Scenario-based strategy maps Buytendijk, Frank; Hatch, Toby; Micheli, Pietro
Business horizons,
07/2010, Volume:
53, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Strategy maps are designed to help execute strategy and bring predictive qualities to key performance indicators by linking them according to perceived cause-and-effect relationships. However, in our ...experience strategy maps are often extrapolations of past performance and are seldom sufficiently linked to possible future states. In this article, we argue that scenario analysis could play an important role in the design of strategy maps, as it is an effective method to look at the future. Through the development of scenarios, organizations can think creatively about possible discontinuous future states and can prepare themselves for multiple plausible futures, not only the one they expect to happen. Therefore, scenario-based strategy maps could enable organizations to face strategic uncertainty in a more effective way and make them more sustainable in the longer term. This article highlights the strengths and weaknesses of strategy maps and scenario analysis, and outlines a method to develop scenario-based strategy maps both in theory and by presenting a significant example.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Cetuximab plus chemotherapy is a first-line treatment option in metastatic KRAS and NRAS wild-type colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. No data are currently available on continuing anti-epidermal ...growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy beyond progression.
We did this open-label, 1:1 randomized phase II trial at 25 hospitals in Italy to evaluate the efficacy of cetuximab plus 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) as second-line treatment of KRAS exon 2 wild-type metastatic CRC patients treated in first line with 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) plus cetuximab. Patients received FOLFOX plus cetuximab (arm A) or FOLFOX (arm B). Primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Tumour tissues were assessed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). This report is the final analysis.
Between 1 February 2010 and 28 September 2014, 153 patients were randomized (74 in arm A and 79 in arm B). Median PFS was 6.4 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.7–8.0 versus 4.5 months (95% CI 3.3–5.7); hazard ratio (HR), 0.81; 95% CI 0.58–1.12; P = 0.19, respectively. NGS was performed in 117/153 (76.5%) cases; 66/117 patients (34 in arm A and 32 in arm B) had KRAS, NRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA wild-type tumours. For these patients, PFS was longer in the FOLFOX plus cetuximab arm median 6.9 (95% CI 5.5–8.2) versus 5.3 months (95% CI 3.7–6.9); HR, 0.56 (95% CI 0.33–0.94); P = 0.025. There was a trend in better overall survival: median 23.7 (95% CI 19.4–28.0) versus 19.8 months (95% CI 14.9–24.7); HR, 0.57 (95% CI 0.32–1.02); P = 0.056.
Continuing cetuximab treatment in combination with chemotherapy is of potential therapeutic efficacy in molecularly selected patients and should be validated in randomized phase III trials.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Late diagnosis limits therapeutic options and survival rate of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Therefore the identification of biomarkers represents an emerging medical need. A highly ...sensitive and specific test was developed to identify/quantify a novel/selective diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC patients, caspase-4. This test was validated by using i) plasma from 125 NSCLC patients and 79 healthy (non-pathological) subjects, ii) plasma from 139 smokers and iii) from 70 chronic-obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Caspase-4 quantification was also assessed in the lung tumor mass of 98 paired NSCLC patients compared to 10 non-tumor lung tissues (i.e. tuberculosis). Circulating caspase-4 was detected in both healthy and NSCLC patients; however at different range values: 2.603-3.372 ng/ml for NSCLC patients (95% CI) compared to 0.3994-0.6219 ng/ml for healthy subjects (95% CI). The sensitivity of the test ranged from 97.07% to 100%; the specificity was 88.1% with a positive predictive value of 92.54%, accuracy of 95.19% and AUC of 0.971. Smokers (95% CI, 0.3947-0.6197 ng/ml) and COPD patients (95% CI, 1.703-2.995 ng/ml) showed intermediate values of circulating caspase-4. Tissue levels of caspase-4 in the tumor mass showed that 72 (72.7%) out of 99 patients were positive. More importantly, higher levels (cut-off value = 0.307 ng/ml) of caspase-4 in the tumor mass were associated to reduced overall survival (median 0.92 years) compared to NSCLC patients with lower levels (median 3.02 years). We report for the first time caspase-4 as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, opening new therapeutic perspectives for NSCLC patients.
Governments worldwide are under pressure to reduce spending, and yet the demand for public services is generally increasing. Despite growing emphasis on and investment in technological innovation, ...little is known about innovation in public services. Research has shown that resistance to change, risk aversion, and organizational structures are major barriers to public-sector innovation. How to overcome such barriers is less clear. Recently, researchers have increased their focus on the importance of specific business models in facilitating collaboration between public-sector organizations and private-sector partners. In this paper, we present an emerging business model-commercialization partnership-and discuss two examples of technological innovations in the U.K. public sector using this model. Our findings demonstrate that successful technological innovation may depend more on the models for collaboration than on the specific technology involved. We conclude with a checklist to assist technology managers introducing innovations into public-sector organizations.
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BFBNIB, CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
OVERVIEW: Industrial design is essential for the creation of products that satisfy user needs and aspirations and can be differentiated from the competition. However, most companies fail to reap the ...full benefits of design. This is often due to cultural and language barriers, between design and other functional areas, and barriers to the introduction of industrial design into new-product development (NPD) process. In this paper we show how designers and NPD managers have different perceptions of "good" design and the ways to achieve it. We also illustrate the challenges in attempting to introduce industrial design into a structured NPD approach. It is by identifying and tackling these issues that managers can exploit the full potential of design, thus making their companies more innovative and competitive.
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BFBNIB, CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between strategy implementation, performance measurement and strategic alignment within a highly diversified group of firms.Design ...methodology approach - A mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used, and data were gathered in two different periods. In the first phase, preliminary interviews were followed by a survey across all the firms of the group and by semi-structured interviews in four companies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted four years later to explore changes in both strategy and performance measurement systems (PMSs).Findings - This research contributes to the debate on the appropriateness of introducing PMSs as formal management control mechanisms. The analysis of data led to three main findings. First, the introduction of IT systems and specific governance mechanisms alone enabled the implementation of strategy across the group only to a limited extent. Second, the lack of a comprehensive PMS appeared to have negative effects on both the formulation and implementation of strategy. Third, following a phase of substantial expansion, both strategy and measurement systems had to be changed to provide a greater sense of direction and to gather data on non-financial aspects of the business.Originality value - This research considers the case of a group of firms, which aimed to achieve strategy implementation and alignment without introducing a comprehensive PMS. This paper provides empirical evidence of the potential limitations of such an approach, and illustrates the changes to strategy and performance measurement made by the company considered.
Epithelium and mesenchyme, two tissue types virtually found in every organ, are endowed with fundamentally different functional properties.Active motility, a capability that is limited to the ...mesenchymal repertoire, is the principal characteristic that distinguishes them.During embryonic development, conversions from epithelium to mesenchyme and from mesenchyme to epithelium normally occur, allowing morphogenetic processes and tissue remodelling to take place.However, there is now increasing evidence that the modulation between the epithelial and the mesenchymal phenotypes is not limited to embryonic life.Indeed, the pathogenesis of some adult diseases seems to implicate an inappropriate activation of this change.On the other hand, failure of normally occurring embryonic epithelial-mesenchymal interconversions could result in the development of some pathologies.It is now possible to study some molecular events underlying these phenotype transitions, since several biological agents implicated in the epithelial-mesenchymal interconversion, such as growth factors, extracellular matrix components and their receptors, transcription factors and oncogenes have been identified.The malignant potential of some oncogenes seems to express itself through the disruption of the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of the epithelial phenotype while, on the other hand, some observations suggest the existence of regulatory genes able to counteract the action of oncogenes by restoring epithelial characteristics.Therefore, the manipulation of the tissue phenotype could represent a novel strategy for the prevention and treatment of diseases in the future.
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IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In the last decade much attention has been devoted to developing performance measurement systems (PMS), which could encompass both financial and non-financial measures. Many frameworks have been ...conceived in order to allow companies to better evaluate their own performance by means of collected data, but few attempts have been made to provide public and non-profit organizations with PMS devoted explicitly for their needs. The aims of this paper are to review the frameworks currently developed and implemented in public and non-profit organizations and to identify the requirements of a framework, which can be applied in this context.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
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