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O P I N I O N
The mighty can (and do) fall
Undisciplined growth, poor people focus, low financial performance, and a weak capital structure can sink a firm – even big ones with brand names.
I ’ve been working with several colleagues for the past four years on a study of the performance of companies in our industry using the ENR Top 500 as a primary data set. We sought to explore why some sustain success over many decades while far too many struggle and even become extinct, as exemplified through the sale of long- standing, high-reputation companies.
Gerry Salontai GUEST SPEAKER
During this four-year period, we analyzed about a half million data points looking for numerical trend information, and interviewed some 100- plus C-level executives. We discovered a handful of key success factors for long-term company sustainability and more than a dozen success drivers. Whether a firm succeeds or fails, our study found that everything revolves around strategy, a focus on people, and healthy internal fundamentals. My last column, “Better is Better,” was an overview of the success factors and drivers we found in our research. This current article, however, presents those critical factors that seem to have caused companies to struggle,
decline, and, in some cases, go extinct. The key fundamentals that cause decline include: 1)Muddled strategy. Companies get enamored and then strung-out on the “heroin” of growth for growth’s sake. They move away from their strategic roadmap and fall prey to the temptation to chase shiny objects – opportunities that are hot but arrive too late in a firm’s maturity cycle. They place more emphasis on growth instead of a balanced strategy that includes internal opportunities to create a new standard of performance, one that strengthens the company from where it is today. The leaders of these companies want to grow so badly they make big bets that place asymmetrical risks on the company and accelerate their path to decline.
See GERRY SALONTAI, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 11, 2019, ISSUE 1283
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