“One company that manufactured resins used in exterior paints discovered this firsthand. By researching the needs of commercial painting contractors—a key customer segment—the company learned that labor constituted the lion’s share of contractors’ costs, while paint made up just 15%… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“Executives are doers; they execute. Knowledge is useless to executives until it has been translated into deeds. But before springing into action, the executive… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“The use of “war games” is a powerful antidote to the lack of thinking about competitors’ reactions to proposed moves. 11.” — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“If thinking is an intellectual response to a problem, then the absence of a problem leads to the absence of thinking.” — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“Business-unit managers should remain involved in corporate-level strategy planning that affects their units. But a focus on issues rather than business units better aligns… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“More than anything else, this disconnect—between the way planning works and the way decision making happens—explains the frustration, if not outright antipathy, most executives… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“Uhlaner put in place a Growth and Performance Planning Process that starts with agreement by Ballmer’s leadership team on a set of strategic themes—major… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“Stockdale Paradox This finding is named after Admiral James Stockdale, winner of the Medal of Honor, who survived seven years in a Vietcong POW camp by hanging on to two contradictory beliefs: His life couldn’t be worse at the moment, and his life would someday be better than ever. Like Stockdale, people at the good-to-great companies in our research confronted… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share
“Management must think of itself not as producing products but as providing customer-creating value satisfactions. It must push this idea (and everything it means… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“Worried that you’re not a born leader? That you lack charisma, the right talents, or some other secret ingredient? No need: leadership isn’t about personality or talent. In fact, the best leaders exhibit wildly different personalities, attitudes, values, and strengths—they’re extroverted or reclusive, easygoing or controlling, generous or parsimonious, numbers or vision oriented. So what do effective leaders have in… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share
“Is that not what consumer research is for—to find out before the fact what is going to happen? The answer is that Detroit never… — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“By embracing decision-focused planning, companies will almost certainly find that the quantity and quality of their decisions will improve.” — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
“they’ve also changed the nature of top management’s discussions about strategy—from “review and approve” to “debate and decide,” — Harvard Business School Press Copy Share Image
