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260 The Thirty…Day MBA
Andrews University in the United States has a free set of lecture notes
explaining the subject of sample size prehensively （andrews。
edu/~calkins/math/webtexts/prod12。htm）。 At （auditnet/docs/
statsamp。xls） you can find some great Excel spreadsheets that do the boring
maths of calculating sample size and accuracy for you。 ResearchInfo
（researchinfo/docs/websurveys/index。cfm） gives the basics of
writing a program in order for you to use your own questionnaire on the
internet。
Strategy
。 Devising strategies
。 Differentiation； cost leadership； focus
。 First to market； first to fail
。 Tools and techniques for shaping strategy
。 Implementing business plans
Joseph Lampel； Professor of Strategy at Cass Business School and author
of Strategy Bites Back （Financial Times Prentice Hall； 2005）； tells the story of
when he received an urgent request from one of his MBA students： ‘Could
I please provide a clear and easy…to…use definition of strategy？’ ‘My career’；
wrote the student； ‘may depend on it’； and ‘besides I would like to start
the course with a be。。er idea of what I am supposed to be looking out for。’
Lampel goes on to explain that he was less surprised by the request than
by the fact that it came before the course had even begun。 He was used to
being approached at the end of the course by students confessing that they
still did not know exactly what strategy is。
Strategy； though a core subject in every business school； is less an academic
discipline than an ever…shi。。ing appraisal of how an organization
should position itself to best meet the challenges it faces。 Rather like
the quote a。。ributed to one Governor of the Bank of England who said
that the true meaning of Christmas would not be apparent until Easter；
when it es to estimating retail sales； successful strategies are really
only recognizable a。。er the event。 The case below gives a flavour of the
dimensions of how strategy is shaped： part marketing； part money； part
people； part culture； and mostly an appreciation of an ever…shi。。ing and
developing world。
Strategy has three dimensions： the intellectual analytical and thinking
aspect used to devise broad strategic direction； the development and shaping
of specific actions in pursuit of those strategies； and the implementation of
strategy through the execution of business plans。 If an organization gets it
12
262 The Thirty…Day MBA
Michael Dell； gazing around his empire in 2008； had plenty to be pleased
about。 He had e a long way since founding his business from his
dorm at the University of Texas nearly quarter of a century earlier； aged
just 19。 He had turned his 1；000 initial stake into a business generating
over 60 billion a year in revenues making nearly 16 per cent of PCs
sold globally。 It was only in 1980 that he had acquired his first puter；
the Apple II； and on founding his pany； PC Limited； had as his goal
to beat IBM。 His first product； The Turbo PC； was supported by a noquibble
returns policy and a unique home support service。 The IPO in
1988 valued his 1；000 business； founded four years earlier； at 85 million。
From the outset Dell had three golden rules： disdain inventory； always
listen to the customer and cut out middlemen。
An internet pioneer； the pany launched a static online ordering
page in 1994； and by 1997 Dell claimed to be the first pany to
record a million dollars in online sales。
Dell； since its early beginnings； has focused on fundamentally different
strategies from its petitors。 Unlike Apple； it has never tried to
design sexy devices or to build a global network of retail outlets。 Dell’s
strategy was to create the leanest possible supply chain direct to the
end user while allowing them to choose the features they wanted。 It
extended that successful strategy across to related products such as
servers； printers and storage devices to build a business shipping 140；000
systems a day worldwide – more than one every second – ranking 34
in the Fortune 500 listing of panies and one of the world’s leading
brands。
But just as Dell looked to be in an unchallengeable position the
pany lost its position as the world’s biggest maker of personal
puters to Hewlett…Packard （HP）； a pany founded back in 1939
in a Palo Alto garage。 No stranger to setbacks； HP had seen that growth
in the PC world had crossed from corporate markets to consumers and
from developed economies to emerging markets where people had
less access to the internet and were both more wary and less able to
shop online。 In addition； the petition was hotting up on a new front
brought about by past success and galloping innovation； with auction
sites like eBay and uBid enjoying flourishing growth rates in PC sales。 Dell
saw that it had to develop new strategies for the new environment。 As
well as beefing up its website and launching ‘IdeaStorm’； a blog that
has already pulled in 9；000 customer suggestions for improvements；
the pany’s products are now in 10；000 outlets worldwide。 It has set
up a bulk supply chain alongside its lean customized one and started
to design products to hanker after rather than just highly specified
black boxes。 Dell has also bought up several firms in the IT systems
management sector as it sees the shift from product… to service…driven
growth as an important factor in the future of its business sector。 Dell has
had to cut 3 billion of expenses； lay off 8；800 employees and change
the mindset of its engineers and designers to reposition it to execute its
new strategy。
Strategy 263
wrong in any of these areas the results it is aiming for may not be achieved；
it may fall behind others in the market or in the worst case fail altogether。
Ge。。ing all three areas right can be more of an art than a science； rather like
a short…sighted person trying to thread several needles； held in parallel by
different people； in one swi。。 movement。
DEVISING STRATEGY – THE OVERVIEW
Credit for devising the most succinct and usable way to get a handle on
the big picture has to be given to M