Christian's Site

Professor, Author, Speaker.
About Me
I am a professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School. For the past decade, I devoted my energy to the investigation of long-living corporations – how they grow, adapt, and consistently beat their competitors. I shared my ideas with executives and students across the globe as well as through articles and interviews for CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg Business Week, Fast Company, and a Blog on Forbes. My book "Enduring Success: What We Can Learn from the History of Outstanding Corporations" is the first one with a non-U.S. perspective on long-range success. Thinkers50 – the premier ranking of the most influential living management thinkers in the world – listed me as a future thinker in 2013.
Book
Few companies succeed for 100 years. This is a story about some that did.

buy on Amazon

"Christian analysis of business history is a source of inspiration for the future." —Jeroen van der Veer, former CEO of Shell

"Christian has a great skill for blending extensive empirical research with interesting case examples and coming out in the end with practical ideas." —Chris Zook, author of Profit from the Core
Research
My research examines how organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantage. As a strategy scholar I am particularly interested in questions related to diversification, capabilities, and innovation. I also write for a managerial audience. This is based on my academic work.
For Managers
Few Companies Actually Succeed at Going Global (with Mayer M and Hautz J) Harvard Business Review (2015)
Why Good Leaders Don’t Need Charisma (with Dyer D) MIT Sloan Management Review 54 (2013): 94-95.
Four Principles of Enduring Success Harvard Business Review 85 (2007): 62-72.
Changing companies with strong values: Shell, Siemens and DaimlerChrysler.(with Hinterhuber H) Long Range Planning 38 (2005): 467-484
For Academics
Are product and international diversification substitutes or complements? (with Mayer M and Hautz J) Strategic Management Journal forthcoming 36(10) (2015): 1458–1468.
The impact of family ownership, management and governance on innovation (with Matzler K, Veider V, and Hautz J) Journal of Product Innovation Management 32 (2015): 319-333.
Capturing relatedness: comprehensive measures based on secondary data (with Nocker E, Bowen H, and Matzler K) British Journal of Management forthcoming (2015)
Empirical research in Africa: opportunities and challenges. (with Klingebiel R) African Journal of Management, 1(2) 2015: 1-7
Macro-Competitive Context and Diversification: The Impact of Macro-Economic Growth and Foreign Competition (with Hautz J and Mayer M) Long Range Planning 47 (2014): 337-352.
Solutions to the exploration-exploitaiton dilemma: networks as a new level of analysis (with Rajwani T and Karaba F) International Journal of Management Reviews 16 (2014): 172-193.
The impact of dynamic capabilities on resource access and development (with Helfat CE and Verona G) Organization Science 24 (2013): 1782–1804.
Ownership Identity and Concentration: A Study of their Joint Impact on Corporate Diversification (with Hautz J and Mayer M) British Journal of Management 24 (2013): 102-126.
Process Innovation and Integration in Process-Oriented Settings: The Case of the Oil Industry Journal of Product Innovation Management 28 (2011): 44-62.
Global integration versus local adaptation: a case study of Austrian MNCs in Eastern Europe (with Berchtold S and Pircher R) European Journal of International Management 4 (2010): 524-549.
Methods and concepts in management: significance, satisfaction and suggestions for further research: perspectives from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.(with Matzler K, Rier M, Hinterhuber H and Renzl B) Strategic Change 14 (2005): 1-13.
Teaching
I teach strategy, innovation, and occasionally leadership. Warwick Business School's Executive MBA (where I teach the core strategy course) is currently ranked Nr. 2 in the UK (19th in the world). I am also the Assistant Dean for our new DBA (a doctorate for senior managers). Some of the guest speakers in my class:
Ian Davis, Chairman of Rolls Royce and former Managing Director of McKinsey
Mark Moody-Stuart, former CEO of Shell
Chris Zook, Head of the Global Strategy Practice at Bain & Company
Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
Robert Fry, former commander of the British Troops in Iraq
On my YouTube Channel you can find a series of short videos, covering core strategy topics. Here are two examples:
Resource Analysis
Resources determine which strategic choices are suitable for your company.
Scenario Planning
It is impossible to predict the future but scenario planning allows you to consider alternative developments when you set your strategy.
Keynote Speaking
I passionately belief in the power of ideas. In my keynote speeches I typically tell stories to capture the imagination of the audience and then draw broader lessons from them. I cover strategy and leadership and focus on how companies can succeed in the long run (related to my book Enduring Success). For speaking engagements, please contact Cosimo Turroturro, Director Speakers Associates Ltd., Email: info@speakersassocates.com Tel: +44 (0)1628 636 600
Enduring Success
This is the story of some of the world's most enduring companies. Their approach:
Exploit before exploring
Manage finances conservatively
Remember mistakes
Diversify into related businesses
Change in culturally sensitive ways
Read more in the Harvard Business Review.
African Entrepreneurs
Africa is on the rise. This creates great opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. (check out my thoughts on Western investors in the Harvard Business Review)
Media
Over the past year I have been quoted by 4,000 media outlets. I typically comment on strategy issues such as Shell's acquisition of BG or Volkswagen's emission scandal. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Potter, Warwick Business School, Press and PR Executive, Email: Ashley.Potter@wbs.ac.uk, Tel: +44 24 765 73967
Blog
I write a regular blog for Forbes and occasionally for the Harvard Business Review and The Conversation.
What Large Companies Can Learn From Successful Unicorns
You can't turn a large company into a unicorn (i.e. successful start-ups valued at $1 billion or more), but you can learn four lessons from them: disdain for bureaucracy, obsession with products and customers, focus on the core spiced up with a little bit diversification, and a combination of long-term orientation and tight budgets

How To Be A Great Boss
Great bosses are different. They adapt the job or organization to fit the talent. They find unlikely winners and they look after their subordinates in a similar manners as master craftsmen look after their apprentices. Those who succeed help people to achieve their full potential. At the same time they help their company to out-compete its rivals.

Three Reasons Why Conglomerates Are Back In Fashion
Conglomerates have been out of fashion for 30 years. But some thrive in recent years. They have a clear strategy, often face extreme risk, and find ways to leverage internal capital, labor and idea markets.

Older Posts
5 Reasons Why Immigrants Make Great Entrepreneurs To Boost An Economy
Should Managers Read Academic Articles?
Four Lessons Firms Can Learn From Family Businesses
How To Become A CEO: These Are The Steps You Should Take
Back To The Future: Four Lessons From The '90s Relevant Today
Companies Ignore History At Their Own Peril
What Western Investors Want from African Entrepreneurs
Some Key Lessons For Strategists From Success In Siemens
Africa's Go-Getting Cities Offer An Entrepreneurial Launchpad
Nokia Should Stick To Its Gun On Diversification, Whatever The Analysts Say
Return Of The Mega-Merger As Lafarge And Holcim Turn Cement Into Profits
Connect With Me

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Professor, Author, Speaker.

About Me

Book

Few companies succeed for 100 years. This is a story about some that did.

buy on Amazon

Research

My research examines how organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantage. As a strategy scholar I am particularly interested in questions related to diversification, capabilities, and innovation. I also write for a managerial audience. This is based on my academic work.

For Managers

For Academics

Teaching

Resource Analysis

Scenario Planning

Keynote Speaking

Enduring Success

African Entrepreneurs

Media

Blog

I write a regular blog for Forbes and occasionally for the Harvard Business Review and The Conversation.

What Large Companies Can Learn From Successful Unicorns

How To Be A Great Boss

Three Reasons Why Conglomerates Are Back In Fashion

Older Posts

Connect With Me