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Article
Publication date: 10 July 2007

Brian Leavy

The author offers a perspective on the complex new concepts of Michael Raynor and others on managing strategic risk.

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Abstract

Purpose

The author offers a perspective on the complex new concepts of Michael Raynor and others on managing strategic risk.

Design/methodology/approach

The author explains Raynor's theories of strategic paradox, strategic options, requisite uncertainty and strategic flexibility, all of which have special meanings in the Raynor vocabulary.

Findings

The strategy paradox arises from “the collision of commitment and uncertainty.” Since the mark of high impact strategies requires making clear commitments in the face of future uncertainty, the key question is, how can the risks involved best be mitigated? One option is to shy away from making clear strategic commitments. This is the route to mediocrity.

Practical implications

The management of “strategic uncertainty” and “strategic options” employs a four‐phase methodology: Anticipate (build scenarios of the future). Formulate (create optimal strategies for each of those alternative futures, distinguishing between core and contingent elements). Accumulate (determine what strategic options are required to cover the contingent elements). Operate (manage the portfolio of options, exercising or abandoning them, as the future unfolds).

Originality/value

Leavy provides an explanation of Raynor's unconventional wisdom that corporate leaders will find helpful.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2007

Stan Abraham

189

Abstract

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2012

Michael E. Raynor

The paper aims to address a pervasive leadership problem: why do so many companies have such a difficult time adapting the innovation approaches that work so well in the venture

1324

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to address a pervasive leadership problem: why do so many companies have such a difficult time adapting the innovation approaches that work so well in the venture capital (VC) ecosystem to the corporate environment?

Design/methodology/approach

The paper looks at why innovation approaches of the VC environment do not work so well in the in the corporate environment.

Findings

The paper finds that the root cause lies in the very real differences between established companies and start‐ups that no amount of organizational redesign or process creativity can overcome. Therefore corporations should not attempt to be VCs. Shifting from selecting ideas to “shaping” them is perhaps the largest break from existing standard practice. Most organizations have any number of ideas floating around, some of which keep resurfacing year after year without ever seeming to get any meaningful traction or to be successfully dispatched. The reason is very often that there is a kernel of truth somewhere in the idea but it has proven impossible to develop a viable business plan.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based on research that the author used for his new book, The Innovator's Manifesto.

Practical implications

The first step is to focus the corporation's efforts on opportunity areas that are strategically relevant. The practitioner should begin by identifying those high‐level spaces that will define the future of thier industry.

Originality/value

The paper reveals that better innovation begins with a fundamentally different approach to an internal innovation strategy. Leaders of corporate innovation initiatives should replace the oft‐repeated mantra of “fail fast” with the new motto “learn fast.”

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 1992

Michael E. Raynor

Since its inception, the discipline of strategic management has been burdened with the charge of redundancy. Good management, it was felt, was by its very nature strategic;…

251

Abstract

Since its inception, the discipline of strategic management has been burdened with the charge of redundancy. Good management, it was felt, was by its very nature strategic; therefore, strategic management as a separate school of managerial thought really had very little to offer.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1992

Michael E. Raynor

Corporate marketers have jumped on the micromarketing bandwagon, but many have discovered that the path to profits contains a number of potholes. This article details three…

882

Abstract

Corporate marketers have jumped on the micromarketing bandwagon, but many have discovered that the path to profits contains a number of potholes. This article details three companies' niche marketing mistakes; the author suggests how to avoid them.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2004

Dwight Allen and Michael E. Raynor

Many executives base their strategies on the assumption that globalization is here to stay – they bank on a future of open markets, cross‐border capital flows, and international…

2571

Abstract

Many executives base their strategies on the assumption that globalization is here to stay – they bank on a future of open markets, cross‐border capital flows, and international cooperation. However, companies should consider the possibility that what lies ahead are conditions reminiscent of the early decades of the 20th century, with business activities constrained by protectionist walls and international conflict – not globalization, but deglobalization. If the future does bring more international discord and disorder, the commercial impacts could be momentous. But nobody can say for sure which vision of the future will materialize. How can a company move forward given this uncertainty? Strategic flexibility is the answer – an approach to planning that involves defining scenarios on how the marketplace might develop and then adopting strategies that fit all scenarios while making limited investments in assets needed only if specific scenarios emerge. The latter are treated as a portfolio of real options – the investments are increased, held, or abandoned depending on how events unfold. Strategic flexibility is thus valuable to executives facing strategic risks due to globalization’s unclear future.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

Available. Content available
573

Abstract

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

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Article
Publication date: 5 July 2011

Michael E. Raynor

The standard explanation of Southwest's success is that it applied a low‐cost competitive strategy. This paper aims to address this issue.

8011

Abstract

Purpose

The standard explanation of Southwest's success is that it applied a low‐cost competitive strategy. This paper aims to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper argues that Southwest was actually employing a disruptive strategy. Financial data show that Southwest's results were highly variable during the time it was growing into a national carrier.

Findings

The paper finds that Southwest's disruptive strategy of innovative operational cost reduction did not produce striking financial returns until it adopted more efficient aircraft, which made its fuel costs competitive.

Practical implications

Cost efficiencies alone do not make a firm a disruptor. What is required is the combination of a low‐cost business model and enabling technologies.

Originality/value

This paper points out that managers should learn to see operational innovations and cost savings in the context of disruption, not just price advantage.

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Article
Publication date: 2 November 2012

John Sterling and Dave Rader

The purpose of this paper is to report on the Association for Strategic Planning Conference.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the Association for Strategic Planning Conference.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a conference report for the 2012 Association for Strategic Planning Conference, held in Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA from May 30‐June 2, 2012.

Findings

The paper reveals presentations of practitioners and veteran consultants who share what is working in their practice of strategic management.

Originality/value

The paper provides reviews of papers presented at the 2012 Association for Strategic Planning Conference provided by practitioners and veteran consultants who share what is working in their practice of strategic management.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 40 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Michael Putz and Michael E. Raynor

To make top management aware of the innovation paradox: their current success depends on doing and improving upon what they now do well, but their future success requires creating

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Abstract

Purpose

To make top management aware of the innovation paradox: their current success depends on doing and improving upon what they now do well, but their future success requires creating entirely new capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

One of the authors is director of development at Cisco, a firm that acquires disruptive technology through it's M&A program. The other author is one of the world's leading authorities on innovation.

Findings

A critical element of the solution to the disruptive innovation dilemma lies in setting up an autonomous organization that can adopt radically different resources, processes and values.

Research limitations/implications

A subsequent article will detail the M&A search for firms with technology needed or disruptive innovation.

Practical implications

In a firm with no history of innovation disruption, executives must use their personal authority to create a strategy process that is more emergent than intentional, focus on customers that appear unattractive, and develop new capabilities.

Originality/value

The authors propose that to achieve renewal via disruptive innovation that CEOs must become integral leaders, who learn to go beyond trade offs between constituencies within a set of constraints and see the necessity of changing the constraints themselves.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

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