The following diagram shows a simple example of a ‘strategic architecture' - the demise of Exodus Communications Inc, a web-hosting firm that was a casualty of the dot-com bust in 2001. Its collapse can be traced to a misunderstanding of the need to switch from customer acquisition during 1997-1999 (heavy sales effort and over-provision of data-centre capacity) to customer retention during 2000-2001 (stronger attention to service quality and financial robustness).

I now provide, with a team of skilled colleagues, intensive coaching in this analysis to executives on many kinds of professional development course, aimed at helping managers avoid this kind of error and identify how to take opportunities for radical performance improvement. Within the School, courses have included company programmes for 3M, CGNU (now "Aviva"), and others, as well as open courses on strategy dynamics and strategic modelling. The 3M case, for example, resulted in a substantial redesign for the development of a promising new market in E Europe. Other organisations to have benefited from this approach include Barclays PLC, Visa International, Glaxo Smith-Kline, Microsoft and Jardine Matheson.