Harvard Business Review on Advances in Strategy

I ran across an interesting review of a new book on strategy from HBR. Here is a clip on the latest trend in how companies are streamlining operations. It's all about new ways to re-work the supply chain to create more value. Is this good or bad news for economic development? It certainly means a new full-court press on productivity and therefore job cuts, but it also means greater global competitiveness for businesses, which is the only way our industries are going to survive in today's innovation-driven economy.

"In an excerpt from the final selection in which Michael Hammer outlines the activities and goals used in streamlining cross-company processes, he breaks down the approach into four stages: scoping, organizing, redesigning, and implementing. “Streamlining cross-company processes is the next great frontier for reducing costs, enhancing quality, and speeding operations. It’s where this decade’s productivity wars will be fought. The victors will be those companies that are able to take a new approach to business, working closely with partners to design and manage processes that extend across traditional corporate boundaries. They will be the ones that make the leap from efficiency to super-efficiency.” This brief excerpt is representative of the quality of thinking and writing which can be found throughout this volume, and indeed throughout the entire series."

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