When a market is growing, and a company is on the front-end of a wave, for the management team, every new quarter brings a new sales record, champagne, caviar, and good times. But when the market turns down, and just treading water feels like drowning, life can be hard. The same is true for a…
Category: Business
General: Strategy – focus on what is most important
This post uses a specific industry, Formula 1 (F1) car racing, as an example of how to articulate strategy; specifically, the critical aspect of strategy dealing with identifying the most important issues, which, once agreed, should remain an ongoing focus of leadership in any enterprise. F1 is an intriguing enterprise to study because many challenges…
Auto: At top speed, reliability counts
When it comes to the best, when it comes to performing under extreme pressure, and the highest speeds, whether we are talking about Internet equipment, auto racing, or professional photography, one constant is true – reliability counts. When the best in the world are putting themselves on the line, then they expect, and need, reliability…
General: The many variables of differentiation
In 1995, I read a book that changed the way I thought about business. The book is now, based on its often repeated principles, a business classic: “The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market” by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema. Back in that part of my career, I was…
General: What is Strategy?
Given the number of trees already killed trying to explain what strategy is, it almost seems pretentious to discuss the subject in a short essay; at the very least ambitious. But here we go…There are a few different contexts in which we can discuss strategy: generically, sports, corporate, and business unit. Generically The word strategy…
General: The Business of Values and the Values of Business
From Adam Smith to Milton Friedman, there has been a narrative that business is the by-product of individuals and corporations, voluntarily exchanging goods, services, and monetary devices of value. Milton Friedman’s classic “Lesson of the Pencil” is a great example of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Gppi-O3a8[1] “Literally thousands of people cooperated to make this pencil. People who don’t…
General: Musky Moats – A moat is a terrible thing to waste, so keep innovating.
When Elon Musk is not dazzling us with tech innovations, and dreams of the future, he is entertaining us with Twitter ‘exchanges’, including the U.S. President (shock!), ro(bots), fellow space entrepreneurs, and most recently, Warren Buffet, one of the most revered investors in American business history, and certainly one of the wealthiest. In one corner,…
General: What is a Business Model? (Part 2)
In the last article, business models were discussed in generalities: What is a Business Model (Part 1) Now if we start to double-click and call out specific elements, perhaps a level above the specifics of systems, process, and culture, we find elements like activities, assets, routes to market, targeted customer segments, revenue streams, etc. An…
General: What is a business model? (Part 1)
Business models are among the hottest topics in business these days. Everyone is disrupting everyone else with a great business model! Business model advantages are claimed, by some, to be a more sustainable advantage than other advantages. But what is a business model? You can find about as many definitions for “business model” as you…
BOHCAY – A portrait of the best
Welcome to BOHCAY! The purpose of this site is to provide insights about different aspects of business, with a focus on, and through the lens of, strategy, business models, and technology. Telling stories of what makes the best, the best.