It seems Finance has taken over Strategy’s role in recent years (our fault, not theirs), and we know this can strangle a business. The CFO tells the CEO to keep operating margins up, so pushes down on R&D, marketing, training, and just about anything needed to develop. So we keep slogging along with little growth, just about keeping investors calm with decent ‘returns’.

At least this might keep business risk under control – right? Maybe not. If the business is squeezed ...