Competition never sleeps

Summary : It is a basic principle of tactical awareness that the competition never sleeps. You must assume that they are always trying to find areas of competitive advantage and working to reverse any areas of competitive disadvantage. During the eighties, the ascent of Japan's semiconductor equipment industry was accompanied by high customer satisfaction with their tools and general dissatisfaction with tools made by western suppliers...

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The 5 Business Strategi ...

There are only five business strategies: cost, quality, distribution, technology, and intellectual property (IP). All business strategies break down into these five, or some combination of them. As a general p ... See more

Winners take ownership ...

No one ever fixed a problem that wasn’t theirs. Problems are opportunities, so blaming others leaves the opportunities for others. ... See more

Define and refine your ...

This seems obvious. It’s so obvious that it is a strategic error that many companies make. First, they over define what are their core strengths. Defining a core strength is simple: any core strength must diffe ... See more

Strategic versus tactic ...

Confusing the two is a dangerous mistake. Not understanding the difference typically leads to tactics with no strategy. Tactics will then often conflict with the implicit strategy. Yet, these are very common ... See more

A large multi-product c ...

It is a basic principle that a large multi-product company, which should have all the advantages, can be beaten in segments by smaller companies if the large company’s product groups have poor inter-divisional ... See more

It’s all about good man ...

During the late eighties execs had to sit through lectures about the superiority of Japanese management. After sitting through one, Jim Morgan, of Applied Materials replied ... ... See more

When changing your name ...

When changing your name, make sure the new one and logo reflect the company’s history into the future ... See more

More on principles and ...

The underlying principles and purpose of their leaders govern the outcome of all businesses. ... See more

Average vs Great Leader ...

The average leader retreats to the safety of marcom and IR tricks and denials when surprised by a competitor’s market advance. The great ones steel their organization by internally attacking their product defi ... See more

Partnering only happens ...

The difference between partnering and purchasing is that partnering can only happen when both parties see their future as mutually interdependent. In contrast, purchasing can occur anytime the seller has a prod ... See more