The worst scenario is to have extremes in the jobs. Picture one of the new Internet startups assigned to a giant company with the mission to harvest the business. The leader would go crazy, resign or kill the business prematurely. The same is true of the surgeon leader who is assigned to a growth business. He would focus on cutting out and reducing costs instead of investing in growth.
Every time there is a mismatch between the leader and the business cycle,it has negative results.
The second step of strategic thinking and decision making is to determine how the organization can gain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage by careful analysis of current and anticipated market, customers, the competitors, and changing industry characteristics. The key is to find a strength that can be used to beat the competitors. Some companies create a sustainable barrier by focusing on what they sell, that is providing innovative products or services. Examples include Apple, Polaroid and Intel . Others create a difference by focusing on how they sell.