A Harvard Business School professor of strategy observes that leaders become better strategists by engaging in conversation about the purpose of a company. Cynthia Montgomery's perspective, based on her experience with executive education for entrepreneurs and managers, could reconcile long-standing debates about position versus resources, analysis versus execution, and entrepreneurship versus large business management.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Humanities and Social Science. IJHSSI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Humanities and Social Science, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
Engagement & empowerment are key to fostering cultures which THRIVE on change and unleash human & profit potential--in the corporation, classroom or community
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: TH...pitaloka .
Researches on strategic human resource management have given major attention to the issues related to HR management
(managing people) on corporate level as a whole and integrated, than solely focuses on individual practice of HRM which is independent from other strategies of firm. This is because in order to achieve sustainable superior performance and competitive advantage, integration and confortabillitty between selected strategy and human resource policy are required to execute the strategy itself.
Inside-out approach supported by Resource Based View theory is not completely able to displace the outside-in approach in the process of HRM strategy formulation and implementation. This is caused by the fact that each of the approaches has its own advantages and disadvantages over others. The problem is how to make the role and function of strategic HRM able to directly answer all of challenges and create real solutions and add real value on the creation (value creation) so that firm wins the competition. Therefore, the role and functions of HRM must be aimed onto how to create and manage the core competencies to keep it dynamic and flexible (dynamic capabilities) to motivate the emergence of sustainable creativity and innovation which are integrated into every activity, practice, and strategy of HRM (HR Strategy) so that firm is able to adapt, integrate, arrange, and readjust its resources with the environmental changes as necessary.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Humanities and Social Science. IJHSSI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Humanities and Social Science, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
Engagement & empowerment are key to fostering cultures which THRIVE on change and unleash human & profit potential--in the corporation, classroom or community
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: TH...pitaloka .
Researches on strategic human resource management have given major attention to the issues related to HR management
(managing people) on corporate level as a whole and integrated, than solely focuses on individual practice of HRM which is independent from other strategies of firm. This is because in order to achieve sustainable superior performance and competitive advantage, integration and confortabillitty between selected strategy and human resource policy are required to execute the strategy itself.
Inside-out approach supported by Resource Based View theory is not completely able to displace the outside-in approach in the process of HRM strategy formulation and implementation. This is caused by the fact that each of the approaches has its own advantages and disadvantages over others. The problem is how to make the role and function of strategic HRM able to directly answer all of challenges and create real solutions and add real value on the creation (value creation) so that firm wins the competition. Therefore, the role and functions of HRM must be aimed onto how to create and manage the core competencies to keep it dynamic and flexible (dynamic capabilities) to motivate the emergence of sustainable creativity and innovation which are integrated into every activity, practice, and strategy of HRM (HR Strategy) so that firm is able to adapt, integrate, arrange, and readjust its resources with the environmental changes as necessary.
Educaterer India is an unique combination of passion driven into a hobby which makes an awesome profession. We carve the lives of enthusiastic candidates to a perfect professional who can impress upon the mindsets of the industry, while following the established traditions, can dare to set new standards to follow. We don't want you to be the part of the crowd, rather we like to make you the reason of the crowd.
Today's Effort For A Better Tomorrow
This lecture takes an in-depth look at conflict management and negotiation, key aspects of contemporary organizational behavior. After examining the two views of conflict, the consequences of conflict, and the types and levels of conflict, the chapter discusses culture and conflict, conflict management styles, organizational sources of conflict, and conflict management strategies. The chapter goes on to explore negotiation
THE STRATEGISTBE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDSCynth.docxsarah98765
THE STRATEGIST
BE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Cynthia A. Montgomery
Dedication
To Anneke, Mathea, and Nils
That you may find places where you
can make a difference that matters
And to Bjørn, forevermore
Epigraph
In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need
to be by remaining what we are.
—Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller, in Leadership Is an Art
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction - What I Learned in Office Hours
Chapter 1 - Strategy and Leadership
Chapter 2 - Are You a Strategist?
Chapter 3 - The Myth of the Super-Manager
Chapter 4 - Begin with Purpose
Chapter 5 - Turn Purpose into Reality
Chapter 6 - Own Your Strategy
Chapter 7 - Keep It Vibrant
Chapter 8 - The Essential Strategist
Author’s Note
Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
What I Learned in Office Hours
YOU’RE ABOUT TO get a revisionist view of strategy. It’s not that what you’ve
learned is incorrect. It’s that it’s incomplete.
Strategy is a fundamental course at nearly every business school in the
world. I have been privileged to teach variations of it for more than thirty
years—first at the University of Michigan, then at the Kellogg School at
Northwestern, and for the last twenty-plus years at the Harvard Business
School.
For most of that time I worked with MBA students, until the center of my
teaching shifted to executive education. It was this experience, particularly a
five-year stint in Harvard’s Entrepreneur, Owner, President program (EOP),
that inspired this book.1 Working intimately with leaders from nearly every
industry and nation as they confronted their own real-world strategic issues
changed not only how I teach strategy, but, more fundamentally, how I think
about it. The experience led me to challenge some of strategy’s basic
precepts, and ultimately to question both the culture and mind-set that have
grown up around it. Even more important, teaching in EOP forced me to
confront how strategy is really made in most businesses, and by whom.
All of this convinced me that it is time for a change. Time to approach
strategy in a different way and time to transform the process from a
mechanical, analytical activity to something deeper, more meaningful, and far
more rewarding for a leader.
THE ROAD TO HERE
Fifty years ago strategy was taught as part of the general management
curriculum in most business schools. In the academy as well as in practice, it
was identified as the most important duty of the president—the person with
overarching responsibility for setting a company’s course and seeing the
journey through. This vital role encompassed both formulation and
implementation: thinking and doing combined.
Although strategy had considerable depth then, it didn’t have much rigor.
Heuristically, managers used the ubiquitous SWOT model (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Thr.
THE STRATEGISTBE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDSCynth.docxarnoldmeredith47041
THE STRATEGIST
BE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Cynthia A. Montgomery
Dedication
To Anneke, Mathea, and Nils
That you may find places where you
can make a difference that matters
And to Bjørn, forevermore
Epigraph
In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need
to be by remaining what we are.
—Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller, in Leadership Is an Art
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction - What I Learned in Office Hours
Chapter 1 - Strategy and Leadership
Chapter 2 - Are You a Strategist?
Chapter 3 - The Myth of the Super-Manager
Chapter 4 - Begin with Purpose
Chapter 5 - Turn Purpose into Reality
Chapter 6 - Own Your Strategy
Chapter 7 - Keep It Vibrant
Chapter 8 - The Essential Strategist
Author’s Note
Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
What I Learned in Office Hours
YOU’RE ABOUT TO get a revisionist view of strategy. It’s not that what you’ve
learned is incorrect. It’s that it’s incomplete.
Strategy is a fundamental course at nearly every business school in the
world. I have been privileged to teach variations of it for more than thirty
years—first at the University of Michigan, then at the Kellogg School at
Northwestern, and for the last twenty-plus years at the Harvard Business
School.
For most of that time I worked with MBA students, until the center of my
teaching shifted to executive education. It was this experience, particularly a
five-year stint in Harvard’s Entrepreneur, Owner, President program (EOP),
that inspired this book.1 Working intimately with leaders from nearly every
industry and nation as they confronted their own real-world strategic issues
changed not only how I teach strategy, but, more fundamentally, how I think
about it. The experience led me to challenge some of strategy’s basic
precepts, and ultimately to question both the culture and mind-set that have
grown up around it. Even more important, teaching in EOP forced me to
confront how strategy is really made in most businesses, and by whom.
All of this convinced me that it is time for a change. Time to approach
strategy in a different way and time to transform the process from a
mechanical, analytical activity to something deeper, more meaningful, and far
more rewarding for a leader.
THE ROAD TO HERE
Fifty years ago strategy was taught as part of the general management
curriculum in most business schools. In the academy as well as in practice, it
was identified as the most important duty of the president—the person with
overarching responsibility for setting a company’s course and seeing the
journey through. This vital role encompassed both formulation and
implementation: thinking and doing combined.
Although strategy had considerable depth then, it didn’t have much rigor.
Heuristically, managers used the ubiquitous SWOT model (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Thr.
Educaterer India is an unique combination of passion driven into a hobby which makes an awesome profession. We carve the lives of enthusiastic candidates to a perfect professional who can impress upon the mindsets of the industry, while following the established traditions, can dare to set new standards to follow. We don't want you to be the part of the crowd, rather we like to make you the reason of the crowd.
Today's Effort For A Better Tomorrow
This lecture takes an in-depth look at conflict management and negotiation, key aspects of contemporary organizational behavior. After examining the two views of conflict, the consequences of conflict, and the types and levels of conflict, the chapter discusses culture and conflict, conflict management styles, organizational sources of conflict, and conflict management strategies. The chapter goes on to explore negotiation
THE STRATEGISTBE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDSCynth.docxsarah98765
THE STRATEGIST
BE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Cynthia A. Montgomery
Dedication
To Anneke, Mathea, and Nils
That you may find places where you
can make a difference that matters
And to Bjørn, forevermore
Epigraph
In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need
to be by remaining what we are.
—Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller, in Leadership Is an Art
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction - What I Learned in Office Hours
Chapter 1 - Strategy and Leadership
Chapter 2 - Are You a Strategist?
Chapter 3 - The Myth of the Super-Manager
Chapter 4 - Begin with Purpose
Chapter 5 - Turn Purpose into Reality
Chapter 6 - Own Your Strategy
Chapter 7 - Keep It Vibrant
Chapter 8 - The Essential Strategist
Author’s Note
Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
What I Learned in Office Hours
YOU’RE ABOUT TO get a revisionist view of strategy. It’s not that what you’ve
learned is incorrect. It’s that it’s incomplete.
Strategy is a fundamental course at nearly every business school in the
world. I have been privileged to teach variations of it for more than thirty
years—first at the University of Michigan, then at the Kellogg School at
Northwestern, and for the last twenty-plus years at the Harvard Business
School.
For most of that time I worked with MBA students, until the center of my
teaching shifted to executive education. It was this experience, particularly a
five-year stint in Harvard’s Entrepreneur, Owner, President program (EOP),
that inspired this book.1 Working intimately with leaders from nearly every
industry and nation as they confronted their own real-world strategic issues
changed not only how I teach strategy, but, more fundamentally, how I think
about it. The experience led me to challenge some of strategy’s basic
precepts, and ultimately to question both the culture and mind-set that have
grown up around it. Even more important, teaching in EOP forced me to
confront how strategy is really made in most businesses, and by whom.
All of this convinced me that it is time for a change. Time to approach
strategy in a different way and time to transform the process from a
mechanical, analytical activity to something deeper, more meaningful, and far
more rewarding for a leader.
THE ROAD TO HERE
Fifty years ago strategy was taught as part of the general management
curriculum in most business schools. In the academy as well as in practice, it
was identified as the most important duty of the president—the person with
overarching responsibility for setting a company’s course and seeing the
journey through. This vital role encompassed both formulation and
implementation: thinking and doing combined.
Although strategy had considerable depth then, it didn’t have much rigor.
Heuristically, managers used the ubiquitous SWOT model (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Thr.
THE STRATEGISTBE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDSCynth.docxarnoldmeredith47041
THE STRATEGIST
BE THE LEADER YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Cynthia A. Montgomery
Dedication
To Anneke, Mathea, and Nils
That you may find places where you
can make a difference that matters
And to Bjørn, forevermore
Epigraph
In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need
to be by remaining what we are.
—Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller, in Leadership Is an Art
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction - What I Learned in Office Hours
Chapter 1 - Strategy and Leadership
Chapter 2 - Are You a Strategist?
Chapter 3 - The Myth of the Super-Manager
Chapter 4 - Begin with Purpose
Chapter 5 - Turn Purpose into Reality
Chapter 6 - Own Your Strategy
Chapter 7 - Keep It Vibrant
Chapter 8 - The Essential Strategist
Author’s Note
Frequently Asked Questions
Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
What I Learned in Office Hours
YOU’RE ABOUT TO get a revisionist view of strategy. It’s not that what you’ve
learned is incorrect. It’s that it’s incomplete.
Strategy is a fundamental course at nearly every business school in the
world. I have been privileged to teach variations of it for more than thirty
years—first at the University of Michigan, then at the Kellogg School at
Northwestern, and for the last twenty-plus years at the Harvard Business
School.
For most of that time I worked with MBA students, until the center of my
teaching shifted to executive education. It was this experience, particularly a
five-year stint in Harvard’s Entrepreneur, Owner, President program (EOP),
that inspired this book.1 Working intimately with leaders from nearly every
industry and nation as they confronted their own real-world strategic issues
changed not only how I teach strategy, but, more fundamentally, how I think
about it. The experience led me to challenge some of strategy’s basic
precepts, and ultimately to question both the culture and mind-set that have
grown up around it. Even more important, teaching in EOP forced me to
confront how strategy is really made in most businesses, and by whom.
All of this convinced me that it is time for a change. Time to approach
strategy in a different way and time to transform the process from a
mechanical, analytical activity to something deeper, more meaningful, and far
more rewarding for a leader.
THE ROAD TO HERE
Fifty years ago strategy was taught as part of the general management
curriculum in most business schools. In the academy as well as in practice, it
was identified as the most important duty of the president—the person with
overarching responsibility for setting a company’s course and seeing the
journey through. This vital role encompassed both formulation and
implementation: thinking and doing combined.
Although strategy had considerable depth then, it didn’t have much rigor.
Heuristically, managers used the ubiquitous SWOT model (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Thr.
In the year 2002, Warren Buffett made an admission that he had not been as vigilant as he should have been in his role as Director of the various subsidiaries of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. In a letter to the shareholders he wrote “ Too often I was silent when management made proposals that I judged to be counter to the interest of the shareholders. In those cases, collegiality trumped independence and a certain social atmosphere presides in boardrooms where it becomes impolitic to challenge the Chief Executive.
Kevin Sharer, Chairman of Amgen, the US biotech company, portrayed a very different relationship between board and chief executive. “ Working with the board is vital, complex, and beyond your prior experience. It is among the most complex human relationships, especially if you are the chairman, when you are their boss, and they are your boss. Get the relationship right or it will hurt you.
These two very different experiences open a new book, Boards that Lead- When to take charge, When to Partner and When to stay out of the way. The central premise of the books is a plea. “ Governing boards should take more active leadership of the enterprises, not just monitor its management?
The growing complexity of markets and strategy, the authors say, is one of the biggest challenges for board members. It also means that they cannot afford to sit back and rubber stamp executive’s plans.
Boards often fail to do their job, they point out, for example failing to do their due diligence. They cite the example of Yahoo’s Chief Executive Scott Thompson. After a few months in the post, it was discovered that he had listed a degree in both accounting and computer science, but had actually earned only the first.
A good book to read move from Delivering to Leading.
Happy Reading
IN CLASSICAL MICRO-ECONOMIC THEORY, a company is a Black box,Ó a purposeful entity whose inner workings cannot be observed and whose behavior is determined almost entirely by the markets in which it competes. Executives and management practitioners, on the other hand, tend to behave as though changing the internal design and operation of a company can profoundly affect its performance.
Unit 1 Module 1 - Virtues and Drawbacks of Organized Activity.docxwillcoxjanay
Unit 1: Module 1 - Virtues and Drawbacks of Organized Activity
Virtues and Drawbacks of Organized Activity
The establishment of large, complex organizations is historically recent. Today, much of society's important work is done in or by organizations. Many organizations really play their roles well, providing good jobs, producing safe and reliable products, developing their workforce, and fulfilling their social responsibility. However, without the right leadership and good decision-making, they may produce poor service, and defective and dangerous products.
We have recently seen corporations tarnishing their reputations by exploiting people and communities, and by damaging the environment. In some cases, people chosen to lead organizations seem to be clueless of what is really going on and how to keep an organization in good shape, or how to turn it into a successful one.
One way to avoid the negative effects of organized activity and, therefore, improve performance, is through reframing or viewing situations from multiple perspectives. Reframing offers cognitive lenses on the world that affects what you see and what it means.
This course introduces a framework consisting of the following four basic lenses or frames for strengthening managerial diagnosis and action:
· Structural Frame: It focuses on the architecture of organization—the design of units and subunits, rules and roles, goals and policies—that shape, and channel decisions and activities.
· Human Resource Frame: It emphasizes that management requires an understanding of people with their strengths and foibles, reasons and emotions, and desires and fears.
· Political Frame: It depicts that organizations are considered competitive arenas characterized by scarce resources, competing interests, and struggles for power and advantage.
· Symbolic Frame: It focuses on issues of meaning and faith.
Key Words for the Four Frames
Frame
Key Words
Structural Frame
Goals, task, technology, rationality, environment, rules, roles, linkages, differentiation, integration
Human Resource Frame
Needs, skills, feelings, motivation, satisfaction, norms, interpersonal interactions, fit (between person and organization)
Political Frame
Power, conflict, coalitions, scarcity, enduring differences, politics, bargaining, negotiation
Symbolic Frame
Symbols, meaning, belief, faith, culture, ceremonies, rituals, myths, stories, play
Unit 1: Module 1 - Managerial Thinking
Managerial Thinking
Before becoming managers and leaders, professionals develop their qualifications by learning from others and developing their own managerial style and interpersonal skills. This formation can be biased by those who play an important role on each individual’s development process.
When each one of those individuals takes charge, they carry all that into their performance and leadership style. Some are overwhelmed by the new responsibilities and “freeze” before the many challenges they face. It is also usual that manager ...
15Reflection and Discussion Forum Week 3Sri ChaitaAnastaciaShadelb
1
5
Reflection and Discussion Forum Week 3
Sri Chaitanya Patluri
University of the Cumberlands
Organizational Behavior
Dr. Johnny Chavez
Sep 07, 2021
Reflection
Motivation is defined as a set of motives or conditions that drive the behavior of individuals, organizational units, or projects. The purpose of motivation concepts is to help them focus on the primary purpose of the process and the related motives that underlie it. Once they understand motivation concepts, they can use them to motivate people and accomplish tasks. Motivation concepts help people understand why they do what they do and help them identify the steps that motivate motivation. The next step understands the steps needed to move from one problem domain to another. The theories that have been developed are generally confusing, contradictory, and contradictory to the originated objectives. The more theory that is used, the more contradictory it is to the objectives it supposedly was intended to achieve. However, it is essential to realize that more theories and theories will lead to a more consistent method of achieving objectives(Nasution, 2021).
Most organizations today know the objectives and are using organizational, motivational methods to achieve them. Organization-level factors such as human resources, compensation, and support systems influence whether an organization achieves its goals. These factors influence many factors, including the organization's performance as measured by objectives. Employee job engagement can affect managerial relationships and organizational behaviors, and the firm's overall success. It can improve compliance, employee satisfaction, better financial performance, increased employee motivation, and improved corporate image. The degree to which an organization considers its corporate environment a living environment is called corporate culture. The potential for employee empowerment and communication increases when there is corporate culture. The driving forces behind the decision-making process are the drive for performance, and both factors drive performance. The more drive for performance, the more drive for performance needs to be met. One of the significant factors that drive performance is the drive for return on investment. The second major factor that drives performance is the drive for achievement(Robbins & Judge, 2018).
Motivation plays a significant role in organizational functioning and decision-making. A good motivator's personality is a significant factor influencing their decision-making abilities. JCM utilizes opportunities to take risks in order to learn. It is essential because there is a risk associated with going beyond the requirements set for them in the job they are doing. Some employees find that adding pressure to achieve a JCM Goal of getting more done results in increased pressure to get things done and less commitment to the organization. To achieve this goal, employees must take on more responsibility and n ...
15Reflection and Discussion Forum Week 3Sri ChaitaKiyokoSlagleis
1
5
Reflection and Discussion Forum Week 3
Sri Chaitanya Patluri
University of the Cumberlands
Organizational Behavior
Dr. Johnny Chavez
Sep 07, 2021
Reflection
Motivation is defined as a set of motives or conditions that drive the behavior of individuals, organizational units, or projects. The purpose of motivation concepts is to help them focus on the primary purpose of the process and the related motives that underlie it. Once they understand motivation concepts, they can use them to motivate people and accomplish tasks. Motivation concepts help people understand why they do what they do and help them identify the steps that motivate motivation. The next step understands the steps needed to move from one problem domain to another. The theories that have been developed are generally confusing, contradictory, and contradictory to the originated objectives. The more theory that is used, the more contradictory it is to the objectives it supposedly was intended to achieve. However, it is essential to realize that more theories and theories will lead to a more consistent method of achieving objectives(Nasution, 2021).
Most organizations today know the objectives and are using organizational, motivational methods to achieve them. Organization-level factors such as human resources, compensation, and support systems influence whether an organization achieves its goals. These factors influence many factors, including the organization's performance as measured by objectives. Employee job engagement can affect managerial relationships and organizational behaviors, and the firm's overall success. It can improve compliance, employee satisfaction, better financial performance, increased employee motivation, and improved corporate image. The degree to which an organization considers its corporate environment a living environment is called corporate culture. The potential for employee empowerment and communication increases when there is corporate culture. The driving forces behind the decision-making process are the drive for performance, and both factors drive performance. The more drive for performance, the more drive for performance needs to be met. One of the significant factors that drive performance is the drive for return on investment. The second major factor that drives performance is the drive for achievement(Robbins & Judge, 2018).
Motivation plays a significant role in organizational functioning and decision-making. A good motivator's personality is a significant factor influencing their decision-making abilities. JCM utilizes opportunities to take risks in order to learn. It is essential because there is a risk associated with going beyond the requirements set for them in the job they are doing. Some employees find that adding pressure to achieve a JCM Goal of getting more done results in increased pressure to get things done and less commitment to the organization. To achieve this goal, employees must take on more responsibility and n ...
Behavioral Approach to Leadership Boundary Spanning Transaction Relationship ...IJASRD Journal
All of the organizations, before choosing of alternatives for improve of company performance, proposed for test and evaluation of the pattern of this research, and if they could not receive of suitable results from perform of it, in that case will be free for choosing and selecting another alternative. The term behavioral approach to leadership boundary spanning transaction relationship have declared that risk taking capability of the boundary spanning transaction relationship is the major factor for making distinguish between boundary spanning transaction relationship and workers. Since then, risk taking taken as one of behavioral approach to leadership boundary spanning transaction relationship's component into consideration. For these reasons, after determination of boundary spanning transaction relationship places for manufacturing organizations, the find of alternatives for perform of it is very important.
• • Academy ol Managemenf Executive. 2001. Vol 15. NoCreat.docxoswald1horne84988
• • Academy ol Managemenf Executive. 2001. Vol 15. No
Creating wealth in
organizations: The role of
strategic leadership
W. Glenn Rowe
Executive Overview
Wealth creation in entrepreneurial and established orgcrnfzafion.i is a complex,
challenging task in today's global and technologically advancing business
environment. Strategic leadership enhances the wealth-creation process in
enfrepreneuriai and established organizations, and leads to above-average returns.
On the other hand, managerial leadership will likely lead to average returns at best,
but is most likely to achieve below-average returns and destroy wealth. Organizations
led by visionaries who are not properly supported by strong managerial leadership
may destroy wealth even more quickly than organizations led by managerial leaders.
This article defines strategic leadership, differentiates among the concepts of
strategic, visionary, and managerial leadership, and examines the differential links
between the three types of leadership and wealth creation. When organizations
restore strategic control and allow the development of a critical mass of strategic
leaders, these leaders will be a source of above-average returns. The result will be
wealth creation for the employees, customers, suppliers, and shareholders of
entrepreneurial and established organizations.
Without effective strategic leadership, the
probability that a firm can achieve superior or
even satisfactory performance when confront-
ing the challenges of the global economy will
be greatly reduced.
^R. Duane Ireland and Michael A. Hitt'
As the entrepreneurial CEO of Starbucks,
Howard Schultz's strategic choices have com-
pletely changed the gourmet coffee market in
which Starbucks operates.^ When he bought
Starbucks from its original owners in 1987. there
were six stores and 100 employees. By 1996, Star-
bucks had grown to 1,300 stores and 25,000 em-
ployees, and was operating in North America
and Japan. By the end of fiscal year 1999, Star-
bucks had 2,498 stores (363 were licensed stores
and the rest company-owned) and 35,620 employ-
ees, with operations expanded into Canada and
the United Kingdom. Sales and profits grew by
more than 50 percent per year for six consecutive
years, and stock price rose tenfold from 1992 to
1997. These growth rates have slowed since 1997,
but are still impressive, with sales and profits
increasing 29 percent and 50 percent, respec-
tively, from 1998 to 1999, Schultz's philosophies
exemplify those of a strategic leader. His number
one priority is to take care of his employees,
since they are responsible for communicating
passion to Starbucks' customers. He believes
that if his employees do this well, Starbucks will
accomplish its mission of educating consumers
everywhere about fine coffee and creating an
atmosphere that will draw people into their
stores and "give them a sense of wonder and
romance in the midst of a harried life."^ In addi-
tion, the firm will provide long-term growth.
An Conghui, president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and CEO of Geely Auto Group, explains the future of flying cars and the value of an international brand.
For Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage Logistics, temperature-controlled supply chains for perishables are one of the world’s next great platforms.
As more and more companies in a range of industries adopt machine learning and more advanced AI algorithms, the ability to provide understandable explanations for different stakeholders becomes critical. If people don’t know why an AI system made a decision, they may not trust the outcome.
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey throu...dylandmeas
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey through Full Sail University. Below, you’ll find a collection of my work showcasing my skills and expertise in digital marketing, event planning, and media production.
Event Report - SAP Sapphire 2024 Orlando - lots of innovation and old challengesHolger Mueller
Holger Mueller of Constellation Research shares his key takeaways from SAP's Sapphire confernece, held in Orlando, June 3rd till 5th 2024, in the Orange Convention Center.
Putting the SPARK into Virtual Training.pptxCynthia Clay
This 60-minute webinar, sponsored by Adobe, was delivered for the Training Mag Network. It explored the five elements of SPARK: Storytelling, Purpose, Action, Relationships, and Kudos. Knowing how to tell a well-structured story is key to building long-term memory. Stating a clear purpose that doesn't take away from the discovery learning process is critical. Ensuring that people move from theory to practical application is imperative. Creating strong social learning is the key to commitment and engagement. Validating and affirming participants' comments is the way to create a positive learning environment.
Implicitly or explicitly all competing businesses employ a strategy to select a mix
of marketing resources. Formulating such competitive strategies fundamentally
involves recognizing relationships between elements of the marketing mix (e.g.,
price and product quality), as well as assessing competitive and market conditions
(i.e., industry structure in the language of economics).
Cracking the Workplace Discipline Code Main.pptxWorkforce Group
Cultivating and maintaining discipline within teams is a critical differentiator for successful organisations.
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The Thought Leader Interview: Cynthia Montgomery
1. strategy+business
issue 70 SPRING 2013
The Thought Leader
Interview:
Cynthia Montgomery
A Harvard Business School strategy professor observes that leaders
become better strategists by engaging in conversations about
the purpose of a company.
by KEN FAVARO AND ART KLEINER
reprint 00163
2. thought leader
The Thought Leader Interview:
Cynthia Montgomery
A Harvard Business School strategy professor observes that
leaders become better strategists by engaging in conversations
about the purpose of a company.
by Ken Favaro and Art Kleiner
herself in the middle of a little-
known but strongly felt debate that
has gone on since the early 1980s in
executive education and similar mi-
lieus. On one side is the “positioning
school” of business strategy: Success
depends on analyzing industry dy-
namics and competitive advantage,
and staking out a position that is
most resistant to competition on the
basis of industry forces. Montgom-
ery’s credentials on this side include
numerous articles in leading eco-
nomics and management journals,
and co-editorship with Michael Por-
ter of the influential anthology
Strategy: Seeking and Securing Com-
petitive Advantage (Harvard Busi-
ness School Press, 1991). On the
W
hen you look at strategy education programs at Harvard for other side is a perspective known
as a frame of mind to be leaders of owner-managed compa- in academia as the “resource-based
thought leader
cultivated, rather than nies. It is also grounded in her work view of the firm”: Success depends
as a plan to be executed, you are far with large diversified companies. on cultivating the capabilities and
more likely to succeed over the long For example, she has served on assets that no one else can match.
run. That is the core premise put the boards of Newell Rubbermaid, One of the leading developers of this
forth by Cynthia Montgomery, the UnumProvident, and several mu- field is Montgomery’s husband,
Photograph by Brad DeCecco
Timken Professor of Business Ad- tual funds, as well as on the board of MIT Sloan School professor Birger
ministration and former chair of the McLean Hospital, a not-for-profit Wernerfelt. Montgomery and David
strategy unit at Harvard Business organization based near Boston. Collis built on the resource school’s
School, in her book The Strategist: Throughout her career, Mont- insights in “Competing on Resourc-
Be the Leader Your Business Needs gomery, who has also taught busi- es: Strategy in the 1990s” (Harvard
(HarperBusiness, 2012). The book ness strategy at Northwestern Uni- Business Review, July–August 1995),
is based in part on her work over the versity’s Kellogg School and the one of the most reprinted articles in
1 past five years teaching executive University of Michigan, has found the history of HBR.
3. Montgomery’s new book and But it’s just one of many things that they’re talking about their own
her ongoing research into strategists’ the CEO is responsible for. So strat- companies. They revert to the same
attitudes and actions represent an ef- egy becomes an area for experts. old generics that could apply to any
fort to move past the dichotomy, The company draws on specialists to company: “We will succeed because
and to focus on what it means for a help with external analysis, to do a we’re the quality leaders, we’re best
leader to be a strategist. To Mont- deep dive on competitors, and to in class, we have the lowest costs,”
gomery, a business strategist is not look at trends around the world. and so on.
primarily an analyst of position, or All of that may indeed provide
of resources; nor is the strategist incredible added value. It’s certainly S+B: The same old “blah, blah, blah.”
purely adaptive, responding reac- helpful in setting the stage. But un- MONTGOMERY: Exactly. For many
tively to the vagaries of fate. He or derlying all this activity is a funda- leaders, there’s an immense gap be-
she is someone who engages in a mental question that any company’s tween intellectually understanding
conversation about the purpose of a leader must ultimately answer: the theory of strategy and being able
company. The company rises or falls What will this firm be, and why will to apply it in their own businesses.
on the quality of that conversation it matter? This is not a soft, philo- It’s only by directly engaging in
and the way it is used to make deci- sophical question. It is a hard-nosed, strategy themselves that most lead-
sions about the ongoing work of the economic one. As my former col- ers internalize the important ques-
enterprise. league Adam Brandenburger puts it, tions and get a clear sense of what’s
To get a clearer view of that “Why would the world need this involved—the trade-offs, choices,
approach, and what it might mean business? What would be different if commitments, and actions—in
for senior executives, we sat down it didn’t exist?” bringing a strategy to life. In work-
with Cynthia Montgomery in her And a leader can’t consider the ing with these executives in class,
office at Harvard Business School in question just once and be done with my goal is to help them confront the
November 2012. (She subsequently it. That question needs a compelling gap between the high standards
obtained permission to publish the answer every day of a firm’s exis- they’re developing for others’ strate-
anecdotes in which students are tence, an answer that’s relevant as gies, and the often considerably less
named.) This interview provides a the business evolves, and as markets rich reality of their own.
glimpse of the direction that we and customers evolve. To enable that
think many business schools will kind of continuous evolution, strat- S+B: How do you try to accomplish
take in the years ahead: combining egy should never be thought of as a this in the programs you teach?
the positioning and resource views, problem that’s been solved and set- MONTGOMERY: I’ve taught some
the entrepreneurship and manage- tled. There are occasional dramatic courses with 180 owner–managers
ment roles, and the strategy and changes, but mostly it’s an evolu- coming to campus for three, three-
execution imperatives into a single tionary process, with the CEO at week sessions, spaced a year apart.
discipline that could be described as the center. When they enter the program’s third
“identifying and realizing the pur- In some executive courses, I ask session, they work on their own
thought leader
pose of your organization.” students to describe the strategy for strategies. First they write up a stra-
their companies. Many of them start tegic plan on their own, with input
S+B: You’ve written that a leader out thinking that the goal is to have from their teams back home, then
who wholeheartedly embraces a a product, get it all down in writing, they share their work with one an-
strategic perspective is not the same and they’re done. But the process other. That’s when things get really
as a conventional manager. Why not? doesn’t end there. We bring the serious.
MONTGOMERY: Think about who strategies up for critique, and they We usually divide the group
does strategy in most large compa- have to defend them. It’s always sur- into cohorts of eight to 10 people.
nies and where the strategist typi- prising to see how the same individ- Each person presents his or her strat-
cally resides in an organization. It’s uals who are good on their feet and egy to the cohort, and then each co-
not the CEO; it’s a specialist func- have brilliant things to say when hort selects one strategy to present to
tion. Of course, everybody says that talking about a case study like Nike the full class. I ask them to select the
strategy is the CEO’s responsibility. or General Electric falter when one that makes the most use of the 2
4. Ken Favaro Art Kleiner
ken.favaro@booz.com kleiner_art@
is a contributing editor to strategy-business.com
strategy+business and a senior is editor-in-chief of
partner with Booz & Company. strategy+business.
Based in New York, he leads
the firm’s work in enterprise
strategy and finance.
principles we’ve talked about togeth- you doing that’s really distinctive?” document, or an occasional exercise.
er. We end up with about 20 strate- Sometimes he’d put it as I did in It should be a way of looking at the
gies presented to the full class, 10 class: “Help me understand why world, interpreting experience, and
each in two long sessions. Each strat- your business really matters.” And thinking about what a company is
egy is critiqued by another group, he kept after them until they gave a and why it matters. The formal stra-
and then discussed openly by the thorough answer. By the end of tegic planning process is only part of
whole class. The sessions go on for those sessions, everybody had inter- it; the deeper responsibility is ongo-
hours. The people in the room typi- nalized those questions. I came to ing and continuous. I often refer to a
cally have very helpful things to say, feel that this process was the heart of quote from the great 19th-century
so much so that we now give an a strategic conversation. A leader Prussian military strategist Helmuth
award for the best critique, along builds a strategy through in-depth von Moltke: “Certainly the com-
with an award for the best strategy conversations with a group of his or mander in chief will keep his great
presentation. her peers, testing the ideas against a objective continuously in mind, un-
The tone for the critiques was variety of situations. Knowing how disturbed by the vicissitudes of
set several years ago by Jack, an ex- to do that well will serve the gradu- events. But the path on which he
ecutive from Venezuela. Between ates better as leaders than any par- hopes to reach it can never be firmly
the second and third year of the ticular plan they develop at Harvard established in advance. Throughout
program, as pressures from Hugo Business School. the campaign he must make a series
Chavez’s government increased, of decisions on the basis of situations
Jack’s business suffered; it lacked a S+B: Are you saying that in a well- that cannot be foreseen…. Every-
clear growth path. He came back for run company, the CEO should have a thing depends on penetrating the
thought leader
the third year anyway, and as he group of senior executives who play uncertainty of veiled situations to
dealt with his own challenges, he be- the same questioning role? evaluate the facts, to clarify the un-
came a major presence in the class. MONTGOMERY: That’s right. And known, to make decisions rapidly,
Jack was a regular at the pre- yet that’s not the way it works in and then to carry them out with
class lounge sessions, which often many companies today; business strength and constancy.”
went on well past midnight. Stu- heads make presentations, but often That’s the job of a business
dents came there to test out their they’re choreographed ahead of strategist, no less than a military
strategies with me and whoever else time, and they often don’t question commander, and it’s a challenging
strategy+business issue 70
was interested, and often 30 or 40 their peers as much as they could. balancing act—an ongoing, not a
people would show up. I’d like to see the managers at all periodic, responsibility. Unfortu-
Jack took the seat next to mine, those meetings raise the game by nately, that’s not the way strategy is
night after night. He asked each pre- challenging one another. generally taught in business schools,
3 senter the same question: “What are A strategy shouldn’t be only a and it hasn’t been for a long time.
5. The Capstone Course change their approach to strategy in have a course called General Man-
the early 1980s after Michael Porter agement. Nor do most other busi-
S+B: How has the teaching of strat- introduced the idea of competitive ness schools. Many students have
egy changed? analysis. His course material on the come to view entrepreneurial man-
MONTGOMERY: Back when I was an subject was wildly popular because agement courses as the capstone ex-
MBA student in the 1970s, strategy he brought economic rigor to the perience of the MBA curriculum,
at most schools was taught as part analysis of strategy. On its own, that where you learn about defining busi-
of a course called Business Policy was absolutely good. It transformed nesses, moving them through
and General Management. It was the era. My own work followed in growth, changing course, and doing
thought of as the capstone course; it that wake. Using large-sample statis- it again. But entrepreneurship cours-
came last in the sequence, after mar- tical analysis, I examined the rela- es don’t teach people how to run a
keting, finance, production, and or- tionship between the overall profit- large company; they teach them how
ganizational behavior. Having seen ability of a corporate enterprise and to create and finance a startup. If we
care about improving the quality of
large-enterprise strategy, we manage-
“A strategy should be a way of looking ment academics have to avoid hoist-
ing ourselves on our own petard.
at the world, interpreting experience,
and thinking about what a company is S+B: Hasn’t the specialized, analytic
approach to strategy lost some of its
and why it matters.” value in recent years?
MONTGOMERY: Yes. It started to
level off in the early 2000s. I saw
all the pieces, the student was sup- the average profitability of the in- that recently when, as part of my
posed to put them together. The dustries in which it competed. work on The Strategist, I talked with
course combined thinking and do- But over time, the economics several speakers bureaus, thinking
ing, strategy formulation and strate- began to distract people from the the subject of strategy would be hot.
gy execution. The main textbook, leadership aspect of strategy. Before But instead, they said they would
Business Policy: Texts and Cases, was long, strategy at many top business market me as a speaker on innova-
written by legends in the field: C. schools was taught by economists tion or change management. Their
thought leader
Roland Christensen, Joseph Bower, focused on theory and analytics. If interest in my book came not from
and Kenneth Andrews [Irwin, 1965, you do this, how will your competi- the topic of strategy per se, but from
rev’d. 1982]. The very first chapter tors respond? How do the structural its focus on what strategy means for
was called “The Presidential Point of characteristics of an industry shape business leaders.
View.” Another major section was competitive behavior? All important The discussions helped me
called “The Accomplishment of issues, to be sure, but gradually strat- come to terms with how much strat-
Purpose.” To this day, I tell the ex- egy became an exercise in getting egy had lost its vitality—its edgi-
ecutives I work with, “If someone the analysis right, providing the an- ness—and the tremendous opportu-
asks you what you do for a living, swer, and letting someone else im- nity we have to embrace it in a new
just look them in the eye and say, plement it. That reinforced the idea way. I think other academics are be-
‘I’m an architect of organizational that strategists were a group with ginning to see the same potential.
purpose.’” specialized training. For instance, at a strategy confer-
Many business schools began to Today, Harvard doesn’t even ence in celebration of the Harvard 4
6. Business School centennial, our S+B: What does strategy work look the company. Ikea’s system of ad-
theme was “putting leadership back like when it is action-oriented? vantage, built around that idea, is
into strategy.” MONTGOMERY: Let’s say you’re a one of the company’s most impor-
business leader, and you have an idea tant resources. Anders Dahlvig, for-
S+B: When did you realize the limits for your business. That’s just the be- mer group president, put it this way:
of the analytic approach yourself? ginning. You have to articulate it, “Many competitors could try to
MONTGOMERY: A lot of it came choose to invest in it, and create the copy one or two of these things. The
through executive education, work- organizational context where people difficulty is when you try to create
ing with managers who had an op- can bring it [to life]. That means the totality of what we have.” For in-
portunity to use strategy to make a building a system of advantage—a stance, copying the low prices would
powerful difference in their compa- business model tailored to that pur- not work without copying their ap-
nies. In countless late-night conver- pose, where the pieces work in sync, proach to sourcing, their flat-pack
sations, I learned a lot about the and where the whole is more than distribution concept, the way they
challenges they faced and their aspi- the sum of the parts. Done well, it design their stores and catalogs, and
rations, and I saw what happened to
companies where no one stepped up.
The existentialist philosopher Jean- “Creativity isn’t considered very
Paul Sartre wrote about the “courage
to choose,” and understood that important in the culture that has
choosing isn’t just an intellectual
thing; it takes guts.
grown up around strategy. That
Strategy books don’t talk about has to change.”
that. They also rarely talk about
how to get others involved, or how
to serve as a champion of the pro- turns a concept into an animating their Scandinavian furniture de-
cess. Thomas Saporito, the coauthor idea: A clear view of what your com- sign—“which is not easy,” he says,
of Inside CEO Succession: The Essen- pany will bring to the world, why it “without a Scandinavian heritage.”
tial Guide to Leadership Transition will matter, and how you will do it.
[Wiley, 2012], has written about A lot of those hows will be deter- S+B: Ikea has essentially one busi-
CEOs who fail because they know mined by others throughout the or- ness. Can a multi-business, diversi-
thought leader
their strategy is correct, and they as- ganization, but that can’t happen fied company also be built around an
sume that’s enough to overcome any unless there’s clarity at the core. animating idea?
lack of buy-in. He reminds them Look at a business like Ikea, MONTGOMERY: Certainly. One of
that “executives don’t get paid to be which I wrote about in The Strate- my favorite examples comes from
right. They get paid to be effective.” gist. The founder, Ingvar Kamprad, Apple. In 2001, when Steve Jobs had
In working with leaders, I also stated his animating idea back in the only been back at the company for a
realized how vitally important cre- 1940s. They would offer a line of couple of years as CEO, he gave a
ativity is in strategy. It takes the practical, well-designed furnishings presentation at the Macworld Expo
strategy+business issue 70
whole brain—intuition and analytic at prices so low everyone could af- in which he talked about the three
skills—to do it well. But creativity ford them. When you walk into an ages of the PC. First came the age of
isn’t considered very important in Ikea store, every detail goes back to productivity, then came the age of
the culture that has grown up that idea. It’s not in a document on a the Internet, and now would be the
5 around strategy. That has to change. desk; it’s the energy that gives life to age of the digital hub. He talked
7. about MP3 players, cell phones, and you dive into that story, you can see not a matter of immaculate concep-
digital cameras, which at the time that his victories were hard won. I’m tion, where you get a single answer
accounted for only 15 percent of all trying to get people excited about and forever rule out other options.
camera sales, but, “in a couple of being strategists and to see why it’s a As a business, you operate in a com-
years,” he said, “it will be 50 per- distinctive way that they as leaders plex system of other companies in
cent.” Going forward, Apple would can add value to their businesses. which any advantage is fragile. Even
add value to a host of digital devices, I’m also trying to help them under- Steve Jobs embellished and subtract-
and be the company whose comput- stand that strategy is far more than ed as time went on. You need to
ers would tie them all together. an idea. There’s a conundrum you think about your strategy as an
Some people argue that a strat- sometimes hear in business school: open, living thing. You start out by
egy is understood only in hindsight, “Would you rather have a brilliant, defining who you are as a company.
retrospectively trying to make sense fully worked-out strategy and poor But then you try it out, and discover
of a group of haphazard, reactive execution, or a half-baked strategy that it’s not working so well, so you
moves. But here’s a case where, when well executed?” The point is sup- adjust it.
the stock price was still very low, posed to be that good execution is For example, we teach David
Steve Jobs laid out his animating preferable every time. At least it gets Yoffie’s case on the Gucci Group.
idea in public, in advance. When you some results. But, at root, it’s a The company hit the skids in the
Apple came out with iTunes, the vacuous question. How can you im- 1980s, when counterfeit products
iPod, and the Apple Store, it all plement the hell out of something if and an undisciplined licensing strat-
made sense in light of that idea. you don’t know what you’re trying egy nearly destroyed the brand.
to accomplish? Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the
thought leader
thought leader
S+B: In The Strategist you write that I can understand that you founder, stepped in and tried to re-
people respond to this story by say- might be tempted to favor execution position the company, but custom-
ing, “Sure, but I’m not a genius like because you don’t really know if ers balked and were slow to come
Steve Jobs.” Does a good strategist your strategy will succeed. If your back. A new CEO, Domenico De
have to be a genius? strategy says you should take dra- Sole, was hired in 1993 to pick up
MONTGOMERY: Jobs is widely matic, disruptive risks, do you really the pieces. De Sole forged a new
praised as a genius today, but one of dare to stand with it and keep sup- purpose built around providing
the things I appreciate most about porting it? But frankly, a lot of busi- fashion-forward clothing at good
him is his failures—the Lisa com- nesses face more pedestrian choices, value, and rebuilt every activity in
puter at Apple and the ego-busting with much less risk—and they’re the company to align with it. Did
demise at NeXT, the startup Jobs still not living deliberately, and are Gucci survive? Yes. Did it thrive?
founded when he was ousted from still flying by the seat of their pants. Yes. But it was a different company
an operating role at Apple. When More importantly, strategy is than it had been in its former hey- 6
8. day, a company that mattered for a
different reason.
Similarly, when Ingvar Kam-
prad started out, he was forced to
leave Sweden. The existing Swedish
retailers didn’t like his low prices
and put pressure on local manufac- what’s being done, but why. He or develop the search criteria for an in-
turers to refuse to supply him. In she understands that the quality of coming chief executive, and I always
fear that he’d lose the whole busi- execution begins there. No matter underscore the need to marry the
ness, he went to Poland in search of how successful an operator or execu- ability to conceptualize with the
new suppliers; their prices proved to tor you are, no matter how good ability to translate those concepts
make not just a difference in degree, your product innovation or manu- into action. Generally, I’d look for
but a difference in kind. In other facturing processes are, if your com- people who have transformed a busi-
words, this wasn’t just an incremen- pany doesn’t have a meaningful dis- ness—redefined what it was and
tal shift in one factor—it led Ikea tinction, you won’t be effective; and why it mattered, rebuilt the business
into a completely different business if you can’t move it forward, your model, and delivered. To lead, you
model. Kamprad’s strategy devel- company will stagnate. need to be able to do more than just
oped because he was open to rede- You learn those skills over time. clean up operations or coast on an
fining the business. Robert Katz, who wrote a classic ar- existing path.
ticle called “Skills of an Effective And I’ve worked with enough
S+B: So the point of a strategy is Administrator” [Harvard Business CEOs to know that they need to be
to keep improving your animating Review, September 1974], said that able to make meaning for an organi-
idea, and to keep building your own when you start your career, to suc- zation, to connect the efforts of ev-
capacity to develop and execute it. ceed, you need a functional skill: eryone in it with a purpose that really
MONTGOMERY: Yes, usually that’s For example, you need to be good at matters to some set of customers.
true. Isn’t that preferable to the di- accounting, engineering, or HR. At
chotomy we’ve been talking about, the next level up, you need to be S+B: What is the future of strategy
between conception and execution? good with people. And at the very education?
Isn’t it better than being just the top, you need conceptual skills. MONTGOMERY: Thinking about the
caretaker of a plan? Isn’t it a much Years later, someone asked him if he cultural connections among busi-
better insight to pass on to the other still agreed with that statement, and ness leaders as an ecosystem, we
managers in your company, who he said he was even more fervent want to create an atmosphere where
could be developing their strategic about it now. But he thought that a new type of conversation can be
perspective along with you? people either had those skills by the held—not just in a university class
One must also acknowledge, time they were teenagers, or they or in a management consulting firm
though, that sometimes the animat- would never have them. engagement, but among leaders in
thought leader
ing idea itself has run its course and I don’t agree with that part of it. general. We want to set up the kind
more radical action is necessary. The I think those skills can be developed of conversation that opens the win-
question remains the same: Why later in life. But I do agree that such dow to new strategic possibilities
does the world need this company? skills are the key to becoming an ar- and allows people to move a com-
chitect—or, better yet, a steward— pany in a new direction.
The Education of a Strategist of organizational purpose. As it hap- One of our students, Yegs Ra-
pens, I’ve been at the boardroom miah, is an executive at Santam, the
S+B: If you could spend time with a table with Bob Katz, and he has in- largest short-term insurance compa-
strategy+business issue 70
group of prospective chief execu- credible conceptual skills himself. ny in South Africa. Santam operates
tives, could you tell the strategists But he also understands that they in a category where there is little
from the caretakers? create value only when they’re inti- differentiation, with high levels of
MONTGOMERY: Yes. A leader who is mately linked to action. commoditization, rampant price
7 a strategist has clarity not only about I am sometimes asked to help competition, and a race to the bot-
9. tom that has been threatening the series of ads. In one of them, he nesburg Children’s Home.
profitability of the industry. More- stands in a restaurant, with a bar- Santam’s challenge to Nando’s
over, Santam had been in the game tender behind him mixing drinks, took South Africa by storm. The ad
for 95 years; it was perceived as old- moving in and out of the frame. He got more than 250,000 hits on You-
school, conservative, and expensive, reminds the audience how easy it is Tube, and Santam’s name is now
mainly serving the country’s older to wear blinders and overlook things everywhere, as an example of a com-
white population. To ensure future that are right in front of you. If you pany that is humane, progressive,
success, Santam had to tap into go for the cheapest home insurance, contemporary, and accessible to a
growing group of customers. The
campaign reinvented the brand and,
“Nobody could beat Ford at his own with that, the business.
That’s strategy. It’s not unlike
game, but Sloan reinvented the auto what Steve Jobs did for Apple, or
company. A really good strategy what Alfred Sloan did for General
Motors when he first went up against
revitalizes the company.” Henry Ford. Nobody could beat
Ford at his own game, but Sloan re-
invented the auto company. A really
the growth market—it had to ap- you might miss an important detail. good strategy doesn’t happen on the
peal to people of all races and ages “What if I told you,” he concludes, margin; it doesn’t simply perpetuate
and extend its reach into the grow- “that Floyd’s uniform has changed an industry game that is mature and
ing middle class. four times while I’ve been talking?” may be decaying.
Yegs led a process to redefine The ad caught on, and people want- A really good strategy revitaliz-
the brand positioning and the per- ed to watch it carefully to see where es the company, and to do that, you
sonality, refresh the logo and the the bartender’s outfit changed. It need to assemble a group of people
visual identity, and develop an won several accolades, including a who have the courage to confront
integrated communication and mar- Silver Clio award as well as a Bronze business at its roots. You need people
keting campaign. She realized that Lion in Cannes. who can say, in effect, “Strategy is
in order to challenge accepted Nando’s, a large South African dead. But long live strategy.” +
norms, Santam would have to rede- fast-food chain renowned for their Reprint No. 00163
thought leader
thought leader
fine the short-term insurance cate- satirical advertising, then parodied
gory. She looked for ways to change the ad with one of their own, steal-
the conversation about insurance ing the concept. Instead of ignoring
from its being trivial and dispens- it, or threatening to sue, Yegs got the
able, cheap, and a little bit nasty, to same agency to create a response.
its being important and meaningful, “Under normal circumstances we’d
with enduring value and substance. be upset, but frankly we’re flattered,”
This meant inspiring South Afri- said a Kingsley-like narrator in the
cans to take the issues of managing new ad. Then he made a demand:
risk and preparing for their future Santam would “overlook the indis-
more seriously. cretion” if Nando’s delivered a pack-
Yegs hired Oscar-winning actor age of food—a list of dishes from
Sir Ben Kingsley to narrate a new the Nando’s menu—to the Johan- 8