ib by kacharagadla

Companies in all industries eventually see their revenue growth slow. Retailers are no exception. Fickle consumers, intense competition, changing markets, and the rapid encroachment of online retailing all combine to exert pressure on the top line. The retail graveyard is filled with chains such as Circuit City, Austin Reed, Linens ’n Things, Loehmann’s, British Home Stores, RadioShack, and the Sports Authority—that expanded rapidly and then, faced with declining growth, couldn’t find ways to change course. What should a retailer do when growth slows? Is it doomed, or is there a way to prosper when its business matures? To answer these questions, we examined the financial data of 37 U.S. retailers with recent sales of at least $1 billion whose top-line annual growth rate had slowed to single digits. Some of these retailers had seen their bottom lines fall even faster than their top lines; others had achieved double-digit earnings growth and above-average stock market returns. Our...

Leading a company isn’t easy. On the one hand, a leader needs to keep a pulse on the heartbeat of the organization today while, on the other hand, maintaining a vision for tomorrow. Essentially, he or she has to be in two different places mentally. I don’t know about you, but it’s challenging enough for me just to be in one place (that’s a joke). To deliver at the leading edge, you must  think  at the leading edge, and that means thinking outside your comfort zone. Nobody gets any better thinking the same way they always have, and insanity, according to Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. As mentioned in a  previous column , bridging the gap from executor to strategist can be a quantum leap (mentally) for some people. Many will fall short -- hitting every branch on the way down. We all know technology-inclined people who were great programmers but, once they were promoted into a more strategic role, rel...