p.3 It is important, before setting out to tackle the issues of strategy
dynamics, to give some clarity to the critical questions...
- Why has the historical performance of my business followed
the time-path that it has?
- Where will the path of future performance take us if we carry
on as we are?
- How can we alter that future for the better?
p.31 Having defined resources properly and put reliable measurements on each,
it is now possible to quantify how they develop over time.
p.62 reinforcing processes can be a pattern of exponential growth that can
continue until other constraints intervene.
p.83 Although there are many cases where one resource is limited by constraints
caused by others, it is also possible, indeed common, for the growth of a single resource to constrain itself.
p.89 It is now possible to combine the components from the first five chapters
to assemble a picture of the firm's strategic architecture that can be used to seek performance-enhancing opportunities.
p.89-90 The firm (or other enterprise) is an intrinsically dynamic resource
system, whose performance depends on the mutual reinforcement and balance between its component resources and asset stocks
in its environment.
The portrayal of the structure and relationships by which all these parts
are connected generates the "strategic architecture" of the enterprise.
p.91 A seven-step process for capturing the Strategic Architecture
p.92 Step 1. Identify the time-path of performance... pick indicators that
relate to something concrete about the business... select a time horizon that is appropriate to the time-scale of the issue
that concerns you...
Step 2. Identify the few resources at the heart of the business... build a
list of the strategic resources in your business... specify sound measures, both for the resources themselves and for
their rates of change"
p.94 Step 3. Get quantitative - identify the inflows and outflows causing
the core resources to grow, develop, or decline
Working just with the core resources from Step 2, follow chapter 3 to map
out how each resource develops, both in moving from stocks of potential to actual resource and in evolving
from stage to stage. Laying out the picture of how each resource develops clarifies the nature of the flows that
are involved in this development process. These flows are crucial, since they are the only place in the system where
management can have any impact on long-term performance.
p.96-97 Step 4. Identify how flows of each resource depend upon existing levels
of resources and other drivers
Chapters 4 and 5 explained how to capture the interdependence between resources
- the inflows and outflows of each resource ultimately depend upon the current levels of others (and/or of the same resource
itself). Taking each resource in turn, establish which other resources either help or constrain its growth, and add other
factors both within and beyond the firm that affect its growth and decline.
p.99 Price, or some other... benefit, often drives flows of firms or people.
p.100 Finally, focus on how people actually make the decision to "flow" -
do not assume that they behave as you think they should, or according to rational evaluations or standard models.
p.100 Step 5. Combine the resource dependencies from Step 4 into a strategic
architecture of the business...
Step 6. Get quantitative - again - to see how the strategic architecture explains
performance to date and into the future.
p.103 Step 7. Revising policy to uprate performance
The six steps outlined above bring the management team to a point where they
are able to evaluate alternative future strategies. The strategic architecture... highlights the points in the system where
management can intervene.
p.104 The firm's resources at any moment impose fundamental limits
to the scope for performance enhancement and the speed with which this can be accomplished. Any attempt to push beyond
this limit will have the result of creating stresses in the system that will ultimately prevent further improvement or trigger
collapse.
p.106 Task 1. Minimize any "leaks" in the system - resource loss rates that
are higher than they could be
There is little point in seeking to uprate gains in the system
if the organization simply loses them again... Outflows inflict far greater damage on performance than is caused
merely by the loss of customers, staff, or dealers themselves - the effort that went into winning them in the first place
will have been totally wasted, and could have been deployed on other tasks.
p.107 Identify why the leaks in the system are occurring, whether due to inadequacies
among other resources or inappropriate policies.
p.108 Task 2. Identify whether the necessary drivers of resource inflows are
all in place and operating effectively
p.109 Task 3. Identify and eliminate any balancing mechanisms that may be
preventing progress at present, or may do so in [the] future
p.110 Task 4. Ensure reinforcing processes that should be driving growth are
doing so, and seek to add new mechanisms
p.111-112 Task 5. If necessary, use stepwise solutions to remove resource
limits and imbalances... focused actions may be taken to bring a single resource into line with the rest of the system...
It is important to ensure that the rest of the system, into which a new tranche [JLJ - slice or portion] of resource
is added, is capable of absorbing it. It may be necessary to build up complementary resources in advance, or at least start
them on an increasing trajectory so that they become able quickly to cope with the influx.
p.198 In contrast to other strategy approaches, the resource-system view also
clarifies the importance of competitive dynamics in noncommercial cases.
p.235 as noted earlier, a strong team capability should be somewhat
resilient to such losses.
