As you might have noticed from one of my blog posts I am an external PhD-student of the Warsaw School of Economics / Institute for Organization and Management in Industry. My research topic focuses on the strategic planning of European retail banks. As part of my studies I was given the opportunity to present some […]

A couple of weeks ago I discussed four major benefit criteria of innovation in this post. Now it is time to look on the other side of innovation. Yes, there are not only benefits; in the case that your organization starts to focus on innovation you should have in mind to face some disadvantages. You […]

Last week I discussed the four benefit criteria of innovation. This post will focus on the impact of “innovation speed”. But don’t forget: Innovation is not the general approach (in the sense of “one tool fits all”) to enter competition; when focusing on innovation your organization should consider issues like complexity, costs and strategy. But […]

In my post last week I discussed innovation’s impact on corporate success. In the meantime I had a very interesting conversation with a student (business economics) related to innovation issues. The core of this conversation highlighted the character of innovation, the difference to inventions and the benefit aspects.
So let us start with a definition for […]

A couple of weeks ago I posted “How innovative is your organization” in order to discuss some fundamental aspects of innovation. In this post we will look at the impact of innovation. My personal observation is that most organizations see innovation as a very positive measure. Of course, being innovative sounds fine and offers a […]

In this post I will describe the first steps and approaches of (small to medium size) German retail banks when organizing their strategic planning process. Some of these aspects are valid for all types of small to medium size companies; at least they offer the option to compare your strategic planning process with the banks’ […]

As we know from several studies and own observations strategic planning can be a very hard business. In the literature a large number of ideas are available; some of them are very helpful. Others might be appropriate for a specific industry or even a specific organization. Sometimes it can be helpful to look beyond one’s […]

This post will focus on options and ideas to improve strategic planning, again. A couple of days ago I have presented the first post “Ideas for overcoming analysis barriers” in this informal series – for improving strategic planning in your organization - in our strategy blog. But before starting with this new post I think […]

Strategic planning is linked with a variety of problems and barriers. Some of them are related to sequence and tools of the planning process. Other problems and barriers exist since strategic planning takes place in the context of the firm’s culture; in some circumstances this culture can break the planning process. Therefore I would like […]

When starting the process of strategic planning it is crucial to focus on the key strategic issues. Hence there is a key question: What is a key issue for my organization?
If one walks around in a company and asks several managers you will end very likely with a number of very different ideas what such […]