital focus helped Adidas reshape its strategy for today’s mobile, more empowered consumer. ” Data-Driven Growth in a Digital World. The brand embraces data and technology as a way to be faster and smarter in a world where marketers are competing for consumer attention in the moment.

Content 8

Content Brand Storytelling Technology 8