Strategic agility

THEME : INNOVATION PERFORMANCE

Context

The publisher Ellipses (1) is launching a new collection of textbooks for academics, students, and professionals seeking to deepen their theoretical and practical knowledge of law, economics, and management. One of the first titles addresses the topic of strategic agility, bringing it up to date. Indeed, many strategic analysis and innovation management tools date back to the last quarter of the twentieth century (2), and the lessons learned from the discipline's recent history deserve greater visibility. Each author must illustrate their points with testimonials from individuals with relevant experience in the topics covered in their book; in this case, the desired witness(es) would be/are involved in the development and maintenance of a company's strategy and in the management of its portfolio of innovation projects.

(1) Leading professional publisher (650 new titles per year).

(2) Example: the BCG matrix, designed in the 80s.

Questions

The chapter of the book to which this testimony relates is entitled "Innovation at the Heart of Business Performance." After reviewing the evolution of innovation performance over two decades and focusing on two strategic analysis methods - Blue Ocean Strategy and Systems Thinking (3) - a case study provides an example of a well-thought-out innovation strategy. Here is a list of questions that could structure an interview for an ASML representative.

Moore's Law is a long-term, structuring trend for developing ASML strategy. How can we be sure it will continue? Could the pace of chip miniaturization accelerate or slow down in the future?
Is Moore's Law self-fulfilling? In other words, do the players in the semiconductor industry, considering that it cannot be disproven in the future (given its verification year after year for fifty years), feel obliged to find ways to obey it under penalty of disappearing?
Dominant market share in the latest generation of machines, with 100% of the market, doesn't seem to deter competitors' efforts to catch up or overtake ASML. A parallel can be drawn with other hyper-growth companies (4) that, like ASML, have developed a blue ocean, that is, a non-competitive or minimally competitive environment. Does this mean that the sacrosanct antitrust principles are now obsolete because they fail to account for the importance of disruptive innovation over the last twenty years?
What are the 5 key success factors of ASML's strategic analysis and innovation management approach?
By studying ASML's strategic pivots, at least three constants emerge: the implementation of technological leaps that become de facto standards, the internalization of critical functions, and finally, co -innovation and co-financing of innovation with key clients. Are these strategies conscious, deliberate? Are we overlooking important constants?
For those responsible for developing and maintaining ASML's strategy, what are the key strategic and innovation management schools of thought? Who are the leading authors? What are the inspiring examples?
Does ASML have a dedicated trend management function?
Is there a recurring approach to analyzing the intersection of trends and the company's potential assets?

Christian Auriach (5),

author of Strategic Agility (6)

& director of the collection.

(3) Sometimes called (related to) unified field or learning organization.

(4) Example: LinkedIn.

(5) Affiliated professor at ESCP Business School specializing in strategy and innovation management. Also teaches entrepreneurial project management at CELSA Sorbonne University.

(6) To be released in September 2026.