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Book: The Curse of The Mogul

IP — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:54:15 +0000

Strategy & Business published a review for The Curse of The Mogul, which we’ve read recently. It’s a must-read for several reasons: media, capital allocation, competitive strategy and leadership. Not that we agree with Greenwald 100% – especially when he talks about telephone/cable as dumb-pipe winners vs. the lackluster future for content generators and aggregators (there is stuff/players missing there and you could think of some counter-examples). Chapter 2, on competitive strategy, is especially interesting.

That’s because it assesses the competitive strategy framework from a specific industry’s standpoint (always better than ‘generic speeches’) and it was useful for thinking about other industries as well.

The book was generated from the course Strategic Management of Media @ Columbia.

This article shares Mr. Greenwald’s view on media. We don’t necessarily agree with his view on the future of media, but it’s good food for thought and discussion.

Christmas bonus, part 1: Michael Porter

IP — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:10:24 +0000

In 2008, Michal Porter attended the World Knowledge Forum in South Korea and reaffirmed his “5 Competitive Forces” theory (video in the top right corner). We decided to put together a small collection of links to recent articles and videos regarding competition and corporate strategy as defined by Porter. As this blog will always remind readers, “take it with a grain of salt”! No matter how famous the expert, how “make-sense” his arguments, always check, search for contradictions and weaknesses and ultimately make up your own mind.

Merry Christmas!LINKS:

Mr. Porter reviewed his original 1979 article in a 2008 article called The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy.

Harvard interview with him right before the 2008 article. McKinsey Award video interview.

Skepticism pays: On Wikipedia, you can find a summary of the common criticisms regarding the 5 Forces theory. Nice starting point.

Useful YouTube links:

INSEAD Knowledge asks about the usefulness of long-term thinking in the midst of a severe downturn.

1-hour lecture on the competitiveness of a region and its urban areas (seems a bit off-topic, but is it really?)

How underdogs win

IP — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:32:56 +0000

Underdogs stand a better chance to win when they don’t play by the “rules” – when they innovate. Can’t beat the opponent at his game? Change the game. From a basketball team of 12-yr-old white girls making it to the Nationals to David to Lawrence of Arabia, Malcolm Gladwell’s (long) article at the New Yorker lists strategies that surprised much-stronger foes and wonders why it isn’t a more common practice to at least try this. I could mention Robert the Bruce/ William Wallace’s campaign in Scotland too, and by the way don’t trust Mel Gibson’s film on this Sure, there are typical “Gladwell-esque” playing-to-the-crowd quantum leaps, but the overall message – question convention – is quite powerful.