bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Decade of transition
Authors: Wilson Ian
Published: February 2008

Few would argue with the proposition that socially, economically and politically, the United States is in a period of turbulence and uncertainty. We are navigating the rapids, and white water is all around us. In the daily struggle to keep the boat afloat and on course, we have little inclination and less time to look ahead. Perhaps we fear that the future holds more of the same, that our present troubles constitute a new normalcy to which we must inure ourselves. In a remarkable turnaround from traditional American optimism, there is now a pronounced feeling abroad in the land that the present is worse than the past, and that the future will be still worse than the present.
Sketch for a humanistic manifesto
Authors: Leonar George
Published: February 2008

We live in extraordinary times. What has long been apparent to many is now becoming obvious to all. The era of fast economic growth and assured material progress has ended. Even if a clean, practically limitless energy source such as nuclear fusion were developed — not a likely prospect over the next several decades — the ecosystem would be unable to bear the consequences of unbridled growth. Open space and non‐renewable natural resources are running out. The rate of increase in technological efficacy, with the significant exception of information technology, has already slowed down. With these changes, with this turn in our growth curve, all else in our society must also change: how we behave, what we value and how we solve our problems.
The solar age: Post‐economic challenges
Authors: Henderson Hazel
Published: February 2008

Historically, the disintegration of a culture was gradual, over many generations. But the crises of industrial culture have emerged swiftly, during the past thirty years, due to the accelerations of technological change and global interdependence, as we slid from the Soaring '60s through the Stagflation '70s into the Economizing '80s. Surface political and economic remedies, whether the latest nostalgia for Monetarism in the West or the latest 5‐year Plans for the socialist economies, cannot address the new malaise: growing resource‐depletion, unhappy workers, alienated tax payers, soaring inflation, balance‐of‐payments problems and general loss of domestic control of national economies due to the realities of global economic integration. The old political consensuses break down and new alignments have not yet emerged to channel the energies of the electorate, or even explain what has happened.
Editorial
Authors: Naylor Thomas H.
Published: February 2008

In theory, the annual budget for a company should not be formulated until after the long term strategic plan has been developed, and goals, objectives and business strategies have been defined for the company as well as for its individual business units. Specifically, the budget should be consistent with the financial plan of the first year of the strategic plan. Unfortunately, in all too many organizations it does not seem to work this way.
Working in America: A Japanese view
Authors: Novotny Richard G.
Published: February 2008

Japanese multinational corporations have been establishing subsidiaries and joint ventures in the U.S. in increasing numbers. They have used many of their own managers who bring with them Japanese attitudes and a style of management developed in Japan. When they are transferred to the U.S. they must work with, and often manage, Americans whose culture and work habits are vastly different from what they are used to.
Analyzing changes in the external business environment
Authors: Kefalas A.G.
Published: February 2008

It has become fashionable nowadays for economists, planners, forecasters and corporate executives to warn their organizations that they must place their decisions within the context of the total environment. Many managers ask, “What is the external business environment?”, “How does one go about analyzing it?” This article addresses both of these questions.
Expensive petroleum: A blessing in disguise
Authors: van Dam André
Published: February 2008

This article submits an energy scenario for the period 1985–1995, in which expensive petroleum is a blessing in disguise.
Toward a Buddhist economics
Authors: Alexandrin Glen
Published: February 2008

Buddhist economics is an effort to return human values to economic activity in pursuit of maximum long‐run benefit to society.
Approaches to competitive analysis
Authors: Smith Shea
Published: February 2008

Much business success depends upon the actions and reactions of competition. Market position, freedom of pricing, and finally the bottom line return on investment all are determined by what competition does and how one reacts to what they do.
A move forward for the organization chart
Authors: Feather Frank
Published: February 2008

Practicing managers see significant systematic principles in the world around them. They may not have accurate labels for the principles, and they may not appreciate fully the universality of their application. Nonetheless, the manager knows and feels these systematic principles in operation. The current vogue of referring to “the System” to describe nearly everything illustrates how well accepted the concept is.
Performance evaluation at Conoco
Authors: Krasts Aivars
Published: February 2008

One Axiom common to all economies is that they must save and invest enough to replace their productive capacity as it is depleted, or the standard of living of their citizens will fall. Farmers express this view in the adage, “Don't eat the seed corn.”
An appropriate time horizon: Now vs. then
Authors: Chastain Clark E.
Published: February 2008

AN appropriate time span reflects a balance between near‐term and long‐term factors. Strong pressures are placed on organizations in our competitive society for quick results and, usually, near‐term results are overemphasized.
Enhancing the economic forecast
Authors: Casson John J.
Published: February 2008

Economic forecasts play indispensable roles in organizational decision making. The revenue and expenditure figures contained in annual budgets and long‐range plans are based either explicitly or implicitly on a variety of assumptions about future economic and industry conditions. Tactical decisions, such as advertising, personnel allocations and strategic plans, including acquisitions and divestitures, also rest on tacit or formal expectations about the future economic environment. Yet, all too often, far less effort is devoted to preparing and utilizing economic forecasts than to formulating the budgets, plans, decisions and strategies they support.
Restructuring: The impossible dream
Authors: Thackray John
Published: February 2008

A popular new strategy has appeared on the scene lately. It is called restructuring or, occasionally, redeployment. It may resemble the tried and true strategies of disinvestment and spin‐outs, but it attempts to be something much more far‐reaching; no less than the entire redirection of products, markets, and technologies of the restructuring firm. Seagrams, Bendix, Northwest Industries, Cities Service, Borden, American Can, GAF, and dozens more have pioneered and implemented restructuring on a radical scale in recent times. In all these instances, management has shed not just a doggy division but a whole line of endeavor—typically representing a third to a quarter of its asset base—with the intent of using the proceeds to plunge into entirely new activities.
Retailing strategies for the 1980S
Authors: Willard Frank
Published: February 2008

Retailing is a trillion‐dollar business. In 1981, department store sales alone amounted to $104 billion. However, the market is as tough as it is large, for retailing is a mature business with moderate growth. Although the initial investment required to enter the market is relatively small, competition is stiff. There are over 300,000 stores selling GAF merchandise (General merchandise, Apparel, and Furniture/home furnishings) of which 49,000 outlets are general merchandise retailers. Competitive pricing is intense, and as a result, selling prices tend to rise more slowly than the rate of inflation. Since 1970 the prices of GAF merchandise have risen at a rate from half to three‐fourths the rate of increase of the Consumer Products Index (CPI). Costs, on the other hand, tend to rise in line with CPI, and most retailers borrow for the short term to finance their highly seasonal working capital needs. As a result, they are quite sensitive to fluctuations in the interest rate.
The impact of demographic and societal changes on U.S. business
Authors: Brown George H.
Published: February 2008

With due recognition to the fact that business planning always occurs in an environment of uncertainty, the decade from 1975 to 1985 seems more uncertain than most. It contains more reversals, more crossover points in established long‐term trends, and more demographic and societal changes than has previously been true in U.S. history. To illustrate this point, this article identifies twelve trends that will very likely have a significant impact on the business environment in the next fifteen years and beyond. However, since other trends exist, and still others will emerge as time goes by, planners will need to consider these twelve the minimum number of societal and demographic factors in any current planning effort.
Balancing risk and return in South Africa: A cash study of risk analysis
Authors: Coplin William , O'Leary Michael K.
Published: February 2008

The following report on economic risk in South Africa was prepared just weeks ago by a team of analysts whose identities must be kept confidential. The team's prediction of rising terrorism was borne out by the subsequent bomb attack on a South African Air Force installation in which 16 persons were killed and 188 wounded. This study was abbreviated by roughly two‐thirds because of Planning Review's space limitations. The sections eliminated focused in detail on the key players, their influence on the country's political climate, and the relative likelihood of several future political scenarios. The full report is distributed by Frost & Sullivan, New York, N.Y., to its clients.
What business strategy for this recovery?
Authors: McLagan Donald , Gough Robert
Published: February 2008

Although this autumn sees the recovery of the economy well underway, the form this upswing is taking is very different from previous ones. The recession of the early 1980s has been more severe and more long lasting than any since the Great Depression. There has been no sustained economic growth from 1980 to 1983, and despite two recent quarters of surprisingly high GNP growth, that three‐year gap will not soon close.
Systematic political analysis for planners
Authors: Coplin William D. , O'Leary Michael K.
Published: February 2008

Corporate planners rarely incorporate political analysis into the planning process in the same systematic way that they include traditional business factors. Nevertheless, top management knows that politics can affect the bottom line. Reaching a delicate compromise solution within the corporation between labor and management, for example, can mean the difference between growth or decay. Influencing a trade association to adopt a helpful policy or to provide a valuable service to an individual corporation can create new business opportunities. Securing tax breaks from local or state governments or more liberal environmental regulations from the Federal Government can have a profound impact on business costs.
Kicking the tires on chases econometric model
Authors: Wallace Anise
Published: February 2008

Critics of planning frequently complain that the profession fails to read the near‐term or long‐term future correctly. Does the answer lie in better econometric modeling? Some planners have been “sold” econometrics as the best available crystal ball for predicting the trends of tomorrow and the next decade. To discover how this science is adapting to real‐world needs and how it views the economy—past, passing, and to come—Planning Review spoke with Chase Econo‐metrics' long‐range forecasting specialist, Edward A. Friedman. His message is that better econometric models are only part of the solution. It is equally important to be able to judge the models and their predictions for what they actually can offer and what they cannot.
Who will be harmed by de‐industrialization?
Authors: Taub Leon
Published: February 2008

The de‐industrialization of the United States has been foretold by many prophets of gloom. It is true that in the past three years the economy has dramatically shifted from the production of goods to services. Nevertheless, the production of manufactured goods, as a percent of Gross National Product (GNP) has actually grown during the past decade. The reality is the U.S. de‐industrialization problem does not lie in output but in employment.
Mass marketing to fragmented markets
Authors: Durgee Jeffrey F.
Published: February 2008

Trend watchers who proclaim a tide of increasing diversity in consumer life styles usually conclude that “the marketplace is becoming more fragmented,” “the era of mass marketing is over,” and “the key to successful marketing is a segmented marketing strategy.” For example, in The Third Wave, Alvin Toffler conjures up the concept of “demassified” markets. And recent statistics confirm this trend. The question facing business now is: What does this mean for consumer goods companies?
Merrill Lynch faces a new world bravely
Authors: Taub Melvin B.
Published: February 2008

Despite the blurring of many distinctions among financial institutions, there are, in fact, financial services “industries” and sub‐industries. And there are also important differences in operation, culture, risks and rewards, and regulation.
Is Marcos vulnerable? Analysis of regime stability in the Philippines
Authors: Druckman Daniel , Green Justin
Published: February 2008

The following report on political risk in the Phillippines is an abbreviated version of a detailed study. The full report presents the theoretical underpinnings for the model, as well as a detailed rationale for all measurement decisions. The model's estimate of regime stability prior to and following the Aquino assassination has been borne out by subsequent events. While increasing his vulnerability somewhat, the assassination has not reduced Marcos' effective power to a level where regime stability is threatened. The report is distributed by Booz Allen & Hamilton, Bethesda, Maryland, to its political risk group clients.
Super Tech
Authors: Szuprowicz Bohdan O.
Published: February 2008

Bohdan O. Szuprowicz directs an international investment and market research organization specializing in high technology industries and strategic trade. Founded in 1971, the North Bergen, N.J., firm performs proprietary research and publishes the Supergrowth Technology USA monthly report and an annual study of “Top 100 Fastest Growing High Technology Billion Dollar Markets of the 1980's.”
Linking business and technology strategy
Authors: Collier Donald W.
Published: February 2008

We believe that technology—defined broadly as know‐how—is the raison d'être for any business. A company's organization, philosophy, and culture will tend to shape itself around the nature of the technology underlying it. If the technology changes, then the business must adapt itself to the new conditions if it is to survive.
Creating strategies of innovation
Authors: Drucker Peter
Published: February 2008

Planning a strategy of innovation is the sine qua non of a corporation's success, according to Peter Drucker. Here, he describes three major successful strategies of innovation, and why they work.
“A plea for relevance in academic writing”
Authors: Fulmer Robert
Published: February 2008

A new generation of business teachers is performing in the national spotlight. During the past year, more students have been taught by professors Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard, Lee Iacocca, and Mark McCormack than the combined faculty of any business school in the country. Their writings are widely quoted and their speeches are big draws because there's a general assumption that their analyses are creditable observations of the real world.
Integrating acquisitions: The Allied‐Bendix Merger
Authors: Lamb Charles A.
Published: February 2008

On November 21, 1985, Allied‐Signal, Inc., announced it had lopped off 30 of its business units at one stroke. Forming the second largest corporate divestiture in history (the largest being the breakup of AT&T), the newly created corporation will have $3 billion in annual sales. The New York Times characterized the decision as “a dramatic move to undo years of diversification.” However, from Allied's point of view the strategy is part of an evolutionary process that began in 1983 when Allied merged with the Bendix Corporation, a process described by Charles Lamb in this article. Like a player in a game of rummy who picks up the discard pile to get certain cards he wants, the acquisition of Bendix and then Signal in September of 1985 left Allied's CEO Edward L. Hennessy with a handful of companies that didn't fit his plans. After he matched up the four groups of business units he wanted to keep—aerospace (40 percent), automotive (20 percent), advanced materials and chemicals (22 percent), and electronics instrumentation (13 percent)—he was ready to discard. The most famous name in his pile of castoffs was Fisher Scientific, a company that was originally acquired a year before Bendix.
Forecasting: The myth of control
Authors: Michael Donald N.
Published: February 2008

Many managers are disillusioned by the dismal record of their strategic and financial planners in forecasting even the near future. And trustworthy futurist gurus are getting harder to find. The thoughtful expositions of Herman Kahn (Hudson Institute) and Amelia Peccei (Club of Rome) have been replaced by the pop speculation of Naisbitt. Does futurism have a future? Donald Michael recasts our understanding of what to expect from futurism in this interview with Planning Review's editor, Robert Allio.
Post‐completion review for capital projects
Authors: Singhvi Surendra S.
Published: February 2008

Business executives tend to base capital investment projects on forecast data. However, forecasts seldom come true. Some firms use a preapproval audit technique to improve the quality of the data required to justify the project.
Joint venture: A new information system is born
Authors: Pekar Peter P.
Published: February 2008

Joint ventures and cooperative arrangements offer a way for planners' strategic reach to match their grasp in the 1980s. Recognizing the forces of change at work in the market, more and more firms are seeing the need to pool complementary strengths to expedite productivity, penetrate unexploited markets, and gain access to new technologies.
Point/Counterpoint
Authors: Davidson Mike
Published: February 2008

During the Seventies, strategic planning was tried and found wanting. Or was it? Corporate leadership's response to the tremendous increase in competitive intensity in the Seventies was, appropriately, to elevate strategy to its number one priority. For a number of companies, strategic planning failed to deliver. I don't think it was the concepts of strategy that failed, but the way we tackled the planning.
Guerrilla strategies for underdog competitors
Authors: Rudie Harrigan Kathryn
Published: February 2008

A small firm, like Key Pharmaceuticals, pioneers niche businesses by developing novel ways of delivering medicine to a patient's bloodstream—for example, nitroglycerine absorbed through adhesive pads on cardiac patients' chests. Key Pharmaceuticals is viewed as an ally by the large pharmaceutical firms as long as it stays out of their drug discovery businesses. • A small company refuses to abandon loyal customers when other firms stop producing products that face declining demand. For example, Beaunit makes cupramonium‐process rayon, which is needed by the small casket‐velvets market; enterprising electronic component distributors buy out inventories of obsolete vacuum tubes to supply a few good customers who don't want to retire their equipment before it wears out. Neither firm is challenged in its market niche because competitors don't consider the rewards worth the effort. • The “new company on the block” demonstrates its credibility by investing aggressively in a pioneering idea—as Archer‐Daniels‐Midland did with high fructose corn syrup in the maturing corn wet milling industry. The gamble succeeds because its larger rivals ignore its activities—perhaps because they don't consider the pioneer a threat; or because they believe that they can easily copy the pioneer's successes; or they're busy with more important battles in other markets.
Personal computers empower strategic management
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

Although the personal computer (PC) invasion of the corporate world may be old news by now, most organizations are just beginning to appreciate some of the benefits—and hazards—of this new technology. The new developments in personal computing — not just PCs, but other sophisticated hardware and software, and networks as well—can have subtle effects on an organization. Evidence is mounting that computer technology is helping to improve the strategic vision of its users. Not only does the computer speed up such work as word processing and budgeting, it can actually change the way managers view their world and relate to it.
Strategic resource allocation using divisional hurdle rates
Authors: Hergert Michael
Published: February 2008

Business planners have become increasingly aware of the need to take into account both the return on capital investment and the cost of capital. However, establishing appropriate rate of return targets is not a simple task. In particular, diversified firms must recognize the differing risk characteristics of their business units and employ different hurdle rates when allocating capital. Failure to account for differences in risk can lead to overinvestment in highly speculative projects and, as a likely outcome, substandard return on investment. This, in turn, will ultimately diminish the market value of the firm.
“Strategic Alliances: New competitive muscle” business week's ninth annual strategic planning conference— October 1986
Authors: Schaffir Walter B.
Published: February 2008

What are “Strategic Alliances”? Are they different from joint ventures? Professor Edward B. Roberts of M.I.T. defines them as direct co‐investments by two or more companies pooling complementary resources to achieve common goals in an arrangement that is less than a full merger or acquisition. These co‐investors are motivated by a desire to share risks and resources, gain a window on technology, obtain synergies (marketing, technological, or operational), and/or gain credibility. However, strategic alliances are not easily maintained—they require substantial commitment and mutual trust, Professor Roberts told the Business Week conference audience. Unfortunately, co‐investors are often caught in a tug‐of‐war of mismatched organizational cultures and management styles as well as a differing sense of urgency. Over time, objectives may diverge, interest may subside, or the unit's loss of autonomy may become a problem.
Dun & Bradstreet sets its own speed limits
Authors: Randall Robert M.
Published: February 2008

For the past several years corporate America has reported anemic earnings, yet Dun & Bradstreet has merrily continued to record 15 percent earnings increases. Making money in good times and bad by supplying information services to business, D & B has become a darling of institutional investors and a “Nifty Fifty” New York Stock Exhange company. To find out more about how the money machine works, we interviewed Chief Operating Officer Robert E. Weissman, a very youthful forty‐six year old who loves to talk about strategic management. Senior editor Malcom Pennington, president of the Marketing and Planning Group, Inc., was co‐interviewer. Thanks are also due INVESTEXT, which supplied the company analysis we used to formulate many of our questions. Samples of security analysts' reports provided by INVESTEXT appear in the boxes that accompany the interview.
Nailing down a future for a small wood‐products business
Authors: Henry Migliore R. , Ringness Ronald C.
Published: February 2008

Liberty Industries was founded in 1964 by its current President and Chairman of the Board, Charles E. Trebilcock. It began as a small industrial wholesale lumber firm located in northeastern Ohio, specializing in wood packaging products. The original plan called for a regionalized concentration of sales in a four‐ to five‐state area. Liberty experienced moderate growth during its first nine years, when it functioned as a three‐person organization. In 1973, the firm decided to increase field sales by developing an inside support department. A marketing manager was hired, as well as several product specialists. As a result, sales increased more than 13 times from 1972 through 1979. (See Exhibit 1.)
Hidden sector competitor analysis
Authors: Markowitz Zane N.
Published: February 2008

Understanding competitors at the business unit level is the key to successful corporate strategy. As Michael Porter put it in the May‐June, 1987, Harvard Business Review, “Competition occurs at the business unit level. Diversified companies do not compete, only their business units do. Unless a corporate strategy places primary attention on nurturing the success of each unit, the strategy will fail, no matter how elegantly constructed.”
New York Radio: Cooperative strategy in a fragmented market
Authors: Copulsky William , Baker Shirley H.
Published: February 2008

Radio broadcasting is a fragmented industry — one in which many of the local stations are small, and stations have little chance to establish a dominant market share. Since there are many such fragmented manufacturing and service industries in the U. S., and competitive tactics to gain market share are not always successful in such industries, we'd like to offer a different strategy: cooperation. We'll illustrate how it's done, using a case history describing the cooperative effort of the New York Market Radio Broadcasters Association (NYMRAD) — the trade association of the New York Metropolitan Area radio stations. Its members worked together to increase the total market through development of unexploited niche groups of advertisers. In less than two years, this plan has added significantly to total New York radio station advertising revenues.
Linking product‐market analysis and shareholder value
Authors: Fahey Liam
Published: February 2008

Perhaps no other individual has written as extensively on value‐based planning as Alfred Rappaport. He is Leonard Spacek Professor of Accounting and Information Systems at Northwestern University and Chairman of The Alcar Group, Inc., a Chicago‐based firm that provides management education, consulting, and software for shareholder value analysis. Rappapon first began to formulate his ideas on how companies should manage for shareholder value in the late 1970s. In his recent book, Creating Shareholder Value (New York: The Free Press, 1986), he strongly advocated making value‐based planning a more integral part of strategic management. And this was the issue on which Planning Review focused its line of questioning.
From dance to deal: The white consolidated takeover
Authors: Fountain Ronald G.
Published: February 2008

It was in a bar in Cologne, Germany, on the night of February 4, 1986, that I first heard the rumor that my Cleveland‐based appliance company was the target of a takeover. The president and chief executive officer of White Consolidated Industries (WCI), my wife, and I were in the city to attend a trade fair. Just out seeing the sights, we were enjoying the jazz at this night spot where by chance we met two young men from the Swedish company, AB Electrolux.
The Rapidly Growing Pump Company: Marketing for competitive advantage
Authors: Jones Thomas C. , Seiler George R.
Published: February 2008

The Rapidly Growing Pump Company (RGP) is a strong performer in the equipment business. It is a subsidiary of a fast‐track Fortune 500 company, one that emphasizes growth and profitability.
“Getting Value from Strategic Planning”
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

There were a lot of eager customers at the Conference Board's annual strategic planning conference in March. Many of us had just read Walter Kiechel's Fortune article about “Smart Corporate Strategy for the 1990s” (February 29, 1988), which presents a remarkable reversal of the publication's skeptical attitude toward strategic management thinking. As a result, I felt the conference theme, selected by its organizer, Walter Schaffir, was made to order for our turbulent times. If my colleagues and I are to keep our jobs in the next decade, we really need to learn all we can about “Getting Value from Strategic Planning!”
Transforming Monsanto into a biotechnology‐based innovator
Authors: Nill Kimball
Published: February 2008

In 1979, the company's Annual Report stated that Monsanto operations included “more than 180 manufacturing plants, laboratories, and technical centers in 20 nations. The company's products [were] sold in 123 nations.” According to the April 30, 1984, Fortune, “Monsanto hit its nadir in 1980; though sales increased 6 percent to $6.57 billion, earnings plunged 55 percent to $149 million….[The company] lost over $300 million on old‐line businesses, with fibers and styrene proving the worst performers.” Its return on stockholder equity was 5.3 percent.
Guidelines for a product technology strategy
Authors: Replogle Douglas L.
Published: February 2008

In 1917, the American Locomotive and Baldwin Locomotive companies were among the 100 largest corporations in America. This gave them all the advantages associated with companies that dominate their industries: scale, experience, established channels of distribution, solid reputations, and access to capital. Yet within 30 years, the combined market share of these two companies fell from nearly 100 to below 50 percent. Within 52 years, both were out of the locomotive business altogether, and neither company survives today.
Taking a flyer on wind technology
Authors: Neidell Lester
Published: February 2008

We read case studies to train ourselves to make better business decisions. But some cases, like this one, aren't a model for decision analysis. The Wind Technology story recounts the rather commonplace process of developing a business plan based on, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty thin air. (We deliberately chose a low‐tech case so the business issues wouldn't be overshadowed by the complexities of a high‐tech process.) But don't be condescending when you critique the Wind Technology business plan. Who among us hasn't fallen prey—like its management—to “The Better Mouse Trap” school of marketing syndrome? The symptoms: You become infatuated with a product idea and write a ten‐year P&L statement before you talk to 100 potential customers. And there's another trap to this case. It's the “I can't make a decision because I don't have all the facts” cop out. In the real world you never have all the facts, the ducks are never aligned, and the winds of business are fickle. As a treat for readers who “solve” the Wind Technology case on their own, we asked two experts to let us publish their commentaries as a coda. Compare your analysis with theirs and write us a letter if you think your insights are worth sharing with your fellow managers.
U.S.‐Japanese joint venture: New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI)
Authors: Niland Powell
Published: February 2008

New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. [NUMMI] was formed in February 1983, when General Motors Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation agreed to establish a joint venture to produce Chevrolet Nova passenger automobiles in an already existing assembly plant, located in Fremont, California. General Motors had closed down the plant site in 1982. Each partner has a 50 percent interest in the joint venture.
Market perceived quality: Key strategic concept
Authors: Gale Bradley T. , Buzzell Robert D.
Published: February 2008

Most managers equate “quality” just with conformance to technical standards. The more powerful strategic weapon is market perceived quality. Here's how to measure it and why it's such a potent weapon.
Cost benchmarking functions in the value chain
Authors: Fifer Robert M.
Published: February 2008

First, the theory of benchmarking competitor functions is outlined. Then, three cases show how benchmarking a competitor's value chain can determine your company's response strategy.
Upping the odds for strategic alliance success
Authors: Randall Robert M.
Published: February 2008

Joint ventures to produce a product have been in business for decades. Nowadays they're called “strategic alliances,” and they are likely to have information gathering as a major goal. We ask venture authority Kathryn Rudie Harrigan how a firm can boost its learning potential and yet protect its core secrets.
Differentiating a commodity: Lessons from Tyson Foods
Authors: Thomas Joe G. , Koonce J.M.
Published: February 2008

In a feast of differentiation, Tyson Foods slices up more than 57 varieties of chicken products for four different major markets. Instead of selling broilers at 69 cents a pound, Tyson is a Fortune star selling marinated fillets at more than six times as much.
Why you need a service strategy
Authors: Davidow William H. , Uttal Bro
Published: February 2008

“In all industries, when competitors are roughly matched, those that stress customer service will win.”
“Plus Development Corporation: Joint venturing a breakthrough product”
Authors: Wheelwright Steven C.
Published: February 2008

“Plus Corporation, partnering with a leading edge Japanese manufacturer, is rushing a unique computer hard drive to market. This startup subsidiary must manage the cross‐cultural joint venture, survive a competitive crisis, and keep the parent corporation happy.” The product development project was so successful, top management at Plus was given the opportunity to run its parent company.
Issues and alternatives: Key to FMC's strategic planning system
Authors: Early Stewart
Published: February 2008

FMC Corporation was one of first conglomerates and an early adopter of shareholder value theory. This chronicle of the evolution of its planning system as a decision‐making process for developing competitive strategies offers valuable lessons on how to insure that everyone understands the issues, the alternatives, and the implementation action required for success.
Redefining the concept of strategy and the strategy formation process
Authors: Hax Arnoldo C.
Published: February 2008

We asked MIT professor Arnoldo Hax to go back to the fundamentals and offer us some basic definitions of strategic management. To find out how your organization measures up as a strategy formulator, take his diagnostic tests.
What is leadership?
Authors: DePree Max
Published: February 2008

Feeling embattled by constructive contention? The Chairman of Herman Miller, Inc., one of America's most admired companies, illuminates the subtle art of leadership.
Creating corporate success: Strategic choices
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

The Planning Forum's Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. posted another attendance record. Some 1300 senior executives exchanged war stories, business theories, and points of view with each other while attending three days of presentations by major company CEOs, consultants to leading corporations, noted academics, and practitioners of strategic management.
Dean Thurow's “Historian of the Future” solves an economic mystery
Authors: Randall Robert M.
Published: February 2008

At TPF's annual conference, MIT professor Lester Thurow received a standing ovation for a keynote speech that confronted the central puzzle of our time: Is the U.S. doomed to become a second‐rate economic power in the 21st century? We have taken the liberty of recasting his presentation as an economic detective story.
Commercializing technology: What the best companies do
Authors: Nevens T. Michael
Published: February 2008

Companies that excel at commercialization have learned to treat the process as a top priority, to shrink the time it takes to get new products to market, to leverage core technologies over a number of markets, and to serve many market segments with an ever‐wider range of technological skills.
The business information and analysis function: A new approach to strategic thinking and planning
Authors: Millett Stephen M. , Leppänen Rolf
Published: February 2008

Here's another path of evolution open to corporate planning—transform your department into the business information and analysis (BIA) function.
Making competitive intelligence relevant to the user
Authors: Gib André G. , Margulies Robert A.
Published: February 2008

In October 1984, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, directed that each of the company's major components establish a competitive intelligence organization to improve its understanding of the competition. One premise behind this directive was that an assessment of the competition in the marketplace was essential, and that the company's current informal methods of competitive‐intelligence gathering were inadequate. Another premise was that only ethical and legal data‐gathering techniques were to be used, especially since there was so much information available from a wide variety of public sources. The directive specified that the overall process must be action oriented with a focus on analysis, assessment, and communication.
Creating the Single Market: The Legislative Agenda
Authors: Hitzler Gerhard
Published: February 2008

Here's your manual for keeping track of new regulations that might affect your market.
“Zestwear, Inc.” seeks a European partner
Authors: Ebeling H. William , Smith Erica
Published: February 2008

During the fall of 1990, “Zestwear, Inc.,” a well‐known U.S. apparel manufacturer decided to develop a strategy to enter the European market with existing product lines. The firm knew there was a steady European demand for its products because it received hundreds of calls a year from distributors and retailers who wanted to place orders for its classic, functional clothes. The process of responding to what were usually small orders was becoming unwieldy. The firm knew it would have to devise a strategic approach for full‐scale entry into the European market if it were to profitably serve these potential customers. The prospects of Europe becoming a Single Market in the Nineties also enhanced the firm's interest.
Southwest Industries: Creating high‐performance teams for high‐technology production
Authors: Robinson Ron M. , Oswald Sharon L. , Swinehart Kerry S. , Thomas Jeffrey
Published: February 2008

To make better use of its human resource assets, this aerospace company embarked on a major reorganization of operations and introduced the concept of autonomous work teams.
Linking compensation to knowledge will pay off in the 1990s
Authors: White Michael
Published: February 2008

Two innovative skill‐based pay systems could better motivate knowledge workers to achieve strategic goals.
Part I: Satisfying internal customers: The link to external customer satisfaction
Authors: Davis Tim R.V.
Published: February 2008

In the Eighties, U.S. business learned important new skills for identifying and satisfying external customers. Inevitably, this experience led to a recognition that the needs of internal work processes and internal customers were critical to external service delivery. The Conference Board and the Hay Group's conferences “Satisfying Internal Customers” held in New York and recently in San Diego, explored how enhancements in internal systems, processes, and activities can support improved external customer service. The presentations offered different perspectives on how companies manage the relationship between internal and external customer service. For example, some innovative companies focus on one internal customer relationship or core process, while others recognize numerous internal customer relationships and core processes to which each department or function must respond.
Battelle's scenario analysis of a European high‐tech market
Authors: Millet Stephen M.
Published: February 2008

In 1988 Battelle was asked to work with a U.S.‐based information technology (IT) company to apply the BASICS scenario method to a forecast of its changing European market.
Acting versus thinking: A debate between Tom Peters and Michael Porter
Authors: Reimann Bernard C. , Ramanujam Vasudevan
Published: February 2008

Increasingly, managers are harried by rapidly accelerating technological changes, globalization, and new competitors. How can they cope with the mercurial environments their firms are facing today? Should they stop wasting precious time thinking strategically and instead concentrate on action? Should they forget about careful pre‐planning and use their energy to try enough different approaches so some will surely succeed? Has strategizing as we know it become obsolete in today's chaotic environment?
Key lessons for adopting scenario planning in diversified companies
Authors: Simpson Daniel G.
Published: February 2008

The head of planning for a Fortune 500 consumer products company summarizes the lessons managers must master for successful scenario planning in diversified companies.
Integrating scenarios into strategic planning at Royal Dutch/Shell
Authors: Schoemaker Paul J.H. , van der Heijden Cornelius A.J.M.
Published: February 2008

Shell developed a number of new methodologies to make scenario planning more meaningful to line managers. It also took steps to integrate the learning that takes place at the SBU level into the Group Planning System.
Consumer schizophrenia: Extremism in the marketplace
Authors: Kardon Brian E.
Published: February 2008

There's an important new pattern in buyer choice processes: consumer schizophrenia. Consumers are making decisions on what to put in their shopping carts based on mutually contradictory or antagonistic motives.
The 1992 strategic management conference: The new agenda for corporate leadership
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

Appearing at The Planning Forum's 1992 International Conference, was a “faculty” that included many of America's most respected strategic thinkers. They urged attendees to take daring steps into strategic management's wild beyond:
Corporate leadership in manufacturing
Authors: King James B.
Published: February 2008

What does corporate leadership in manufacturing mean? Where does leadership start? What I want to discuss is the process by which we can link strategic planning with tactical execution.
Using total quality to put strategic intent into motion
Authors: Huston Larry A.
Published: February 2008

The '90s will be the decade of the business leader who can a) define one or two key competitive themes for the organization's payoff, and b) effectively focus scarce resources to accomplish those themes. What will ultimately separate the winners from the losers will be the ability to execute. Few strategic planners find it particularly difficult to articulate grand schemes for building competitive advantages; however, most fall flat on their faces when it comes time to execute their schemes. People underestimate the commitment, the amount of time, and the emotion and energy it takes, and the amount of inertia they must overcome in their organization to make it happen.
Speed and strategic choices accelerating decision‐making
Authors: Eisenhardt Kathleen M.
Published: February 2008

When was the last time you had enough information and enough time to make the kind of careful, clear, well‐thought‐out decision you would have liked to make? For most people it has been a long time — if ever. I want to explore how managers should make informed decisions within the context of a fast‐paced environment that has poor information and high levels of competition.
Corporate turnarounds: From textbook to the trenches
Authors: Monroe Ann F.
Published: February 2008

Many organizations can benefit from a turnaround mentality even if their balance sheet shows a turnaround in the cost sense is unnecessary. A turnaround mentality can re‐energize and revitalize a company and move it forward. However, not all organizations in need of a turnaround can be saved. The leadership approach required in a turnaround is different than that needed before or after a turnaround. Some organizations are not prepared for that; they have an investment in their leadership team and prefer to think that their leaders are flexible and adaptable.
Continuous learning about markets
Authors: Day George S.
Published: February 2008

When talking about continuous learning organizations, the word “continuous” bears emphasis. “Continuous” is used in the sense that one does not conduct a single study at a single point in time and then use it as a basis for all following activities. I worked on mapping new product development processes at a major manufacturer of telecommunications gear. We mapped their processes for four years, from conception to launch; at the beginning of the process they hired a consulting firm to do a major study of the market.
A successful approach to segmenting industrial markets
Authors: Robertson Thomas S. , Barich Howard
Published: February 2008

Recently, working on a project for a leading U.S. industrial firm, the authors identified a highly effective market segmentation approach. The key is segmenting customers by the phase of the purchase decision process.
An American Express/IBM consortium benchmarks information technology
Authors: Prairie Patti
Published: February 2008

American Express, a leader in its use of information technology (IT), engaged the IBM Consulting Group to benchmark its IT management processes against 17 other major companies. The study focused on how a company's management processes used IT to achieve its business goals. It sought to identify the best practices for developing strategic plans that both aligned IT with the business and dealt effectively with change.
Business Insights™: An expert system for strategic analysis
Authors: McNeilly Mark , Gessner Steve
Published: February 2008

Business Insights is a $500 expert system for strategic analysis that won the respect of the managers who tested it for us. By combining both qualitative and quantitative strategic analysis, it offers managers—especially those who lack a strategic planning background—a useful tool for considering and managing future outcomes.
Reengineering by objectives
Authors: Stow Ralph P.
Published: February 2008

Two companies undergoing reengineering found that defining the driving objectives—such as reducing costs, elapsed time, or work hours, or improving quality—mapped the path for successful teamwork.
Making mass customization happen: Lessons for implementation
Authors: Kay Michael J.
Published: February 2008

A large dairy stopped endlessly battling competitors for market share and instead concentrated on making the retailer and distributor the target of its operation. This change in focus uncovered new opportunities to create customer‐valued differentiation of its products. Case 2: At a time when most insurance companies were debating whether their customer was the policy holder or the beneficiary, this insurer realized that the agent/broker was its real customer, and that its operations had to be redesigned in order to provide satisfactory products and service.
Line managers describe mass customization operations: Standard modules allow mass customization at Bally Engineered Structures
Authors: Pine B. Joseph , Pietrocini Thomas W.
Published: February 2008

Bally Engineered Structures, Inc. has figured out how to mass customize many different types of end products—such as walk‐in coolers, freezers, insulated outdoor structures, refrigerated warehouses, and environmentally controlled rooms—based on a set of standard panel modules and accessories that can be put together in a virtually limitless number of ways to meet the needs of individual customers.