[originaltext]Woman: And tonight who we have in our studio is Jack Welch, Execu

Woman: And tonight who we have in our studio is Jack Welch, Executive of the Welch Corporation, welcome.
Man: Thank you.
Woman: Jack, firstly, what do you see as the strategic essentials for companies employing fewer than 100 people?
Man: Strategy is strategy, what matters is whether the company is large or small.
Woman: That’s fresh, and could you give some further explanations about that?
Man: Certainly. It’s that killer idea, a "big aha," as we call it, that gives you a sustainable competitive advantage.
Woman: What does "killer idea" refer to, exactly?
Man: That is to say, strategy is just a winning value proposition①, a product or service that customers simply want more than the other options out there. Beyond that, strategy is all about execution. And there, small companies actually have something of an advantage.
Woman: What kind of advantage?
Man: Uh, maybe we can say it carries more human touch than the big companies because it offers a variety of choices and additional services.
Woman: I understand.
Man: We don’t blame you for feeling as if most advice on strategy applies mainly to big companies. In fact. with all the number crunching and data analysis being promoted as strategy these days, you’d have to be a large company to have the people, time, and money to even contemplate such methodologies.
Woman: And what do you suggest? Should the small company grow into a big one in order to survive in the market?
Man: Don’t bother trying. The more you grind down into details and scenarios, the more you get tied up in knots, Strategy is just an approximate course of action that you revisit and redefine according to shifting market conditions. It’s got to feel fluid—and alive! Companies small and large can develop a compelling strategy by answering five key questions. What does the playing field look like? What are our rivals up to? What have we done lately? What keeps us up at night? And, given all that, what’s our winning move?
Woman: That was a wise way.
Man: Absolutely. No academic textbooks or consultants are needed. All that’s required is a team of engaged employees who can dream big, debate intensely, and ultimately emerge with a dynamic game plan. Then it’s time to implement, and that’s where small companies really have it made. When there are only a hundred employees, or even a thousand, it is much easier to communicate strategy and ignite a contagious intensity. And once the strategy is launched, small companies, like little powerboats, are able to adjust direction more quickly than corporate ocean liners. They can also hire faster, make decisions with fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and generally see their mistakes and fix them faster than hulking competitors.
Woman: So that is the real advantages these small companies have?
Man: Right. Small isn’t totally beautiful when it comes to strategy. Big companies can take a lot of swings and miss a few. By contrast, one big strategy mistake can put a small company out of business.
Woman: How do they  go through the hardships then?
Man: The imperative for small companies,  then, is to hold their value proposition① to a higher standard. They have to make sure they’ve got something singular: a new idea with a patent, a breakthrough technology, a super-low-cost process, or a unique service offering. Whatever attracts customers and makes them stick.
Woman: They were really customer-focused.
Man: Definitely. When a small company gets to that point, it can celebrate a strategy that’s winning without all those consultant repots,  graphs, and fat stacks of PowerPoint slides that no one really needs, not even the big guys.
Woman: Tell me more about that…