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Quick! Can you cite three strong reasons why you should rent from only one major car-rental company?
Quick!
Other than schedule convenience, can you give three cogent reasons why you should insist on flying only one major airline?
Quick!
Assuming each of the dominant nationwide hotel chains has a location right near your next business meeting, can you offer three clear-cut reasons why you might choose one particular chain?
Since the early '80s, many executives have been greatly preoccupied with their responsibility to devise "a solid strategy" for their companies. And strategy sessions inevitably focus attention on creating or maintaining a "competitive edge."
This keen interest in gaining a competitive edge has been more than just a point of worry, especially in the first half of the 1980s. Many companies eagerly beefed up corporate strategic planning staffs--which dutifully produced page upon page of documentation, neatly packaged in three-ring binders, detailing the company's strategic direction.
In the last half of the decade, those staffs were trimmed substantially.
The reason for whittling down the planning ranks, some executives confided to me, was not that strategy had become...