Articles on Strategy
by Sid Peimer
Creating Shared Value is a funny thing. Not funny ha-ha.
All the fuss over CSV started with Michael Porter and Mark Kramer’s article ‘The Big Idea: Creating Shared Value’ in the Jan-Feb issue of the HBR in 2011. It was also hyped up on the cover with this...
Strategy Implementation: a much-maligned and misinformed concept.
Firstly, strategies are not implemented – the tasks and tactics that emanate from a strategy are the elements that require implementation. Not the strategy per se. We progress a strategy and...
Rules eat culture for breakfast
In 1823, William Webb Ellis of the Rugby School picked up a round soccer ball and ran with it. This (probable urban legend) has persisted as the origin of rugby. Okay, so here we go - we now have...
Embodied cognition and why you should bungee jump on your first date.
Why is an ad showing a piece of cake more engaging when the fork is placed to the right of the cake? Enter the field of “embodied cognition” – the idea that without our conscious awareness, our...
Six traps that will lose you market share
In physics, the Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed – it can just change from one form to another. However we are not constrained by this law in...
Five beliefs about strategy execution that are just plain wrong.
At the conclusion of strategy sessions we identify objectives and allocate responsibilities with timelines. It’s all very clear. But why then has it been found that strategy execution is the number...
How do you know your strategy is any good?
The 1958 French film Les Almants (The Lovers) was about a woman involved in adultery. Directed by Louis Malle, the film was a hit in France, but when it crossed the Atlantic to the US it was met...
Satisfied customers don’t mean repeat business
We ask customers how satisfied they are, because we think that satisfaction means profitability and growth. That’s not necessarily true. Also, those lengthy feedback forms may give us lots of data,...
Brand loyalty – a thing of the past for technology brands?
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show will feature everything from biometric socks and other ‘wearables’ to 3D printers, drones, robotics, virtual reality and TV’s where the clarity is...
How social proof affects our behaviour
Mrs Keech (a pseudonym) was gifted with automatic writing. Basically she got messages from The Guardians of outer space, and would share the information with a small group who also believed the...
There’s money in them thar ubiquitous connectivity.
Certain instances aside, such as when you’re driving with your spouse, it’s nice to know how you’re performing. The ubiquity of digital media has provided us with a treasure chest of data allowing...
The 10 reasons why strategy implementation fails.
When it comes to strategic planning, the humourist Sam Levenson makes a keen observation: “Some people are so good at learning the tricks of the trade, that they never get to learn the trade.” The...