243 Posts found for Source: INSEAD Knowledge

You know effective knowledge creation when you see it – firms use it to create, innovate and grow successfully. But how can you tell what’s behind it, making up those winning formulas? Are antecedents of new knowledge creation specific to the firm (individual absorptive capacity and informal networking), the contextual environment (the nature of problem situations being faced by the firms), or both? Dr. Christine … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Christine Soo, David Midgley, Timothy Devinney | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Knowledge Management

Value-based management (VBM) – it sounds straightforward, but VBM works only if you understand that it’s more about cultural change than financial change. However, many companies expect too much from VBM too soon, and they give up on it too early. Professors Philippe Haspeslagh, Tomo Noda and Fares Boulos highlight the approaches to successful VBM implementation.

Content: Article | Authors: Fares Boulos, Philippe Haspeslagh, Tomo Noda | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Best Practices, Management

CEOs wear the crown, which idiomatically, lies heavy. They are vested with authority (and of course, bear responsibilities) that comes with a very small margin of error. Clearly, they need to be well-adjusted. To ensure this, they must be open to change and have the will and the skill to do so. Professor Manfred Kets de Vries discusses the value of this process and how … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Manfred Kets de Vries | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Leadership

Entrepreneurs or a venture team often engage in a torturous, checkered process of nurturing and idea into a successful business. Professors Yves Doz and Peter Williamson show that alliances, at different stages of venture development, may help reduce the burn rate as well as improve the chances of success. Download the full text of this working paper to find explanations on an applied managerial level, … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Peter Williamson, Yves Doz | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Strategy

If someone asked you to take a look at the level of competition in the technology market, you would normally begin by grouping obvious competitors and customers. But you might get a more accurate answer if you started the other way around – first considering the factors of the competition which subsequently indicate rival market boundaries. INSEAD professors Ron Adner and Peter Zemsky propose a … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Peter Zemsky, Ron Adner | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Strategy

You have the option of mailing a catalog or sending a salesperson to contact a customer, but how do you know which method is more profitable? Imagine that you can find out, and with that same information, you can divine the length of time that each customer remains profitable and know which factors are really driving the profitable lifetime duration. This study by Professors Werner … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Customer Related, Management

Gender impacts wage, as many studies have proven. But Professors Marta Elvira and Mary Graham take that fact one step further and ask why. In this recent research, they consider the degree of formalization of the pay type, exploring the link between numbers of men and women in a job and the level of earnings. Discover the direct implications for the design of pay structures … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Marta Elvira, Mary Graham | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Human Resources, Women in Business

What brings foreign investment to a developing country? Although political stability and a skilled workforce are always appreciated, what often clinches the deal is an incentive package that includes waivers on regulations and taxes. In this recent case study, Research Assistant Isabelle Dauner and Professors Olivier Cadot, Lourdes Casanova and Daniel Traca examine the slowdown in Chile’s rate of FDI and ask what might speed … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Daniel Traça, Isabelle Dauner, Lourdes Casanova, Olivier Cadot | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Economics, International – Americas

Webraska is a young, high-tech wireless company, which is left drifting in the wake of the troubled telecom industry in early 2001. It faces important strategy choices and must decide whether and how to adapt its business and revenue models in an uncertain market. Iwona Bancerek, Beatrix Biren and Professor Christoph Zott guide you through one of the first-ever cases written on wireless business in … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Beatrix Biren, Christoph Zott, Iwona Bancerek | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Industry Specific, International – Europe | Industry: Telecommunications | Company: Webraska

In this case study, Professors Pierre Hillion and Theo Vermaelen use Log On America’s decision to issue a floating-price convertible preferred stock to discuss optimal capital structure. You are asked to compare this financial innovation with alternatives such as equity financing, debt financing and convertibles with a fixed conversion price. Then you’re asked to support (or undermine) the legal case of LOA against the banks … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Pierre Hillion, Theo Vermaelen | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Finance | Industry: Investment Banking | Company: Log On America

For some products and services, there’s only so much to go around. But when it comes to putting a price tag on what’s in demand, high fixed cost industries that supply scarce, perishable resources find that it’s not as simple as asking for the total opportunity cost. Professors Dimitris Bertsimas and Ioana Popescu explain their breakthrough ideas in the field of revenue management and how … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Dimitri Bertsimas, Ioana Popescu | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

Dollarization can be a double-edged sword. It can provide monetary stability, but in times of crisis, it can also significantly constrain the central bank from lending a helping hand when it’s necessary. Professors Douglas Gales and Xavier Vives provide an ex-ante approach to establish the viability of dollarization for any given economy.

Content: Article | Authors: Douglas Gale, Xavier Vives | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Economics, Finance

People hope that successes will be remembered and failures forgotten, and they assume that the more recently an event has passed, the fresher it will be in everyone’s mind. But memory is complicated and all too often imperfect, which is a frustrating fact when rewards are on the line. Professor Yianis Sarafidis presents a framework for timing a sequence of informative events in order to … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Yianis Sarafidis | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Miscellaneous

A melange of different kinds of people in a firm can be a real challenge. Strategic management practices often fall short at the implementation stage if they don’t consider the different ways that members of a diverse workforce do or don’t relate to others and to the firm. Drawing on research in social psychology, comparative management and organization theory, Professor Steven White and Aki Nakamura … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Aki Nakamura, Steven White | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: International – Asia, Organizational Behavior

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Popular wisdom holds that it’s the long lifetime customers bringing in the most profits. Or is it? In this working paper, Professors Reinartz and Kumar move beyond the traditional recency, frequency and monetary value (RFM) framework, apply a new model to the profitability-lifetime problem in a non-contractual context, and examine the implications for marketing. Their results may surprise you.

Content: Article | Authors: V. Kumar, Werner Reinartz | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

What do corporations do when their products may be detrimental to society as a whole? In this recent working paper, Sybille van den Hove and Professors Marc Le Menestrel and Henri-Claude de Bettignies explore how processes and consequences constitute a useful framework for understanding how businesses face ethical dilemmas and examine the question of businesses’ good faith.

Content: Article | Authors: Henri-Claude de Bettignies, Marc Le Menestrel | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Ethics

When you’re forced to cut costs in your business, you must carefully weigh what’s most important to your competitive edge. The recently-constructed, expensive institutions supporting Knowledge Management (KM) may be the first to go – after all, their contribution to the bottom line is hard to measure, and they represent high fixed costs for the firm. But is this necessarily the right move? Professors Elie … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subject: Knowledge Management | Industry: Consulting

Marketers repeat their message because up to a certain point, repeated exposures to the message can lead to favorable impressions of the brand. Professor Prashant Malaviya examines the amount and type of ad repetition that would lead to a desired impact level.

Content: Article | Author: Prashant Malaviya | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: Advertising, Marketing / Sales | Industry: Advertising

Despite difficulties, it is generally believed that within a decade, Smartcard technology will be all-pervasive. You can examine the future possibilities after reading this technical note. How will the banks, transaction clearing houses and their gateways to join hands and establish a system that does not compromise on security? And once they make even cash obsolete, where will the competition be?

Content: Article | Author: Soumitra Dutta | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Trends / Analysis