Competitive strategy

Too many executives use data to confirm what they already think.

Speed is not the only - or even the most important - factor.

As a recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted, a spate of companies in the high technology/high-end services space has rediscovered the joys of vertical integration — you all remember (or at least those of you of a certain age remember) the excited discovery of “M” form organizations and the power of giving product […]

What do the Burroughs Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc., and the Union Camp Corporation have in common? Although none of them enjoys a dominant market share, all three earn quite respectable returns on their equity, have healthy profit margins, and continue to maintain strong sales growth year after year. In this article, the […]

Companies may want to shift a brand's position--to exploit less crowded territory, for example, or grow sales. Companies have long used perceptual mapping...

With the first African World Cup now going full blast, South Africans are more excited than I’ve ever seen them. And the corporate gamesmanship here is almost as interesting as the matches being played out in magnificent stadiums around the country. The brand competition began the moment I arrived in Johannesburg from the UK. As […]

Disruption is no longer just coming from the low end.

Why a dry-cleaning app will never make money.

Congress and regulators must curb combinations that adversely affect the cost and quality of care.

Awareness of these forces can help a company stake out a position in its industry that is less vulnerable to attack.

To survive over the long haul, a company must reinvent itself periodically, jumping from the flattening end of one business performance curve to the rising...

Companies say they want breakthrough products, but most are far more adept at making incremental improvements to existing lines. A pioneering division at 3M successfully navigated a process that leads to breakthrough thinking.

Why and how to rethink the competition.

Collaboration between competitors is in fashion. General Motors and Toyota assemble automobiles, Siemens and Philips develop semiconductors, Canon supplies photocopiers to Kodak, France’s Thomson and Japan’s JVC manufacture videocassette recorders. But the spread of what we call “competitive collaboration”—joint ventures, outsourcing agreements, product licensings, cooperative research—has triggered unease about the long-term consequences. A strategic alliance […]

Change may be brewing for the American beer industry, but its current structure serves an important purpose.

During the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […]

In a tight economy, with companies spending much less on IT, the tech giants will take growth wherever they can find it. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Cisco and HP are in a pitched battle for customers for their high-end teleconferencing systems. According to the report, it’s “one of the few technologies that […]

Consistent innovation is the key to market leadership. Outstanding companies know that and build their success on it. And other organizations can do the...

Competing in overcrowded industries is no way to sustain high performance. The real opportunity is to create blue oceans of uncontested market space.

For one thing, 75% of cars will be connected by 2020.