To be effective, a government needs the same thing as a business: good management.

What is 2013’s most in-vogue strategy? Make your nominations.

Lessons in Failure

Borrowing clout gives large companies an edge in a financial crisis.

Companies that link complementary partners, like dating sites or online auctions, can dominate for years or be swept away in an instant.

When planning large projects, managers should base their forecasts for costs and timelines not on their own optimism, but on statistical data from previous ventures.

When it comes to managing a company’s working capital, CFOs must balance the need to stock inventory against the need to provide value for shareholders.

New businesses may be tempted to expand as quickly as possible, but such rapid growth can doom a fledgling company.

Former Strategy& senior partner Ken Favaro explains to former s+b executive editor Paul Michelman that when leaders substitute visions, missions, purposes, plans, or goals for the real work of strategy, they send their firms adrift.

Former Strategy& senior partner Ken Favaro speaks with former s+b executive editor Paul Michelman about understanding the real value of corporate strategy and the head office.

A respected head office and strong corporate affinity will drive the company’s fortunes.

It’s possible to develop new projects on a small budget, but, as NASA’s efforts show, companies have to be committed to the process if it is to succeed.

Having too much inventory can hurt sales, but offering a variety of products is good for business.

Planning and performance management systems can be designed to reinforce your most distinctive capabilities—not undermine them.

Digitization will enhance the customer experience, and can save banks up to 30 percent.

Inspired by Warren Buffett, a former Lehman analyst figures out that plain-speaking companies have higher performance.

Sometimes it pays for a company to respond to a deal in its own backyard, and sometimes it doesn’t.

A review of Strategic Transformation: Changing while Winning, by Manuel Hensmans, Gerry Johnson, and George Yip.

When you are selling part of your company, don’t just offer buyers a potential asset; give them the capabilities to gain value from it.

What happened to recorded music is about to happen to you. But only a few banks are making the right moves from branches to online services.

A Booz & Company study reveals that only 17 percent of companies are poised for a profitable future.

If you want to retain your high-potential employees, you have to get involved in helping them plan their careers.

Starting a business is one thing—sticking with it is quite another.

Companies that focus on consumers with little spending power can change the dynamics of an industry.

Why some corporate relationships end in divorce while others live on in blissful union.

The rescue of GM and Chrysler came with a cost, but it put them back in the game and even benefited Ford.

Well-meaning but meddlesome boards can wreak havoc on a company during a financial crisis.

Successful strategists understand that their role is to manage a process fraught with contradictions.

Introducing Camp Snowball, where teachers learn the hidden interactions that separate success from failure.

Too many companies are geared toward fixing problems rather than preventing them.

Welcome to strategy+business’s new blog.

When assessing penalty charges, companies must be fair, flexible, and transparent.

By linking customers and capabilities, companies can generate the momentum for sustainable growth.

The big box retailer badly needs a good dose of strategic innovation. Is it up to the task?

Don Tapscott, who has written 15 books, most recently Radical Openness: Four Unexpected Principles for Success, introduces an excerpt that demonstrates how openness to new business practices and work settings can unleash human capital, from The Soul of Design: Harnessing the Power of Plot to Create Extraordinary Products, by Lee Devin and Robert D. Austin.

Multinationals can increase exports from markets hurt by a decline in local sales.

Understanding the real value of corporate strategy and the head office.

How negative media coverage can have a positive impact on a company’s strategic direction.

Surprises can be frustrating, but they often come with big opportunities.

How strategic intuition unlocks innovative solutions to your biggest problems.

Jeff Thull, author of Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes Are High, introduces a passage that overturns negative stereotypes about sales from To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others, by Daniel H. Pink.

Conventional organizational structures may be obsolete. How about a model based on capabilities instead?

Companies that align their operations to their strategy unleash superior performance.

When a company competes on capabilities, its specialist leaders—in HR, IT, finance, and elsewhere—play a new, influential role.

A controversial financial market indicator may be able to prevent short-term crises in the modern computerized trading world.

Bankruptcy gives a bounce to operational improvements, but not for long.

Tracking the milestones in a century of strategic commitment.

When prices are inflated, and governance is weak, it’s easier to underperform.

George S. Yip, co-author of Strategic Transformation: Changing While Winning, introduces an excerpt from Management in 10 Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created One of the World’s Largest Retailers, by Terry Leahy, that explores the anchoring effect of business values.