Team 5
Katelyn Reed
Monica Longer
Kristen Hodge
Venessa Rodriguez
 Drugstore.com-one of the first Internet pharmacies
 Stock prices soared
 The Internet was going to change everything and make
any company successful
 Drugstore.com challenged Walgreens to keep up
 At first Walgreens suffered and felt pressured to react
Crawl, Walk, Run
 Rather than just jump into making a website,
Walgreens proceeded slowly
 Crawl phase-Began experimenting with a website that
fit into their Hedgehog Concept
 Researched how the internet would compliment the
company and the concept of convenience
 Competitors thought Walgreens would fail at new
technology
Walgreens Continued
 Walk phase-Walgreens connected website to
inventory.
 Prescriptions could be filled on-line
 Run phase- launched sophisticated internet site
 Easy to use and reliable website
 Stock prices doubled
 Drugstore.com could not keep up with Walgreens
Technology and the Hedgehog
Concept
 Great companies adapt and endure
changes
 Real Question:
 How do good-to-great companies
think differently about technology?
 Not, what is the role of technology?
Technology and the Hedgehog
Concept Continued
 Walgreen’s
 Was already technology savvy before their website

Intercom system
 Linked customer information between ALL Walgreen’s locations.
 Used technology as a tool to accelerate momentum after
hitting a breakthrough.
 Linked technology directly to their Hedgehog Concept
(convenient drugstores increasing profit per customer visit).
 Their Hedgehog Concept drove its use of technology, not the
other way around.
 Become a pioneer in the application of technology.
Technology and the Hedgehog Concept
Continued
 Kroger
 Scanning barcodes

Reduced inventory costs
 Gillette
 Manufacturing technology
 Low cost, high tolerance blades
 Sensor- $200 Million and 29 patents
 Apple
 Good to Great pages 150-151.
Technology as an Accelerator
 Technology, when used right, is an accelerator of
momentum, not a creator.
 You can’t make good use of technology until you know which
technologies are relevant. Those link directly to the three
intersecting circles of the Hedgehog Concept.
 Does the technology fit directly with your Hedgehog
Concept?
 Yes, you need to become a pioneer in the application of that
technology.
 No, then decide if you need the technology at all. If you do
then all you need is correspondence. If you don’t then that
technology is irrelevant and you can ignore it.
Technology as an Accelerator Continued
 Conceptually good-to-great companies have a
relationship to technology that is no different than
their relationship with any other category of decision.
 If a technology doesn’t fit within their 3 circles, they
ignore the hype and just go about their business.
 When they find which technologies are relevant, they
become fanatical and creative in the application of those
technologies.
 Technology without a clear Hedgehog Concept, and
without the discipline to stay within the 3 circles,
cannot make a company great.
The Technology Trap
 The 20th century will be most remembered for its
advances in science and technology
 Page 155, “We were quite surprised to find that fully
80% of the good-to-great executives we interviewed
didn’t even mention technology as 1 of the top 5 factors
in the transition, it had a median ranking of 4th”
Nucor Example
 One of the most aggressive pioneers in the application
of mini-mill steel manufacturing
 When the CEO was asked what the primary factors in
the transition from good-to-great he stated “were the
consistency of the company, and our ability to project
its philosophies throughout the whole organization”
 Emphasized factors such as getting the right people in
management positions and the simple structure and
lack of bureaucracy
Nucor Example Continued
 Nucor states that 20% of their success if from
technology and 80% is in the culture of the company
 Technology by itself is never the primary cause of
either greatness or decline
 In Daytona 500 the primary variable is not the car but
the driver
More Examples
 GE did not pioneer the AC electrical system,
Westinghouse did
 Despite the advanced technology of the U.S. the
Vietnamese won due to their simple strategies
 When linked properly with simple concepts
technology can help drive a company, but if used in an
improper manner then it can hurt a company
Apple
The company’s business strategy leverages its
unique ability to design and develop its own operating
system, hardware, application software, and services to
provide its customers new products and solutions with
superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and
innovative industrial design.
Fear of Being Left Behind
 Debated on having a technology chapter in this book
 Finally settled on putting it as part of the flywheel
 Discovered that companies who did not react to what
others were doing were more successful
 Not motivated by fear
Fear of Being Left Behind Continued
 Motivated by a “deep creative urge and inner
compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its
own sake.”
 Technology alone cannot take a company from good to
great
 Staying true to the big picture and fundamental values
mixed with technology will create a breakthrough