Hamel, G. & Prahalad, C.K. (2005). Strategic Intent. Harvard Business Review.148-161.

Central Theme:

In the article “Strategic Intent,” by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, they talk about the business strategies
of the United States plus other Western countries versus those of the Japanese businesses. Between
these countries many differences can be seen in terms of their strategies when it comes to doing
business, but there are still a few crucial elements that have propelled companies to great success. An
example of a crucial element that is important to the Western companies’ strategy, is that when a problem
arises, they will find a solution with the resources that are salient. When there are an excess amount of
resources, they are taken advantage of, and when there are little resources then they are made the most
out of. As opposed to Japan, who tend to mainly focus on the current resources that are made available
to them, and with those, hoping to achieve an unrealistic goal. Strategic intent is in the mindset of all
upper management, making sure that there is an end goal, but there needs to be more commitment from
them.

The goals created by an organization need to demanding, but at the same time they need to be able to be
achieved. Hamel and Prahalad go into more detail about these objectives, threats that they face, and how
a business needs to be distinctly focused on profiting more than their competitors, supplying productive
training to their employees, create a clear goal, and have certain times to review their strategies. These
are all key items to creating effective corporate challenges, because if there are challenges, then it puts a
business ahead in certain processes. For example, by producing training for their employees that will get
them to the skill level upper management needs them to be at to achieve success, then it will unite them
eventually creating trust.

When it comes to the strategy itself, Hamel and Prahalad believe that it is the most important thing to
have when going up against your competitors. That you need to be quicker, and come up with a more
efficient plan. But what they also mentioned is very important, is innovation. “…building layers of
advantage, searching for loose bricks, changing the terms of engagement, and competing through
collaboration” (Hamel and Prahalad, 155) – these are specific approaches that businesses in Japan are
using in their businesses, and they have been proven to provide advantages in the industry. Companies
in the West can learn from the Japanese and take these approaches to business, and integrate them into
their own strategies. Some might not be right for a specific kind of business, but that is why there are
different options. The authors mention ‘loose bricks’ which means when a company is looking for ways
that they can advance in the industry and go ahead of their competitors. This is where companies in the
West and companies in Japan defer. In the West, businesses tend to focus on their competitors and their
certain functions and what they can do better than them. Whereas in Japan, they focus on innovating and
setting themselves apart from their competitors. In the end, there are several different parts of strategic
intent that the authors believe will help a business excel.

Critical Analysis:

In the beginning of reading this article, I felt that it was too long, but after analyzing it I realized that it
provided a variety of real life examples along with the subjects that the authors covered. One of the
examples that they gave that I believe they did a good job explaining, was the one between Canon and
Xerox. It showed how Canon overpowered Xerox because of their strategic intent which was strong and
put them in front of Xerox as their competitor. As Japanese companies, we were able to see the
difference in how they operate and know what to when it comes to beating their competition.

Another part of the article that I liked, was when they mentioned the different aspects of strategic intent
and the several pathways that a business can take to achieve it. Comparing Japanese business
techniques to Western techniques was probably one of the most important parts of the article because we
can learn from them. In the Japanese culture, working and making sure the job is done right is their top
priority. Their energy and lives are committed to their work, and they will do whatever it takes to reach
their goals. Here in the United States, work ethic is taken as seriously, and people are more laid back. We
tend to focus on work only during the times we are there, and once we are clocked out we focus on our
personal lives and desires. Although, there will be a few who have that work ethic like the Japanese, and
make their work their lives as well.

I work in retail for Kohl’s Corporation, and at the store that I work at, my manager shows a work ethic like
that of the Japanese. She is always coming up with new ways of what the store can do to get more credit,
and achieve higher profits. She will go home from a shift, or have a day off, but will still be calling the
store to check up on the things that she wanted done. Although she does these things, she still does have
a family and will take vacations to make sure she is spending that time with them, which is part of that
‘western' work ethic. The company itself has a clear mission and sets goals for us each day, and we do
our best to reach those goals. They acknowledge us when we make our goals and will even reward us
sometimes. I feel that the way they run Kohl’s- with strategic intent- will only help them lead to more
growth and success. After carefully reading and analyzing the article and being able to compare the ideas
and topics to my own workplace, I feel that I am able to see the different elements and the importance of
having goals as a company.

Main Takeaways:

Overall, this article made some strong arguments, and would be useful to a diverse group of people. This
article isn’t meant to be strictly for entrepreneurs or people in the business industry, but also just for
regular people that can interpret this into their everyday life. It can make a person want to monitor their
future goals and aspirations in life. In order to feel like there is a purpose in life, most people will want to
have such aspirations because it’s in our human nature to want to complete those no matter what it takes.
For business students, and those in the business field, this article can teach them that there is more to
learn about corporate theories and the strategic intent behind them. I believe that both Hamel and
Prahalad did a good job at providing and explaining their examples because they are what help the
reader understand their argument better. It opens up the eyes of businesses in the west because it shows
how Japan’s strategies and techniques when it comes to business, are much better. It should make the
West want to improve and focus on becoming better by maybe taking into consideration some of the
Japanese models. There should be multiple strategies that upper management take into consideration,
while also making sure that their employees are being included. Articles like this one will give them more
knowledge and a better understanding of what strategic intent could lead them to. Ultimately, the real life
examples that were provided by the authors can be learned from.