Congruence Model · Nadler & Tushman
Strategy · Tasks · People · Culture · PPS
Friction lives in the pair, not the element. Adjust the element causing the miss — not the one complaining.
163 frameworks across 48 modules · 7 courses
LPO · Leading People & Organisations
The Eleven Pairs · Nadler & Tushman
S–T · S–P · S–C · S–PPS · T–P · T–C · C–P · PPS–T · PPS–T/P · PPS–P · PPS–C
Walk every pair. The first "no" is where to start.
Kerr's Folly · Kerr · 1975 (reprinted 1995)
what you reward · what you actually want · the gap
You get what you measure — not what you asked for.
Psychological Safety · Edmondson
frame as learning, not execution · invite challenge · amplify the shy · say the second thing that comes to mind
Learning zone = high safety + high accountability.
IGNITE 6-step ideation · Hardy
Individual · Group · No-Judgement · Innovate · Take-notes · Evaluate
Alone first, then together, then decide.
4 Leadership Challenges · Hardy
Commitment · Contribution · Coordination · Adaptation
Every follower asks four questions. Innovation needs the fourth.
Four Founding Acts · after Hackman
Clarify the task · Decide who is in · Build relationships · Design the process
A course distillation — Hackman's own Leading Teams (2002) lists five conditions. Get the setup right; firefighting later is expensive.
Four Decision Failures · Hackman
Suboptimal team formation · Shared-information bias · Group polarisation · Groupthink
Knowing the failure modes is half the defence.
Diversity Paradox · Phillips et al.
Socially diverse teams feel worse · Socially diverse teams perform better
Comfort and performance are decoupled. Optimise the latter.
Growth vs Fixed Mindset · Dweck
fixed: ability is given · growth: ability is made
Praise effort, not talent.
Pygmalion / Self-Fulfilling Prophecy · Merton (1948) · Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968)
belief → treatment → their belief → their behaviour
Your expectations are a management tool you are already using — usually unconsciously.
Fundamental Attribution Error · Jones & Harris
explain others by character · explain self by context
When someone underperforms, check the context before the person.
SAID Feedback Model · Hardy
Situation — specific moment · Action — observable behaviour · Impact — effect on others / work · Do — what to do next
Separate behaviour from person. Speak to the first three or four sentences.
Scharmer's 4 Levels of Listening · Scharmer
Downloading — I already know · Factual — I notice new data · Empathic — I feel what they feel · Generative — I sense where we are going
Most leaders listen at Level 1. Level 3 is where trust is built.
Active-Listening 5 · O'Connor
Attend · Withhold · Reflect · Clarify · Summarise
Don't rehearse your reply. Create space for theirs.
Plus / Delta · Hardy
+ what worked · Δ what could be even better
Two columns. Thirty seconds. End every meeting with it.
ABCD Intrinsic Motivators · Hardy
Autonomy · Belonging · Competence · Direction
Diagnose which letter is missing for the person you are worried about.
Bain Engagement Pyramid · Bain & EIU
Inspired · Engaged · Satisfied · Dissatisfied
Satisfaction is the floor, not the ceiling. Aim for inspired.
Yerkes-Dodson Law · Yerkes & Dodson (1908)
boredom · peak · burnout
Pressure × performance is an inverted U. Manage where the team sits on the curve.
Burnout Triad · Maslach
Exhaustion · Cynicism · Inefficacy
All three together = burnout. Two = warning. One = tiredness.
Progress Principle · Amabile & Kramer
daily small wins
The single strongest predictor of a good day at work is progress on meaningful work.
You cannot not communicate · Watzlawick
even silence is a message
Presence is the first message you send.
Social Styles 2×2 · Merrill & Reid
Analytical · Driver · Amiable · Expressive
Adapt to your listener's style, not yours.
Grice's 4 Maxims · Grice (1975)
Quantity — say as much as is useful · Quality — be truthful · Relation — be relevant · Manner — be clear
Break one and the message corrodes.
Culture Map · Meyer
Communicating (high/low context) · Evaluating · Persuading · Leading · Deciding · Trusting · Disagreeing · Scheduling
Your "direct" is someone else's "rude". Re-calibrate.
3 / week rule · LPO course
1 old contact reactivated · 1 new contact made · 1 cohort contact reinforced · + 15 min daily LinkedIn
Consistency over intensity. Three is the number.
Meaningful Requests 6-step · Cross & Thomas
Target · Purpose · Questions · Ask · Referrals · Follow-up
A good request is small, specific, and ends with "who else?".
Network Map — seniority × difference · LPO custom
Y: seniority (yours → more senior) · X: difference (same as you → very different)
Most people over-index on same-level, same-type. Bridge deliberately.
System 1 vs System 2 · Kahneman
S1: fast, automatic, intuitive · S2: slow, deliberate, analytical
Most decisions are S1. Reserve S2 for the ones that will matter in a year.
Bazerman 6 Rational Steps · Bazerman
Define · Criteria · Weight criteria · Options · Rate · Compute
A structured decision beats a brilliant one more often than not.
Motivational Biases · Kahneman
Positive illusions · Escalation of commitment (sunk cost)
You over-rate your own work and under-quit what is failing.
Cognitive Biases · Tversky & Kahneman
Framing · Availability · Anchoring · Representativeness
The frame decides more than the data. Name the frame before the decision.
Prospect Theory · Kahneman & Tversky
loss aversion ≈ 2× · diminishing sensitivity · reference-dependence
Losses hurt more than gains please. Design with that in mind.
Two Routes to Persuasion · Petty & Cacioppo
Central — content, logic, evidence · Peripheral — cues, source, format
Under time-pressure people default to peripheral. Design your messaging for the route the receiver is actually on.
Cialdini's 6 Principles · Cialdini
Reciprocity · Commitment & consistency · Social proof · Liking · Scarcity · Authority
They stack. Using two is often more than twice as powerful as one.
Door-in-the-Face / Foot-in-the-Door · Cialdini (1975) · Freedman & Fraser (1966)
DITF: big-then-small (Cialdini) · FITD: small-then-big (Freedman & Fraser)
Two opposite mechanics. Both exploit commitment and consistency.
FA · Financial Accounting
Three Statements · IFRS / US GAAP
Balance Sheet · Income Statement · Cash Flow Statement
Retained earnings flow from IS → BS. Operating cash flow starts from IS.
Double-Entry Bookkeeping · Accounting Convention
Debits · Credits · T-accounts
Every transaction affects at least two accounts. Debits = Credits, always.
Revenue Recognition — 4 tests · IFRS 15
Risks & rewards transferred · No continuing involvement · Amount measurable · Cash probable
All four, or you cannot recognise yet.
Matching Principle · Fundamental
COGS with revenue · Period costs with the period
Recognise the expense in the period that earned the revenue.
Accruals & Deferrals · Accounting mechanics
accrued revenue / expense · deferred revenue / expense
Adjust for the gap between economic event and cash movement.
Capitalise vs Expense · IAS 16
future economic benefit · past transaction · cost measurable
If all three, capitalise. Otherwise expense.
Acquisition Cost · Asset recognition
purchase price · duties & taxes · installation & labour · costs to ready for use
Capitalise all costs necessary to get the asset ready for its intended use — no more.
Repairs vs Improvements · Maintenance principle
Repair → expense · Improvement → capitalise
Does it extend life, reduce cost or increase capacity? Improvement. Otherwise repair.
Depreciation & Disposal · Matching principle
Straight-line most common · Useful life × salvage estimate · Gain/Loss = proceeds − NBV
Spread cost across the periods that benefit from the asset.
Internal vs Acquired Intangibles · IAS 38
internal → expensed · acquired → capitalised
Capital intensity looks lower if you built instead of bought.
Research vs Development · IFRS
Research: expensed · Development: capitalised if technically feasible and commercially viable
Where a firm draws this line is a judgement worth reading.
Goodwill · IFRS 3
Price paid · Fair value of assets acquired · Goodwill = excess
Goodwill is the premium for future earning power. Test it annually.
Impairment · Asset valuation
carrying value vs recoverable amount
If carrying > recoverable, write it down. Once written down, it does not come back.
Liability Recognition · IAS 37
past event · probable outflow · measurable
All three or nothing goes on the balance sheet.
Current vs Long-term · Present value
Current: face value · Long-term: present value of future cash
Discount obligations beyond 12 months (or sooner if the discount effect is material).
Contingent Classification · IAS 37
Remote: ignore · Possible: disclose in footnotes · Probable: book a provision
Three buckets. Management judgement decides which.
Provision Measurement · Liability measurement
one-off: most likely amount · large population: expected value
Review and adjust every reporting period.
Fixed vs Variable Costs · Cost behaviour
Fixed: rent, salaries · Variable: materials, commissions
Contribution margin ignores fixed; decisions live here.
Contribution Margin · Decision making
CM = revenue − variable costs · CM ratio = CM / revenue · Break-even = fixed / CM ratio
Every extra unit contributes CM to covering fixed costs, then profit.
Relevant Costs · Incremental analysis
future, differing between options
Sunk costs are irrelevant. Allocated overhead is usually irrelevant.
Absorption vs Variable Costing · Inventory valuation
Absorption: fixed overhead in product cost · Variable: only variable costs
Absorption boosts reported income in periods of rising inventory. Variable is cleaner for decisions.
Master Budget · Budget planning
sales → production → materials & labour → cash → statements
Sales is the driver. Everything cascades from it.
Cash Flow Forecasting · Working capital
operating cycle · seasonality · capex · financing
Convert accrual budget to cash using timing of receivables, payables, inventory.
Variance Analysis · Performance management
price · quantity · volume · favourable / unfavourable
Isolate what drove the gap. Act on the cause, not the symptom.
Flexible Budget · Cost control
budget adjusted for actual volume
Compare actuals to a budget that reflects what really happened, not what you planned.
Transfer Pricing Methods · Divisional accounting
cost-based (variable, full, cost-plus) · market-based · negotiated
Market > negotiated > cost-plus > full cost > variable cost, for incentive alignment.
Profit vs Cost Centres · Organisation structure
Profit centre: revenue + cost · Cost centre: cost only
Transfer pricing converts cost centres into profit centres, improving accountability.
Divisional Metrics · Management control
ROI · Residual Income · EVA
EVA accounts for cost of capital. ROI doesn't. Choose accordingly.
Internal Controls · COSO / SOX
Segregation of duties · Authorisation · Reconciliation · Physical safeguards
The plumbing of corporate honesty.
DuPont Decomposition · DuPont
ROE = Net margin × Asset turnover × Equity multiplier · (Equity multiplier = Assets / Equity)
Three levers for ROE. Most firms overuse one and underuse two.
Liquidity Ratios · Working capital
Current · Quick · Cash
Can the firm survive the next 90 days?
Solvency Ratios · Leverage
Debt/Equity · Debt/Assets · Interest coverage
Can the firm survive a downturn?
Efficiency Ratios · Asset utilisation
Asset turnover · Receivables days · Inventory turnover
How much revenue per pound of asset?
ROIC vs WACC · Value creation
ROIC = NOPAT / invested capital · EVA = (ROIC − WACC) × IC
Value is created only when ROIC exceeds WACC.
DA · Data Analytics
Central Limit Theorem · Statistical foundation
sample means → normal as n grows · SE = SD / √n
With n ≥ 30, the sampling distribution is normal regardless of source shape.
Confidence Intervals · Inferential statistics
point estimate ± margin of error · MoE = 2 × SE for 95%
A 95% CI means 95% of such intervals (over many samples) would contain the true parameter — not that there is a 95% probability this one does.
Standard Error · Sampling theory
SD of the sample mean · shrinks with √n
To halve the CI width, quadruple the sample.
Hypothesis Test · Statistical inference
H₀ (default / null) · t-statistic = (observed − expected) / SE · p-value · decision threshold
If |t| > 2 (roughly), reject H₀. Otherwise do not.
A/B Testing (RCT) · Causal inference standard
random assignment · treatment vs control · difference in means is the causal effect
Randomisation is the only antidote to confounding.
Type I vs Type II Error · Decision theory
Type I: false positive (α) · Type II: false negative (β)
Every threshold trades one off against the other. Pick deliberately.
Simple Linear Regression · OLS
y = a + b·x + ε · intercept a · slope b · residual ε
Minimise the sum of squared residuals. Slope = change in y per unit x.
Correlation · Pearson
r ∈ [−1, +1] · direction + strength
Correlation is not causation. Never.
Multiple Regression · Multivariate OLS
control for confounders · each coefficient isolates one effect · adjusted R² penalises complexity
Add variables for business logic, not for R².
Model Quality Checklist · Regression diagnostics
Adjusted R² · p-values and t-stats · coefficient signs · residual patterns
High R² + sensible signs + random residuals = a model you can defend.
Dummy Variables · Categorical encoding
k categories → k−1 binary variables · reference category = all zeros · coefficient = gap vs reference
Interpret dummy coefficients as "difference from the reference group, other things equal".
Interaction Terms · Conditional effects
x₁ × x₂ · effect of x₁ depends on x₂
Include interactions when business logic says one variable modulates another.
Overfit vs Underfit · Bias-variance tradeoff
Underfit: high bias, misses signal · Overfit: high variance, fits noise
Optimise validation error, never training error.
Train / Validate / Test · Model selection
Train ~60%: fit · Validate ~20%: tune · Test ~20%: final report
Never touch the test set until the end.
Lift & Gain Charts · Predictive evaluation
sort predictions · measure % of positives in top decile · lift = captured / base rate
Lift > 1 means your model beats random.
Analytics Workflow · Christodoulou
Problem → Data → Analysis → Action
Without the fourth step, it is homework.
Known-Unknowns · Rumsfeld · 2002
known-knowns · known-unknowns · unknown-knowns · unknown-unknowns
Use data to move unknowns into knowns. Guard against unknown-knowns (gut feels).
Data Maturity · Analytics leadership
raw → cleaned → statistical → predictive → prescriptive
Climb one rung at a time. Level 5 requires all four below.
Statistical vs Practical · Executive decision-making
significant: real, not noise · practical: worth the rollout
Both must be true before you act.
ME · Marketplace Environment
Price-Mediated Exchange · Myatt
buyer valuation · seller cost · negotiated price · gain from trade
Trade occurs when V > C. Surplus = V − C, split between parties.
Information Frictions · Myatt
private information · search cost · trust
Hidden information narrows the set of trades that happen. Brokers exist to fix that.
Cost Taxonomy · Myatt
Fixed · Variable · Marginal · Sunk
Short-run: produce if P ≥ AVC. Long-run: enter if P ≥ AC. Always supply where P = MC.
Demand Curve · Myatt
distribution of valuations · choke price · market size
Quantity demanded at price P = count of buyers with valuation ≥ P.
Perfect Competition · Classical
many small firms · homogeneous product · free entry
In equilibrium, P = MC. Consumer + producer surplus is maximised.
Shock Propagation · Galeotti
Supply shocks (cost, tech, regulation) · Demand shocks (income, preferences)
Supply curve shifts right → price ↓, quantity ↑. Demand curve shifts right → both rise.
Price Elasticity · Mankiw-Taylor
E = %ΔQ / %ΔP · elastic |E| > 1 · inelastic |E| < 1
Incidence of a shock falls on the less-elastic side. (Markup rule (P−MC)/P = 1/|E| is the monopoly application — see m.04.)
Government Interventions · Myatt
taxes · subsidies · price controls · tariffs
Any price away from equilibrium creates deadweight loss. Incidence splits by elasticity.
Substitutes & Complements · Galeotti
cross-price elasticity
Shocks ripple into related markets. Substitutes gain; complements lose.
Monopoly Rules of Thumb · Myatt
Q* = Q_max / 2 · P* = (P_max + MC) / 2 · Profit = S_max / 2 · DWL = S_max / 4
For linear demand, the optimum is symmetric. Half the quantity, half the surplus.
Markup Rule · Myatt
(P − MC) / P = 1 / |E|
Less elastic demand = higher markup. Always.
Cournot Oligopoly · Myatt
Q_i = Q_max / (N+1) · per-firm profit = (P_max − MC) × Q_max / (N+1)²
As N grows, price → MC and profits → 0.
Asymmetric Cournot · Myatt
lower cost → larger margin → bigger share
Cost advantages compound: market share ∝ profit margin.
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index · Antitrust theory
HHI = Σ(share%)² · range 10,000/N (equal firms) to 10,000 (pure monopoly)
FTC threshold: HHI > 2,500 = highly concentrated. Share expressed in percent.
Economic Rents · Porter / Myatt
profit above competitive level · source: cost, brand, network, IP
Sustainable rents require barriers to replication.
Strategic Effects of Innovation · Myatt
cost-reducing: winner takes more · quality-improving: demand shifts
Innovation by the leader widens the gap; by the follower, may not break even.
Entry & Industry Dynamics · Classical IO
expected profit vs entry cost · equilibrium N
Firms enter until marginal entrant earns zero economic profit.
Pass-Through · Myatt
% of cost change that reaches price
Low-elasticity demand → high pass-through (consumers pay).
Four Market Structures · IO canon
Perfect Competition · Monopolistic Competition · Oligopoly · Monopoly
As N grows and barriers fall, price → MC and consumer surplus grows.
Efficiency Types · Microeconomic theory
Allocative: P = MC · Productive: at min AC
Perfect competition delivers both. Monopoly delivers neither.
Antitrust Policy · Legal framework
merger review · price-fixing · predatory pricing · exclusive dealing
High HHI = presumption of harm, rebuttable with efficiency evidence.
Network Effects · Modern tech economics
positive externality · tipping · lock-in
Network markets tip toward a single winner — unless interoperability is forced.
EL · Executive Leadership
Johari Window · Luft & Ingham (1955)
Open · Blind Spot · Hidden · Unknown
Grow the Open area by asking for feedback (shrinks blind spot) and disclosing more (shrinks hidden self).
Dunning-Kruger Effect · Kruger & Dunning (1999)
incompetence obscures incompetence
The skills to produce a good answer are the same skills needed to recognise one.
Better-Than-Average Effect · Self-perception research
most people rate themselves above average on most traits
Assume your self-rating is inflated. Calibrate against external data.
Big Five Model (OCEAN / 5STeP) · McCrae & Costa
O · C · E · A · N
No profile is "better". Fit between profile and role determines effectiveness.
Nature vs Nurture · Personality genetics
~50% heritable · rest shaped by environment and experience
Traits are stable but not fixed. Range can be trained.
Situation Strength · Personality research
strong situations constrain behaviour · weak situations reveal traits
In a crisis, personality matters less. In ambiguity, it matters more.
Six Leadership Styles · Goleman-inspired
Directive · Visionary · Affiliative · Participative · Coaching · Pacesetting
Match style to context: crisis, vision, relationships, input, development, standards.
Servant Leadership · Greenleaf
genuine care for welfare · facilitating others' success
Trust is the foundation of influence. You cannot lead people you don't care about.
Reading the Room · Executive practice
team capability · stakes and urgency · culture
Default to your natural style; flex deliberately for the context.
Team Performance Model · Hackman (1998)
right people + right processes = high performing
Composition matters, but process matters more.
Three Types of Conflict · Team dynamics
Task — healthy · Relationship — toxic · Process — misdirects
Encourage task conflict. Minimise the other two.
Decision Methods · Organisational design
Consensus · Leader-decides · Majority
Low trust → consensus. High trust → leader-decides often fine. Majority creates aggrieved minorities.
GAPS Analysis · Development planning tool
Global — current state · Assess — the gap · Plan — one specific leadership goal · Sustain — supporters and accountability
The goal must be behavioural, not generic. Not "be better"; "be comfortable initiating difficult conversations".
Riccombeni Case Lessons · Course case
strengths become weaknesses in new roles · advancement ≠ automatic reward · lead by facilitating performance
Every promotion requires uninstalling old software before installing new.
LBS Six Competencies · LBS framework
Know Yourself · Communicate Powerfully · Deliver Through Others · Solve Complex Problems · Lead Change · Digital Fluency
Your 360 evaluates on these six. Your PDP should target one or two.
SM · Advanced Strategic Management
Value-Based Strategy (the Wedge) · Brandenburger & Stuart · 1996
Willingness to pay (WTP) · Price · Cost · Supplier opportunity cost · Value created = WTP minus cost
The only profit that exists is the gap between WTP and cost; price determines who keeps it.
Added Value · Brandenburger & Stuart
Added value = total value with the firm minus total value without
A firm can only claim the value the network would lose without it — no more.
Two Routes to Advantage · after Ghemawat & Rivkin
Differentiation: raise WTP more than cost rises · Cost leadership: cut cost more than WTP falls
Choose one route and align every activity to it; the middle is not a position.
Porter's Five Forces · Porter · HBR 1979, updated 2008
Threat of new entrants · Bargaining power of buyers · Bargaining power of suppliers · Threat of substitutes · Rivalry among competitors
The strongest force sets the ceiling. Analyse all five; act on the binding one.
Industry vs Firm Effects · after Porter
Industry structure → average profitability · Firm position → deviation from average
First choose an attractive industry; then choose a defensible position within it.
Generic Strategies · Porter · Competitive Strategy 1980
Cost leadership · Differentiation · Focus (cost) · Focus (differentiation) · Stuck in the middle (trap)
Choose a cell and align every activity to it; the middle is not a stable resting place.
Activity System Alignment · after Porter
Primary activities · Support activities · Fit and reinforcement
Advantage compounds when activities reinforce each other; a single activity is easily copied.
Commitment as Strategy · Ghemawat · Commitment 1991
Irreversibility · Visibility to rivals · Effect on rival's best response
A move that is reversible is tactics; a move that is irreversible and visible is strategy.
Capacity Pre-emption · after Ghemawat
First-mover capacity build · Deterrence of rival entry or expansion · Post-entry punishment credibility
Pre-empt only when you can fill the capacity and when doing so makes rival entry unprofitable.
Deter vs Accommodate · after Ghemawat
Deter: make entry or expansion unprofitable for rival · Accommodate: allow rival a share, avoid destructive rivalry
Deterrence requires both the ability and the will to punish; without both, it is not credible.
Sustaining vs Disruptive Innovation · Christensen · The Innovator's Dilemma 1997
Sustaining trajectory: better along existing dimensions · Disruptive trajectory: simpler, cheaper, lower-performing to start · Crossing point: disruptor meets mainstream threshold
Watch the trajectory, not the current performance gap. Disruption happens when the two curves cross.
Performance Overshoot · after Christensen
Incumbent keeps improving beyond what most buyers need · Price premium grows · Fringe and non-consumers become viable targets for disruptors
If your product is better than most customers need, you are vulnerable from below.
Two-Sided Market Theory · Rochet & Tirole · 2003 / Eisenmann · 2006
Two distinct user groups · Cross-side network effects · Price structure (not a single price) · Subsidise one side, charge the other
The strategic question is not what to charge but which side to charge — and that depends on which side draws the other.
Chicken-and-Egg Bootstrap · after Parker, Van Alstyne & Choudary
Seed supply before demand · Subsidise the harder side first · Piggyback on existing user base · Single-side standalone value
Solve the chicken-and-egg or neither side shows up. The first side you onboard must have standalone value until the second arrives.
Winner-Take-All vs Multi-Platform · after Farronato, Toffel & Zhu · HBS 621-016
Single-homing (users pick one platform) · Multi-homing (users join several) · Network effect strength and reach
Strong cross-side effects plus single-homing tilts toward winner-take-all; weak effects or easy multi-homing supports coexistence.
Ecosystem-as-Structure · Adner · Journal of Management 2017
Value proposition (the boundary-setter) · Activities · Actors · Positions · Links
Start with the value proposition and work backward to the alignment structure it requires; do not start with the partners.
Co-innovation and Adoption-Chain Risk · Adner
Co-innovation risk: partners' innovations not yet ready · Adoption-chain risk: partners must change their own behaviour
Your ecosystem is only as fast as its slowest required alignment. Identify which partner is the bottleneck.
Ecosystem-as-Affiliation vs Ecosystem-as-Structure · Adner
Affiliation: community of associated actors around a platform · Structure: configuration of activities for a specific value proposition
Use structure thinking when alignment must shift; use affiliation thinking when you are counting partners.
Transaction Cost Economics · Coase · 1937 / Williamson · 1985
Market coordination (price) · Firm coordination (authority) · Transaction costs of each route
Use the market by default. Bring an activity inside only when transacting on the open market costs more than managing it yourself.
Asset Specificity and Hold-Up · Williamson
Relationship-specific investments · Hold-up: the party who invested loses bargaining power after contracting · Thin supplier markets amplify hold-up risk
The more relationship-specific the required investment, the stronger the case for internalisation.
Make / Buy / Ally Decision · after Williamson and Dyer, Kale & Singh
Make: authority, full control, dulled incentives · Buy: price, market discipline, hold-up risk · Ally: shared assets, shared risk, partial control
Ally when you need specificity but cannot bear full internalisation costs; make when you can scale and sharpen internally.
When to Ally vs Acquire · Dyer, Kale & Singh · HBR 2004
Resources and synergy type (modular, sequential, reciprocal) · Market conditions (uncertainty, competition for partner) · Collaboration competence (which mode can you execute?)
Choose the mode before choosing the partner. The mode should follow from resources, market, and competence — not from habit.
Three Synergy Types · Dyer, Kale & Singh
Modular: pool independently managed results · Sequential: one party hands off to the other · Reciprocal: deep iterative joint work
Modular synergies argue for non-equity alliances; reciprocal synergies with hard assets argue for acquisition.
Collaboration Competence Trap · Dyer, Kale & Singh
Organisational bias toward familiar mode · M&A group vs business development silos · Post-deal execution capability
The most common failure is choosing the mode you know how to execute rather than the mode the situation demands.
MS · Customer-centric Market Strategies
5Cs of Market Analysis · after Kotler
Company · Customers · Competitors · Collaborators · Context
Run all five before you set strategy — a gap in any one C produces blind spots the 4Ps cannot fix.
PESTLE / PESTE · strategic management tradition
Political · Economic · Sociocultural · Technological · Legal · Environmental
Context is not background noise — macro forces can invalidate an otherwise sound plan.
Customer Centricity · after Drucker · Ambler · Gerstner
Customer as unit of analysis · Share of wallet over market share · Customer portfolio over product portfolio
The aim of marketing is to know the customer so well that the product sells itself.
CLV Formula · after Gupta & Lemmens
m = annual margin · r = retention rate · i = discount rate · AC = acquisition cost · CLV = m × r/(1+i−r) − AC
Three levers: lower AC, raise r, grow m. Retention is usually the highest-return lever.
Customer Equity · after Gupta & Lehmann
CLV × current base · + discounted CLV of future acquisitions · = bottom-up firm valuation
Aggregate CLV is a sanity-check on market cap — if the maths don't square, growth assumptions are doing all the work.
CRM Three Strategies · marketing-process tradition
Acquisition — win new customers · Retention — keep existing ones · Expansion — grow margin per customer
Not all customers are equally valuable; allocate CRM spend where CLV improvement is largest, not where volume is highest.
Customer Decision Journey · Court, Elzinga, Mulder & Vetvik · McKinsey 2009
Consider · Evaluate · Buy · Experience · Bond / Loyalty loop
Map where your customers are losing faith in the loop — that is where to invest, not at top-of-funnel.
AIDA Funnel (the model being replaced) · Lewis · 1898
Awareness · Interest · Desire · Action
AIDA is useful for new-to-category launches; the loop model is more useful once a customer base exists and loyalty is the growth lever.
Loyalty Loop · Edelman · HBR 2010
Post-purchase bond · Advocacy as trigger for others' Consider stage · Repurchase shortcut bypasses open evaluation
A strong loyalty loop compresses customer equity — same CLV at lower re-acquisition cost.
STP Cascade · after Smith (1956) & Kotler
Segment — discover groups with common needs · Target — choose where to play · Position — define how to win in the mind
The cascade is sequential: weak segmentation produces weak targeting, which produces a positioning statement with no real audience.
Criteria for Good Segmentation (DAMAS) · Kotler
Differentiable · Actionable · Measurable · Accessible · Substantial
A segment that fails any one of these five tests will either not be reachable or not be worth reaching.
Targeting 3Cs · marketing-strategy tradition
Customer opportunity — size, growth, reachability · Company fit — objectives, capabilities, resources · Competitive intensity — underserved needs, rivals' strengths
Targeting is the discipline of saying no — the segments you decline define the strategy as much as the ones you choose.
Positioning Statement · Kotler · Lafley & Martin
For (target customer) · who (need) · the (product) is a (category) · that (core benefit) · unlike (alternatives), our product (point of difference)
A positioning statement is only useful if it would embarrass a competitor — vague statements are not positions.