BLOG OF ADAM HARTUNG
Doing what’s easy, vs. doing what’s hard – The New York Times
Years ago there was a TV ad featuring the actor Pauly Shore. Sitting in front of a haystack there was a sign over his frowning head reading "Find the needle." The voice over said "hard." Then another shot of Mr. Shore sitting in front...
Doing what works in this recession – Tesla, Morgan Aircraft, Starbucks vs. GM
Business leaders too often react to a recession by cutting costs, stopping spending, discontinuing new product launches -- and waiting. The theory is that the market is bad, so it's an uphill slog to try doing anything new. Supposedly, a smart leader...
Doing it right – and growing – in a recession — Tasty Catering
I've had the good fortune recently to meet some companies that are doing an extremely good job of practicing The Phoenix Principle. Although no company story can be told well within the shortness of a blog, some of these stories are so powerful I want share...
When You Just Can’t Get Enough of the Same Old Thing – Lutz and GM
"Is Bob Lutz the right guy to run GM Marketing?" is the question headlined on Advertising Age. I'm sure you know I think the answer is a resounding "NO."I'll never forget a few months when Mr. Lutz, being interviewed for a national...
Why Google isn’t like GM
Google is growing, and GM is trying to get out of bankruptcy. On the surface there are lots of obvious differences. Different markets, different customers, different products, different size of company, different age. But none of these get to the...
Why Bankruptcies Don’t Work – Tribune Corporation and General Motors
"Tribune Company Profitability Continues to Deteriorate" is the Crain's headline. Even though Tribune filed for bankruptcy several months ago, its sales, profits and cash flow have continued deteriorating. The company is selling assets,...
Changing Captains on a sinking ship – Xerox
"Burns Succeeds Mulcahy at Xerox in First Big Woman-to-Woman CEO Transition" is the Forbes headline. It's only too bad that this headline took until 2009 to happen. It's also too bad that gender issues, such as women CEOs, are worth headlines. But the truth is that...
The problem with Hedgehogs – Dassault & Cessna vs. Tata
Two sides of a page, two sides of strategy. Two different approaches, two very different sets of results.That's what struck me when I was waiting for a meeting recently. I picked up a print edition of Businessweek laying in the reception area. ...
When you’re hot you’re hot – when you’re not you’re not — Starbucks & Dell
With all due respect to the great guitar playing songwriter Jerry Reed, today Starbucks and Dell continue to look like copies that were once hot - but now couldn't warm a nose in a blizzard."Starbucks continues food push with overhauled menu items" is...
Big Bankruptcies from Big Market Shifts – GM, Lehman, WaMu, WorldCom, Enron, etc.
In May "The Largest U.S. Bankruptcies" was published in BusinessWeek - and since then we've added General Motors to the list. From biggest down: General Motors Lehman Brothers Washington Mutual Worldcom Enron Conseco Chrysler Thornburg Mortgage...
Forced innovation – Consumer goods and retail,
"Retailers cut back on variety, once the spice of marketing" is the Wall Street Journal.com headline. It seems one of the unintended consequences of this recession will be forced consumer goods innovation!For years consumer goods companies, and the...
What’s the future for Chrysler? Fiat?
"Reborn Chrysler gets a European makeover" is the headline at the Detroit Free Press. Now that Fiat is in charge, can we expect Chrysler to turn around?There is no doubt Chrysler has been severely Challenged. But that alone did not Disrupt...
You gotta move beyond your “base” – expand beyond your “brand”
What is a brand worth? Do you spend a lot of time trying to "protect" your brand? A lot of marketing gurus spent the last 20 years talking about creating brands, and saying there's a lot of value in brands. Some companies have been...
Becoming the elusive “evergreen” company – Apple vs. Walgreens
For years business leaders have sought advice which would allow their organizations to become "evergreen." Evergreen businesses constantly renew themselves, remaining healthy and growing constantly without even appearing to turn dormant. Of...
New ebook – The Fall of GM
Of all the companies that typified America's rise as an industrial superpower, none was more successful than General Motors. What happened? Why has it fallen so far? GM at its biggest boasted some 600,000 well-paid employees. It will be left with something like 60,000...
Are markets efficient? To Survive forget that myth.
Harvard Publishing recently posted an article from a professor at the London Business School, Freek Vermeulen "Can we please stop saying the market is efficient?" The good professor's point of view was that he observed a lot of companies that were...
Leaders make a difference – P&G, GM, AT&T
As I've given presentations around the country the last year I'm frequently asked about the role of leadership in Phoenix Principle companies. All people can bring Phoenix Principle behaviors to their work teams and functional groups. Yet there...
Investing in, or against, indexes – DJIA, GM and Cisco
Unless you have a lot of time to research stocks, you probably invest in a fund. Funds can be either an index, or actively managed. People like index funds because you aren't relying on a manager to have a better idea. Index funds can only own...
Shift your Success Formula, or learn Chinese – GM, Hummer
How appropriate. "GM strikes deal to sell Hummer" headlines a Marketwatch.com article. A day after declaring bankruptcy, Hummer with all its branding and product drawings is going to China. It seems everything about GM is iconic -...
From GM to Cisco – changes in the DJIA
June 1, 2009 will be remembered for a really long time. As I last blogged, I think the iconic impact of GM as one of the most successful and profitable of all industrial companies makes its bankruptcy more important than almost any other company. As GM loses...
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