Strategic planning

It's the busiest time of year for North Pole Workshops. Production is in high gear, and the elves are on overtime in the sprint toward Christmas. But...

Establishing competitive advantage and creating shareholder value both stem from a common economic framework. The stock market values the long-term productivity...

It is hard to believe but yes, 2009 is winding down. Thanksgiving is around the corner, the holiday rush is almost palpable, and before you know it we’ll be watching our TV screens for the ball to drop in Times Square. It is about this time of year that many businesses begin to feel the […]

Focusing on the manufacturing process gives a new dimension to strategy. The "process life cycle," related but distinct from the product life cycle, facilitates...

Consider a coffeemaker that offers 12 drink options, a car with more than 700 features on the dashboard, and a mouse pad that's also a clock, calculator,...

It will ensure your company can absorb stress, recover critical functionality, and thrive in new circumstances.

“Middle data” is an overlooked resource.

One of them is less successful than the others.

Using weak signals to spur innovation

On my first visit to Samsung’s Suwon complex, the headquarters of the company’s electronics and appliance division was even more Third World than I expected. The factory floors were bare concrete. People hand-wheeled parts to and from the production line. The research lab reminded me of a dilapidated high-school science classroom. But the work going […]

In recent years a growing number of companies have expended considerable amounts of time and money to develop strategic planning skills in their profit centers and at higher organizational levels. We applaud this effort, but as we stand back and observe large and small companies alike apply this new talent and expertise, we are struck […]

Assume an outsider's perspective to focus on what makes you competitive.

Of all the meetings top executives attend in a year, none is more important than the strategy off-site, where the most essential conversations for the...

To understand your customers' expectations, look beyond your industry.

Ted Levitt used to tell his Harvard Business School students, "People don't want a quarter-inch drill--they want a quarter-inch hole." But 35 years later,...

In this sequel to their well-received earlier collaboration for HBR, “Strategic Planning in Diversified Companies” (January–February 1975), Peter Lorange and Richard F. Vancil take the reader through the steps necessary to implement and carry forward a formal strategic planning effort. They identify six issues that top management has to deal with along the way: communication […]

The winners in business play hardball, and they don't apologize for it. They single-mindedly pursue competitive advantage and the benefits it offers:...

Paragon Tool is pouring money into growth initiatives. How long can it afford to wait for profits to bounce back?

Stick to the broad strategic guidelines but adapt your tactics if the market shifts.

The age of competitive strategy may be past. Sophisticated managers are learning that handsome returns come directly from superior strategic execution--not...