M A Y 2 0 1 1

How

The

Mighty

Fall?

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Book Review:

How the Mighty Fall. 1 & 2

Management Success Tips 3

Empire Business Simulation 4

Archer Consulting Cooperation

with FEPS & CEFRS 5

I S S U E 2

R e a d i n g

T i m e

Page 1 T H E A R C H E R S

5 Stages of How the Mighty Fall

When you are at the top of the world, the most powerful nation on Earth, the most successful company in your

industry, the best player in your game, your very power and success might cover up the fact that you’re already

on the path to decline. How the mighty fall is a little bit like a staged disease, such as cancer. Unfortunately,

with a disease like cancer you can look good on the outside but be unhealthy on the inside. Early on, symptoms

are hard to detect but when found, they can be treated & the disease cured. In the later stages, the symptoms

are much easier to detect, but it’s much more difficult to cure the cancer. However, there’s one giant difference

between the stages of organizational decline & a disease like cancer. Cancer is not self‐inflicted whereas in our

study of great enterprises that fell, the stages of decline were self‐inflicted.

Jim Collins, III (born 1958, Boulder, Colorado) is an American business

consultant, author, and lecturer on the subject of company sustainability and

growth. He frequently contributes to Harvard Business Review, Business

Week, Fortune and other magazines, journals, etc. He is also the author of several

books: How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, Built to

Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, and Good to Great.

Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success

Success doesn’t necessarily carry the seeds of failure, but hubris (over confidence) born of success does. When

success leads to arrogance, this is the real prototype of falling. Stage 1 kick in when people lose sight of the

true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success (“We’re successful

because we do these specific things”) replaces insight (“We’re successful because we understand why we do

these specific things & under what conditions they would no longer work”), decline will very likely follow.

Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Danger

In this stage, numbers go down, & risks show signs of not paying off. Although

everything looks fine on the outside, there are warning signs internally & you deny

them. The ability to combine faith & facts is key to leading through this stage. When

those in power begin to imperil the enterprise by taking outsized risks and acting in a

way that denies the consequences of those risks, they are headed straight for Stage 4.

Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More

Hubris from Stage 1 (“We’re so great, we can do anything!”) leads

right into Stage 2, the Undisciplined Pursuit of More – more growth,

more acclaim, more of whatever those in power see as “success.”

Companies in Stage 2 making undisciplined leaps into areas where

they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with

excellence. When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its

key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall.

BOOK REVIEW

How the Mighty Fall, and Why

Some Companies Never Give in

T H E A R C H E R S Page 2

Never give in. Be willing to change tactics, but never give up your core

purpose. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, but never give up on the idea

of building a great company. Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to

temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up faith in the ability to prevail.

Is There a Way Out?

1. we do ourselves a disservice by studying only success.

We learn more by examining why a great company fell &

comparing it to a company that sustained its success than

we do by merely studying a successful enterprise. Better

to learn from how others fell than to repeat their mistakes

out of ignorance.

2. Second, this could be seen as a work of well-founded

hope. For one thing, with a roadmap of decline in hand,

institutions heading downhill might be able to apply the

brakes early & reverse course. For another, we’ve found

companies that recovered, coming back even stronger!

Stage 4: Grasping at Salvation

During Stage 4, You’re being pulled down by gravity. You &

everyone else can see it & you no longer can deny it. It is

determined, not in falling, but in how you respond.

When you respond to falling by looking for the next silver

bullet, you may produce an initial energy of hope, but your

solution won’t have staying power. Nothing will increase

people’s faith quicker than false hope dashed by reality over

& over again. Greatness never gets built with a single event,

leader, or program. You keep pushing in a consistent

direction until eventually the flywheel has tons of momentum.

Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

Seeing that some of the most powerful enterprises ever built

went into Stage 5 should give us tremendous humility. Just

because we haven’t yet fallen “yet” doesn’t mean we will not.

When you reach stage 5, you’ve passed the point of no

return.

The longer a company remains in Stage 4, repeatedly

grasping for silver bullets, the more likely it will spiral

downward. Accumulated setbacks & expensive false starts

erode financial strength & individual spirit to such an extent

that leaders give up all hope of building a great future.

T H E A R C H E R S

Operating a green business is not only good for the

environment but good for your business's bottom line

because conserving resources and cutting down on waste

saves money.

Go green by:

Turning off equipment

Encouraging communications by email

Reducing fax-related paper waste

Page 3

Think GREEN

Management

Success

Tips

Empire Business

Simulation

Page 4 T H E A R C H E R S

The Concept of Simulation is simple, to practice or to simulate real life situation in a safe

environment. You can know, test & practice the analysis, reaction & execution of the person.

In business, training programs & MBA are the main tools for knowledge transfer and to analyze case study to

understand the rational behind decision other people made.

Lately other tools were developed to form the reality check for knowledge acquired and to practice the real

management of organizations. These tools can vary from standards simulation to detailed tailored dynamic

simulation. In business there are many simulation types such as, computer-based, board-based and online.

Each of these has advantage and disadvantage and different scope. Archer provides different kinds of skills of

simulation such as: Empire, Retail Rush, Leisure Time and Tailored Simulation

Empire is a computer-based business simulation that allows the participants to practice

strategic and business decision/analysis and their effects on performance. Empire passes

through the following process: Analyze, Decide, Plan then Execute.

Key Benefits

During the simulation, participants will be exposed to many critical issues in managing

a successful business, among these issues are:

Business Vision and Strategy Management Control

Decision Making Competitor Analysis

Performance Assessment Forecasting and Planning

Financial Analysis and Statements Marketing and Market Research

The Impact of Borrowing Sales Force Management

Stock, Research and Advertising Business Ethics

In order to overcome these challenges, skills will be needed and applied exactly as real life

situations, such as: leadership, teamwork, time management, decision making, communication,

culture understanding and analytical skills.

One of the main challenges in business life is risk. Either manager takes too much risk thinking that the

positive return will cover the negative challenges, or he is afraid to take risk which will result in a freeze

situation. Taking the right level of risk is a decision which requires talent, knowledge, exposure, and people

skills. Can you imagine that a pilot after taking the theoretical part of flying to jump into an Airbus and to

start to take off claiming that he has the knowledge of flying? Mostly the results will be a crash. That is why

simulations were invented.

Page 5 T H E A R C H E R S

Archer Consulting in co-operation with Faculty of Economics and Political

Science (FEPS) and Center for Economic and Financial Research and Studies

(CEFRS) agreed to work jointly on different projects to improve investment

awareness and fighting business corruption.

FEPS, CEFRS and Archer Consulting will work on the following initiatives:

1. A Transparent Economy: An initiative financed by Siemens to educate and create public

awareness about fighting insider traders in the stock market, and transparency from the listed

companies and required level of Corporate Governess.

2. The Investment Analyst: Develop an Investment program targeting investment and financial

analysts covering company valuation, investment and portfolio management and corporate

finance.

3. The Stock Market Analysis Diploma: A two years diploma, covering all aspects of stock

market, investment management, corporate finance and sourcing of finance.

4. The Feasibility study & Project Evaluation Diploma: A two years diploma, covering basic

process of feasibility study, project evaluation and feasibility methodology and approach.

5. The Internship Program: Selected students will be given internship to work at Archer

Consulting during the summer.

Archer Contacts

11 Mohamed Abou Salem St., Almaza, Cairo, Egypt.

Tel.: +202 2290 1827 Fax: +202 2424 2215 Mob.: +2012 8 95 95 95

E-mail: Info@ArcherEgypt.com

www.ArcherEgypt.com

The Most Effective and Sophisticated Weapon in Business Life