Purpose – Many companies find that they have widely differing levels of profitability and success in different parts of their business. There are a range of well‐established accounting tools to quantify the variability in performance but managers still have difficulty taking action: perhaps...

Purpose – Most managers understand that the ability of their business to out‐perform competitors and earn strong returns is greatest when they stick closely to markets that they know well and where they have all the advantages of the incumbent. But if successful strategy is all about playing...

Purpose – At some point in their career, almost all managers will find themselves in a business that is under‐performing relative to expectations. But how do we know whether the expectations are reasonable? How can we tell whether we have an operational problem that requires operational...

Purpose – Acquisitions can be a powerful tool to achieve growth, enter new markets and expand the range of a firm's capabilities. But with the highly competitive market for acquisitions and the correspondingly high acquisition prices, all too often transactions fail to create value for...