Big Winners and Big Losers by Alfred Marcus
Why do some firms win for long periods of time while other firms lose for long periods of time?
In an interview with the Minnesota Daily in November 16, 2005, Dr. Marcus said, “I wanted to think through one of the most basic questions of strategy, which is: Why do some firms win for long periods of time while other firms lose for long periods of time? I also was aware of, and read on occasion, a lot of the popular business books. On the one hand, the academic literature was not answering the question very well, and on the other hand, you had a lot of top business books that claimed to answer the question. And I thought they were very superficial and they were giving contrary advice. If I just was a little bit more rigorous, I would raise the standards.”
He systematically reviewed detailed performance metrics for the 1,000 largest U.S. corporations, identifying 3% who’ve consistently outperform their industry’s averages for a full decade. Many of these firms get little publicity: firms like Amphenol, Ball, Family Dollar, Brown and Brown, Activision, Dreyer’s, Forest Labs, and Fiserv. These companies have discovered patterns of success that have largely gone unnoticed elsewhere.
Marcus also identified patterns associated with consistently inferior performance: patterns reflected in many of the world’s most well-known companies. You’ll learn how consistent winners build the strategies that drive their success; how they move towards market spaces offering superior opportunity; and how they successfully manage the tensions between agility, discipline, and focus.
About Alfred Marcus
Alfred Marcus teaches and conducts research in strategic management, macroeconomics, business ethics, and business and the natural environment. He has been chair of the Carlson School’s Strategic Management and Organization Department, Director of the Carlson School’s Strategic Management Research Center, and a Visiting Professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and at the Norwegian School of Management.
