Running a conglomerate means juggling business units in different markets competing for the same resources. Each unit needs its own breakthrough strategy tailored to unmet customer needs and disruptive tech, but all those separate plans have to lock together into one coherent strategy for the whole company.
Conglomerates are, in the best of times, difficult to plan for. Units compete for resources in different markets, creating a headache for whoever must make an optimal allocation. It's a challenge of comparing apples to oranges by executives who don't specialize in either fruit. The hope is that by the end of the day, each business unit has a unique set of marching orders. A custom breakthrough strategy. It should be powerful enough to meet customers' unmet needs, conform to disruptive technology trends, and prevent competitors from gaining a foothold. Furthermore, at the group level, the overall strategy shouldn't be just a grab bag of ideas. Each individual plan should be part of a puzzle that makes up a single coherent picture.
Ep 35 Your Strategic Stagnation Isn't a Framework Problem—It's a Story Problem
The YouTube Strategy School: Why Your MBA Didn’t Teach You Strategic Thinking
