Critelli Michael J
Pitney Bowes, Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
Harv Bus Rev. 2005 May;83(5):47-54, 152.
If you were the CEO of Pitney Bowes, the postage meter maker, how would you envision the future of the business? The company has an undeniable core competence in the solutions it provides to high-volume postal service users. But with snail mail on the decline, some would say that core has about as much future as the buggy whip. In this article, Pitney Bowes chairman and CEO Michael Critelli gives us a glimpse of how he leads his company's strategy development--and how that development has supported a counterintuitive return to the company's core after decades of diversification. He and others in the company begin the process by tapping into deeply knowledgeable people and organizations to understand key trends in the business and the rate at which change is occurring. Then, it's a question of the firm reshaping the environment in which it does business, whether through R&D investments or work with regulators and policy makers who influence market forces; this is especially important in emerging markets. Focusing on a core business area enables a company to find adjacent high-margin opportunities and to offer comprehensive solutions to customers. What stands out most sharply in this account, however, is the importance of having a strategist's mind-set. Whether Critelli is reading the day's news, visiting a key account, or spending an hour with his own people working in the context of a customer mail room, he is constantly extrapolating possible long-term competitive implications from the immediate facts. Often inspired by strategic thinkers, Critelli believes that the greatest thing he can do for his organization is to shift the terms of the debate. "Rarely am I credited with sterling words or bold, symbolic actions", he writes. "Instead, I help people to see the business we are in differently and to reach a shared vision as to where we want to end up. And, little by little, things move in the right direction".
如果你是邮资计费器制造商必能宝公司（Pitney Bowes）的首席执行官，你会如何展望公司的未来？该公司在为大量邮政服务用户提供解决方案方面拥有不可否认的核心竞争力。但随着传统信件业务的衰落，有人会说这个核心业务的前景和马鞭一样黯淡。在本文中，必能宝公司董事长兼首席执行官迈克尔·克里泰利向我们展示了他是如何领导公司的战略发展的，以及经过数十年的多元化发展后，这种发展是如何支持公司回归核心业务的，尽管这一回归有悖常理。他和公司里的其他人通过深入了解知识渊博的人员和组织来开启这一进程，以了解业务的关键趋势以及变化发生的速度。然后，这就涉及到公司如何重塑其经营环境的问题，无论是通过研发投资，还是与影响市场力量的监管机构和政策制定者合作；这在新兴市场尤为重要。专注于核心业务领域能使公司找到相邻的高利润机会，并为客户提供全面的解决方案。然而，在这个案例中最突出的是拥有战略思维的重要性。无论是克里泰利在阅读当日新闻、拜访重要客户，还是在客户邮件室与自己的员工共度一小时，他都会不断从眼前的事实中推断出可能的长期竞争影响。克里泰利经常受到战略思想家的启发，他认为自己能为公司做的最伟大的事情就是改变辩论的条件。他写道：“我很少因言辞精彩或有大胆、标志性的行动而受到赞誉。相反，我帮助人们以不同的视角看待我们所处的业务，并就我们想要达到的目标达成共同愿景。然后，事情就会一点一点地朝着正确的方向发展。”
