thehistoryofstrategyanditsfutureprospects
TRANSCRIPT
The History ofStrategy and ItsFuture Prospects�
The History of Strategy andIts Future ProspectsStrategy’s light has dimmed since its heydaysof the 1970s and 1980s: A staggering 80% ofexecutives now think “agility” is at par or moreimportant for future success than strategy.
What happened to strategy, and what can be done to make it relevant again for today’s organizations?
Strategy’s origins are often attributed to the military.
The truth is that military strategywas as much about avoidingwars as winning them.
Sun Tzu465 BC
VonClausewitz1831
For most of its history, strategy wasn’texciting—it was all about exclusivity andmonopolies.
• Land rights• Mineral rights• Rents
• Levies• Tolls• Guilds
• Taxes• Patents• among others
Blockbuster medicationand Big Pharma
To this day, exclusivity makes for some ofthe most simple and powerful strategies.�
Revolts against Rockefeller's StandardOil marked the beginning of a new erain strategy
The Historyof the Standard Oil Company– Ida Tarbell
The end of monopolies1904
Around 1900,StandardOil and itssubsidiariescontrolled90% of NorthAmericanrefiningcapacity. 90%
However, Standard Oil’s industrialprowess lived on in the next era ofScientific Management or ”Taylorism.”
1911
The Principles of Scientific Management– Frederick Winslow Taylor
In the late 1960s, strategy becamea proper discipline with concepts,practitioners, and methodologies.
Outside-in, inside-out, resource-based,measurement, and change capabilitieswere all in place.
Experience curves and growth-share matrix– Bruce Henderson
1968 1980
The Core Competence of the Corporation– Prahalad and Hamel
1980/1985
The Core Competence of the Corporation– Prahalad and Hamel
Competitive Strategy and TheCompetitive Advantage– Michael Porter
1992
The Core Competence of the Corporation– Prahalad and Hamel
The Balanced Scorecard– Kaplan & Norton
1996
The Core Competence of the Corporation– Prahalad and Hamel
Leading Change– John P. Kotter
The strategy heydays were short-lived:In 1993, business process reengineeringbarged onto the scene…
Reengineeringthe Corporation– Michael M. Hammer and James Champy
1993
…closely followed by a flood of strategicphenomena.
Note: This overview is by no means exhaustive.
Reengineeringthe Corporation– Michael M. Hammer and James Champy
1993 1994
Hyper-competition– Richard D'Aveni
1997
The War forTalent– Michaels, Handfield- Jones, & Axelrod
2000
1997
Cannibals with Forks – The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business
– Elkington
Blown to Bits– Evans and Wurster
2001
The InternetBubble– Perkins & Perkins
2005
The BlackBook ofOutsourcingHow to Manage theChanges, Challengesand Opportunities
– Brown & Wilson
2005
The New Ageof InnovationDriving Co-created Value Through Global Networks
– Prahalad & Krishnan
2005
2006
The TripleBottom Line– Andrew Savitz & Karl Weber
2005
The Wisdom of Crowds –Why the Many are Smarter Than the Few
– James Surowieki
2004
CorporateSocialResponsibilityDoing the Most Goodfor Your Companyand Your Cause
– Kotler & Lee
The World Is Flat –A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
– Friedman
2008
Wikinomics – How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
– Tapscott & Williams
2010
The Big Short – Inside the Doomsday Machine
– Michael Lewis
2010
Winning inEmerging Markets– Khanna & Palepu
2009
Enterprise 2.0 How to ManageSocial Technologiesto Transform YourOrganization
– Andrew MacAfee
2011
Groundswell,Winning in a WorldTransformed bySocial Technologies
– Charlene Li & Josh Bernho�
2007
The BlackSwanThe Impact of theHighly ImprobableFragility– Nassim Nicholas Taleb
2013
Big Data – A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
– Mayer- Schönberger & Cukier
Book image copyright of Havard Business Press
“It's tough to identify any big new strategy ideas since 1995.” —Walter Kiechel
There were strategies for everything,but no one strategy for everythingtogether.
There are plenty of smart recipes fordealing with this overload, but noneis a substitute for strategy.
2009
Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
– Simon Sinek
2012
The Strategist – Be the Leader Your Business Needs
– Cynthia Montgomery
2011
HBR’s10 Must Reads – On Leadership– Drucker et al
2009
The Upside of Turbulence – Seizing Opportunity in an Uncertain World
– Donald Sull
Authenticleadership
2001
Profit from the Core – Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence
– Zook and Allen
2013
Playing to Win – A Practical Approach to Winning Strategy
– Lafley and Martin
2005
Blue Ocean Strategy– Kim and Mauborgne
“Slice-the-pie”approaches
2008
Fast Strategy– Doz and Kosonen
Agility
2001
Good to Great – Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
– Jim Collins
2003
The Loyalty E�ect and One Number You Need to Grow– Frederick Reichheld
2002
Lean Six Sigma – Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Production Speed
– Michael George
2004
The Toyota Way– Je�rey Liker
Independent,self-su�icientapproaches
Three promising recent lines of strategicthinking—when combined—hold the keyto reclaiming strategy.
Organizationalinclusion
Portfolio of competitiveopportunities
Futureinspiration
1. Taking future inspiration directly into strategy formulation
From outside-inand inside-outanalyses to…
Future-instrategicinspiration
Observation: Individualdrivers of change arerelatively simple; it istheir combination thatcreates the dynamics.
The LivingCompany– Arie de Geus
1997 2008/2009
Design Thinking and Change by Design– Tim Brown
Making sure strategy is truly inspiredby the drivers of change most a�ectingthe company.
Fundamental drivers of change
Competitive impact
Speed ofchange
Strategyformulation
2. Drawing on the organization for better insights and more achievable results.
From cascadingstrategiesdown to…
Organizationalinclusion
Insight: Organizational inclusive-ness eliminates the handoverhurdle between strategy form-ulation and strategy excecution.
2012
Accelerate!– John P. Kotter
Tapping the collective knowledge andfirsthand experience of the organizationusing the latest technologies
Strategyformulation
Organizational Inclusion hits all themotivational boxes—autonomy, personalgrowth, sense of purpose.
“The puzzle of motivation” —Daniel Pink
“What makesus feel good
about work?” —Dan Ariely
Implication: If competitiveadvantage is transient, then newcompetitive opportunities mustbe identified at di�erent stagesof the company’s life cycle.
2013
The End ofCompetitiveAdvantage– Rita Gunther McGrath
3. Adopting a portfolio approach to competitive advantage.
From single,linear strategyto managing…
Portfolio ofcompetitiveopportunities
A portfolio approach means that strategyoutput is no longer a single plan but aportfolio of strengths managed continually.
Growing Mature Sunset
Adva
nced
Lagg
ing
Competitive life cycle matrix
Life cycle stage
Com
pany
pos
ition
Strategyformulation
FutureProof marks the start of a newstrategic era where strategy turnsfrom a plan on paper into a guidingorganzational energy.
1900 1968 1995 Today
Exclusivityandmonopolies
Scientificmanagement
Strategyheydays
Strategicproliferation
FutureProof
Organizationalinclusion
Portfolio of competitiveopportunities
Futureinspiration
For more informationabout A.T. Kearney’sFutureProof Strategy,please visit:www.thefutureofstrategy.com