Newsletter and book review of How the mighty fall by Jim Collins strategy and management success tips Empire business simulation training

1. IS S UE
2
MA Y
20 11
How
ng
Readi
Time
The
Mighty
Fall?
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Book Review:
How the Mighty Fall.
1&2
Management Success Tips
3
Empire Business Simulation
4
Archer Consulting Cooperation
with FEPS & CEFRS
5

2. BOOK REVIEW
How the Mighty Fall, and Why
Some Companies Never Give in
Jim
Collins,
III (born 1958, Boulder, Colorado) is an American business
consultant, author, and lecturer on the subject of company sustainability and
growth.
He
frequently
contributes
to
Harvard
Business
Review,
Business
Week, Fortune and other magazines, journals, etc. He is also the author of several
books: How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, Built to
Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, and Good to Great.
When you are at the top of the world, the most powerful nation on Earth, the most successful company in your
industry, the best player in your game, your very power and success might cover up the fact that you’re already
on the path to decline. How the mighty fall is a little bit like a staged disease, such as cancer. Unfortunately,
with a disease like cancer you can look good on the outside but be unhealthy on the inside. Early on, symptoms
are hard to detect but when found, they can be treated & the disease cured. In the later stages, the symptoms
are much easier to detect, but it’s much more difficult to cure the cancer. However, there’s one giant difference
between the stages of organizational decline & a disease like cancer. Cancer is not self‐inflicted whereas in our
study of great enterprises that fell, the stages of decline were self‐inflicted.
5 Stages of How the Mighty Fall
Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Success doesn’t necessarily carry the seeds of failure, but hubris (over confidence) born of success does. When
success leads to arrogance, this is the real prototype of falling. Stage 1 kick in when people lose sight of the
true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success (“We’re successful
because we do these specific things”) replaces insight (“We’re successful because we understand why we do
these specific things & under what conditions they would no longer work”), decline will very likely follow.
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Hubris from Stage 1 (“We’re so great, we can do anything!”) leads
right into Stage 2, the Undisciplined Pursuit of More – more growth,
more acclaim, more of whatever those in power see as “success.”
Companies in Stage 2 making undisciplined leaps into areas where
they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with
excellence. When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its
key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall.
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Danger
In this stage, numbers go down, & risks show signs of not paying off. Although
everything looks fine on the outside, there are warning signs internally & you deny
them. The ability to combine faith & facts is key to leading through this stage. When
those in power begin to imperil the enterprise by taking outsized risks and acting in a
way that denies the consequences of those risks, they are headed straight for Stage 4.
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3. Stage 4: Grasping at Salvation
During Stage 4, You’re being pulled down by gravity. You &
everyone else can see it & you no longer can deny it. It is
determined, not in falling, but in how you respond.
When you respond to falling by looking for the next silver
bullet, you may produce an initial energy of hope, but your
solution won’t have staying power. Nothing will increase
people’s faith quicker than false hope dashed by reality over
& over again. Greatness never gets built with a single event,
leader, or program. You keep pushing in a consistent
direction until eventually the flywheel has tons of momentum.
Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death
Seeing that some of the most powerful enterprises ever built
went into Stage 5 should give us tremendous humility. Just
because we haven’t yet fallen “yet” doesn’t mean we will not.
When you reach stage 5, you’ve passed the point of no
return.
The longer a company remains in Stage 4, repeatedly
grasping for silver bullets, the more likely it will spiral
downward. Accumulated setbacks & expensive false starts
erode financial strength & individual spirit to such an extent
that leaders give up all hope of building a great future.
Is There a Way Out?
1. we do ourselves a disservice by studying only success.
We learn more by examining why a great company fell &
comparing it to a company that sustained its success than
we do by merely studying a successful enterprise. Better
to learn from how others fell than to repeat their mistakes
out of ignorance.
2. Second, this could be seen as a work of well-founded
hope. For one thing, with a roadmap of decline in hand,
institutions heading downhill might be able to apply the
brakes early & reverse course. For another, we’ve found
companies that recovered, coming back even stronger!
Never give in.
Be willing to change tactics, but never give up your core
purpose. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, but never give up on the idea
of building a great company.
Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to
temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up faith in the ability to prevail.
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4. Management
Success
Tips
Think GREEN
Operating a green business is not only good for the
environment but good for your business's bottom line
because conserving resources and cutting down on waste
saves money.
Go green by:
Turning off equipment
Encouraging communications by email
Reducing fax-related paper waste
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5. Empire Business
Simulation
One of the main challenges in business life is risk. Either manager takes too much risk thinking that the
positive return will cover the negative challenges, or he is afraid to take risk which will result in a freeze
situation. Taking the right level of risk is a decision which requires talent, knowledge, exposure, and people
skills. Can you imagine that a pilot after taking the theoretical part of flying to jump into an Airbus and to
start to take off claiming that he has the knowledge of flying? Mostly the results will be a crash. That is why
simulations were invented.
The Concept of Simulation is simple, to practice or to simulate real life situation in a safe
environment. You can know, test & practice the analysis, reaction & execution of the person.
In business, training programs & MBA are the main tools for knowledge transfer and to analyze case study to
understand the rational behind decision other people made.
Lately other tools were developed to form the reality check for knowledge acquired and to practice the real
management of organizations. These tools can vary from standards simulation to detailed tailored dynamic
simulation. In business there are many simulation types such as, computer-based, board-based and online.
Each of these has advantage and disadvantage and different scope. Archer provides different kinds of skills of
simulation such as: Empire, Retail Rush, Leisure Time and Tailored Simulation
Empire
is a computer-based business simulation that allows the participants to practice
strategic and business decision/analysis and their effects on performance. Empire passes
through the following process: Analyze, Decide, Plan then Execute.
Key Benefits
During the simulation, participants will be exposed to many critical issues in managing
a successful business, among these issues are:
Business Vision and Strategy
Management Control
Decision Making
Competitor Analysis
Performance Assessment
Forecasting and Planning
Financial Analysis and Statements
Marketing and Market Research
The Impact of Borrowing
Sales Force Management
Stock, Research and Advertising
Business Ethics
In order to overcome these challenges, skills will be needed and applied exactly as real life
situations, such as: leadership, teamwork, time management, decision making, communication,
culture understanding and analytical skills.
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6. Archer Consulting in co-operation with Faculty of Economics and Political
Science (FEPS) and Center for Economic and Financial Research and Studies
(CEFRS) agreed to work jointly on different projects to improve investment
awareness and fighting business corruption.
FEPS, CEFRS and Archer Consulting will work on the following initiatives:
1. A Transparent Economy: An initiative financed by Siemens to educate and create public
awareness about fighting insider traders in the stock market, and transparency from the listed
companies and required level of Corporate Governess.
2. The Investment Analyst: Develop an Investment program targeting investment and financial
analysts covering company valuation, investment and portfolio management and corporate
finance.
3. The Stock Market Analysis Diploma: A two years diploma, covering all aspects of stock
market, investment management, corporate finance and sourcing of finance.
4. The Feasibility study & Project Evaluation Diploma:
A two years diploma, covering basic
process of feasibility study, project evaluation and feasibility methodology and approach.
5. The Internship Program: Selected students will be given internship to work at Archer
Consulting during the summer.
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Archer Contacts
11 Mohamed Abou Salem St., Almaza, Cairo, Egypt.
Tel.: +202 2290 1827
Fax: +202 2424 2215
Mob.: +2012 8 95 95 95
E-mail: Info@ArcherEgypt.com
www.ArcherEgypt.com