What I Didn't Learn in Business School by Jay Barney Paper
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69016
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69016
What I Didn’t Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World
A Book Report
By: Kaitlin Bauer
What I Didn’t Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World
A Book Report
By: Kaitlin Bauer
08
Fall
08
Fall
1. What lessons do you learn from Justin’s experience in terms of the limits of some of the core strategy frameworks you learned in theory (examine for example, Michael Porter’s Five Forces and the challenges Justice faced in applying it, value chain analysis, the Resource Based View)
Some of the concepts/models that are applied to strategic problems vary in meaning depending on the setting one is in whether it be in the actual real world or in the classroom. These concepts applied like the five forces framework or present value analysis are just “tools” and its up to the individual to determine how it should be used. As senior director, Ken McCombs states, “You can use a hammer exactly the way it’s designed to be used, but instead of building something beautiful or durable, you can build a pile of junk. It’s not the tool, it’s how the tool is used; it’s the skills, interests, and motives of the person using the tool that determine whether the outcome of an analysis is reasonable.” (Barney 53). Basically, these “tools” have to be applied appropriately in order to identify and develop an effective final strategy/overall result. An example of this would be in regards to the concept of core competency. In business strategy courses, this term is used in so many different ways, its actual meaning gets lost. Justin has a difficult time throughout the book adapting his understanding of business concepts to their real-world application. In a way, he looks more into situations as if he were “cracking the case” opposed to figuring out real world situations. This seemed to be a theme of the book that Justin uncovers as he continues on his journey with HBS. According to Justin, the more valuable, rare, and
69016
MG
69016
What I Didn’t Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World
A Book Report
By: Kaitlin Bauer
What I Didn’t Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World
A Book Report
By: Kaitlin Bauer
08
Fall
08
Fall
1. What lessons do you learn from Justin’s experience in terms of the limits of some of the core strategy frameworks you learned in theory (examine for example, Michael Porter’s Five Forces and the challenges Justice faced in applying it, value chain analysis, the Resource Based View)
Some of the concepts/models that are applied to strategic problems vary in meaning depending on the setting one is in whether it be in the actual real world or in the classroom. These concepts applied like the five forces framework or present value analysis are just “tools” and its up to the individual to determine how it should be used. As senior director, Ken McCombs states, “You can use a hammer exactly the way it’s designed to be used, but instead of building something beautiful or durable, you can build a pile of junk. It’s not the tool, it’s how the tool is used; it’s the skills, interests, and motives of the person using the tool that determine whether the outcome of an analysis is reasonable.” (Barney 53). Basically, these “tools” have to be applied appropriately in order to identify and develop an effective final strategy/overall result. An example of this would be in regards to the concept of core competency. In business strategy courses, this term is used in so many different ways, its actual meaning gets lost. Justin has a difficult time throughout the book adapting his understanding of business concepts to their real-world application. In a way, he looks more into situations as if he were “cracking the case” opposed to figuring out real world situations. This seemed to be a theme of the book that Justin uncovers as he continues on his journey with HBS. According to Justin, the more valuable, rare, and
Cited: Barney, Jay B., and Trish Gorman. Clifford. What I Didn 't Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World. Boston: Harvard Business Review, 2010. Print.