【正文】 where Ramp。D. That39。re actually doing more Ramp。D model. In fact, if you look at the products that still represent most of the industry39。D and trying to be invent panies. Those two goals are mutually exclusive.So Dell is not an invent pany? Dell: We invent quite a bit but have a different approach. Our business model reflects what customers truly believe is important. We were the first in our industry to really embrace the Internet and to identify the role that standards would play in the server and storage markets. We leverage partners where it makes sense, rather than trying to reinvent things that have already been invented. But we39。s an abundance of technology available.Rollins: Our petitors can39。re in the printer business now, and people are saying Dell won39。t make your own chips and disk drives. Although we39。s been a lowcost provider has been a loser. But staying low cost is tough, especially when you have to keep improving your product.Dell: Proprietary, vertically oriented technology panies believe that you39。D spender.Dell: That paradigm belongs in the Smithsonian with the dinosaurs.Rollins: Dell changed the strategic success factor for our industry from Ramp。D. High Ramp。s radar screen. Dell changed the game.Rollins: We started talking about return on invested capital (ROIC), which focuses you on high returns at very low asset intensity. Before that, the market believed heavier asset intensity was better because you could charge huge margins for a proprietary product. We said, No, that39。t everybody be WalMart or JetBlue or Samsung or whatever the best pany in their industry is? Because it takes more than strategy. It takes years of consistent execution for a pany to achieve sustainable petitive advantage. So while Dell does have a superior business model, the key to our success is years and years of DNA development within our teams that is not replicable outside the pany. Other panies just can39。t rocket science it39。t other panies been able to copy your model or beat you at your own game? Rollins: The same reason why Kmart can39。ve worked together to refine Dell39。s VP of strategy from 1999 to 2002, met with Rollins and Dell at the pany39。 Company consultant who began working with Dell back in 1993 and joined the pany in 1996, was appointed CEO last year. Chairman and CEO work in adjoining offices. The wall between them is glass, and it has a large door in the middle that is never closed.While providing extraordinary rewards to its shareholders, Dell has created a culture that expects great performance from its people. In order to double its revenues over a fiveyear period, the pany has had to adapt its executionobsessed culture to new demands, as Rollins and Dell reveal. To discuss how the pany has sustained its advantage over two decades, Thomas A. Stewart, the editor of HBR, and Louise O39。s DNA. Dell is more than an efficient factory it39。L management, an emphasis on ingenuity rather than on investment, and a culture of accountability. MICHAEL DELL FOUNDED the puter pany that bears his name in 1984. Eight years later, at the age of 27, Dell became the youngest CEO in the Fortune 500. Soon the business world was abuzz with talk about the Dell business model, which allows the pany to bypass middlemen, sell directly to customers, and achieve superior management of information and working capital. The Power of Virtual Integration, HBR called it in a 1998 interview with Michael Dell. Since then, the pany has continued to gain market share while delivering better shareholder returns than any of its petitors. Initially capitalized with $1,000, Dell is now worth more than $100 billion.The secret of Dell39。 Mar2005, Vol. 83 Issue 3, p102, 10p, 2c Document Type: InterviewDell39。31 / 32Title: Execution Without Excuses. Authors: Stewart, Thomas A.O39。Brien, Louise Source: Harvard Business Review。s sustained petitive advantage is due to more than its famous business model. Consistent execution requires realtime Pamp。s success goes beyond its famous business model. High expectations and disciplined, consistent execution are embedded in the pany39。s an organization that can turn on a dime and that has demonstrated impeccable timing in entering new markets. The pany now employs 53,000 people and operates in more than 80 countries. Last month, its founder and chairman reached the ripe old age of 40. Kevin Rollins, a former Bain amp。Brien, an HBR consulting editor who served as Dell39。s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas. In this edited interview, the two describe how they39。s business model, managementdevelopment structure, and culture.The elements of the Dell business model are no secret: going direct, information over inventory, worldclass manufacturing, and superior customer information. Everybody knows these, so why haven39。t imitate WalMart. What WalMart does isn39。s retailing. Why can39。t execute as well as we do.Dell: Culture plays a huge role. As our industry transitioned to a standardsbased model from a proprietary model, with its 40% gross margins, protected franchises, and tiered distribution, a whole new set of business disciplines became important. Things like customercentricity, supply chain logistics, and cash flow management had been pletely off the industry39。s not the way the world works. Asset reduction, inventory reduction, speed and time consolidation these became more important than how much you spend on Ramp。D spending, when you do it to create proprietary products, leads you into a niche strategy, not a broadbased strategy. Yet many panies continue to argue that the winner will be the biggest Ramp。D spending to being the lowestcost producer of standard technology. No pany in the history of mankind that39。re not a real pany if you don39。ve proven our virtual model time and time again, we still see the same skepticism every time we enter new businesses. We39。t get access to printer technology. Well, it turns out there39。t beat Dell while also spending a ton of money on Ramp。ve undersold