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

Purpose – 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.Design/methodology/approach – 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.Findings – 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.Research limitations/implications – 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.Practical implications – The...