ALEXANDRIA, Va. – According to Dr. Michael Mazzeo, associate professor of strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, there’s only one iron-clad law of strategy. “The correct answer to any strategic question is: ‘It depends,’” he says. And convenience retailers can unlock the strategy behind how to run a successful store once they figure out what “it” depends on.
Dr. Mazzeo, co-author of "Roadside MBA" and a previous speaker at the NACS Leadership Forum, will present a session on strategy for senior leaders at the 2016 NACS Show in Atlanta, October 18-21. Understanding that chasing trends is a race to the bottom, Mazzeo will talk about the merits of thoughtfully considering your existing capabilities and identifying ways to practically apply them to solve strategic business challenges. In this interactive, hands-on session, convenience retailers will be able to connect the dots on how others have shifted strategy and succeeded.
Mazzeo’s “Roadside MBA” project was a series of eight road trips from 2010 through 2015 that focused on meeting with the owners of small and middle-market companies across the United States. The goal and outcome of his road trips was to develop materials that would deliver strategy ideas through the experience of small and middle-market firms (deliberately eschewing large companies). The project eventually led to a book of the same name in 2014.
Similar to the companies he visited, Mazzeo notes that c-stores need to think about their business strategy, understand their company’s competitive advantage and leverage that advantage for growth.
But, be forewarned: The paths to growth can be different for different businesses. Mazzeo notes the importance of crafting a value creation proposition (VCP), a statement of how an organization can create distinct value for its target customers. Based on his research, he challenges c-store owners to build a competitive advantage around scalable resources, exploit their superior capabilities to facilitate growth and anticipate performance and growth conflicts.
“If you don’t have the things that are necessary to provide value to your customers, then they’re going to go away,” Mazzeo says. “[But] you don’t want to have too many things on your list when it comes to resources.” Some resources are expensive and don’t create value, he says. “Make sure that every resource you’ve got has a reason and a connection to what the customers want and need on the other side.”
Learn more at Mazzeo’s NACS Show session, “Strategy Lessons from the Roadside MBA,” on Thursday, October 20 at 9:05 am in Atlanta. Education sessions are one of the top reasons the convenience store industry attends the NACS Show every year. Visit nacsshow.com to see the entire line up of speakers and to register today!