Predator's Game-Changing Designs : Research-Based Tools (Lmx Leadership: The Series)

When the tried and true formula for an organization’s performance (its game plan) begins to fail, it must change its game or become obsolete. Publicly recognizing that the old formula is becoming less useful and a new formula must be developed and implemented is difficult for most stakeholders, but for survival the stages of grief must be endured and the conclusion accepted. Moreover, the romance of the “grand old formula” must be overcome by the realization that a new and more attractive formula must be invented or found to replace it. The fate of thousands of organizations that did not change their games when WalMart came to town bears witness to the Iron Law of Capitalistic Markets: “Change your game when necessary to remain competitive”. As Mr. Sam Walton told my son, Mike, stay the course as long as you can, but be willing to change it when it’s not working. Clearly, Mr. Sam’s protégés got the message. This book describes game-changing designs using the latest research-based strategies for inside organizational participants from CEOs, Boards of Directors, top, middle and lower managers and participants, and those people outside with a stake in its continued performance. We have had the unique opportunity to understand from the “inside-out” both Mr. Sam Walton’s miracle at WalMart and the great turnaround at Cincinnati’s Procter and Gamble over the last 15 plus years. We conclude from these studies that Mr. Sam has become a modern patron saint of American game-changers. WalMart has been seen by most business reviewers as a clear business case study of a “stay the course” formula of “lowest price” for the customer, but our research shows that Mr. Sam created a “game-changing design culture”. Yes, Mr. Sam began to build his juggernaut using a “lowest price” strategy that changed the game by “shock and awe” strategies in small markets. Moreover, Mr. Sam next changed the game by employing advanced information technology to reduce supply chain costs and go internatio