Strategic Intent
Harvard Business Review
Jb revitalize corporate performance, we need a whole new model of strategy.
May-funel989
STRATEGIC INTENT by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
"oday managers in many industries are working hard to match the competitive advantages of their new global rivals. They are moving manufacturing offshore in search of lower labor costs, rationalizing product lines to capture global scale economies, instituting quality circles and justin-time production, and adopting Japanese human resource practices. When competitiveness still seems out of reach, they form strategic alliances-often with the very companies that upset the competitive halance in the first place. Important as these initiatives are, few of them go beyond mere imitation. Too many companies are expending enormous energy simply to reproduce the cost and quality advantages their global competitors already enjoy. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, hut it will not lead to competitive revitalization. Strategies based on imitation are transparent to competitors who have already mastered them. Moreover, successful competitors rarely stand still. So it is not surprising that many executives feel trapped in a seemingly endless game of catch-up-regularly surprised hy the new accomplishments of their rivals. For these executives and their companies, regaining competitiveness wiU mean rethinking many of
1. Among the first to apply the concept of strategy to management were H. Igor Ansoff in Corporate Strategy: An Analytic AppToach to Bii.siness Policy for GrowJb and Expansion (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965| and Kenneth R, Andrews in The Concept of Cozpoiate Strategy IHomewood, ni.: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1971).
the basic concepts of strategy. ' As "strategy" has blossomed, the competitiveness of Western companies has withered. This may be coincidence, but we think not. We believe that the application of concepts such as "strategic fit" (hetween resources and opportunities), "generic
Jb revitalize corporate performance, we need a whole new model of strategy.
May-funel989
STRATEGIC INTENT by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
"oday managers in many industries are working hard to match the competitive advantages of their new global rivals. They are moving manufacturing offshore in search of lower labor costs, rationalizing product lines to capture global scale economies, instituting quality circles and justin-time production, and adopting Japanese human resource practices. When competitiveness still seems out of reach, they form strategic alliances-often with the very companies that upset the competitive halance in the first place. Important as these initiatives are, few of them go beyond mere imitation. Too many companies are expending enormous energy simply to reproduce the cost and quality advantages their global competitors already enjoy. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, hut it will not lead to competitive revitalization. Strategies based on imitation are transparent to competitors who have already mastered them. Moreover, successful competitors rarely stand still. So it is not surprising that many executives feel trapped in a seemingly endless game of catch-up-regularly surprised hy the new accomplishments of their rivals. For these executives and their companies, regaining competitiveness wiU mean rethinking many of
1. Among the first to apply the concept of strategy to management were H. Igor Ansoff in Corporate Strategy: An Analytic AppToach to Bii.siness Policy for GrowJb and Expansion (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965| and Kenneth R, Andrews in The Concept of Cozpoiate Strategy IHomewood, ni.: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1971).
the basic concepts of strategy. ' As "strategy" has blossomed, the competitiveness of Western companies has withered. This may be coincidence, but we think not. We believe that the application of concepts such as "strategic fit" (hetween resources and opportunities), "generic