This survey of joint venture managers asked what they were doing light and doing wrong. By striving to avoid their mistakes, you can increase the potential value of your strategic…
In a recent article, Industry Week Magazine discussed the slowdown in seed money for new technological innovation. The author remarked that throughout its history the U.S. has…
Abstract
In a recent article, Industry Week Magazine discussed the slowdown in seed money for new technological innovation. The author remarked that throughout its history the U.S. has always expanded the knowledge base and selected new options to fashion economic and social progress, but during the last decade the R&D share of the national economy has steadily shrunk. He attributes this decline in R&D spending to pressure to maintain profits in the face of rising costs, high interest rates, and regulatory constraints. Because of these cost pressures, industry has taken a hard look at R&D spending and demanded shorter term results.
Darryl J. Ellis and Peter P. Pekar
Out of the minds of chief executives comes the direction the corporation will take—be it expansion into new markets, expansion of current operations, acquisition of new lines of…
Abstract
Out of the minds of chief executives comes the direction the corporation will take—be it expansion into new markets, expansion of current operations, acquisition of new lines of business, divestiture of selected business units, or contraction of certain operations. Two questions come to mind: How well prepared to make those decisions (in terms of breadth of background) are the men who fill these jobs? And, considering the environmental changes, can chief executives operate in the future as they have in the past? We believe that planning must and will, by the force of events, play a more vital role in the development and generation of CEOs.
Darryl J. Ellis and Peter P. Pekar
Zero‐base budgeting (ZBB) provides top management with detailed information concerning the money needed to accomplish desired ends. Each expenditure is analyzed in terms of…
Abstract
Zero‐base budgeting (ZBB) provides top management with detailed information concerning the money needed to accomplish desired ends. Each expenditure is analyzed in terms of purpose and function to build a budget. ZBB spotlights redundancies and duplication of efforts among departments, focuses on dollars needed for programs rather than on the percentage increase (or decrease) from the previous year, specifies priorities within and among departments and divisions, and allows a performance audit to determine whether each activity or operation performs as desired.
Darryl J. Ellis and Peter P. Pekar
Over the past 90 years, 50% of all mergers have been judged failures by the executives responsible for them.
Corporate planning in U.S. industry came of age in the 1970s. Numerous firms recognizing the tremendous forces impacting industry saw the need for a formalized planning capability…
Abstract
Corporate planning in U.S. industry came of age in the 1970s. Numerous firms recognizing the tremendous forces impacting industry saw the need for a formalized planning capability to cope with the new environment. Typically, their efforts focused on clarifying corporate direction—identifying and evaluating opportunities and risks and specifying corporate strategic objectives and goals.
Mergers have not increased profitability, have not improved efficiency, have not expanded sales and, in fact, do not seem to yield sufficient benefit to anyone—consumer and…
Abstract
Mergers have not increased profitability, have not improved efficiency, have not expanded sales and, in fact, do not seem to yield sufficient benefit to anyone—consumer and company alike. These startling statements are some of the conclusions drawn by researchers from seven countries working on a project coordinated by the International Institute for Management and Administration in Berlin. Their conclusions were based on data collected over the last decade on 765 mergers in Europe and the United States. Needless to say, findings such as these are bound to fuel debate about management's ability to merge successfully. But is this something new, peculiar to the last decade only? History might give a clue as to how merger activity has fared.
IN 1981 we began surveying U.S. companies in the $800 million to $20 billion annual sales range to obtain a sophisticated job description of the top corporate planning positions…
Abstract
IN 1981 we began surveying U.S. companies in the $800 million to $20 billion annual sales range to obtain a sophisticated job description of the top corporate planning positions. The real aim of the survey was simple: to establish a role model for the corporate planner of the 1980s. To define this model, the survey sought to determine as precisely as possible:
FOR more than a decade, planners have relied on the portfolio analysis method for assessing the strategic posture of a company's individual businesses. But many top planners have…
Abstract
FOR more than a decade, planners have relied on the portfolio analysis method for assessing the strategic posture of a company's individual businesses. But many top planners have begun to question the value and validity of the portfolio matrix. While this discontentment with matrix methodology appears to be confined to companies with either elementary or highly developed strategic planning systems, what management finds most frustrating is the difference between the amount of time and money spent on portfolio analysis and the value of the resulting strategies.
Peter P. Pekar. Peter P. Pekar. Jr.
A metamorphosis is taking place in strategic planning. Indicative of the change is the number of recent planning articles appearing in Fortune and the Financial Times of London…
Abstract
A metamorphosis is taking place in strategic planning. Indicative of the change is the number of recent planning articles appearing in Fortune and the Financial Times of London highlighting the long‐standing complaint of many businessmen that tools such as the experience curve and portfolio matrix, while of some value to a company assessing its portfolio and those of its competitors, provide no more than one element of a more fully developed competitive model.