Kim Warren, originator of the Strategy Dynamics approach
Kim has an engineering background, and both MBA and PhD from London Business School. His early
career was spent in the oil and petrochemicals industry. He was later retail strategy director
for
Whitbread PLC where he was
architect of the group’s growth and domination of many restaurant,
hotel and leisure sectors. This initiative totally replaced the company’s previous position as a
UK-oriented beer producer – a rare example of a substantial corporation transformation.
Kim moved to
London Business School in
1990, where as Adjunct Associate Professor of Strategic & International Management he taught
strategy on MBA and Executive programs. He came to share the widespread dissatisfaction with the
limited, abstract and static tools available for developing, managing and teaching strategy
(see for example
Wikipedia on strategic management. He therefore built on the core principles of
strategy to develop a powerful set of frameworks
known as
strategy dynamics. This method focuses on the
universal management challenge – delivering strong and sustainable improvements over time in business
performance. The method also provides a sound basis for developing and managing strategy in public-services
and non-commercial organisations.
Kim’s first book, 'Competitive Strategy Dynamics’ Wiley: July 2002 won the 2005 Jay Wright Forrester
Award from the International System Dynamics Society. This title has now been superseded by
'
Strategic Management Dynamics', 2008, also published by
Wiley. Designed primarily as a new or supplementary textbook for MBA strategy classes, it is also
an indispensable reference for strategy consultants, analysts and other professionals. With
Christina Spencer, he has developed a variety of simulation-based learning materials that
communicate this rigorous, fact-based approach to managing strategy through time. His course on
strategy dynamics and the learning materials that support it have been adopted by many international
business schools, and is also
delivered online
If university credits are required it is also possible to do the course through
W.P.I.
Collaborations with leading consulting firms are extending the application of Strategy Dynamics
principles, notably in corporate strategy, equity analysis, technological disruption and due-diligence
for M&A and private equity deals. Consulting relationships enhance and develop the approach, recent
examples including Microsoft Inc, Visa International, BT plc, Barclays Bank, PWC and Deloitte, as
well as public sector and voluntary organisations.
Through the Strategic Management Society Kim is also a member of the
SMS Strategy Teaching Task Force.
Read an
interview with Kim published in Strategy magazine Spring 2009
Publications
Strategic Management Dynamics, 2008, Wiley: New York.
Improving strategic management
with the fundamental principles of system dynamics, 2006, System Dynamics Review, 21(4), 329 – 350.
Invisible ink [LINK TBA], 2004, Business Strategy Review, 15(4), 57-65.
Why has feedback systems thinking struggled to influence strategy and policy formulation?, 2004,
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 21(4), 331 – 347.
The Critical Path, 2003, Vola Press. Republished by
Business Experts Press, 2009
People Power, 2003, with Jeremy Kourdi, Vola Press. Republished by
Business Experts Press, 2009
Competitive Strategy Dynamics, 2002, Wiley: New York. (Superseded by Strategic Management Dynamics, above)
Operationalising the Impact of Competence-Building on the Performance of Firms' Resource-Systems, in Sanchez R. (ed.), 'Perspectives on Resources, Capabilities and Management Processes', 2001, Elsevier Science.
'Talent Growth Dynamic' (with others), McKinsey Quarterly, 2000, No.1, pp.106-115.
'The Softer Side of Strategy Dynamics', Business Strategy Review, 11(1), 2000, pp.45-58.
'The Dynamics of Rivalry', Business Strategy Review, 10(4), 1999, pp.41-54.
'The Dynamics of Strategy', Business Strategy Review, 10(3), 1999, pp.1-16.
'Designing your Growth Path: an Interview with Charles Farquharson (Mercury Asset Management)',
Jnl of the Operational Research Society, 50(4), 1999, pp.392-395.
'The Effective Communication of System Dynamics to Improve Insight and Learning in Management
Education' (with Paul Langley), Jnl of the Operational Research Society, 50(4), 1999, pp.396-404.
The end of Voodoo brand management, (with others), McKinsey Quarterly, 1998, No. 2, pp.106-117.
'The growth of service and the service of growth', Decision Support Systems, 19 (1997), pp.271-287 -
with A van Ackere and E Larsen.
'Building Resources for Competitive Advantage' in Mastering Management, Dickson T and G Bickerstaffe
(eds), 1997, FT Pitman: London