10 Posts found for Author: Julian Birkinshaw

Two worldviews — market positioning and the resource-based view — have dominated how we think about competitive advantage for 40 years.

But the rapid growth of business ecosystems in recent years challenges this thinking. Most of these ecosystem orchestrators, like Google, Alibaba, and Uber, don’t make the things they sell; they exist to link others together, and this makes the old positioning-based logic less relevant. And, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Julian Birkinshaw | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Strategy

Executives need to get smarter about when to open up and when to withhold information so they can enjoy the benefits of organizational transparency while mitigating its unintended consequences.

Content: Article | Authors: Dan Cable, Julian Birkinshaw | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Let’s look more closely at the leadership versus management debate. […] [John] Kotter sees managers as being the ones who plan, budget, organize, and control, while leaders set direction, manage change, and motivate people. [Warren] Bennis views managers as those who promote efficiency, follow the rules, and accept the status quo, while leaders focus on challenging the rules and promoting effectiveness. Needless to say, I … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Julian Birkinshaw | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Leadership, Management

This tome reports the findings of a cross-sectional academic study of the leading business schools in the U.S. and Europe. The target audience for the book is deans of business schools and administrators of business programs, but the book is relevant for anyone interested in the evolution of management ideas and the way they are deployed. The authors address four broad themes: the need for … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Julian Birkinshaw | Subject: Management

Not all complexity is bad for business—but executives don’t always know what kind their company has. They should understand what creates complexity for most employees, remove what doesn’t add value, and channel the rest to employees who can handle it effectively. This article recounts the experience of a multinational consumer goods manufacturer that applied this approach in several regions and functions and consequently halved the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Julian Birkinshaw, Suzanne Heywood | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Julian Birkinshaw, Professor of Strategic and International Management,explains how organizations can do a better job of using a management model to enhance their competitiveness.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Julian Birkinshaw | Source: London Business School | Subject: Management

Beware conventional wisdom about how to boost your innovation capacity. Another firm’s best innovation practice could become your worst nightmare. Think of innovation as a value chain comprising three phases: idea generation, conversion, and diffusion. Then tailor your practices to your company’s needs.

Content: Article | Authors: Julian Birkinshaw, Morten T. Hansen | Sources: BNET, Harvard Business Review | Subject: Innovation

Offshoring is a complex issue that is part of a much larger strategic picture. Companies need to develop a framework for deciding where and how business activities should be located

Content: Article | Authors: Anne Evison, Julian Birkinshaw, Roy Barden, Siri Terjese | Source: European Business Forum (EBF) | Subjects: Outsourcing / BPO, Strategy

Post-Enron principles for encouraging creativity without crossing the line.

Editor’s Note: offers a detailed look at BP’s management model and the balancing of it’s four components and also offers a quick review of four basic schools of thought on corporate entrepreneurship. A good read…

Content: Article | Author: Julian Birkinshaw | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

This 23-page .pdf paper investigates how a firm can best be organized to facilitate innovation, specifically concentrating on the design of R&D resource allocation systems and the use of external technology sources. The study’s key findings are that increased use of external sources of technology results in increased efficiency but decreased effectiveness and that no strong relationship was found between the use of internal … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Carl F. Fey, Julian Birkinshaw | Source: SSE/EFI Working Paper Series | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior