Three steps to strategic heaven: Watching the opposition

The CEO of an American store company visits a competitor’s outlet every week. Tom Sternberg, of Staples, then shares his observations via e‐mail with the rest of his management team. Apparently, there is plenty to talk about. “I never visited a store where I didn’t learn something”, he says. This is a simple and effective way of getting to know and understand what the competition is doing. It’s part of an important stage in the process of getting the right information to run an organization successfully. And that stage, in turn, is part of a larger process: strategic decision making.