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  • 1.  Dynamic Strategy -- Inside the Box

    Posted 05-02-2006 12:31

    Colleagues,

     

    As you know, Gerry Sanders and I recently authored a new strategy textbook (and all the teaching support material), Strategic Management: A Dynamic Perspective, published by Prentice Hall.  I hope you will check it out at www.prenhall.com/carpenter/ .  I can honestly say that it is the only strategy textbook that I know of that has Metallica on the cover!

     

    As we talk with faculty about teaching undergrads and MBA about dynamics (beyond simply rivalry), one of the challenges is to bring up examples that are relevant to rapid or gradual changes in the landscape, yet have not been covered in every other prior course (like Dell, Southwest, etc).   Some of our students also have read Christensen's  Innovator's Dilemma and Solution series, so we were looking for examples that were complementary yet not redundant.  I wanted to share one such novel example – called "Inside the Box" – in the hopes that you will share other examples in return that we all can use in our courses.  

     

    We came across "Inside the Box" in the April 25th, 2006 (p. 17), issue of the Financial Times (www.ft.com ).  The actual article is called "Unforeseen consequence: How a box transformed the world", authored by Marc Levinson, as a thumbnail sketch of his book (The Box, Princeton University Press, 2006).  A related article is found in the March 18, 2006, issue of the Economist.  This little gem of an article chronicles how the container transport industry emerged and evolved, and how containerization (i.e., that big cargo box that goes from truck, to rail, to ship, to truck, to store) dramatically altered the competitive landscape of industries and even national economies (through strategic choices about investment in ports or ground infrastructure).  The story is a great example of strategic choices made by leaders, industry myopia, and how strategy formulation and implementation are inextricably linked.  We have found, that since the context is so well known by our students, and practically taken for granted, that the story of the box is one that they can readily relate to the challenges and opportunities presented by dynamic strategy.

     

    Best wishes with your strategy courses.  We look forward to your examples as well.  Regards, Mason

     

    Mason A. Carpenter

    (608) 262-9449 

    Pyle Bascom Professor of Business Leadership

     

    BPS teaching website:

     

    http://instruction.bus.wisc.edu/mcarpenter/PROFESSIONAL/Toolkit/bpstools.htm

     

     



  • 2.  Dynamic Strategy -- Inside the Box

    Posted 05-06-2006 09:35
    Anyone interested in teaching Strategy with a real focus on quantified organisational performance-over-time may be interested in Warren K, 2002, 'Competitive Strategy Dynamics', from Wiley.
     
    The book is supported by full slide-sets, 13 hours of DVD class materials, a wide range of simulation-based learning materials for students and executives, and a simple strategy modeling software tool.
     
    More on the book and these resources can be found at www.strategydynamics.com/products/competitivestrategydynamics.asp
     
    The book was also winner of the 2005 Jay Wright Forrester Award, a Flash presentation on which is at www.strategydynamics.com/prize.
     
    Kim Warren
    London Business School
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Mason Carpenter [mailto:mcarpenter@BUS.WISC.EDU]
    Sent: 02 May 2006 17:31
    To: BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Dynamic Strategy -- Inside the Box

    Colleagues,

     

    As you know, Gerry Sanders and I recently authored a new strategy textbook (and all the teaching support material), Strategic Management: A Dynamic Perspective, published by Prentice Hall.  I hope you will check it out at www.prenhall.com/carpenter/ .  I can honestly say that it is the only strategy textbook that I know of that has Metallica on the cover!

     

    As we talk with faculty about teaching undergrads and MBA about dynamics (beyond simply rivalry), one of the challenges is to bring up examples that are relevant to rapid or gradual changes in the landscape, yet have not been covered in every other prior course (like Dell, Southwest, etc).   Some of our students also have read Christensen's  Innovator's Dilemma and Solution series, so we were looking for examples that were complementary yet not redundant.  I wanted to share one such novel example – called "Inside the Box" – in the hopes that you will share other examples in return that we all can use in our courses.  

     

    We came across "Inside the Box" in the April 25th, 2006 (p. 17), issue of the Financial Times (www.ft.com ).  The actual article is called "Unforeseen consequence: How a box transformed the world", authored by Marc Levinson, as a thumbnail sketch of his book (The Box, Princeton University Press, 2006).  A related article is found in the March 18, 2006, issue of the Economist.  This little gem of an article chronicles how the container transport industry emerged and evolved, and how containerization (i.e., that big cargo box that goes from truck, to rail, to ship, to truck, to store) dramatically altered the competitive landscape of industries and even national economies (through strategic choices about investment in ports or ground infrastructure).  The story is a great example of strategic choices made by leaders, industry myopia, and how strategy formulation and implementation are inextricably linked.  We have found, that since the context is so well known by our students, and practically taken for granted, that the story of the box is one that they can readily relate to the challenges and opportunities presented by dynamic strategy.

     

    Best wishes with your strategy courses.  We look forward to your examples as well.  Regards, Mason

     

    Mason A. Carpenter

    (608) 262-9449 

    Pyle Bascom Professor of Business Leadership

     

    BPS teaching website:

     

    http://instruction.bus.wisc.edu/mcarpenter/PROFESSIONAL/Toolkit/bpstools.htm