1. Good to Great: Chapter 7 Ashley Gonzenbach, Amanda Long, Brian Bryne, Dianna Perkins

2. Technology Accelerators
Walgreens
Crawl: Competitors took off running with the new internet technology, Walgreens stepped back to pause and reflect.
Walk: They found ways to use and explore the internet to their advantage.
Run: Walgreens launched a sophisticated and well designed site.

3. Technology and the Hedgehog Concept

4. Technology and the Hedgehog Concept
Good to Great companies have technological sophistication
Pioneering the application of selected technology
Technologies varied greatly

5. Technology and the Hedgehog Concept
Gillette
- Manufacturing technology
Kroger
- Computer & Information technology
Kraft
- Demand Sensing & Inventory Optimization technology

6. Technology as an Accelerator, Not a Creator
Good-to-great companies didn’t begin their transformations with pioneering technology
Does the technology fit directly with your hedgehog concept?
They all became pioneers in technology once they grasped how it fit with their three circles of the Hedgehog concept

7. Technology as an Accelerator, Not a Creator
Fannie Mae – pioneered application of computer technology to more accurately assess mortgage risk
Reduced loan-approval time from 30 days to 30 minutes
Lowered the associated costs by over $1,000 per loan

8. The Technology Trap
80% of good-to-great executives interviewed didn’t mention technology as one of the top factors in the transition
A Nucor executive quoted as saying, “20% of our success is the new technology we embrace…but 80% of our success is in the culture of the company.”

9. The Technology Trap
The evidence from their study does not support the idea that technological change play the principal role in the decline of once-great companies
Technology is important but never a primary cause of either greatness or decline.

10. The Technology Trap
Bethlehem Steel, R.J. Reynolds, and A&P all lost their respective positions as #1 in their industry due to poor management decisions
VisiCalc, Remington Rand, and De Havilland all created new technologies but could not sustain being great.
Vietnam War – the U.S. had the vastly superior military but did not succeed in the war

11. Technology: The Fear of Being Left Behind
Title of section could be misleading
NOT ABOUT possession or lack of technology
IS ABOUT how you understand & use technology
What motivates a companies use of technology?
Good to Great - Excellence
Lesser Company- Fear
The Fear of Being Left Behind VS
Deep Creativity
Organization’s Purpose, Goals, Culture
How You Want To Improve
What would you like driving your companies use of technology?
Or any resource?

12. Which Path Looks Better?
Appetite for Excellence
Deep Creativity
Patient Disciplined
Well Thought Ideas
Harnessing the
Pioneering its Application
Good to Great Company
Technology
MOTIVATION >>>> ACTION >>>> RESULT
Rapid Reckless Response
Fearing What Others Have
Fearing What Others Will Do
Trying To
Keep Up
Technology You Have No Idea How To Use
So It Uses You
Mediocre
Wanna Be
Company
Lack of Control Lack of Application

13. The Book Says: Technology by itself is never a primary cause of either greatness or decline
My Interpretation:
If two similar companies are both given the same access to a technology, the difference in greatness will be determined by how they apply that technology to their organization

14. Takeaways
Avoid fads, pioneer the application of carefully selected technologies
Use technology as the accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it
Do not function on the fear of being left behind