There are plenty of books about business strategy, but not many that focus on identifying and implementing strategies for renewal in the mature phase of the lifecycle of a business, according to Leo Hopf and William Welter in their book Rethink Reinvent Reposition: 12 Strategies to Renew Your Business and Boost Your Bottom Line. “Rethinking” involves contemplating changing the current business model; “Reinventing” involves creating a new business model; and “Repositioning” involves transitioning from the old model to the new one.

The book describes the authors’ twelve strategies for organisational renewal, and then goes on to give advice on developing a short list of renewal candidates, obtaining commitment to the renewal process, structuring the reinvention phase, choosing the best renewal alternative, making the transition to the new business model, avoiding traps along the way, and building renewal capabilities into future leaders.

Much of the advice which the book gives and many of the strategies proposed will already be quite familiar to those who have read other business strategy books. Perhaps the authors’ particular combination of strategies is unique, but the real strength of the book lies in the clarity and simplicity with which the strategic process is described, rather than in the novelty of the ideas proposed. I would recommend this book to anyone whose organisation needs a strategic boost to counter declining levels of success.

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Friday, 25 June 2010

Rethink Reinvent Reposition, by former colleague Leo Hopf and William Welter is a great new book aimed at people looking at where to go next with a mature business: into decline, or onward and upward with renewal.

It avoids mathematics and analytics but is an excellent description of the decision analysis process applied to a difficult problem. The process of renewal is a complex one involving not just the brainstorming and analysis of opportunities, but also working with the emotions of all the people involved, inside and outside the organisation, and often deeply ingrained culture. Hopf and Welter offer 12 templates for strategic choices to start one thinking and then go on to provide an outline of the steps to make and embed the decisions whether and how to renew the business, and to start the process of making it happen.

The book is highly practical, with lots of list of things to do and think about, and traps to avoid. It also has lots of case studies stretching back over a century. The only slight drawback is that not all the case studies are listed in the index, so I am going to have to reread the book (probably not a bad thing) and take notes. I’d like to be able to quote some of the examples in my own work with clients.

In these difficult economic times, where maybe it’s not decline but survival that is at stake, following the advice in this book can be a business lifesaver.

See also:

• The book’s website: http://RethinkReinventReposition.com/
• The Institute for Management Studies who has named the volume its Book of the Month for July 2010.

Many business books offer a few ideas, and then fill the remaining pages with repetitive descriptions. Not this book. It is packed with practical, step-by-step advice to help leaders work through the complex and often painful process of making profound changes in their organizations. In addition to the 12 strategies promised in the title, the book provides a model for analysis, decision-making and implementation. It illustrates these points through succinct, real-world case studies.

To pack this much information into one book, (clearly) the authors had to keep explanations brief. For this reason, casual readers may miss some simple, yet profound pieces of advice (on its own, the 5-page section “Ensuring Effective Dialogue Between Decision Makers and the Working Team” would create profound organizational change). To gain best value, I recommend readers stop frequently to review key points and consider how they would apply the advice in their organizations. There is a wealth of information here – a few extra minutes of reflection will reap significant rewards.

All businesses age.  But decline is not inevitable. If your business can successfully reinvent itself, it may be destined not just for a new lease on life but to transform your industry

Leo Hopf and Bill Welter’s new book “Rethink, Reinvent, Reposition: 12 Strategies to Renew Your Business and Boost Your Bottom Line” presents a simple yet effective framework for renewal in today’s business environment.  It describes the process and tools with which leadership teams at all levels can renew their businesses and watch growth and margins soar.

This book presents twelve proven solutions for business renewal with multiple business examples of each. Among these are:

• Catch the New Wave:  Shift your current business to the next hot thing (i.e., the wii controller in video games)
• Make a Time Shift:  Do business during a new or different part of the day to reach different customers (i.e., Chex party mix creates demand for breakfast cereal in the evenings)
• Shift to the Sweet Spot:  Look at the value chain and develop offerings in the most attractive parts of the chain (i.e., Qualcomm moving from commodity contract research into developing its own patents to control cell phone CDMA technology)
• Cash Out and Double Down:  Sell some of your business units so you can focus on the one or more that has the most promise of success (i.e., Eli Lilly selling its Guidant medical device company to fund its core pharmaceutical business)

Hopf and Welter include a renewal diagnostic for identifying which parts of your business need to be renewed and which do not.  And they show you how to build renewal and transformation capabilities in your next generation of leaders.

He has led hundreds of strategy sessions with CEOs, leadership teams, and boards of directors.  He designed the decision making and strategic planning processes for five of the Fortune 100 largest companies.  He has facilitated sessions with dozens of CEOs on behalf of two different industry associations.  Mr. Hopf also works to build strategic bench strength in the next generation of leaders.

Mr. Hopf has worked in numerous business sectors: medical devices, health care, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking, insurance, real estate, food manufacture, retail groceries, office products distribution, high-tech materials, remote sensing, travel, upstream and downstream oil & gas, pulp and paper, chemicals, mining, engineering and construction, and building products.  He has led major consulting engagements in Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Kuwait.

Each year he lectures on decision making at Stanford University in their graduate Management Science and Engineering department.  He also teaches strategy and business renewal at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business where he is a Fellow of Executive Education.

Before founding Teamhopf he was a Managing Director for Strategic Decisions Group, and served on their Executive Committee.  He is an angel investor and has advised and invested in dozens of startups.  He was formerly a member of the Band of Angels in Silicon Valley.

Mr. Hopf earned a Masters of Business Administration degree with highest distinction from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and has B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.  He received the Walter Jacobs Prize for inspiring confidence and enthusiasm amongst his peers while at the Tuck School.

Being prepared for the future served as the platform for his first book, The Prepared Mind of a Leader: Eight Skills Leaders Use to Innovate, Make Decisions, and Solve Problems (published by Jossey-Bass in 2006). The book presents an original and proven method that will engender new approaches to business innovation, strategy, change, and problem solving. Drawing upon his more than 40 years of experience working with high level managers and directors at major companies and professional service firms, Welter’s book includes tested exercises in each of this eight skill areas, case examples, sidebar anecdotes, and mini-tests that challenge the reader to practice and fine-tune their leadership skills and approaches.

Since then, Bill has published a small workbook, MindLab: a Place to Think, with a month’s worth of exercise to improve thinking. His third book, written with Leo Hopf, is titled Rethink, Reinvent, Reposition: 12 Strategies to Renew Your Business and Boost Your Profits and will be published by Adams Media in 2010.

Bill received a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an M.B.A. degree from DePaul University. He is a Fellow in Executive Education at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. Mr. Welter has worked for such companies as Stewart Warner, UARCO, Ernst & Whinney, Austin Consulting, Ernst & Young, DePaul University, Strategic Management Group, and Adaptive Strategies, Inc. as an engineer, consultant, and professional education trainer. He also served as an adjunct lecturer at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University, for five years.

His consulting experience has ranged from leading the design of a manufacturing operation for a major aerospace company to facilitating a global manufacturing strategy for a large pharmaceutical company to counseling decision makers in long-term strategic planning. Mr. Welter also is a frequent speaker on leadership and management topics at workshops, organization summits, and retreats for businesses in domestic and global location.

Like the other two steps, Reposition includes three pieces: Schedule; Secure; and Switch. Schedule lays out the tasks that need to happen in order to execute the transition to the new strategy. This piece defines milestones with associated due dates, accountabilities, authorities, and responsibilities. It also specifies the sequencing, and the interrelationships between tasks.

Secure ensures resources are allocated and that the right people have their time committed to successfully execute the strategy.

Switch makes the transition defines from the old business model to the new. And in particular, this is where you manage the period when both the legacy and the new business models are in existence. The legacy business will be wound down while the new business will be ramped up. Clearly guiding this switch is critical for successfully executing your renewal strategy.

How will this decision be made? Who will make it? How will you avoid watering down the decision when trying to bring everyone on board? You must answer these questions before you can choose your renewal path.

Making this choice requires evaluating your alternatives on many dimensions. Think of it as a balanced scorecard approach. Certainly you will need financial risk and return. But there are many other attributes you might also consider. What will it do for your strategic positioning against competitors? How will it affect your relationship with your customers? What are the short- and long-term implications of each alternative?