flevyblog

Flevy Blog is an online business magazine covering Business Strategies, Business Theories, & Business Stories.
MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP STRATEGY, MARKETING, SALES OPERATIONS & SUPPLY CHAIN ORGANIZATION & CHANGE IT/MIS Other

The Crisis in Corporate Strategy (Part 1)

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Growth Strategy (41-slide PowerPoint presentation). The reality is: all businesses face the challenge of achieving sustainable Growth. They need viable Growth Strategies. So, what is Growth Strategy? It is the organization's high-level Corporate Strategy Plan that outlines everything the organization needs to do to achieve its goals for [read more]

Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy's Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.

* * * *

Note from the Editor:  Charles Fiaccabrino is a seasoned executive with 50+ years of sales management experience.   Charles began his career at Hoffmann La Roche on April 1st, 1969 as the first diagnostics sales representative in the newly formed Diagnostics Division and helped grow the organization into a multi-billion dollar enterprise.  During his career at Roche, he became known within the company as “Mr. Roche,” having earned the Presidents Achievement Award an unprecedented 20 times and received written accolades from Roche’s former CEOs, Irwin Lerner and Patrick Zenner, amongst other executives.  We, at Flevy, asked Mr. Fiaccabrino to contribute a series of articles detailing how he helped grow Roche into the Fortune 200 corporation it is today.  You can read his other narratives here.

This is the first narrative of a series titled The Crisis in Corporate Strategy.

* * * *

Sales CrisisIn recent days, an excellent article was written about the crisis in Sales Management. As a former sale manager with a very large prestigious company, the subject is troubling to me because I can remember when it was not a crisis, but quite the opposite. The sales manager was the focal point of the organizational structure with enormous power and prestige with all other elements of the company complimenting and supporting the leadership of the implementation process.

Yes, there was marketing and finance and an excellent marketing research team that played an important role in achieving consistent success, but it was the leadership of the sales manager that focused on “doing the right things.” Recalling those exhilarating times with great pride and purpose, there were National SALES meetings every year with individuals who excelled, honored with the Presidents Achievement Award, a highly coveted level of recognition. The sales manager at every level was highly trained in the candidate selection process, exemplified by the fact that the quality of people assembled gave rise to a corporate culture the likes of which made my former company the standard of the industry. This was supported by a career development department that helped produce some of the finest salespeople in the industry. As a part of this well thought out process was the management assessment center, where manager candidates were evaluated as to who would become the leaders of the future with the sales manager entrusted with the appointment decision. All of this designed to support the Sales Manager’s initiatives. This could not have been achieved without the direction and leadership of the Chief Executive Officer and herein lies the issue. It was through the prism of executive reality that drove the system to greatness. We were a product of their vision and the rest is history.

And so what happened next?

With the good fortune of working with a great organization for over twenty eight years, through a number of political, and economic changes, the one thing that allowed for our survival was the quality of our people. But changes were coming. It has been said that change is a constant, but not all changes are made for the right reasons and the consequences not always considered.

Around twenty or so years ago, consolidation of hospitals and medical centers took place with enormous dollars concentrated in a lesser number of buying structures. This gave rise to a “key account” selling philosophy which some might argue was not so really innovative but on the other hand which in and of itself a necessary strategic approach to gear up to a more “sophisticated” mode of business development selling. But where did this leave the Sales Manager?

Key account “managers” were selected for this purpose and in the process perhaps not by design but due to the financial reality this strategy would create, the question would also arise as to who would manage the process?

Was this the beginning of the crisis in management? Was the Sales Manager unwillingly relinquishing power and purpose?

Clearly, not withstanding the importance of key account strategies, would the role of the sales manager be modified and on a comparative basis become a less dominating influence in the implementation process? And who would lead this new strategic initiative?

Discussion.

The Diagnostics Division was formed in the early seventies and its diagnostics representatives assigned to Roche Laboratories philosophy, structure and culture which is described in the early comments of this narrative. This provided for a solid foundation for future growth of Roche Diagnostics and after a few years, the Diagnostics Division became its own entity, with key personnel from Roche labs becoming the core management structure providing direction and stability of a new division. As I look back in time, the influence of the Roche Labs culture had a very positive effect on my early growth and development and at the same time became a major factor to my success as a manager as well. The early years are depicted to serve as a standard for what was to follow. Crisis in management caused by failure of corporate strategy.

The author developed the Fiaccabrino Selection Process (FSP), a powerful methodology for interviewing and screening the best people for your organization. The objective is to select those people who will be the highest performers with the lowest turnover.  You can download a free primer of the FSP here: https://flevy.com/fiaccabrino-selection-process.

Stay tuned for the next segments, which will further explore the genesis of the problem and more importantly, how to reverse the crisis in management.

EDIT:  The next segment has been published, which you can read here.

186-slide PowerPoint presentation
This presentation is a comprehensive collection of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) related to Corporate Strategy. A KPI is a quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of an organization, employee, or process in meeting objectives for performance. KPIs are typically implemented [read more]

Want to Achieve Excellence in Strategy Development?

Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Strategy Development. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.

"Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu

For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to "Tactical" Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.

These frameworks include Porter's Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner's Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.

Learn about our Strategy Development Best Practice Frameworks here.

Readers of This Article Are Interested in These Resources


271-slide PowerPoint presentation
Unlock Your Revenue Potential with the Complete Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Business Toolkit Are you ready to take your revenue management game to the next level? If you're a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) looking to drive growth, maximize profits, and transform your organization's [read more]


 
25-slide PowerPoint presentation
 
 
91-slide PowerPoint presentation

About Charles Fiaccabrino

Known as "Mr. Roche," Charles Fiaccabrino helped grow Roche Diagnostics from a startup to a multi-billion dollar company. Roche is now a Fortune 200 enterprise with $50B+ in sales. Charles is a seasoned executive of 50+ years who has experience across all topics Sales- and Strategy-related. He also published the Fiaccabrino Selection Process, a powerful methodology for interviewing and screening the "best of the best" sales people.

, , , , , ,





Complimentary Business Training Guides


Many companies develop robust strategies, but struggle with operationalizing their strategies into implementable steps. This presentation from flevy introduces 12 powerful business frameworks spanning both Strategy Development and Strategy Execution. [Learn more]

  This 48-page whitepaper, authored by consultancy Envisioning, provides the frameworks, tools, and insights needed to manage serious Change—under the backdrop of the business lifecycle. These lifecycle stages are each marked by distinct attributes, challenges, and behaviors. [Learn more]

We've developed a very comprehensive collection of Strategy & Transformation PowerPoint templates for you to use in your own business presentations, spanning topics from Growth Strategy to Brand Development to Innovation to Customer Experience to Strategic Management. [Learn more]

  We have compiled a collection of 10 Lean Six Sigma templates (Excel) and Operational Excellence guides (PowerPoint) by a multitude of LSS experts. These tools cover topics including 8 Disciplines (8D), 5 Why's, 7 Wastes, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), and DMAIC. [Learn more]
Recent Articles by Corporate Function

  

  

  

  

  


The Flevy Business Blog (https://flevy.com/blog) is a leading source of information on business strategies, business theories, and business stories. Most of our articles are authored by management consultants and industry executives with over 20 years of experience.

Flevy (https://flevy.com) is the marketplace for business best practices, such as management frameworks, presentation templates, and financial models. Our best practice documents are of the same caliber as those produced by top-tier consulting firms (like McKinsey, Bain, Accenture, BCG, and Deloitte) and used by Fortune 100 organizations. Learn more about Flevy here.


Connect with Flevy:

     
  


About Flevy.com   /   Terms   /   Privacy Policy
© . Flevy LLC. All Rights Reserved.