Sarah Kaplan is author of the New York
Times business bestseller, Creative
Destruction (Currency-Doubleday, 2001), challenging the notion of
sustainable competitive advantage, the myth of excellence and the
appropriateness of emulating best practice (with co-author Richard
Foster). The research shows that over time, long-established companies,
instead of maintaining excellence, almost always under-perform the market.
Ironically, the very culture and meticulously maintained systems that fuel
the good times cause companies to stall out. Firms may experience cultural
lock-in. The describes how such lock-in occurs and suggests ways that
firms can break out and reinvent themselves (with implications for top
management, strategy making, organizational structure and incentives).
The solution involves simultaneously achieving more change (both
creation and destruction) and finding a delicate balance with
operational excellence.
