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Category Archives: Internal analysis/RBV
Corporate Culture Artifact Hunt
We often talk about culture as a source of sustained competitive advantage (see Jay Barney’s article on the topic).
I have run a great exercise where I send students on an artifact hunt through the business school to identify strengths and weaknesses in the school culture. Students present and analyze their artifacts and we discuss the implications for the competitiveness of the school. The next class explores the levers or impact points one would use to influence the culture. A final class might explore the implications of this for managing strategic change. The time this takes may make it better for a strategy elective but I am using it in my core class this semester.
Here is a bit more detail on how the exercise is run:
Amazon Builds New Capabilities
A New York Times story reports that Amazon has long enjoyed an advantage 
over most brick and mortar rivals that its customers need not pay sales tax. That is now ending in some states as they agree to collect the taxes (notably California). So how are they responding? They are building more warehouses so that, in some metropolitan areas, they will eventually have same-day delivery. Ironically, with each day, they have become more of a brick and mortar operation. Still, that will give them an advantage over ecommerce rivals. It also requires substantial investments in distribution that rivals will have a hard time duplicating.
Contributed by Aya Chacar
Imitation: Pretty Profitable Parrots
The Economist just posted an interesting article on the value of imitation as a strategy. 
We often spend time focused on what makes a strategy inimitable. Of course, the spate of recent law suits tells the other side of the story in terms of the risks of copying. That said, there is little new under the stars and imitation can yield tremendous returns. We don’t see much focus in cases (or the literature) on imitation as a capability. What makes firms good at it?
Contributed by Sheen Levine
Sumo Strategy: Size matters…
This video is certainly of questionable taste but that hasn’t stopped me from using it in class. It depicts a battle between a sumo wrestler and a much larger sumo wrestler (the conclusion is not pretty). It can be used to discuss the point of inimitable resources (of course size but also brand or anything else). I have also used it in discussing Yoffie’s Judo Strategy in class.
Contributed by Russ Coff
Alliance: Save the Antelope!
This is a very short/funny clip depicting a man who outruns a Cheetah to save an antelope. There are lots of possible uses. Perhaps the man is the antelope’s strong alliance partner. It could demonstrate unusual (dynamic/global/human capital) capabilities. Please comment if you see other uses…
Contributed by Russ Coff
Shaolin Soccer: VRIO Capabilities?
What does a capability look like that leads to a competitive advantage? The Resource-based view has emphasized those that are VRIO (valuable, rare, inimitable and organizational execution). Here are a few clips from the movie Shaolin Soccer. Very funny and maybe even useful for making this point 😉
Google’s $12.5B Acquisition of Motorola
Google’s recent $12.5B acquisition of Motorola mobility is a great “ripped from the headlines” case. 
Here are a series of news articles that one can distribute (not all are really needed). In order to assess Google’s prospects for creating value, one must evaluate the following key sources of uncertainty:
- Intellectual property as a resource. Will the patents help Google beat Apple in court (or reach a favorable settlement)? The litigation is a critical part of Apple’s global strategy to limit the threat that Android poses to the iPhone.
- Vertical integration. Apple has created a great product that works very well. Part of the reason may be that the operating system and hardware are better integrated. Can Google produce a better product that commands a higher willingness to pay?
- Alliance partners. Will Google lose partners who are now direct rivals (to Windows or new operating systems)? Continue reading
Egg Drop Auction: Strategic factor mkts
The essence of this exercise is simple. Teams must build a device that will catch an egg dropped from 25 feet (e.g., a stairwell). The trick is that they must build it from items purchased in an auction. As such, items that are easy to use (e.g., an old pillow) are very expensive while items that are hard to imagine a use for (a brick) are cheap. Profit is determined by 1) succeeding in the task of catching an egg and 2) having the lowest cost function. As such, this demonstrates Barney’s (1986) notion of superior expectations in strategic factor markets.
Now that you see where this is going, here are the rest of the details.
Continue reading
Complementarities: Inventing a mouse
This is a very funny video depicting the invention of a mouse before there were computers or any other complementary assets. Very silly but it makes an important point linked to any discussion of complementarities (e.g., M&A, multi-business strategies, alliances, new technologies, etc.).
Contributed by Russ Coff
Outsourcing Human Capital
Increasingly suppliers of staffing services make specific investments in their clients. What, then, is the role of firm-specificity in determining firm boundaries? This video pushes us to ask these questions with a humorous twist.
Contributed by Russ Coff
Putting Together the Strategy Puzzle
Learning Objectives:
- The importance of being explicit about and challenging existing operating assumptions.
- The importance of understanding what resources are available
- The importance of recognizing & utilizing commonly overlooked resources/expertise within the firm.
- The value of big picture vs. in the trenches perspectives.
Set-up
Requires two 25-piece puzzles. Prior to the exercise, two pieces from each puzzle should be blacked-out with an indelible marker. Additionally, one of the fifty pieces should be placed in the trainer’s pocket prior to the training. Continue reading
Auction of Fire Net: Strategic Factor Markets
This depicts an auction of a fire net as people contemplate jumping out of a burning building. Useful to talk about strategic factor market theory — especially if you have a dark sense of humor.
Contributed by Russ Coff
Cup Stacking Record: Speed vs. flexibility
This video shows the world record in cup stacking. The task requires speed in a repetetive task. It might be thought of as a capability however, it is clear that it is not about flexibility or adaptability. This helps to illustrate the distinction of a dynamic capability — this is not strategy under uncertainty.
A bit of trivia is that Emily is the CEO’s daughter for SpeedStacks, the company that makes specialized cups for stacking and the primary backer of the “World Sport Stacking Association.” She might actually be a resource for her father’s company…
Contributed by Russ Coff
15 Lateral Passes to Score: A dynamic capability?
This video shows a play one could never plan. Might it be possible to train a team to improvise when the opportunity presented?
Contributed by Mason Carpenter
Tinker Toy Exercise/Builderific
The Tinkertoy exercise is simple but exposes students to a variety of issues linked to formulating and implementing strategy. This deeper application of the common ice breaker has been published by Coff & Hatfield (2003) in JSME (Click here for full text). There are a number of slight modifications that make the exercise very valuable for different topics in a strategy course. For example:
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The exercise can demonstrate key features of the resource based perspective and first mover advantage by having the teams execute in waves and watch how much imitation occurs (often team stick to their planned strategy even if they watch another team fail using that plan).
- Strategy process. The discussion proceeds along the lines of what the vision, key result areas, goals and action steps ought to be. Students often focus on engineering and architecture and ignore management tasks.
- Scenario planning. Ask the students to identify what might go wrong and develop a contingency plan. Even highlighting this, they will be prone to stick to their first plan until it fails completely (something that Eisenhardt notes with respect to “slow” decision-makers).
Jay Barney on Strategy
Jay Barney describes how he teaches Strategic Management for Executive Education, giving examples of Walmart, Southwest Airlines and their success in very tough industries.
Learning Through Simulations and Exercises
I’ve been using simulations to tie together segments in my class and to give students a better experience with the process of strategy. It is important to allocate a good chunk of time — from one to three hours — to fully debrief the sim. This debrief includes some sharing of emotions, since simulations can result in conflict and anxiety — I’ve had teams explode and almost come to blows. It is useful to point out to participants that although this is a simulation, part of the results are a reflection of the individual themselves, along with their particular role, and the context provided by the simulation. Three readings that may be helpful regarding sims are (Also see Brian Boyd’s website for additional resources below under OTHER TOOLS & LINKS:
Keys, J. Bernard, Robert M. Fulmer, and Stephen A. Stumpf. 1996. Microworlds and simuworlds: Practice fields for the learning organization, Organizational Dynamics, Spring.
Orbanes, Phil. 2002. Everything I know about business I learned from Monopoly, Harvard Business Review, March.
Stumpf, Stephen A. and Jane E. Dutton. 1990. The dynamics of learning through management simulations: Let’s dance, Journal of Management Development, 9(2) 7-15.
Contributed by Mason Carpenter
VW environmental initiative
A collection of clever and funny video vignettes compiled by VW to show innovative ways of getting people involved in bettering the environment. FunTheory
Dell’s Extreme Makeover
Great combo of an interesting BW article on Dell’s morphing strategy and a short video that talks through some of the changes and challenges facing Dell.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_43/b4152036025436.htm
Contributed by Mason Carpenter
Carpenter Strategy Toolbox 