BLOG OF ADAM HARTUNG
Why He’s not CEO/Person of the Year – Immelt of GE
Summary: Business leaders are honored for creating profitable growth Those who create the greatest growth disrupt the status quo and change the way things are done - such as Zuckerberg and Jobs Too many CEOs act as caretakers, overlooking growth Caretakers watch value...
Play To Win, Not “Catch up” – Colgate’s Opportunity
Summary: We too often think of competition as "head to head" Smart competitors avoid direct competition, instead using alternative methods in order to lower cost while appealing directly to market needs Proctor & Gamble has long dominated advertising for many...
Everything Old is New Again: Oracle’s Microsoft Strategy
Today's guest blog is provided by Mike Meikle, hope you enjoy: Summary Oracle is at the top of the heap in the Traditional Software market. Traditional Software market is deflating with $7 billion less profit than 2009 Software as a Service, a component of Cloud...
Look for Disruption, not Consistency, to Find Superior Returns – Kraft v Groupon
Summary: Business leaders like consistency Consistency leads to repetition, sameness, and lower rates of return Kraft's product lines are consistent, but without growth Kraft's value has been stagnant for 10 years Disruptive competitors make higher rates of...
Groupon and Google – you too can grow explosively
Summary: Most planning systems only focus on improving the existing business Most value comes from identifying new market opportunities, and filling them Extremely high growth can happen in any company that focuses on market needs, rather than business model...
You Should Love, and Buy, Netflix – the next Apple or Google
Summary: Most leaders optimize their core business This does not prepare the business for market shifts Motorola was a leader with Razr, but was killed when competitors matched their features and the market shifted to smart phones Netflix's leader is moving...
Getting Rich vs. Getting Lost – Smartphones – Google & Apple vs. RIM, Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft
Summary: Most planning systems rely on extending past performance to predict the future But markets are shifting too fast, making such forecasts wildly unreliable To compete effectively, companies must anticipate future market shifts Planning needs to incorporate a...
Growth (vs Greed) is Good – Google, Amazon, Facebook vs Microsoft
Summary: Most managers think it's good to lower costs Most leaders focus heavily on earnings But focusing on costs and earnings leads to a dysmal spiral of decline Growth, rather than earings, distinguishes the higher value, and higher paying, companies Google is...
Facebook’s new email client is a big deal for business
Summary: Many companies block employee access to Facebook and other social network applications But these environments actually improve performance Social networks like Facebook allow people to be more productive, and are very inexpensive Facebook's new email client...
Value is created in the future, not the past – U.S. News and other old brands
Summary: Business value requires meeting future needs Businesses have to transition to remain valuable U.S. News is smart to drop its print edition and go all digital Print newspapers and magazines are obsolete Old brands have no value Businesses have to develop and...
2 Losers Don’t make a Winner – Ignore Yahoo and AOL
Summary: Creating value requires growth, not cost reductions Yahoo and AOL have no growth, and no new market development plans Yahoo and AOL lack the resources to battle existing competitors Google and Apple Don't invest in Yahoo or AOL individually, or if they merge...
It’s About the Economy, Stupid – Lessons from the election
Summary: Voters whipsawed from throwing out the Republicans 2 year ago to throwing out Democrats this election Americans are frustrated by a no-growth economy Recent government programs have been ineffective at stimulating growth, despite horrific expense Lost...
What Could Go Wrong at Ikea?
Summary: When something works, we do more of it But markets shift, and what we did loses its ability to create growth Out of high growth comes Lock-in to old practices that blind us to potential market changes which could create price wars or obsolescence Lock-in gets...
The Myth of “Maturity” – AT&T and Microsoft
Summary: We like to think of "mature" businesses as good AT&T was a "mature" business, yet it failed "Maturity" leads to inward focus, and an unwillingness to adjust to market shifts Microsoft is trying to reposition itself as a...
Yes, You Should Buy Apple
Summary: Apple keeps itself in growth markets by identifying unmet needs Apple expands its markets every quarter Apple deeply understands its competition Apple knows how to launch new products quickly These skills allow investors to buy Apple with low risk, and likely...
The Wal-Mart Disease
Summary: Many large, and leading, companies have not created much shareholder value the last decade A surprising number of very large companies have gone bankrupt (GM) or failed (Circuit City) Wal-Mart is a company that has generated no shareholder value The Wal-Mart...
When Should Steve Ballmer Be Fired? – Microsoft
Summary: Steve Ballmer received only half his maximum bonus for last year But Microsoft has failed at almost every new product initiative the last several years Microsoft's R&D costs are wildly out of control, and yielding little new revenue Microsoft is...
Far too Little, Far too Late – RIM Playbook
Summary: Research in Motion has launched a tablet, competing with the iPad But the Playbook does not have the app base that iPad has developed RIM's focus on its "core" IT customer, without spending enough energy focusing on Apple and other competitors,...
HP and Nokia’s Bad CEO Selections – Neither knows how to Grow – Hewlett Packard, Nokia
Summary: HP and Nokia have lost the ability to grow organically Both need CEOs that can attack old decision-making processes to overcome barriers and move innovation to market much more quickly Unfortunately, both companies hired new CEOs who are very weak in these...
Outsourcing – Right or Wrong? 9 Key Questions
Summary: Outsourcing has been very popular Outsourcing removes management options Outsourcing creates Lock-in, and makes it harder to deal with market shifts Most organizations see long-term performance deteriorate as a result of outsourcing Outsourcing has been...
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