Strategic cost management: preliminary lessons from European companies
Entrepreneurial drive, technology, and productivity are three characteristics which give many European companies a role of worldwide importance. This article describes strategic cost management within the framework of strategic management reflecting the current European approach. The conclusion is that at present European companies: (1) are making core competencies the guiding ideas of their strategies, and (2) are striving aggressively to increase their value, first by reengineering practices, and second by "inventing" new markets and satisfying all stakeholders, not only the shareholders, better and quicker than the competitors or other reference companies are able to do.
The emphasis on value‐based strategic management in UK companies
Recent research into UK publicly traded companies reveals that corporate UK managers are focusing their efforts toward creating and enhancing value for shareholders. Advocates of value techniques believe that managing for shareholder value provides managers with a more appropriate yardstick for measuring their companies' performance. Here Sylvia Handler reveals some of corporate UK's experiences with value-based strategic management.
Are you a strategist or just a manager?
Perhaps the greatest strategist of all time was not a business executive but a general. Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the Prussian and German general staffs from 1858 to 1888, issued "directives" to his officers rather than specific commands. These guidelines for autonomous decision making encouraged Moltke's subordinates to show individual initiative. In this article, Hans Hinterhuber and Wolfgang Popp translate Moltke's example into business terms. According to Moltke, strategy is applied common sense and cannot be taught. The authors suggest that good entrepreneurs and managers--along with generals--are born with the qualities that make them successful. But even if managers have the potential to be good strategists, they must develop and hone their natural talents. And CEOs and top management can help by identifying and promoting such talents in their employees. Hinterhuber and Popp have created a questionnaire that helps measure strategic management competence. Managers and entrepreneurs take this test themselves, answering ten questions such as, "Do I have an entrepreneurial vision?", "Do I have a corporate philosophy?", and "Do I have competitive advantages?" Using the questionnaire, company management can evaluate managers being considered for a promotion. At the same time, those who take the test can use it to determine their own performance as strategists. Strategic managers provide subordinates with general guidelines, just as Helmuth von Moltke issued directives to his officers. And outstanding entrepreneurs create a corporate culture in which their vision, philosophy, and business strategies are implemented by employees who think independently.