Acquiring an Understanding of Competitive Strategy

Falls Church, VA, August 18, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Why didn’t Blockbuster become Netflix? Why did GM go bankrupt after being the biggest company in the world? Safeway and Supervalu took opposite pricing strategies during the recession; who was right? There are many attractive, facile, and obvious answers to those questions. They are wrong. Acquiring a deep understanding of strategy — and thereby the ability to make better strategy decisions — requires knowing why those answers are wrong. That’s what this presentation is about.

This highly interactive and thought-provoking program is led by Mark Chussil, a 35-year veteran in competitive strategy who has developed war-games and simulations for dozens of Fortune 500 companies around the world (and helped them make or save billions of dollars). In it you will learn:

· The most-important reason why strategies fail.
· Why history-based forecasting tools and accounting-based financial analysis don’t solve future-based strategy problems.
· How massive judgment assumptions make us learn the wrong lessons from our businesses’ results.
· How to tell the difference between being lucky and being smart.
· When to apply your new knowledge of strategy

Because learning comes from experience and not from lectures, you will participate in multiple non-embarrassing exercises. This is not death by PowerPoint. Strategy decisions are ambiguous and difficult, at least if done right. What decisions really need is clarity and rigor, and an understanding of what to test, what to trust, and what to do. Come see and learn.

Mark Chussil is Founder and CEO of Advanced Competitive Strategies, Inc. A 35-year veteran in competitive strategy and a pioneer in business war-gaming and computer-based strategy simulation, he has helped Fortune 500 companies around the world make or save significant money. A highly rated, thought-provoking, and entertaining speaker, Mark teaches and consults about strategic thinking, advanced business war games, and computer-based strategy simulation. He is the author of three books, chapters for five others, and numerous articles.

The Silicon Valley Chapter meeting will be from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, September 12, at the Silicon Valley Bank, 3005 Tasman Drive, Santa Clara CA. There is no charge for this event, but due to limited seating, advanced registration is required. Please Contact Robyn Reals, SCIP Education Manager at rreals (at) scip.org or 703.739.0696 x107.

About SCIP

With members in over 70 countries, SCIP (formerly the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) is a 3000-member global nonprofit membership organization that advances its members careers, and enhances the depth and breadth of the competitive intelligence profession. Education and training have been a critical component of SCIP’s member services since the society’ founding in 1986 and SCIP provides its global membership access to the world’s most admired certification program. In addition to articles and books, SCIP provides networking opportunities at its annual conferences in the US, Europe, Brazil and Singapore, and through chapter meetings and webinars. The Society supports everyone involved in creating and managing strategic and competitive intelligence, and many members have backgrounds in market research, strategic analysis, science and technology.