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The Power of Strategic Thinking
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The Power of Strategic Thinking

Lock in Markets, Lock out Competitors

Michel Robert
McGraw-Hill, 2000
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Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

This book makes several excellent points about strategy. To find them, the reader must slog through pages of unremitting, self-promotional hard-sell, snide digs at business guru Michael Porter and contemptuous asides about consulting firms that base their strategic recommendations on research. Readers will miss little if they skip the CEO interviews, which might have provided interesting and informative insights had the author not chosen to focus on compliments to himself and his firm. But the bullet-point outlines of the strategic thinking process will be an eye-opener for many managers unaccustomed to thinking in this manner, and the section is illustrated robustly with real-life examples. Robert’s analysis of the driving forces of various businesses makes the entire effort worthwhile. getAbstract.com recommends this book for executives and entrepreneurs in any industry.

Summary

Be Unique

Winning companies don’t imitate competitors. They develop unique strategies that rewrite the rules of their business. The best strategy is one that makes competitors irrelevant, by so thoroughly changing the rules of the business that competitors must scramble to keep up. Companies whose strategies do not allow them to control or influence the rules of the game in their "sandbox" need new strategies.

For example, National Semiconductor used to have a me-too strategy. The company made the same type of chips as Intel, for the same type of applications. Imitation is the worst strategy. In 1996, Brian Halla replaced Gil Amelio as CEO and brought a new strategy. Instead of making chips for PCs, just like Intel, the company would make chips for "smart" appliances. Similarly, Subaru once pursued a me-too strategy, but in 1996 it decided to bet its future on all-wheel-drive vehicles that competed with sport utility vehicles and trucks. Sales climbed to more than $3 billion per year and the company announced record profits.

Change the Rules

In the auto industry, Toyota became the world’s second-biggest car-maker by reinventing the production process. ...

About the Author

Michel Robert  is founder and president of Decision Processes International, Inc. His clients include such major companies as Caterpillar, 3M and GATX. He has written for numerous business magazines and journals and is a noted speaker. His previous books include Strategy Pure & Simple Product Innovation Strategy Pure & Simple and Strategy Pure & Simple II

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