The shadow of the tsunami – Strategy Letter 49

Our Strategy Letters are published every 2 months. They focus on BearingPoint’s convictions about operational strategy issues, ranging all the way from the position of Purchasing directors in companies to how to best face decline in key markets. The tone is meant to be pleasant and the content innovative.

It seems a long time ago when CEOs were laid back, at the helm of their business on a calm sea, with growth assured and competition confined within national frontiers. Today the wind has freshened, the sea is rougher and the markets are huge but far away and unpredictable. Sometimes even, a financial tsunami brews and ravages the coasts of the real economy, sweeping away firmly established certainties and prejudices. These days the CEO therefore needs to command much more technical skills combined with impeccable governance.

The modern CEO still has to be fundamentally a strategist, a visionary and a leader of men. But two new qualities are needed: quicker decision making and faultless integration between pure strategy and implementation. Only by emulating a sailor can a highly talented professional manager take up the challenge.