Article at a glance:
Established companies should brace themselves for a future of extreme competition, which will make the pressures of the 1980s and 1990s look tame by comparison. Incumbents must understand how powerful forces are aggregating once-distinct product and geographic markets, enhancing market-clearing efficiency, and increasing specialization in the supply chain. They should respond by adopting a new approach to strategy—one that combines speed, openness, flexibility, and forward-focused thinking.
The take-away
Mature companies must learn to be young at heart. Boundless new opportunities await executives who recognize that the days of slow change are over.
This article includes the following exhibits:
- Exhibit 1: The rate at which companies lose their leadership positions doubled from the mid-'70s to the mid-'90s
- Exhibit 2: Quantities of labor, capital, capacity, and information have changed dramatically
- Exhibit 3: US inflation, labor productivity trends accompanying economic expansions over the past 30 years
- Exhibit 4: Zones of extreme competition
This article is available to Premium Members only.
Explore "Additional Thinking" to find hundreds of related, free articles.