Ken Favaro is a contributing editor of strategy+business and the lead principal of ACT2, which provides independent advice to business leaders, teams, and boards, on growth, strategy, innovation, and organization.
All articles by Ken Favaro
Strategy talk: How long should a long-term strategy be?March 21, 2019 The right time frame for a strategy depends on what its implementation will require.
Strategy Talk: How to Help Your Team Get More CreativeFebruary 6, 2019 Leaders should draw on the past to spark ideas that are both novel and practical.
Strategy Talk: What’s the Right Mix of Organic Growth and Acquisitions?October 2, 2018 Three questions will help you find the best combination of buy, borrow, and build for your business.
Strategy Talk: Can Strategy Be Decisive and Flexible?March 15, 2018 Clear choices can provide stability for your organization while also enhancing your strategic options and ability to adapt.
Strategy Talk: Can the Latest Organizational Innovations Really Help Us?January 2, 2018 Evaluate new management approaches, such as holacracy and agile, based on how they can improve clarity and collaboration at your company.
Best Business Books 2017: StrategyNovember 7, 2017 Animal Spirits
Strategy Talk: How Can I Make My Company More Innovative?June 28, 2017 Successful innovation in big organizations demands three essential behaviors.
Strategy Talk: The Real Reason Your Stock Price Is LaggingMay 9, 2017 Financial engineering won’t fix a stagnant valuation.
Strategy Talk: How Do I Build a Strong Pipeline of Future Leaders?April 12, 2017 The next generation of management needs to build its strategic acumen through real-world practice.
Strategy Talk: What’s Wrong with Cross-Selling, Anyway?March 21, 2017 Your strategy should turn customers into “cross-buyers” of your products and services.
A Better Way to Engage Your Board on StrategyJanuary 31, 2017 Shaping strategy should be an ongoing team effort of the CEO and directors, not just an annual exercise.
Strategy and the BoardDecember 22, 2016 Your strategic planning process and annual off-sites may be holding your directors back.
The Strategy Lessons of a Long HikeOctober 24, 2016 A punishing trek is a painful reminder to get your strategic fundamentals right.
Lessons from the Strategy Crisis at NetflixSeptember 6, 2016 The thriving streaming business faces some fundamental questions about its future.
Why Popular Strategies Always FadeMay 25, 2016 The most capable strategists see the real value, and big pitfalls, in new business concepts.
Has Your Strategy’s Shelf Life Expired?March 14, 2016 What to do when you outgrow your target market — or vice versa.
Why Distinctive Customer Targeting Is a Smart StrategyFebruary 8, 2016 Don’t underestimate the power of choosing a unique definition of the customers your company will serve.
Save Your Strategy from the Global–Local DivideDecember 21, 2015 How companies with multiple businesses operating in far-flung markets can avoid common strategy-implementation pitfalls.
Mutually Assured DisruptionDecember 21, 2015 Why established companies should join forces with upstart competitors.
One Company, Two Identities, One StrategyNovember 9, 2015 Large enterprises that operate both as a single entity and a business portfolio get the best of both worlds.
Best Business Books 2015: StrategyNovember 2, 2015 The Search for Innovation
The Trouble with Putting Goals Ahead of StrategyJune 15, 2015 Winning strategies start with a big idea.
Vertical Integration 2.0: An Old Strategy Makes a ComebackMay 6, 2015 More companies are seeking greater control of their value chain — but they should do so with caution.
The $112 Billion CEO Succession ProblemMay 4, 2015 Poor planning for changes in leadership costs companies dearly. Getting it right is worth more than you might think. See also “CEO Succession: Why It Pays to Have a Plan.”
Big Ideas Mark the Path from Strategy to ExecutionApril 7, 2015 Winning companies are made by leaders committed to solving important problems with innovative ideas — against all odds.
Diversify or Focus? The Best Strategies Do BothFebruary 26, 2015 It’s time to break your company’s cycle of expand-contract-repeat.
The Quantified Self Goes CorporateJanuary 26, 2015 How to make data your source of sustained growth.
The Internet of Things Wins s+b’s 2014 Strategy of the YearJanuary 20, 2015
The linking of billions of devices through the Web has scaled the heights of strategy fashion.
The Truth About Breakthrough StrategiesDecember 15, 2014 You won’t find them through typical strategic planning, executive retreats, or brainstorming sessions.
Best Business Books 2014: StrategyNovember 3, 2014 To the Nimble Go the Spoils
Free Your Strategy from Annual PlanningOctober 28, 2014 When your strategy is shackled to the annual planning process, you lose a uniquely powerful management tool.
Where Are the Sinkholes in Your Strategy?August 14, 2014 Answering two critical questions will fortify your company’s strategy—and your ability to implement it.
Don’t Let the Short-Term–Long-Term Tension Drag Your Strategy DownJune 24, 2014 How to navigate the twin demands of current performance and future investment.
The Lives and Times of the CEO
May 30, 2014 From 100 years back to a quarter century ahead, the evolution of the chief executive officer.
Strategy or Culture: Which Is More Important?May 22, 2014 Although culture is much more than an “enabler” of strategy, it’s no substitute for it.
Strategy Is Not about the CompetitionApril 28, 2014 Customers and capabilities—not the competition—should take center stage when developing strategies.
How IKEA, Disney, and Berkshire Hathaway Succeed with AdjacenciesMarch 11, 2014 Many adjacency moves fail because they’re driven by the wrong motives. But a lot can be learned from those that succeed.
The Dangers of Adjacencies StrategyJanuary 30, 2014 Why a popular approach to growth may put your company’s health at risk.
Big Data Strategy: s+b’s Strategy of the YearJanuary 8, 2014 From the headlines to the C-suite, big data embodied the height of strategy-as-fashion in 2013.
Introducing s+b’s “Strategy of the Year”December 2, 2013 What is 2013’s most in-vogue strategy? Make your nominations.
Dear Verizon: Here’s How to Make the Megadeal with Vodafone Pay OffOctober 29, 2013 Avoid the usual temptations and your big bet on Verizon Wireless might be a big win.
How Microsoft Can Once Again Punch Above Its WeightSeptember 24, 2013 A respected head office and strong corporate affinity will drive the company’s fortunes.
Looking Inside the Latest Reorganization of MicrosoftAugust 27, 2013 As he prepares to step down, will Ballmer’s organizational shake-up make any difference?
The Thought Leader Interview: Loran NordgrenAugust 27, 2013 The cofounder of unconscious thought theory explains how taking a break and distracting the mind can lead to higher-quality decision making.
Was News Corp’s Split Inevitable and Is PepsiCo Next?July 29, 2013 Why some corporate relationships end in divorce while others live on in blissful union.
Is Strategy Fixed or Variable?July 18, 2013 Successful strategists understand that their role is to manage a process fraught with contradictions.
Does P&G Need Product Innovation or Strategic Innovation?June 20, 2013 As A.G. Lafley returns to the helm, the consumer products giant can’t just rely on its product development expertise to get its mojo back.
You Can’t Build a Winning Strategy If You Don’t Know Who You AreJune 10, 2013 The road to sustained success begins with the answer to this simple question: “Who are we?”
Portrait of the Incoming ClassMay 28, 2013 The newest CEOs have neither the diversity nor the global backgrounds that you might expect.
“It’s Time for a Change”May 28, 2013 CEO turnover is trending high, but in a more planned and stable manner.
Captains in DisruptionMay 28, 2013 Even when facing a crisis, some CEOs know how to anticipate the worst, plan a response, and navigate to advantage. You can do the same.
Can Best Buy Thwart the Grim Reaper?May 13, 2013 The big box retailer badly needs a good dose of strategic innovation. Is it up to the task?
We’re from Corporate and We’re Here to Help April 8, 2013 Understanding the real value of corporate strategy and the head office.
The Right Ideas in All the Wrong PlacesMarch 11, 2013 How strategic intuition unlocks innovative solutions to your biggest problems.
The Thought Leader Interview: Cynthia MontgomeryFebruary 26, 2013 A Harvard Business School professor observes that leaders become better strategists by engaging in conversations about the purpose of a company.
Sourcing GrowthFebruary 26, 2013 A review of Build, Borrow, or Buy, by Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell.
How Leaders Mistake Execution for Strategy (and Why That Damages Both)February 11, 2013 When leaders substitute visions, missions, purposes, plans, or goals for the real work of strategy, they send their firms adrift.
Strategy or Execution: Which Is More Important?June 1, 2012 Many business leaders think they’d rather have great execution than superior strategies, but you can’t have the first without the second.
Strategy: An Executive’s Definition
May 29, 2012 What is a business strategy? It is the result of choices made to maximize long-term value.
CEO Succession 2011: The New CEO’s First YearMay 24, 2012 Big companies are once again appointing new chief executives in greater numbers, Booz & Company’s annual study finds. Here’s a close look at the incoming class, and some advice from veterans on how they can best navigate their crucial first year.
Navigating the First Year: Advice from 18 Chief Executives May 24, 2012 CEOs who took part in Booz & Company’s 2011 study of CEO turnover share their thoughts about the difficulties they faced, the successes they achieved, and what, in retrospect, they might have done differently in their first year on the job.
The Two Levels of StrategyApril 27, 2012 Business strategy is best distinguished from corporate strategy by the different perspectives that business leaders and strategic planners must bring to bear.
Netflix Wasn’t All WrongApril 2, 2012 Six months after video rental company CEO Reed Hastings was forced into a strategic retreat from Qwikster, strategists can still learn a lot from his decision.
The Next Winning Move in Private EquityMay 24, 2011 To outperform their rivals, private equity firms will need to enhance their ability to spur organic growth in the companies they own. (And public companies will need to follow.)
CEO Succession 2010: The Four Types of CEOsMay 24, 2011 Booz & Company’s annual study of turnover among chief executives — now increasingly diverse, as the world’s largest companies migrate to emerging economies — suggests that the nature of the job varies with the role of the corporate core.
Total Shareholder ReturnsMarch 21, 2011 This measure of business performance is the best indicator of corporate success.
Getting Tensions RightAugust 24, 2010 How CEOs can turn conflict, dissent, and disagreement into a powerful tool for driving performance.
CEO Succession 2000-2009: A Decade of Convergence and Compression
May 25, 2010 The role of the chief executive is evolving. CEOs from around the world discuss the game-changing practices that lead to success.
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