Has talent, needs customers: An engineering lab profits from its first strategy experiments Available to Purchase

This coatings lab and job shop with a talent for innovation has been operating for more than a decade without a marketing strategy. Short of cash, it must now quickly invent and implement a customer‐focused strategy if it is to survive. This case study highlights how strategy and proactive leadership work together in small, flexible and fast‐moving organizations. But the case shows why the work of discovery, communication, and implementation of strategic direction is such a messy process in the tactical world. This case looks at how Millis created its business plan, the tactics it implemented and the business practices it adopted.