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THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION

BEST OF HBR

1989
Sixteen years ago, when Cary Hamel, then a lecturer at London Business Sehooi, and C.K. Prahalad, a University of Michigan professor, wrote "Strategic lntent,"the article signaled that a major new force had arrived in management. Hamei and Prahalad argue that Western companies focus on trimming their ambitions to match resources and, as a result, search only for advantages they can sustain. By contrast, Japanese corporations leverage resources by accelerating the pace of organizational learning and try to attain seemingly impossible goals. These firms foster the desire to succeed among their employees and maintain it by spreading the vision of global leadership. This is how Canon sought to "beat Xerox"and Komatsu set out to "encircle Caterpillar." This strategic intent usually incorporates stretch targets, which force companies to compete in innovative ways. In this McKinsey Award-winning article, Hamel and Prahalad describe four techniques that Japanese companies use: building layers ofadvantage, searching for "loose bricks," changing the terms of engagement, and competing through collaboration.

Strategic Intent by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad oday managers in many industries

Most leading global companies started with ambitions that were far bigger than their resources and capabilities. But they created an obsession with winning at ail levels ofthe organization and sustained that obsession for decades.

working hard to match the compete advantages of their new global rivals. They are moving manufacturing offshore in search of lower labor costs, rationalizing product lines to capture global scale economies, instituting quality circles and just-in-time production, and adopting Japanese human resource practices. When competitiveness still seems out of reach, they form strategic alliances-often