People often talk about business competition, as if it is a short race: the first to enter the market and you will surely win. Indeed, the importance of first-mover advantage has been hammered into the heads of many business leaders, and some of them are almost brainwashed to think that speed is everything. But as new technologies such as the Internet threatens to transform the industry, companies that respond quickly not necessarily those who reap the greatest benefits. In fact, selecting a fast strategy can lock them into a set of decisions that actually hurt them in the long term. Instead, the organization, choose the right strategy for the whole race - for both early and late stages - will come forward. The authors found that companies that respond quickly to launch a spin-off tend to have difficulty in achieving true endurance in the market. For long-term success of the company acting is better to create a group - or eventually will be - integrated into their organizations. Only then can they fully utilized their numerous advantages and assets, taking advantage of its current president. "Hide
by Marco Iansiti, F. Warren McFarlan, George Westerman Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 9 pages. Publication Date: July 1, 2003. Prod. #: SMR104-PDF-ENG
Related Case Solutions & Analyses:
Finding the Right CEO: Why Boards Often Make Poor Choices
Detours in the Path toward Strategic Information Systems Alignment
Xerox (Hong Kong): Sales Activity Management Process (A)
Central Dilemmas of Managing Innovation in Large Firms
Tufts Health Plan
Alexander Bandelli (A)
Coopers Brewery
Times Get Tough
Sustainability at Tetra Pak: Recycling Post-Consumer Cartons
William Levitt, the Levittown and the creation of American Suburbia
