ABSTRACT
Successful companies, even entire industries, have a lifecycle. All of them eventually reach the point where their business model approaches the end of its lifecycle and is no longer viable. Companies that recognize the shift early on, assuming they execute the successor model effectively, become leaders as the next stage emerges. Sometimes the transitions are incremental and gradual; more often, they involve discontinuity and dislocation. Outlines of the transition are always clear in retrospect, and most of our wisdom about such transitions comes from retrospective analysis. But what’s the appropriate advice for companies in the middle of a transition-when the old model still appears to have life and the new model is underdeveloped and unproven?
