Strategy

Leadership Collection Being able to make decisions with the right balance of speed and information is often what separates successful managers from unsuccessful managers. This collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review looks at the decision-making process and the need for good judgement and decisiveness in a variety of circumstances, including times of crisis, situations in which people are facing information overload, and instances when trust has been eroded.

Leadership Collection Managers often spend too much time doing things that are not high priorities. This collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review examines how both individuals and organizations can best align goals with plans, keep projects on track, and use outside voices to help them remain focused on opportunities and not just threats.

How can executives make themselves smarter about strategy? This collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review examines the ways managers can set themselves up to think more strategically, examine opportunities, and then sell their ideas to stakeholders.

Leadership Collection Today’s leaders need to be able to adapt and stay focused in the age of uncertainly. This collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review examines the need for continual reinvention, the ways to tap creativity strategically, and the fact that to grow as executives, people sometimes have to manage their strongest tendencies.

Leadership Collection What does it mean to compete in today’s world? This collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review examines new ways of thinking about business models, the importance of using analytics and data to support strategic vision, and the best ways to compete against larger companies and disruptive technology.

The art of bian lian [CA1] — or “face changing” — is integral to Sichuan opera: A main character changes masks to avoid capture by foes. The transformation is quick and surprising, the new face clearly different. In the theater of business, Chinese performers are undergoing a rapid transformation of their own as they seek to evolve from backroom producers to the world’s leading face of innovation.

Technology-intensive product manufacturers, automakers, or white goods makers used to be able to capitalize on their longstanding engineering and design leadership to cement their positions. But that’s no longer the case. Today, young upstarts in many product segments, especially from China, can develop world-class design and production capabilities in a short period of time. In some cases, they are closing gaps with long-established incumbents and becoming market leaders within a decade.

While the threat of national champions is nothing new, their essential character has substantially changed, and the competitive advantage of national champions in the global marketplace has become more pronounced. Today’s national champions are much more sophisticated, competing in more industries, and harder to spot than ever before. As a result, Western companies need a new strategic guide for competing against them.

Managers are often advised to make their goals specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART), but the traditional approach to goals can actually undermine the ability of a company to execute its strategy. Instead, managers should set goals that are "FAST": embedded in Frequent discussions; Ambitious in scope; measured by Specific metrics, and Transparent.

The dramatic rise of China’s digital leaders has put the squeeze on Western internet giants. Western players must learn quickly if they are to get back in the game in the world’s fastest growing digital market.