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The Future of Competitive Strategy

Unleashing the Power of Data and Digital Ecosystems (Management on the Cutting Edge)

By Mohan Subramaniam

312 pages

Hardcover

Overview

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Overview

Book preview

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Mohan Subramaniam offers a new paradigm for competitive strategy essential for all firms that desire to remain relevant in the digital era. This book provides a unique perspective for firms on the quest for competitive advantage.

Jahangir Doongaji Member of the Executive Board and designated CEO, Hilti Corporation

This insightful book contains a pragmatic digital framework with great examples for business leaders and practitioners to strategically leverage the power of data and digital to create a sustainable competitive advantage for their firms.

Anantha Radhakrishnan CEO and Managing Director, Infosys BPM Ltd

Mohan Subramaniam does a great job of outlining how companies can get value from their digital transformation journeys. His ability to weave technology with strategy and harness the new expanded role of data will be very helpful for business leaders.

Joe Preston President and CEO, New Balance Athletics, Inc

The book is a must-read for industrial companies to effectively compete in the new digital world. The time to be ‘future ready’ is now and this book provides valuable insights into how to do so.

Fabio Marasi President and CEO, Walvoil S.p.A.

Mohan’s book provides a framework for any company to balance the pressures of managing present customers with the demands of creating future customers. Discovering value in digital customers, competitors, and capabilities and building a competitive strategy is an important idea that should permeate the strategic thinking at all companies.

Praveen K. Kopalle Signal Companies' Professor of Management, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

How can legacy firms remain relevant in the digital era? In The Future of Competitive Strategy, strategic management expert Mohan Subramaniam explains how firms can leverage both their traditional strengths and the modern-day power of data and digital ecosystems to forge a new competitive strategy. Drawing on the experiences of a range of companies, including Caterpillar, Sleep Number, and Whirlpool, he explains how firms can benefit from data’s enlarged role in modern business, develop digital ecosystems tailored to their unique business needs, and use new frameworks to harness the power of data for competitive advantage.

Subramaniam presents digital ecosystems as a combination of production and consumption ecosystems, which can be used by legacy firms to unlock the value of data at various levels—from improving operational efficiencies to creating new data-driven services and transforming traditional products into digital platforms. He explores the ways sensors and the Internet of Things provide new kinds of customer data; presents the concept of digital competitors—other firms that have access to similar data; discusses the new digital capabilities that firms need to develop; and addresses privacy and security issues associated with data sharing.

Who needs this book? Any firm that wants to revitalize traditional business models, offer a richer customer experience, and expand its competitive arena into new digital ecosystems.

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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

This book is part of a series

Are you suffering from digital myopia?
Is your company squandering digital opportunities?
The future of competitive strategy: Unleashing the power of data and digital ecosystems
Understanding how to unlock value from your data

This book is part of a series

Are you suffering from digital myopia?
Is your company squandering digital opportunities?
The future of competitive strategy: Unleashing the power of data and digital ecosystems
Understanding how to unlock value from your data

Hardcover

eBook

You can also buy the book on Barnes & Nobles, Book Depository, Orell Füssli and Routledge.

Publisher

MIT Press

ISBN

978-0262046992

Mohan Subramaniam

Mohan Subramaniam is Professor of Strategy and Digital Transformation at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has trained senior executives around the world on digital competitive strategy and strategic…

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Article

Optimizing omnichannel assortments and inventory provisions under the multichannel attraction model

Assortment optimization presents a complex challenge for retailers, as it depends on numerous decision factors. Changes in assortment can result in demand redistribution with multi-layered consequences. This complexity is even more pronounced for ...

General Management

By Andrey Vasilyev, Sebastian Maier and Ralf W. Seifert

in European Journal of Operational Research

August 2025, vol. 324, no. 3, pp. 799-813, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2025.01.035

Article

The anatomy of family business conflict

Understanding conflict in family businesses is a complex but essential study area for practitioners and academics. To enhance theoretical precision and provide practical insights, this article presents a comprehensive framework of family business ...

Customer Centricity Family Business

By Marco Mismetti, Barbara Del Bosco, Cristina Bettinelli and Alfredo De Massis

in Journal of Family Business Strategy

June 2025, vol. 16, no. 2, 100660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2025.100660

Article

Letting Go to Grow and Entrepreneurship: Frank’s Path to Empowered Leadership

Letting go to grow. Coaching empowered his entrepreneurship journey, transforming stress into sustainable leadership and more empowered leadership.

Business Transformation Coaching Entrepreneurship Growth Stakeholder Management Workplace Well-being

By Vincent Pieterse

in I by IMD

Article

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Increasingly, employers are supporting neurodiversity with employees and unlocking potential through recognizing the benefits that neurodivergent talent offers.

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Article

AI Maturity in Financial Services - Lessons

AI Maturity in Financial Services is key to gaining a competitive edge. IMD’s AI Maturity Index shows how strategic AI implementation drives success.

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Case Study

Six strategies for making better decisions under pressure

Decision Making General Management Leadership

By Michael D. Watkins

Case Study

The new protein buzz: Can Legendary Foods Africa feed the world with insects

Entrepreneurship Sustainability Social Innovation

By Sophie Bacq, Valerie Keller-Birrer and Ruth Shalom Kinyua

Optimizing omnichannel assortments and inventory provisions under the multichannel attraction model

By Andrey Vasilyev Sebastian Maier and Ralf W. Seifert
in European Journal of Operational Research August 2025, vol. 324, no. 3, pp. 799-813, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2025.01.035

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

General Management

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The anatomy of family business conflict

By Marco Mismetti Barbara Del Bosco Cristina Bettinelli and Alfredo De Massis
in Journal of Family Business Strategy June 2025, vol. 16, no. 2, 100660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2025.100660

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Customer Centricity

Family Business

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Letting Go to Grow and Entrepreneurship: Frank’s Path to Empowered Leadership

By Vincent Pieterse
in I by IMD

Summary

Letting go to grow. Coaching empowered his entrepreneurship journey, transforming stress into sustainable leadership and more empowered leadership.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Business Transformation

Coaching

Entrepreneurship

Growth

Stakeholder Management

Workplace Well-being

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Six strategies for making better decisions under pressure

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2676 ©2025

Summary

This note presents a comprehensive framework for improving decision-making capabilities in high-pressure, high-stakes environments. It introduces six evidence-based strategies that help leaders maintain clarity, focus and effectiveness when facing complex decisions under stress. The note explores each strategy in detail: managing emotional responses, strengthening situational awareness, training for cognitive agility, using structured decision-making models, enhancing decision speed and practicing under pressure. For each strategy, it provides specific tools and practical applications, illustrated through the case study of AcuWave, a mid-sized consumer electronics firm navigating challenging product launch decisions. Key tools examined include emotional self-regulation techniques, the OODA loop for situational awareness, pre-mortem analysis for cognitive agility, weighted decision matrices for structured decision-making, the 40-70 rule for balancing speed and accuracy, and crisis simulations for practical application. The note emphasizes that effective decision making under pressure integrates emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and structured processes. This practical guide serves as a valuable resource for leaders seeking to develop more robust decision-making capabilities in fast-paced business environments. By implementing these strategies, leaders can improve their ability to assess high-stakes situations quickly, make sound judgments with confidence, and maintain team effectiveness even under volatile and uncertain conditions.

Reference IMD-2676

Available Languages English

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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Decision Making

General Management

Leadership

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The new protein buzz: Can Legendary Foods Africa feed the world with insects

By Sophie Bacq Valerie Keller-Birrer and Ruth Shalom Kinyua
Case reference: IMD-7-2632 ©2025

Summary

The case describes Legendary Foods Africa, a food-tech company founded in 2020 in Ghana by Canadian entrepreneur Shobhita Soor. Legendary Foods Africa is focused on farming, processing and selling palm weevil larvae products for human consumption. Palm weevil larvae, a traditional local food, are rich in protein, healthy fats and essential nutrients. The company’s mission is to provide affordable, sustainable and nutritious protein to local populations of West and Central Africa. Legendary Foods Africa uses innovative vertical farming techniques to cultivate larvae year-round. This method avoids having to rely on deforestation; in this way it provides efficient production with a minimal environmental footprint. The larvae are sold fresh or frozen as a meat and fish substitute but are also processed into protein-rich products like chili sauce and cookies, offering shelf-stable options for a wider audience. Four years after launch, the company had grown into a 70-person operation and was about to become profitable. Soor was considering various expansion strategies that included growing into new African and Asian markets, broadening the product range and shifting toward a business-to-business sales model. The company would need additional capital to scale production for its expansion plans.

Reference IMD-7-2632

Organization Legendary Foods Africa

Industry Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Entrepreneurship

Sustainability

Social Innovation

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The Future of Competitive Strategy

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