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I've seen this a lot as well: execs that are so busy re-inventing their business that they don't manage their core operations. << Aswath Damodaran, a professor

I've seen this a lot as well: execs that are so busy re-inventing their business that they don't manage their core operations. << Aswath Damodaran, a professor at N.Y.U.'s Stern School of Business, has long argued about the danger of companies that try to return to the growth stage of their life cycle. These technology companies, he said, are run by people afflicted with something he calls the Steve Jobs syndrome. “We have created an incentive structure where C.E.O.s want to be stars,” Damodaran explained. “To be a star, you’ve got to be the next Steve Jobs — somebody who has actually grown a company to be a massive, large-market cap company.” But, he went on, “it’s extremely dangerous at companies when you focus on the exception rather than the rule.” He pointed out that “for every Apple, there are a hundred companies that tried to do what Apple did and fell flat on their faces.” >> It's probably not a coincidence that Steve Jobs had Tim Cook there to manage core operations, while Steve spent a lot of time focused on reinventing the business.

sremani 12y ago
It awfully sounds like Yahoo is JCPenney of tech. A super-star was brought in to revive the growth in to JCP, Ron Johnson. He tried it too hard and too fast, and almost ruined JCP beyond recovery. "Alibaba" is the one silver-lining that gives Yahoo something to play along, but this just reminds me JCP & Ron Johnson.
- freditup 12y ago
  I really liked what Ron Johnson tried to do with JCP, and I loved his straightforward pricing (no more of that standard department store mark it up 300% and then perpetually have it on 50% off discount). Guess it ended up being a little bit too idealistic of a strategy though and JCP customers weren't able to see that it really benefited them. A shame it didn't work out.
  - zaroth 12y ago
    I would love to be able to pop open a web page, login, and click off some great clothes at consistently great prices and never a mention of "sale", "discount", "promotion", "free", or "almost out of stock" and just be done. For kids in particular who are outgrowing their entire wardrobe every 6-12 months, streamlining the process would be incredibly useful. But I think you need one more thing -- you need branded product lines which set expectations on the product and consistently back them up. I think JCP, without the draw of a big sale, didn't have enough draw left over. No one showed up to ever see all those consistently great prices.

sremani 12y ago

It awfully sounds like Yahoo is JCPenney of tech. A super-star was brought in to revive the growth in to JCP, Ron Johnson. He tried it too hard and too fast, and almost ruined JCP beyond recovery. "Alibaba" is the one silver-lining that gives Yahoo something to play along, but this just reminds me JCP & Ron Johnson.

freditup 12y ago
I really liked what Ron Johnson tried to do with JCP, and I loved his straightforward pricing (no more of that standard department store mark it up 300% and then perpetually have it on 50% off discount). Guess it ended up being a little bit too idealistic of a strategy though and JCP customers weren't able to see that it really benefited them. A shame it didn't work out.
- zaroth 12y ago
  I would love to be able to pop open a web page, login, and click off some great clothes at consistently great prices and never a mention of "sale", "discount", "promotion", "free", or "almost out of stock" and just be done. For kids in particular who are outgrowing their entire wardrobe every 6-12 months, streamlining the process would be incredibly useful. But I think you need one more thing -- you need branded product lines which set expectations on the product and consistently back them up. I think JCP, without the draw of a big sale, didn't have enough draw left over. No one showed up to ever see all those consistently great prices.