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Home » Managing across the economic cycle

Managing across the economic cycle

By    J. Michael  Marks 
September 10, 2001
More about:  Management/Strategy
Executive summary: With most distribution channels in a storm of change right now, managers naturally brace themselves, batten down the hatches, and react defensively with cost-saving measures and day-to-day operational controls. This article is about the direction of the tide instead of the size of the waves: Executives need to manage the longer-term cycle by reacting early and offensively to gain true competitive advantage.

Distribution is normally all about managing the size of the waves. A core competence in distribution is doing staggering amounts of detail-oriented, mind-numbing transaction work exceptionally well. Distribution is relatively easy to describe, yet very hard to do well. Waves are managed hundreds of times each and every day.

Tides are very ...
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Executive summary: With most distribution channels in a storm of change right now, managers naturally brace themselves, batten down the hatches, and react defensively with cost-saving measures and day-to-day operational controls. This article is about the direction of the tide instead of the size of the waves: Executives need to manage the longer-term cycle by reacting early and offensively to gain true competitive advantage.

Distribution is normally all about managing the size of the waves. A core competence in distribution is doing staggering amounts of detail-oriented, mind-numbing transaction work exceptionally well. Distribution is relatively easy to describe, yet very hard to do well. Waves are managed hundreds of times each and every day.

Tides are very ...


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