vol. XV no. 2

				This article is adapted from a presentation made by Robinson College of Business Dean Sidney E. Harris at the Conference Board's 2002 Organization of the Future. When Dean Sidney Harris was a kid in sneakers, Converse All Stars were the shoes of choice. However, in the 1970s, the athletic shoe industry began expanding its offerings to include casual footwear. Converse didn't make the turn. Nike did. Nike's success didn't hinge on a long-term strategy based on incremental growth. In fact, Nike CEO Phil Knight even admits that his company lacked "a real smart strategy going forward. We had a strategy, and when it didn't work, we went back and regrouped until we finally hit on something." Nike's success resulted from the company's ability to adapt to a new business environment and changing consumer taste. Walmart offers another success story based on company agility. Walmart's strategy was simple: to be the general retailer in small towns across the United States. Today, it has evolved into the largest and most aggressive retailer and has an international focus. Walmart successfully navigated changes in store formats, product tastes and the make-up of the workforce, and it assembled management talent over time in its shift to mass market retailing. "Businesses have to experiment now and to be willing to reinvent what worked yesterday," Harris said during his recent presentation at the 2002 Organization of the Future Conference, "From Ownership to Strategic Purpose," in New York City. He described the current business environment as one of dynamism and uncertainty. "We are recovering from an economic recession while simultaneously coping with fundamental changes in technology and the emergence of Asia as a global economic power," he remarked. "In light of these changes, what do we have to keep in mind? New ways to be flexible." The Dilenschneider Group explains it this way. "Virtually every savvy businessperson in the world is re-thinking and re-calibrating his or her business model for the period ahead. . . many theories are being advanced and tested, ranging from 'get smarter and outsource as much as possible' to 'aggregate capital and resources to a size that squeezes all others out.'" Top | Next Page See Dean Sidney Harris: Leadership in Action

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