Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that an unprecedented revolutionary change in the structure of the US economy warrants attention to the internal structures, cultures and strategies. Consequently, it is argued that for businesses, especially large industrial establishments...

Purpose – Sometimes when business is very good, it gets in the way of actualizing a planned strategy. This knocks a company's vision way off base and keeps company personnel from ever getting back to it. This article explores how to keep doing business but not at the expense of your vision and...

Purpose – Looks at why traditional growth tactics have become less effective and why it is necessary to balance short term moves with new business building. Looks at understanding customer priorities. Findings – Managers can take three distinct actions to generate quick gains in revenue and...

Purpose – The purpose of this column is to provide the author's opinions about key issues in strategy and the future to the readership. Design/methodology/approach – Opinion column. Findings – The column finds that traditional approaches to anticipating the future do not, in fact, work....

Purpose – Middle market businesses – entities from $50 million‐$1 billion in revenue – are a significant force in the economy, generating $3 trillion in annual revenues and employing 20 million here in the USA alone. They are particularly besieged, and vulnerable, and yet they are...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse which factors differentiate growing firms from the non‐growth businesses. It seeks to analyse the start‐up factors as well as the changes in the activities and the characteristics during the seven‐year period from the start‐up stage....

Purpose – Examines why most of what appear at first to be good merger or acquisition deals fail. Design/methodology/approach – Describes five steps through which HR can help to make a merger or acquisition a success. Findings – Highlights the importance of: making the vision tangible;...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the business growth opportunities available from franchising in the UK and abroad. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the value of franchising for strategic business development. Findings – The paper finds that franchising...