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Strategic Thinking is easy to say but much harder to achieve in reality. Understanding what strategic thinking is, and how it differs from operational thinking, is the first step in becoming an accomplished strategic thinker. Strategy versus Operations? Strategic Thinking is different from both strategic planning and operational planning. In fact, strategic thinking is the…

by Richard W. Oliver On the face of it, defining “busi- ness strategy” seems like a no-brainer. Yet when I was confronted with the challenge recently in a faculty meeting, I found myself rather less than articulate. “Bad form!” you might say, for a pro- fessor of the subject and more impor- tantly, a columnist on…

by Colleen Backstrom Way back in 2007 Harvard Business School put out a paper entitled “Fixing the Marketing — CEO Disconnect”, which highlighted the gap between the marketing function and the C-suite. It emphasised that too much delegation of responsibility to the marketing department can result in marketing activities, which are not supportive of the company’s…

by Michel (Mike) Robert — Founder, Decision Processes International “It’s easy to develop a strategy, it’s the implementation that’s difficult.” This is a statement we have frequently heard over the years. Our own experience proves that the exact opposite is true. If a CEO thinks that he or she has a solid strategy, and yet it’s…

What do Michael Phelps and Placido Domingo have in common? Not so obvious is it? Here’s a hint: they both excel at a skill which many of us take for granted, are not able to “control” and, for the most part, are not consciously aware of. Yet, this is a skill that is essential to…

Since new-to-the-market products are the essence of strategic supremacy, why are companies spending their time, money and energy on product extensions at the expense of new-to-the-market products? Most companies commit one, or more, of four ‘sins’ that kill new product creation and lead to a company’s loss of supremacy over its competitors. Unfortunately, all 4…

Without continuous innovation, organisations sputter and die. Nonetheless, most organisations practise innovation in a haphazard manner, apparently hoping that it will happen. Looking at the Forbes 2014 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, you see some of the “usual suspects” – Amazon.com, Unilever and Coca Cola. In fact, in these most successful companies, innovation…