Strategy as Simple Rules

Strategy as Simple Rules

I for long debated with friends and academicians that the management of new age companies in India like Future Group, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam had no strategic bent of mind. The only positive thing about the management of these companies was starting the respective business at right time which is no mean task. They utilized every opportunity in their growth path very well; they were highly flexible. I was not ready to accept the fact that they were genius, and they had strategy. The article – Strategy as Simple Rules – changed my views and I started respecting the management of these companies.

I always believed in the rule of simple and try and practice in my life. The believe was cemented when I read article ‘Strategy as Simple Rules’ written by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, a professor of strategy and organization at Stanford University in California and Donald N. Sull, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School in Boston. A must read article for every business professional. The authors in the article advocate that when the business landscape was simple, companies could afford to have complex strategies. But now that business is so complex, they need to simplify. I strongly believe in the rule of simple. My profession doesn’t advocate it though.

The article talks about the success of Yahoo! – The company began as a catalog of Web sites, became a content aggregator, and eventually grew into a community of users. Yahoo today is a broad network of media, commerce, and communication services. The other internet success story like eBay, America Online, and Google, also rose to prominence by pursuing constantly evolving strategies in market spaces that were considered unattractive according to traditional measures. In Indian context I believe the companies which in recent past have seen tremendous growth like Ranbaxy, Future Group, Wipro, Infosys, and Satyam knowingly or unknowingly followed the rule of simple. They did not compartmentalize themselves in one single space and instead focused on growth. These Indian companies attained the current state of prominence by pursuing constantly evolving strategies in market spaces that were considered unattractive. Managers of these companies – both global and Indian identified the opportunity in the chaotic markets. They jump into chaotic markets, probe for opportunities, build on successful forays, and shift flexibly among opportunities as circumstances dictate. In the chaos they recognize the need for a few key strategic processes and a few simple rules.


I would request all management professionals to read this interesting article - Strategy as Simple Rules’ written by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, and Donald N. Sull, published by harvard business review. Article is avilable at

Simple Rules, Summarized
How-to rules – They spell out key features of how a process is executed –“What makes our process unique?”
Boundary rules – They focus managers on which opportunities can be pursued and which are outside the pale.
Priority rules – They help managers rank the accepted opportunities.
Timing rules – They synchronize managers with the pace of emerging opportunities and other parts of the company.
Exit rules – They help managers decide when to pull out of yesterday’s opportunities.