American Airlines

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Risk DoctrineNo Cross-Pledging of Crown Jewels Signature MoveDeals Hated, Strategy Loved Signature MoveNever Run Out of Cheque-Writing Time Relationship LeverageShare the Pie to Keep the Table Strategic PatternEcho Bay Model Then Surpass It Signature MoveKlosters Mountain as Strategic War Room Identity & CultureRefugee Hunger as Permanent Engine Cornerstone MoveWritten Memo Then Unanimous Sign-Off Identity & CultureReturn to Canada Only With Success Cornerstone MoveBuy Producing Assets at Cycle Bottom, Never Explore Signature MoveTrust Mining Operators Then Stay Away Operating PrincipleFocus as Compensation for Ordinary Talent Cornerstone MoveBorrow Against the Asset to Buy the Asset Decision FrameworkGeopolitical Disruption as Buy Signal Strategic PatternScarcity Premium as Entry Signal Signature MoveControl Without Majority Ownership Signature MoveAct From Day One Instead of Planning How to Plan Cornerstone MoveBreak Big Problems Into Small Executable Pieces Decision FrameworkWrite It Out Then Tear Up the Paper Competitive AdvantageCompete on Smarts Not Capital Cornerstone MoveSell While Building Instead of Perfect-Then-Launch Strategic PatternString Together Small Advances Not Lottery Jackpots Signature MoveMake Yourself Indispensable Through Extra Hours and Skills Strategic PatternCross-Branding Everything Bloomberg Signature MoveChange When You Want To Not When Goaded Risk DoctrineParanoid Competitor Vigilance Operating PrincipleBottom Ten Percent Upgrade Responsibility Signature MoveThrow Everyone Into Deep End and Watch Who Emerges

Primary Evidence

"Munk set about getting all the basic pieces assembled in a credible form. By the time we went out to raise the money, we had Project Planning Associates working on the Master Plan, we had the Foundation Company of Canada for the civil engineering, we had American Airlines with landing rights, and a deal for our first hotel. We had the Fijian government. Believe me, I needed all that. Because when I first went down to Wood Gundy, the investment house, to raise the $4 million, they could hardly contain themselves laughing. They thought that Peter Munk must have lost his mind because of the setbacks. The last time they heard of me I was being fired from Clairtone and facing all the insider-trading publicity, and then suddenly I reappear as a resort developer in Fiji!"

Source:The Golden Phoenix : A Biography of Peter Munk

""Sounds like this guy Bloomberg is doing to financial information what American Airlines and United Airlines electronic reservations systems have done to the travel business: become influential by getting everybody hooked onto their data. ""

Source:Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Appears In Volumes

The Golden Phoenix : A Biography of Peter Munk Bloomberg by Bloomberg