Which Strategy When

Markets change, shifting the competition, and the company will suffer or perhaps thriving. Whatever the immediate circumstances, corporate managers ask the same questions: Where do we go from here, and the strategy is to get us there? To understand how to choose the right strategy at the right time, the authors of the logic leading strategic business and technology conditions in schools analyzed used all over the world. They voted these frameworks with the most important strategic decisions fa … Read more »

Markets change, shifting the competition, and the company will suffer or perhaps thriving. Whatever the immediate circumstances, corporate managers ask the same questions: Where do we go from here, and the strategy is to get us there? To understand how to choose the right strategy at the right time, the authors of the logic leading strategic business and technology conditions in schools analyzed used all over the world. They voted these frameworks with the most important strategic decisions faced by dozens of industry leaders at different times, during periods of stability and change. Two findings emerged from their analysis. First, the framework is divided into three archetypes: strategies able to use strategies and policies of the opportunity. What is right for a company depends on its circumstances, its available resources, and how the management of these combined resources. Second, many of the assumptions about competitive advantage did not hold. For example, although strategy gurus talk about strategically valuable resources, sometimes competitive advantage came from ordinary resources assembled well. To find out when it makes sense to pursue strategies of the position, leverage, or the possibility, the authors advise managers to understand their businesses immediate circumstances, an inventory of current resources and determine the relationships between the various resources. Understanding these factors, they argue, helps managers select the right strategic framework.
«Hide

from
Christopher B. Bingham,
Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,
Nathan R. Furr
Source: MIT Sloan Management Review
7 pages.
Release Date: 1 October 2011. Prod #: SMR401-PDF-ENG
What strategy When? HBR case solution