Browse Definitions :
Definition

strategic inflection point

A strategic inflection point is a time period when an organization must respond to disruptive change in the business environment effectively or face deterioration.

An inflection point, in general, is a decisive moment in the course of some entity, event or situation that marks the start of significant change. The term comes from math, where it describes the point at which a convext (upward) curve turns concave (downward) or vice versa. Business-related inflection points can be caused by economic trends, environmental factors, competitive activities and disruptive technologies such as the personal computer and the smartphone, among other things.

In the early 1990s, Andy Grove, who was then CEO of Intel, coined the term strategic inflection point to underline the importance of business leaders taking action at such times. At an inflection point, change is inevitable, for good or ill: Business as usual cannot continue. According to Grove, the lack of an effective strategy in response to those events is likely to lead to failure.

See a video tutorial on strategic inflection points:

This was last updated in September 2015

Continue Reading About strategic inflection point

Networking
  • telecommunications (telecom)

    Telecommunications, also known as telecom, is the exchange of information over significant distances by electronic means and ...

  • remote infrastructure management

    Remote infrastructure management, or RIM, is a comprehensive approach to handling and overseeing an organization's IT ...

  • port address translation (PAT)

    Port address translation (PAT) is a type of network address translation (NAT) that maps a network's private internal IPv4 ...

Security
  • ISO 31000 Risk Management

    The ISO 31000 Risk Management framework is an international standard that provides organizations with guidelines and principles ...

  • voice squatting

    Voice squatting is an attack vector for voice user interfaces, or VUIs, that exploits homonyms -- words that sound the same, but ...

  • multifactor authentication

    Multifactor authentication (MFA) is an account login process that requires multiple methods of authentication from independent ...

CIO
  • skunkworks project (Skunk Works)

    A skunkworks project, also known as Skunk Works, is an innovative undertaking, involving a small group of people, that is outside...

  • digital innovation

    Digital innovation is the adoption of modern digital technologies by a business.

  • business goals

    A business goal is an endpoint, accomplishment or target an organization wants to achieve in the short term or long term.

HRSoftware
  • employee onboarding and offboarding

    Employee onboarding involves all the steps needed to get a new employee successfully deployed and productive, while offboarding ...

  • skill-based learning

    Skill-based learning develops students through hands-on practice and real-world application.

  • gamification

    Gamification is a strategy that integrates entertaining and immersive gaming elements into nongame contexts to enhance engagement...

Customer Experience
  • virtual assistant (AI assistant)

    A virtual assistant, also called an AI assistant or digital assistant, is an application program that understands natural ...

  • Microsoft Dynamics 365

    Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based portfolio of business applications from Microsoft that are designed to help organizations improve ...

  • Salesforce Commerce Cloud

    Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based suite of products that enable e-commerce businesses to set up e-commerce sites, drive ...

Close