In this post we will have a brief look at a specific phenomenon of strategic management. Turn back time is in interesting concept in terms of movies or sci-fi literature, but in terms of chosen strategic directions an easy way out often does not exist. So let’s look at this issue – given the example […]

A couple of days ago I participated in a discussion concerning risk management systems. A specific emphasis was given on strategic risks and their management. Identification and delimitation were described as two major problems when starting to manage this risk type.
Well, that is basically not an unusual situation within an organization. Before managing a specific […]

Last week I received a newsletter from McKinsey concerning some selected articles. The major purpose was to present some thoughts around the 7 S Framework. Furthermore the newsletter suggested some other publications from The McKinsey Quarterly; some of them have the premium status (which means you have to pay in order to have access).
Since these […]

Recently McKinsey announced the survey results concerning the first 100 days of new CFOs. According to available data McKinsey considered 164 responses from a representative sample of CFOs. The article that contains the findings displays participants’ views about their first hundred days as CFO.

Major findings:

CFO may not be spending their time where it’s most needed […]

Early indicators are very popular in the business world. People normally like them because they see a lot of advantages, such as

Early indicators are perceived to provide some objectivity to otherwise fuzzy planning and forecasting processes.
They are most often based on external data, ideally from an institution with a very high reputation. That adds even […]

When you observe strategic planning processes in different organizations it is possible to find “closed shop” planning processes. In some cases only top manager “develop” the strategy, in other situations they are supported by specialised departments. Various sources in the academic literature have discussed and criticized the disadvantages of this approach.
But why is it so […]

The breaking news today is that DaimlerChrysler is going to sell about 80 % of Chrysler to private equity fund Cerberus. The price of 5.5 bn Euros is far less than what former Daimler Benz AG invested for its ‘merger among equals’ with Chrysler years ago. My first reaction to this news was some sort […]

OK, Porsche’s announcement to increase its share in VW is not really new any more. However, I have spent the last few days thinking about the strategic rationale behind that (among other things, of course). And still, I did not make up my mind. I am not sure if this is a smart or dumb […]

For all those who are interested in theoretical issue of strategic management I would like to recommend a specific research paper. We know that strategies and the empirical research on strategic management can be analysed under two different point of views. One focus of research is strategy content. Another research focuses on the process of […]