All too often we see companies that experience an incredible surge in popularity and then slowly but surely lose their market share to competition and fade into obscurity. But does this always have to be the case? Could companies instead return from the financial brink back into the consumer’s good graces? In fact, there is hard evidence which suggests a strategic change-up is all it takes to accomplish exactly this.
Take for example the practices of a man named John Chen, and yes, I mean the same John Chen that just so happened to recently be named CEO of the failing tech. giant Blackberry. Twelve years ago Chen stepped in as CEO for another failing tech. company; a soft-ware start-up called Sybase. According to an interview done at the time “Chen’s [new] strategy [for Sybase] was… to look ahead to what the economy needed next, but also to forget about shareholders who [wanted] an instant return, and instead work to satisfy employees and customers”. Although this huge change in strategy didn’t produce any immediate gains, “ten years after [Chen] assumed control, [Sybase] had its best year ever and shares were worth about $26 each”.
The long term success Chen’s shift in strategy produced for Sybase reveals just how important a new and more effective strategy can be to a companies long term prospects. Furthermore, what Chen accomplished at Sybase proves that thoughtful strategic revisions can indeed bring companies ‘back from the brink’.