By Robert W. Bradford, President & CEO Over the years, I’ve encountered dozens of companies that seem to be caught in a trap of their own making. It’s the result of doing whatever it takes to satisfy customers that, in the end, will buy from the supplier who offers the lowest price. The low-price strategy […]
Continue readingDenise Harrison Note: This article is part of a series taken from Denise Harrison’s article March to a Different Drummer originally published in Compass Points in August 2002. Although this article was written in 2002, this discussion is timeless. “Get big fast or go home!” was the mantra of venture capitalists. Webvan spent $830 million to expand into 26 […]
Continue readingWe are discussing the root causes of poor implementation in a series of posts. Part 5 covers the fifth root cause of poor implementation. The plan attempts too much too quickly This is probably the second most common issue, and, as we said, sometimes difficult to distinguish from issue 3 (The implementation is given insufficient resources). […]
Continue readingBy Robert W. Bradford, President & CEO Note: This article was originally posted in Compass Points in May 2006. We are discussing the root causes of poor implementation in a series of posts. Part 4 covers the fourth root cause of poor implementation. Managers change their objectives too quickly In some companies, the main strategy implementation […]
Continue readingBy Denise Harrison Over the years CVS has transitioned its business from a traditional drug store format to become more of a health care company. Why? Some trends indicated that more profitability came from its sale of prescription drugs, so a focus on health care rather than consumer products made sense. To further its movement […]
Continue readingBy Robert W. Bradford, President & CEO Note: This article was originally posted in Compass Points in May 2006. We are discussing the root causes of poor implementation in a series of posts. Part 3 covers the third root cause of poor implementation. The implementation lacks follow-through Sometimes, we see companies that do a decent job […]
Continue readingBy Robert W. Bradford, President & CEO Note: This article was originally posted in Compass Points in May 2006. We are discussing the root causes of poor implementation in a series of posts. Part 2 covers the second root cause of poor implementation. The implementation lacks follow-through Sometimes, we see companies that do a decent […]
Continue readingBy M. Dana Baldwin, Senior Consultant How often have you gone into a store or a restaurant, called a service department on the phone, emailed a customer service unit of a company, and had anything but outstanding customer service results? All too often, customer service contacts don’t address your problem directly, or don’t serve you […]
Continue readingNote: This article was originally posted in Compass Points in May 2006. Part 1 introduces the article and the first root cause of poor implementation. In our strategic planning work, we often work with companies who have tried strategic planning before. Almost inevitably, the companies we meet were disappointed in the results they got […]
Continue readingOne of my favorite parts of my work is speaking at conventions. Interestingly, I’ve noticed far more interest in hearing about strategic thinking than strategic planning in the past few years. While this trend is likely because most people are doing strategic planning the wrong way, it’s still interesting to ponder why people have […]
Continue readingToday we have a guest post by Seanlai, Proclivities Founder. Please see below: Sometimes you’re just out of ideas. It’s not a matter of desire — you want your company to scale, you’ve done it before. But now, what used to work isn’t working and you’re getting frustrated Millennials have changed the game—they aren’t motivated by […]
Continue readingBy Denise Harrison, Senior Consultant “Follow the plan; don’t get distracted by seemingly large opportunities,” replied one CEO when asked the question “What was one key lesson learned from following a systematic approach to strategic planning?” How did he learn this? The hard way, of course. For years, this CEO and his team used the […]
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