Kellogg Faculty Release Book on Corporate Expansion

The following article was originally sourced from “Fewer, Bigger, Bolder,” a news piece on Kellogg’s news and events site. 

From startups to established conglomerates, companies looking to expand don’t always make it out in one piece. As they jump at opportunities to make more products, create more brands and enter more markets with the goal of growing their market share, sometimes companies are left with nothing more than fleeting gains, dismal results, or outright failure. In a new book, two Kellogg School of Management faculty members advise mindful growth on the path to enlightened profitability.

“The complexity of companies frequently grows faster than revenues,” says Mohanbir Sawhney, the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation Clinical Professor of Technology. A strategy and innovation consultant in the start-up world, Sawhney has long observed the “unwieldiness” of companies that expand for expansion’s sake. “The paradox is that to grow, you need to cut back and do less.”

This strategy is just part what Sawhey and co-author Sanjay Kholsa touch on in their book, Fewer, Bigger, Bolder: From Mindless Expansion to Focused Growth (Portfolio). The book creates a simple framework for sustainable growth and profitability in any market.

The authors have created a “how-to” book on achieving profitable expansion by combining their academic and real-world experiences. In addition to drawing upon case studies featuring companies from Cisco to Netflix to Spirit Airlines, the duo also interviewed business executives around the globe. They have distilled their observations and practical application of the program into a handful of key concepts:

Be bold: Focus only on the areas where you’ll have the best chances of winning. Distort resources — people and money — accordingly.

Simplify everything: Reduce complexity in your organization, from the number of decision makers to the number of meetings.

Write blank checks: Selectively give teams carte blanche to devise their own budgets and control their own destinies. Empowerment can yield amazing results.

Execute: Move quickly and learn from trial and error. Stay with what’s working. Cease and desist with what’s not.

“At the end of the day, this is a model for making things happen and not just one-stop growth,” says Khosla. “It’s about creating a winning culture for sustained growth.”

regions: Chicago

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