Generalisation as a specialisation

The concept of focus in terms of business domain, while being conceptually strong, is one that has come out of the experience of mature markets with high levels of specialisations.

In fast growing, developing markets like Sri Lanka, there are many successful examples of conglomerates acquiring and operating across a very wide range of industries/businesses.

This apparent contradiction between textbook focus and real-life success can be explained by the fact that, as markets mature, specialisation is demanded and this in turn requires domain focus.

Of course, the smarter companies are the ones that seize the ‘generalisation’ opportunity, yet know when to start moving towards ‘specialisation’.