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In their new book,
Strategy as Action: Competitive Dynamics and Competitive Advantage,
Curtis M. Grimm, Dean’s Professor of Supply Chain and Strategy, and
Ken G. Smith, Dean’s Chaired Professor of Strategy, recommend an
action-based approach to strategic management. “Today’s global
economy is very complex and dynamic. Things are changing all the
time, technology is changing all the time, and there is global
competition,” says Grimm. “In such a complex environment, companies
can’t do strategic planning the old way, by bringing a group
together and studying an idea for a year. Companies need to be doing
strategy all the time by constantly studying their competitors and
taking appropriate action.”
Grimm and Smith have been studying the
successes and failures of corporations for more than 20 years. They
recommend that firms not only move faster, but engage in a continual
evaluation of their actions, in effect developing a strategy as they
go by seeing which actions bring about the best results.
A certain amount of failure is the
inevitable result. “Firms need to be really aggressive and take a
lot of different kinds of actions. They’re not all going to work,”
concedes Smith, “but the firms that are nimble have consistently
done better than their competitors.” Grimm and Smith cite several
examples of very aggressive firms that have had success with this
kind of strategic management, such as Wal-Mart, and GE under the
leadership of Jack Welch. Though not every action those firms took
was successful, overall their actions led to tremendous success.
 This kind of
strategy depends on understanding your competitors and understanding
the environment in which your business operates. The book focuses on
helping business leaders understand how to exploit their firm’s
resources and advantages to take actions which either avoid or
engage their competitors. When should a firm compete versus
cooperate with rivals? When should a firm attack versus defend its
existing position? How should a firm attack, defend against or
cooperate with rivals? Real-life examples across many industries
demonstrate the kinds of actions Grimm and Smith recommend.
Strategy as Action: Competitive
Dynamics and Competitive Advantage is published by Oxford Press
and is available in bookstores and at
Amazon.com. |
