BLOG OF ADAM HARTUNG
It’s not about the coffee
Last night ABC's Nightline program featured an article on Starbucks (see print version here). This is not the first time Nightline has discussed Starbucks. The program previously chided management about it's competition with McDonald's (see video on...
Done with ease
Today the press announced that the U.S.'s #1 music retailer is iTunes (read article here.) This is actually pretty amazing, given that Apple's (see chart here) iTunes is only 5 years old. To reach this position Apple climbed over Target, Best Buy and...
More of the same?
Top oil industry executives were on Capital Hill yesterday being questioned about their profits (highest ever) and the tax breaks they receive for exploration and production. (Read AP report here under headline "Oil executives defend huge...
They weren’t stupid – so what next?
Boy oh boy did the Chicago press decide to beat up on Motorola (chart here) this week. With the company's announcement that Motorola does intend to split into two seperate entities - by spinning off the mobile handset business - the press decided it was time to...
Why’d they do that?
We all find ourselves watching the news, or reading a newspaper, then shaking our head and saying "Why'd they do that?" When it all seems so obvious, why do leaders take action that seems counter to their goals? Take the recent case at Wal-Mart (see...
Disruptions Lead to Change
Whenever we want change too often we can't. Everyone will agree to change, but we are so Locked-in that we we can't seem to behave differently, even though we realize poor performance requires change and we agree we have to do things differently. That's...
Stuff Happens
Most management planning processes are designed to perpetuate the past. They are designed to figure out how to do what happened last year, or quarter, only a little bit better. In a high growth environment, no problem. Doing more is a good...
Still very unlikely
A couple of weeks ago I blogged that the Chief Innovation Officer for Tribune Company - Lee Abrams - was unlikely to make much difference because he wasn't given any White Space. He didn't have permission nor resources to develop a new Success Formula - and as a...
REAL White Space
We all are surrounded by so much Lock-in and Defend & Extend Management that sometimes it can be hard to find White Space. On 3/19 the Chicago Tribune reported the creation of some White Space that could be very valuable (read article here.) Microsoft...
Way too late
Almost since I began this blog I've talked off and on about newspapers. Living in Chicago, I've taken more than a few pot shots at the local establishment - Tribune Company, owner of The Chicago Tribune. Don't get me wrong, I love "the Trib," as...
Success Formula half life
I was in Junior High when I learned about isotopes. By measuring the amount of radium in an object you could measure its age. Thus, knowing the speed at which radium degenerated gave us a "half life" of the isotopes - and with that we could judge...
Sounds good, but really….
Sometimes the headline can sound so good. But then the article gives no reason to believe the headline. Take the recent case of Tribune Company deciding to hire a new Chief Innovation Officer (read article here). The headline says Tribune is hitching...
Conventional Wisdom
Back on October 18, 2006 I blogged about Motorola (see chart here) hiring a new marketing chief, Kenneth "Casey" Keller. I was pleased because in his career he had demonstrated an ability to create White Space and launch new products even in stodgy old...
Pay close attention
When was the last time you bought something at an ACE hardware store? How large was your purchase? I grew up in a town of 3,000 people. In the 1960s we had 2 - yes 2 - lumberyards in the town. We also had a hardware store. Now, those are long...
Buying the goose for golden eggs – then plucking it
If you read material printed on paper (and not just stuff on your computer screen), you've had contact with R.R. Donnelley and Sons (see chart here.) This was one of the industrial era's venerable companies. In the time of Lincoln, books were somewhat rare...
D&E * 2 = Disaster
If you've read this blog the last 2 years you know I'm no fan of Mr. Lambert and the company he runs - Sears Holdings (see chart here). I have a vested interest in watching this story, because the day KMart announced it was buying Sears I was quoted on the front...
Get it fast..
When markets shift it's better to "get it fast" and make changes than "fight to the death" to protect the past. The Chicago Tribune recently reported results of music compact disc sales (read article here.) It may not surprise readers to...
Small Boxes
Compare two recent reports on automobiles. Last Friday The Chicago Tribune reported that U.S. auto sales this decade had declined 7% (read article here). Hmm, sounds like better quality cars is dampening revenues - and an excuse for GM, Ford and Chrysler...
Much ado about nothing
$6billion - that's how much today's economy paid for ..... nothing. IBM (see chart here) announced today it would add $15billion to its share buyback fund (read Marketwatch article hear). This fund is used to repurchase shares of Big Blue, and top...
It can sound so good
The Chicago Tribune today ran a feature on growth at McDonald's (see chart here) the last 5 years. Of course McDonald's grew, does no one remember the program McDonald's launched in the mid-1990s to close stores? Over 5 years McDonald's closed hundreds of...
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