Nir Halevy on Motivating Your Workforce

The Stanford professor explains how social distance (construal-level theory) affects how people respond to feedback.

Best Business Books 2014

strategy+business presents their 14th annual best business books special section with picks from seven eminent reviewers.

Editor’s Note: As usual, these pieces offer more than just listings of recommended books. In particular, I recommend you read the entries on strategy and economics.

What Can You Do Better?

Paul Leinwand, coauthor, with Cesare Mainardi, of The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy, introduces a guiding maxim for CSR success from Winning Investors Over: Surprising Truths about Honesty, Earnings Guidance, and Other Ways to Boost Your Stock Price, by Baruch Lev.

Kill Your Performance Ratings

Neuroscience shows why numbers-based HR management is obsolete.

Does Your Company Keep Its Promises?

Despite best intentions, many businesses struggle with “commitment drift.”

Katherine Milkman on Why Fresh Starts Matter

The Wharton professor says moments when you wipe the slate clean can help you meet your goals.

Doing Business Where Governance Is Weak

Eight principles for succeeding in markets prone to ethical and legal risks.

How to Scale Up Excellence in an Organization

Stanford’s Robert Sutton discusses the mind-set and strategies of companies that are most adept at building and spreading high standards.

Management in the Second Machine Age

Future leaders will succeed by being entrepreneurial and by rethinking the balance between financial and social goals.

The Entrepreneurship Coach

Working with startups showed Ernesto Sirolli how anyone can have more impact: Shut up and listen.

Robert Sutton’s Guide to Excellence

The Stanford professor’s latest research explores the practices that enable companies to scale what they do best.

When It Comes to Customer Service, Don’t Say No

Lewis P. Carbone introduces an excerpt on how to eliminate negative cues from The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty, by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi.

When Big Data Isn’t an Option

Companies that only have access to “little data” can still use that information to improve their business.

Cynthia McCauley’s Manual for Leadership Development

The leadership scholar explains why measurable, experience-based programs are key to helping executives develop their potential.

Does Capitalism Create Social Mobility?

The storyline of capitalism—and the technological innovation that simultaneously supports and drives it forward—is almost always one of ever-greater personal freedom and opportunity. With the liberal application of hard work, inventiveness, or entrepreneurial chutzpah, anyone can rise through the ranks of society. The sky is the limit. Or is it? This is the question that Gregory Clark, economics professor at the University of California, Davis, … [ Read more ]

Thomas Malone on Building Smarter Teams

The head of MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence explains how the social intelligence factor is critical for business success.

Cultural Change That Sticks

When properly harnessed, an organization’s culture can be a true differentiator that no competitor can duplicate. However, as pressures on companies build, leaders often become frustrated with the comparatively slow pace of culture evolution. In the rush to implement new strategies and make performance improvements, the legacy culture—employees’ ingrained ways of doing things—can seem like the greatest barrier to change. Unfortunately, most well-intended efforts to … [ Read more ]

Lenovo Goes Global

China’s most recognizable brand has plans to overtake Apple and Samsung.