The document discusses the Judo strategy, which involves smaller companies leveraging their strengths against larger competitors. It provides examples of how Netscape and Palm executed some Judo techniques successfully and unsuccessfully. It then discusses eBay's use of Judo strategy to become a major online marketplace competitor to Yahoo, Amazon and others through focusing on online auctions, partnering with AOL, avoiding direct competition, and establishing strategic intent and milestones.
11. "an ambitious and compelling ... dream that energizes ... that provides the emotional and intellectual energy for the journey ... to the future.” Strategic Intent
12. Concept Strategic Intent Judo Strategy Ambitions Stretch targets Stay under radar Competitive Advantages Build Ignore Sustainability Stable over time Short Span Resources Misfit High degree of fit Analogy Video Picture
12. Judo Strategy At the height of the internet bubble, when Netscape was doing well, two Harvard Professors (Yoffie and Cusumano) came out with the idea of judo strategy—a strategy by which a smaller upstart would beat an established bigger rival (Microsoft in the case of Netscape). The same authors subsequently also wrote about Palm. Curiously, both Palm and Netscape struggled to maintain their success and were passed by nimble/ more innovative/ more powerful rivals. The judo strategy concept didn’t catch on, possibly due to focus on these examples. Did the concept of judo strategy represent an innovative idea? How different is it from the idea of Strategic Intent (Hamel and Prahald, mid 1980s) which had a somewhat similar aim in terms of explaining the success of upstarts versus Goliaths. Why have some of the exemplars of Judo strategy fades away in terms of market position? Yoffie, DB and Cusumano, MA (1999). Judo strategy. The competitive dynamics of internet time. HBR, 77(1):70-81. Yoffie, DB and Mary Kwak (2003). Judo strategy: Turning your competitor’s strengths into your advantage, Harvard Business School Press. Hin and Serpa (1997). Bullish on Karate, Bearish on Corporate Judo as a New Paradigm for Competitive Strategy, Journal of Management Inquiry. 1997; 6: 31-34 David T. Bastien, Todd J. Hostager, Henry H. Miles, Corporate Judo: Exploiting the Dark Side of Change when Competitors Merge, Acquire, Downsize, or Restructure Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 5, No. 3, 261-275 (1996) Bowden, Stephen Kiwi International Airlines: Judo strategy and its limits. Journal of Management and Organization, 9(2): 1-7