Winning Moves Blog

As someone who studies business success and failure patterns, I find that lessons from entrepreneurial success can apply to larger, more established companies. Additionally, I have a background in data analysis going back to my early career. So, when I read the June 2015 Marketing News article “Size Matters” by Molly Soat, I felt it made some very good points.

The article emphasizes the role of small data. It describes Continue reading “Not Just Big Data, but Small Data, as Big Companies Learn from Small Business” »

Data can foster better decision making and greater business success. And now, with data’s expanding role and prominence, Big Data is seen as a valuable frontier where there is great potential for improving business performance. But, data–even Big Data–must be used properly in order to bring value to the business.

Fortunately, data often can be Continue reading “Big Data’s Big Challenge: Misleading Data as a False Guide” »

A new study by MIT finds the United States falling behind in pure R&D (research and development), while other countries put increasing emphasis on it. This was discussed in the April 28, 2015 Wall Street Journal article “U.S. Faulted for Risking Edge in R&D” by Robert McMillan. The article explains that lack of R&D spending applies not just to our country, but also to corporations. According to the Wall Street Journal article, “the MIT authors say basic research–the study of core scientific concepts that may or may not have commercial applications–has essentially vanished from corporate laboratories.”

As I see it, this raises an interesting question about pure R&D Continue reading “Might Doing Pure R&D Be Wothwhile in Some Companies?” »

Companies can easily be tempted to react to unfavorable market trends by attempting a major transformation that takes their business in diverse new directions. But, although Coke faces challenges, according to the March 18, 2015 Wall Street Journal article “What Is Coke CEO’s Solution for Lost Fizz? More Soda,” Coke does not plan to diversify much. In contrast, Coke’s rival Pepsi has embraced diversification more, but profit suffered and Wall Street objected. Both Coke and Pepsi face market trends unfavorable to their flagship soda products.

According to my 25+ years researching business success and failure patterns, it is usually Continue reading “Coke’s Challenge Battling Unfavorable Market Trends” »

As you strive to make winning strategic choices, it is easy to be attracted to popular management concepts that seem to have the potential to reignite your business. For example, you may be addressing issues related to disruptive competition or to Big Data. Both of these popular management concepts can have a major impact upon your business.

But, are you going in the right direction as you strive to apply these Continue reading “Does Your Strategic Thinking Need Another Point of View?” »