A World View – Page 3 – Rodenberg Tillman & Associates

This Intelligence Briefing is our twice monthly publication in which Rodenberg Tillman & Associates identifies and discusses worldly events triggered by possible Gray & Black Swans and/or Gray Rhinos.

Uber and its Strategic Service Group

October 21, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

It was fascinating to read the book of Mike Isaac on Uber and its former CEO Travis Kalanick. Many people see Uber as the most successful start-up in Silicon Valley. But Uber never made any profit and the loss in III/2019 has been US$ 4,6 billion. Every time the Board tells the financial world “profits will come in the near future”.

WeWork the Great Delusion

October 1, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

End of September 2019 the office-space company WeWork announced that it was postponing its initial public offering (IPO). The same day the reaction was a sharp decline of market value from US$ 47 to US$ 20 billion.

Mavericks vs Sunflower Biases

September 16, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Mavericks are the brilliant original thinkers not yet at the top of the corporate ladder. These male/female professionals are able to generate rigorous discussions in team meetings, which sets the best performing companies apart from competitors.

Deutche Bank, a time-bomb

September 2, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Risto Sillasmaa’s turnaround of Nokia starting in 2012 is extremely impressive. Nokia was in 2011 almost dead! Now the company is in the top-2 in the global market of communication-infrastructure. Sillasmaa quotes:

Paranoid optimism really works

July 4, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

How often does management presents strategic plans, cost & revenues estimates, budgets, investments and scenarios which seem to be not feasible, because the basic assumptions are wrong? How often do we fool ourselves with “spreadsheet management”?

Free Floating Strategy is the management of fear

May 21, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

The upcoming week European citizens have the opportunity to elect the next ‘bunch of nonos’ in the European Parliament. Around 750 heavely overpaid politicians. Ask yourself what the Europeans got from them in exchange. Are you able to list 10 examples of their achievements? From our strategic intelligence perspectives we foresee crucial economic issues Europe is facing. We call them ‘The Gray Rhinos’. Gray Rhinos are threats already at the horizon, however, we don’t want to see them.

Top management is not prepared for the challenges in the business environment

April 22, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Two/third of top management lacks the competency to manage successfully their companies through the ever changing external business environment. In additon they are not able to inspire and motivate their staff and employees. Over 80% of investors and analysts tell that leadership and vision are “leading” for their future investment strategies. Investors see leadership and vision as far more important than the financial performance during the past three years.

The Four C’s in Breakthrough Strategies

April 3, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

In our Intelligence Briefing “How many SIPs does your organization face?” we explained the SIPs, ‘Strategic Inflection Points’. These SIPs are not easy to spot and you can’t hide from them. There are several strategy models that can be used to identify these SIPs: Strategy under Uncertainty, Strategy as Active Waiting, Where-to-Play & How-to-Win, Porter Five Forces and more. We need this kind of strategic models to understand the competitive arenas and to get access how you can best deploy your resources and competencies there.

How many SIPs does your organization face?

March 11, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Strategic Invention Points, SIPs, are an creation of former CEO and Founder of Intel’s Andrew Grove. SIPs are not always easy to spot, but you can’t hide from them. Intel’s first SIP was when the Japanese started producing better-quality, low-cost memory chips. It took Intel three years and huge losses to recognize, to rethink and to reposition the company to become, once again, leader in its field.

Is your company doing its “Corporate Fitness”?

February 18, 2019

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

CEO Jim Hackett found himself in a wave pattern during the last decades: shrinking the company during recessions, then growing it, then shrinking it, then growing it. That’s not healthy. The business environment changes continuous, so Ford has to perform better than in 2018 and in 2020 better than in 2019. It’s extremely dynamic. It’s not enough to look at market share, profits, earnings per share versus those of other car manufacturers that count. What if Amazon starts to sell cars/car parts? You probably don’t lose to the standard competitors, but it’s the mutation coming at you that matters. Being competitive is about a lot of drivers and being ahead of the game is all about Corporate Fitness, according to Jim Hackett, CEO of Ford Motor Company.