Stockholm School of Economics

All the Right Moves

A Guide to Crafting Breakthrough Strategy
Constantinos C. Markides

Constantinos Markides contends that the essence of business strategy is to allow a company to create and exploit a unique strategic position in its industry. To do so, the company must make clear and explicit choices based on the answers to three difficult questions: Who should I target as customers? What products or services should I offer them? How should I do this in an efficient way? Any company engaged in strategy making must raise these questions, identify possible answers, and then choose what to do and what not to do. The objective should be to come up with ideas that differentiate the firm from its competitors-and thus stake out a unique strategic position. In All the Right Moves, a highly practical handbook on the fundamentals of strategy, Markides helps managers zero in on the critical choices that lie at the heart of all innovative strategies.

More important, Markides argues that even the best of strategies have a limited life. It is not enough to develop a unique strategic position or to improve the existing one. Companies must continually create and colonize new strategic positions, a difficult if not impossible task for many established firms. Markides explains how to overcome the obstacles to innovation so that even well-established companies can innovate by breaking the rules of the game.

All the Right Moves reveals how creative thinking leads to strategic innovation-the “breakthroughs” that separate winning strategists from also-rans. Markides approaches strategic thinking as a creative process in which examining an issue from a variety of angles often proves more productive than merely gathering data, and experimenting with new ideas can be more effective than conducting much scientific analysis. He poses key questions for readers to ask as he guides them through a step-by-step framework for developing their strategic thinking skills.

In a refreshingly clear and practical approach, All the Right Moves offers concrete advice for thinking through the tough choices that all business strategists must face. It distills the important elements of strategy into an easy-to-follow system for crafting today's-and tomorrow's-breakthrough business strategies.

About author

Constantinos C. Markides is a Professor at the London Business School.

References

"All the Right Moves is must-reading for all executives who are responsible for the strategic direction of their companies. Markides has done a terrific job of presenting a dynamic view of strategy—a view that emphasizes questioning the established rules of the game and that puts innovation and creativity back at the heart of strategy."

Gary Hamel, Founder and Chairman, Strategos, and Co-author of Competing for the Future

"An insightful and tough treatment of the rigors of real strategy. Markides makes the case that strategy is about constant redefinition into fresh positions."

Kathleen Eisenhardt, Professor of Strategy and Organization, Stanford University, and Co-author of Competing on the Edge

"Ideas are most valuable when they are simple. In All the Right Moves, Markides presents a refreshingly simple way to think about strategy and shows how it can be used effectively in practice."

Sumantra Ghoshal, Robert P. Bauman Professor of Strategic Leadership, London Business School

"Markides provides a superb road map for competing in the twenty-first century. In concise and straightforward language, he builds on existing theory and offers a fresh view of the nature of strategic choices. In practical terms, he explains how established firms can discover viable new businesses. An important contribution to strategic thinking."

Peter Jenkins, Partner and Member of the Board, Booz • Allen & Hamilton

"All the Right Moves has all the right stuff: depth, great theory, useful examples, and a clarity that brings new insight to the world of business strategy."

Richard D'Aveni, CEO and Founder, Empire Builders Unlimited, LLC,and Professor of Strategic Management, Amos Tuck School of Business

"Perhaps there was a time when companies could adopt a single strategy, prove its worth, and follow it for many years. But now, even the largest and most successful corporations must constantly reinvent themselves. And the larger and more successful they are, the greater the practical and cultural challenges Involved. All the Right Moves will provide invaluable insight to executives committed to change."

Jonathan Andrew, Group Head of Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank, England