Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?

David J. Collis; Michael G. Rukstad

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Article | Harvard Business Review | April 2008

Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?

by David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad

Keywords: Strategy;

Format: Print

Find at Harvard

Citation:

Collis, David J., and Michael G. Rukstad. "Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?" Harvard Business Review 86, no. 4 (April 2008). (50th Anniversary McKinsey Award Winner for Best Article in Harvard Business Review, 2009.)

About the Author

David J. Collis

Adjunct Professor

Strategy

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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised January 2020)

Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com

David Collis, Andy Wu, Rembrand Koning and Huaiyi CiCi Sun

This case explores how Walmart should compete with Amazon.

Keywords: strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry;

Citation:
Collis, David, Andy Wu, Rembrand Koning, and Huaiyi CiCi Sun. "Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com." Harvard Business School Case 718-481, January 2018. (Revised January 2020.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019 (Revised October 2019)

The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution

David J. Collis

case describes the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Co. and the subsequent launch by DIsney of three streaming channels to compete with Netflix..

Keywords: corporate strategy; mergers and acquisitions; Disney; Corporate Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Media and Broadcasting Industry;

Citation:
Collis, David J. "The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution." Harvard Business School Case 719-445, January 2019. (Revised October 2019.) View Details

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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities

David J. Collis and Bharat Anand

The concept of dynamic capabilities draws its theoretical basis from two classic traditions within the strategy field—the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) (Wernerfelt, 1984) and market positioning (Porter, 1996). A dynamic capability qualifies as a source of sustained heterogeneous firm performance within the RBV framework because it arises from embedded organizational routines that accumulate in a path dependent process—the “stock” explanation of durable advantage (Barney, 1991). Because such a dynamic capability allows a firm to continually reposition itself in product market space, it satisfies the “flow” explanation of current competitive advantage by ensuring that the firm always maintains a wider gap between willingness to pay and cost than competitors (Brandenburger and Stuart, 1996). Indeed, dynamic capabilities seem to give rise to the enviable ability to “always have a competitive advantage in an attractive industry” and so continually deliver superior financial performance regardless of external circumstances.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities; Business Ventures; Performance; Competitive Advantage;

Citation:
Collis, David J., and Bharat Anand. "The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-029, September 2019. View Details

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Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?

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