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	<title>Don Sull's Blog</title>
	
	<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog</link>
	<description>Leading in turbulent times - Don Sull's blog for the FT</description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:17:24 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Stalling in reverse: Resource allocation and delayed exit</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/09/stalling-in-reverse-resource-allocation-and-delayed-exit/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/09/stalling-in-reverse-resource-allocation-and-delayed-exit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:17:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Why good companies go bad]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[portfolio agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[value creation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Clay Christensen]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[disinvestment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[divestment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[escalating commitment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[escalating commitment to a failed course of action]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[exit]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Joe Bower]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Bower]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[resource allocation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[resource allocation processes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=9486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In turbulent markets, firms must disinvest from under-performing units to free resources necessary to exploit new opportunities. Most firms are better at getting into new things than getting out of established ones. In a recent survey, respondents cited their firm&#8217;s lack of a &#8220;well-defined processes to exit declining businesses and kill unsuccessful initiatives&#8221; as the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Slow exit: Delayed disinvestment and value destruction</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/06/slow-exit-delayed-disinvestment-and-value-destruction/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/06/slow-exit-delayed-disinvestment-and-value-destruction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:32:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[portfolio agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[value creation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[delay]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[disinvestment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[divestment]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[exit]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[plant closure]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Thomson Corporation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[tire industry]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[value destruction]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=9421</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my last post, I argued that turbulent markets demand portfolio agility&#8211;an organization&#8217;s capacity to reallocate cash, people, and other resources from stagnant or declining businesses into promising opportunities, and do so in a timely manner. Effective portfolio agility consists of both investment and disinvestment. Unfortunately, most companies are better at getting into new businesses [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/06/slow-exit-delayed-disinvestment-and-value-destruction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Five requirements for portfolio agility</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/03/five-requirements-for-portfolio-agility/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/02/03/five-requirements-for-portfolio-agility/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[portfolio agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[talent]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[diversification]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[GE]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[General Electric]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[HSBC]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mars]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mars Masterfood]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[P&amp;G]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Procter &amp; Gamble]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[resource allocation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Samsung Electronics]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Tata Group]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=6366</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I ask executives to list examples of agile companies, they often mention firms such as Tesco, Southwest Airline, or Wal-Mart, which excel at operational agility&#8211;the ability to seize opportunities within a focused business model. Operational agility is important, but it is not the only way that firms can exploit changes in their environment. Diversified [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rethinking the “diversification discount”</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/30/rethinking-the-diversification-discount/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/30/rethinking-the-diversification-discount/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:07:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[portfolio agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[value creation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Carlyle]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Carlyle Group]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[corporate diversification]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[corporate focus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[diversification]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[diversification discount]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[focus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[growth]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[J&amp;J]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Johnson &amp; Johnson]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[KKR]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[LBOs]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[leveraged buyouts]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[McKinsey]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[McKinsey &amp; Company]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[revenue growth]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[sales growth]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Samsung]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Tata]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[TPG]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=8976</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Academics, managers, and investors agree with near unanimity that corporate diversification destroys value. In their best-seller, In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman argued managers should &#8220;stick to the knitting&#8221; by focusing on the business they know best. Their argument presaged a series of management articles and books using different terms&#8211;including &#8220;core competency,&#8221; [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Operational agility at Toyota</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/27/operational-agility-at-toyota/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/27/operational-agility-at-toyota/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:35:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[creating value in a downturn]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[execution]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[performance culture]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[talent]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[value creation]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[information systems]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[operational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[opportunities]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Reckitt Benckiser]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Toyota]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[values]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=8731</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most managers (90% according to two recent surveys) agree that agility is important to succeed in turbulent markets. There is less agreement on precisely what agility is. My research on companies competing in turbulent markets reveals three distinct types of agility: operational, portfolio, and strategic. Operational agility is a company&#8217;s capacity, within a focused business [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/27/operational-agility-at-toyota/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Strategic agility: The early Jesuits</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/25/strategic-agility-the-early-jesuits/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/25/strategic-agility-the-early-jesuits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:48:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=8241</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Counter-Reformation bred a host of new religious orders, but within a few decades the Jesuits rose above the others newly-formed religious orders in terms of size, global spread, and influence. My last post described how the Jesuits attracted talented priests and allocated them to the most promising opportunities, and the post before that introduced [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/25/strategic-agility-the-early-jesuits/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Agility through people: Five lessons from the early Jesuits</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/22/agility-through-people-five-lessons-from-the-early-jesuits/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/22/agility-through-people-five-lessons-from-the-early-jesuits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:25:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[emerging markets]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[performance culture]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[talent]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[accounting firms]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[asset management]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[HR]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[HR policy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[human resources]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[investment banks]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[jesuits]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[law firms]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[professional service firms]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[society of jesus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[talent development]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[talent management]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=8081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first Jesuits, as portrayed by Professor John W. O&#8217;Malley, S.J. in his book of the same name, excelled at seizing unexpected opportunities to fulfill their mission of saving souls. In its first two decades, the Society of Jesus spread throughout Europe, and expanded into Brazil, India, Ethiopia, and Japan, grew from nine founders to [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Organizational agility and the Jesuits</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/18/organizational-agility-and-the-jesuits/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/18/organizational-agility-and-the-jesuits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:56:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[emerging markets]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[jesuits]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[society of jesus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=8031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few years ago, over lunch in an Indian restaurant near Harvard Square, I learned that one of the best examples of organizational agility was founded in 1540 through a papal bull issued by Pope Paul III. My lunch companion was Father John W. O&#8217;Malley, a leading historian of the Renaissance church, member of the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Five things we know about organizational agility</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/15/five-things-we-know-about-organizational-agility/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/15/five-things-we-know-about-organizational-agility/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[RUSH data]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[execution]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[organizational agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[performance culture]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[turbulence]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[benefits of agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Economist Intelligence Unit]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[EIU]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[IT]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[McKinsey Quarterly]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[obstacles to agility]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[survey]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=7916</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My last post presented findings from a survey on organizational agility that I conducted with McKinsey Quarterly. This post explores findings from two earlier surveys on agility.  In June 2006, McKinsey Quarterly conducted a survey, collecting responses from 1,562 executives from public and private companies across a range of industries. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Obstacles to agility: Results of McKinsey Quarterly survey</title>
		<link>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/12/obstacles-to-agility-results-of-mckinsey-quarterly-survey/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/2010/01/12/obstacles-to-agility-results-of-mckinsey-quarterly-survey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:28:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Sull</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.ft.com/donsullblog/?p=7776</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently published a McKinsey Quartlerly article and video interview on how organizations navigate turbulent markets. The article, in a nutshell, argued that organizations can be agile in three distinct ways: Operational agility (think Wal-Mart or Tesco) refers to a company or business unit&#8217;s ability, within a focused business model, to consistently identify and seize [...]]]></description>
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