Marketing Insights From a to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know

“feeding problems while starving opportunities.”
•
Lack of clear objectives.
Companies often fail to spell out or
prioritize their objectives. 
“If you don’t know where you’re
going, it’s really hard to get there.”
(Viri Mullins, presi-
dent, Armstrong’s Lock & Supply). I have a strong bias to-
ward advising a company to do what is strategically right
rather than what is immediately profitable.
•
Relying on acquisitions.
Companies that build their growth
plans on acquisitions rather than innovation are suspect. Half
of a company’s acquisitions will become tomorrow’s spin-offs.
•
Middle-of-the-road strategy.
What happens to those who have
a middle-of-the-road strategy? They get run over.
•
Believing if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
That is one of the worst
rules of management.