When bad things happen to good companies: strategy failure and flawed executives

To develop a perspective on strategy that builds off of case histories of failure to provide insights on what works and doesn't work in corporate strategies.

Several original case studies are presented, along with a series of analytical points that are suggested from these studies. The case studies are based on both primary (interviews) and secondary data. The paper used these case studies to make several basic points about corporate strategy.

The critical findings relate to how executives misread the competitive landscape, fall into the trap of believing in their own strategy in the absence of confirming evidence, and sometimes engage in desperate decisions to try to remedy fundamental problems that cannot be so easily resolved.

The data in the paper are all based on subjective assessments of the competitive and business arenas firm were engaged in, and hence may subject to a variety of biases.

The paper focuses on how individual executives can use the analysis presented to prevent and/or avoid the same pitfalls companies often succumb to.

The data, approach, and analysis are all original to this paper. It presents a counterweight to the dominant approach in research on strategy that focused solely on best practice by providing examples of how failure can be used as a learning device in organizations. The paper should be of value to practicing executives, as well as researchers interested in corporate mistakes and failures.