Strategy Begins With Understanding the Economics Underneath Strategy, in its most basic form, is about making choices based on an understanding of the environment in which a business operates. That sounds obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to forget when strategy gets reduced to market size, consumer trends, competitive positioning and growth ambitions. Underneath every strategy sits a more fundamental layer of assumptions about costs, demand, pricing, capital, people, productivity and the economics of the business itself. If those assumptions change materially, the strategy has to change too. This is why I believe an underlying understanding of business costs and their interconnected behaviour is not merely a finance or economics requirement; it is a fundamental strategic capability. Inflation is perhaps one of the best examples of this. We have become accustomed to discussing inflation as a number. CPI is at 5%, food inflation is at 7%, core inflation is stic...
I am not against progress. I am asking us to remember its price ..... We are living through what can only be described as the golden age of technology. Everywhere you look, there is an unmistakable air of celebration – something that has only been enhanced with the advent of AI. Artificial intelligence has turned the global landscape into a grand festival of possibilities; be it engineers, or leaders, or everyday creators – people are rushing to experiment, build, and deploy at a pace unprecedented in human history. Under the banner of progress, we are driving and diving headfirst into new frontiers, eager to harness tools that promise speed, automation, and near-magical capabilities. Yet, beneath this electric enthusiasm lies a disturbing trend: a growing disregard for the consequences on the downside of this movement. It is becoming more and more clear that we ar...