Articles on Strategy

by Sid Peimer

B2B buyer chain networks: where does the power lie?

Consider the five-person network in the figure below, where only pairwise deals can be made. In other words, node/person d can make a deal with c or e, but not both. Experimental research shows that...

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...

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...

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,...

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...