Developing Systems and Culture Simultaneously

OXXO was the dominant convenience store chain in Mexico—until its chief rival doubled in size almost overnight.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Tatiana Sandino explains how OXXO CEO Eduardo Padilla responded to this strategic challenge. Instead of opening more stores as quickly as possible, he focused on improving the company’s culture and operations. The company implemented management systems across its locations and then used those systems to gain new economies of scale.

Key episode topics include: strategy, competitive strategy, operations strategy, organizational culture, Mexico, growth, agile, multi-unit organizations.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: Under Pressure, OXXO Rethinks the Convenience Store (Dec 2019)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
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