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MGT 351: Strategic Entrepreneurship

July 10, 2019 lecture at Saint Mary’s College (Moraga, CA) for MGT 351: Strategic Entrepreneurship:
MGT 351: Strategic Entrepreneurship, St. Mary's College

MGT 351: Strategic Entrepreneurship (click to open PDF)

Definition: Strategy is the process of creating a well-aligned set of activities with the aim of occupying a valuable position in a competitive landscape.

Book recommendations

Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse

On Strategy by HBR

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, Bruce Patton

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A Moore

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank

The “Just Plane Smart” Strategy & Activity Alignment

A key breakthrough I really grokked during one of my many silent strategy meditation retreats is that strategy is all about alignment – especially once you fully wrap your head around your goal, your resources, and the competitive landscape. Alignment is what gives systems that 1 + 1 = 3 result and misalignment can bring systems to their knees.

A strategy is a set of well-aligned activities with the aim of occupying a valuable position within a competitive landscape.

For example, synchronous rowing has been proven to be 8% faster than non-synchronous rowing. Further, when oars tangle – which can only happen during asynchronous rowing – someone is usually going for a swim. So if your goal is to win a race, then you should row synchronously.

Southwest Airlines

The classic corporate example of great strategic alignment is Southwest Airlines. Growing up in Dallas, Southwest’s headquarters and home-base, I had a front row seat to the company’s incredible growth into its current position as the largest domestic air carrier in the US (by passengers boarded). Over the past 5 decades, Southwest has delivered tens of billions in value to customers, employees, and shareholders. Remarkably, the company has been profitable for 46 consecutive years – which is completely unheard of in the airline industry.

BTW, even if you don’t care for Southwest as a customer, the lessons from this company – especially around alignment – are quintessential for developing your own strategies.

What’s the Goal?

Before digging into the alignment between Southwest’s activities, we need to know their objective. Southwest’s vision is “to become the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline.” I’m assuming that they have clear internal definitions and KPIs for most loved and most flown.

Southwest Airlines’ Activity Map

Now we can dig into their specific activities. This is obviously an incomplete list fo their activities, but it’s a starting place to illustrate the importance of alignment.

Southwest Airlines' Activity Map and Strategy

As you can see visually, most of their activities reinforce one or several other activities, resulting in very high alignment.

Alignment Isn’t Risk-Free

Southwest’s strategy is not, however, without its risks. For example, Boeing is Southwest’s sole supplier for aircraft and many parts. The March 10 crash of a 737 MAX 8 in Ethiopia (the second crash in 6 months of that model) and the subsequent grounding of the entire MAX 8 fleet worldwide is clear evidence of the risks of overly-tight alignment. Neither crash was a Southwest flight.

Southwest Airlines' fleet of grounded 737 MAX 8s

(Source: CNN)

Fortunately, Southwest only owned 31 MAX 8s as of Jan 1, 2019 (of a total fleet of 750). But grounding 4% of your fleet is a big deal and Southwest is due to buy or acquire another 37 MAX 8s in 2019 and over 200 MAX 8s over the next 8 years. I’m confident that Southwest will survive the 737 MAX 8 issue relatively unscathed, but the unfortunate events are a clear reminder that even brilliant strategies like Southwest’s are neither permanent nor invincible.

Key Take-Aways

  • A good strategy is inherently well-aligned. Good alignment is the best way to deliver disproportionate value and results (1 + 1 = 3). Poor alignment usually means that some parts of a system are destroying value that was created elsewhere.
  • Tradeoffs are inevitable, but should be deliberate. For example, Southwest chooses to invest heavily in its employees and in ways to reduce fuel costs. A myopic focus on cutting costs would be a huge mistake long-term.
  • While there may be many ways to win, just choose one. Southwest ignores the high-end travel market and focuses on a low cost strategy. The company knows exactly what it is and what it isn’t. And, just as important, they’re disciplined about it. Focus and consistency have the additional benefit of carving out a clear brand in customer’s minds over time.
  • Cut activities that don’t fit (49 services Google has killed, some of which they acquired at great cost) and double down on activities that do fit. YouTube, Android, Google Home, Maps, and Chrome may feel like expensive & unprofitable distractions on the surface, but they actually fit very tightly with Google’s/Alphabet’s core strengths: organizing the world’s data, powerful search, and monetizing intent via advertising.
  • Remember: you have to be crystal clear on your objective before you even begin to worry about what activities to perform or not.

Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s Heart

This short podcast with Herb Kelleher, the co-founder and former CEO of Southwest, is a must-listen. Herb was a living legend until he passed away early this year. I was deeply saddened by Herb’s passing but I promise you’ll laugh out loud if you check it out.

Also, Southwest Magazine did a nice job with an extended article about Herb’s life. The opening story is classic Herb.

Concept: Hidden Competition

One last thing.. writing this piece made me think about a cool concept: Hidden Competition.

When Southwest first started flying in 1971, they weren’t really competing with the major interstate airlines, whose customers were mostly businessmen with expense accounts. Southwest’s quick flights between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio were actually competing with Greyhound and other surface travel options. For Greyhound, Southwest represented hidden competition and was a key reason Greyhound is only a fraction of its former self and filed for bankruptcy in 1990.

1992 Debate with Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush

Controlling Outcomes by Controlling Table Stakes

Nielsen estimates that 84 million people watched the first presidential debate of the 2016 election. That was 36.4% of eligible voters and 60.5% of actual voters. Given how many US voters watch the presidential debates, participating in the televised debates is considered a table stake for having a shot at being elected president.

The official sounding ”Commission on Presidential Debates” decides who gets to be on the debate stage. It’s formation and stated purpose is interesting:

After studying the election process in 1985, the bipartisan National Commission on Elections recommended “turning over the sponsorship of Presidential debates to the two major parties”. The CPD was established in 1987 by the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican Parties to “take control of the Presidential debates”. The commission was staffed by members from the two parties and chaired by the heads of the Democratic and Republican parties… (wikipedia)

The League of Women Voters had been the previous host of the debates.

In 1988, the League of Women Voters withdrew its sponsorship of the presidential debates after the George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis campaigns secretly agreed to a “memorandum of understanding” that would decide which candidates could participate in the debates, which individuals would be panelists (and therefore able to ask questions), and the height of the lecterns. The League… released a statement saying that it was withdrawing support for the debates because “the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter.” (wikipedia)

Ross Perot’s 1992 bid for president as an independent was disruptive. Perot took 19% of the vote and many believe that had he not run, Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush would have been re-elected instead of Democrat candidate Bill Clinton.

The CPD excluded Perot from the televised debates in 1996.

Changing the Table Stakes

Four years later, the commission changed the rules of the game entirely, requiring that candidates have at least 15% in 5 national polls in order to get on the debate stage. Which polls count are consider to be “national polls”? The CPD decides.

The creation of the Commission on Presidential Debates (a cartel) and the 15% rule clearly benefit the candidates of the two major parties in the United States at the expense of all third-party (or independent) candidates and the voting populace. This legal collusion has been extremely effective at controlling who has a serious shot at running for president and who ultimately becomes president.

So not only is being on the debate stage a table stake, but having 15% in “5 national polls” approved by the CPD is considered a table stake as well.

When structured in this way, table stakes can be a form of moat or barrier to entry. So whoever controls the table stakes can have tremendous control over the outcome. Check out Jeffrey Pfeffer’s Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t for a few great examples of establishing and controlling tables stakes in corporate environments – even if you’re at the bottom of the power hierarchy.

Capitalizing on Changing Beauty Norms

It’s one thing to be obsessed with our looks, our beauty…

As the demands of beauty rise, not only do we have to do more all the time, but their nature also changes. Beauty becomes more important. It has begun to function as an ethical ideal. Beauty is often what we — rightly or wrongly — value most. It is what we think about, talk about and what we spend our time and hard-earned cash on. If we are good at beauty, we feel we are good, virtuous; if we are bad, we feel we are no good, almost no matter what else we do. We judge others too on how they look. We make assumptions about what people are like and how successful they are. We read character traits directly from looks, and we start doing this as young as four years old.

…but it’s another thing to confuse beauty practices for health practices.

Consumers are allowing themselves to be manipulated by obvious marketing tactics and the beauty industry is capitalizing on the opportunity. These marketing and advertising tactics remind me of the diamond industry, which I’ve written extensively about.

Let’s take hair for instance. “Shaving, plucking, waxing and lasering” have become so normalized that hair removal is no longer a “beauty practice” but has been “redefined as a hygiene practice, as part of so-called “routine” maintenance.” And these redefined social norms aren’t just for celebrities – they’re for everyone.

Hair removal becomes something we have to do, a requirement. It is not an option to refuse — like teeth-cleaning, but without any of the health benefits. Beauty practices are indulgent and optional; hygiene practices are necessary and required. You don’t have to do a beauty practice; you do have to do something that is required to meet minimum standards, just to be normal. Once the shift to routine is complete, the fact that this is a demanding beauty practice becomes invisible.

The Beauty Market

The Economist reported in 2003 (Real Men Get Waxed) that the US male grooming market was $8 billion. 15 years later, that number has nearly tripled and is on pace to grow by 12% annually.

(source)

Bottom Line: Societal norms and their changes drive huge shifts in spending – especially when there’s strong emotional connection or potential for embarrassment. What shifting & emotionally-charged norms can you capitalize on?