Winning Moves Blog

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?” »

Yes, new technology is the wave of the future. And, companies should embrace new technology. But, it must be adopted in ways that support and fit the business.

A successful future will have some ties to a company’s past strengths. So, to what extent and how new technology should Continue reading “Why Have I Advocated Old Technology—Isn’t New Technology the Wave of the Future?” »

The Blackberry’s recent introduction as a new Classic model offers food for thought and potential lessons about going back to basics during a company turnaround.

The new Blackberry Classic, a mobile telecommunications device, goes back to basics in that it targets Blackberry’s traditional market of corporate users. The Classic has a keyboard, a feature associated with Blackberry’s roots in its past days of glory. Yet, it Continue reading “Lessons about Back to Basics from the Blackberry Classic Example” »