1297 Posts found for Source: strategy+business

I do not believe China should be forced to hold democratic elections, even if that were possible. Its population would vote for leaders who distribute wealth to the poor. But there are still 900 million farmers in China with an average annual income of $500; distribution of wealth would simply be a synonym, as it is in India, for the distribution of poverty.

The Western … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: International, Politics

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The dean of Berkeley’s School of Information Management and Systems foresees a world in which everything is negotiable.

Content: Thought Leader | Author: Michael Schrage | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Industry: Education / Training

Customers want more customized, personalized products and services, but companies struggle to cost-effectively deliver them. Improving communication and coordination between operations and sales and marketing is one critical path to profitable customization.

Content: Article | Sources: Knowledge@Wharton, strategy+business | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Operations

For too long, a black-and-white myopia has applied scale either everywhere or nowhere in manufacturing industries. We would argue for a more nuanced view – a fundamental reinvention of scale. This reinvention can be accomplished in most industries by breaking the operation’s value chain into vertical functions and horizontal product flows, examining the real cost drivers, and finding those parts of the business where scale … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Operations

Each company has an intrinsic innovation effectiveness curve. Here are three ways to lift it.

Content: Article | Authors: Alexander Kandybin, Martin Kihn | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Innovation, Management

This article outlines a global H.R. action agenda based on the approaches used by leading multinational companies. The goal is to build sustainable competitive advantage by attracting and developing the best managerial talent in each of your company’s markets.

The strategy demands global H.R. leadership with standard systems but local adaptation. The key underlying ideas are to satisfy your company’s global human resources needs via … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Helen Bloom, John A. Quelch | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Human Resources, International

The successful transfer of new technologies from the research laboratory to the commercial sector has many benefits: the creation of wealth, new jobs and new solutions to society’s problems. For nearly three decades, Stanford University has been a leader in technology transfer, fostering the growth of northern California’s Silicon Valley and the biotechnology industry and providing a model for other research and educational institutions across … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Lawrence M. Fisher | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, IT / Technology / E-Business | Industry: Education / Training

This broadcaster has built and leveraged powerful commercial brands, all while keeping a careful eye on its nonprofit mission.

Content: Case Study | Author: Glenn Rifkin | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Industry Specific, Nonprofit | Industry: Non-Profit | Company: WGBH Public Broadcasting Station (PBS)

Joint ventures can hold the key to expanding globally, introducing new product lines and leveraging brand capital. But it takes good relationships – and patience.

Content: Case Study | Author: Lawrence M. Fisher | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Industry Specific, International | Industry: Wine / Spirits | Company: Robert Mondavi Winery

History teaches that to get lasting results from a change program, it is vital to begin with a vision of the future and create incentives that motivate people to achieve those ends.

Editor’s Note: focuses on the “Conflict of Visions” view of economist Thomas Sowell (Unconstrained vs. Constrained View)

Content: Article | Author: Jeffrey W. Bennett | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior

For businesses to thrive amid the formidable complexities of their new environment, an entirely new type of corporation is called for that is distanced from the excessive levels of command that companies have become comfortable with. That corporation must have a much stronger focus on the basics of what ultimately creates value: knowledge, people and coherence. It must evolve toward a new business model (the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Abert J. Viscio, Bruce A. Pasternack | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Acquisitions are all the rage, but when it comes to creating value, big is not always better. What matters is how a company’s pieces work together.

Editor’s Note: this article offers one of the most controversial and counter-intuitive prescriptions I have ever read (up there with the “IT adds no value” argument). Specifically, it says that corporate centers typically subtract value in multi-business entities rather … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Andrew Campbell, David Sadtler | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Strategy

Does it pay to be first with a product or service? Is being an innovator worth the risk? Is it better to wait and learn from the experiences of the first entrant to the market? What is the proper balance between the risks and rewards? If you are a pioneer, what can you do to prevent share erosion when a new player enters the market? … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, Ragu Gurumurthy | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Strategy

The prudent reformer, according to [Adam] Smith, will respect ‘the confirmed habits and prejudices of the people,’ and when he cannot establish what is right, ‘he will not disdain to ameliorate the wrong.’ His goal is not to create the ideal, but to ‘establish the best that the people can bear.’

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Change Management, Personality / Behavior

Many top business thinkers — including Michael Porter, C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel — argue that good communications are crucial for implementing strategy. Yet, while most chief executive officers say that more than half of their daily work involves communications, little in their education prepares them for the task. Their formal training is often limited to basic writing and speaking courses in college and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Janis Forman, Paul A. Argenti | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, MBA Related

In his book “A Conflict of Visions,” the economist Thomas Sowell argues that much of the philosophical debate of the last 200 years has been shaped by the struggle between two competing views of the world.

The “Unconstrained View” is based on the premise that man is basically good and has a natural desire to behave in ways that maximize the benefit to society as … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Economics, Personality / Behavior

To compete, companies are forming alliances as never before. But quantity does not equal quality. Succeeding in an alliance requires creating the right structures for the right situations.

Content: Article | Authors: John R. Harbison, Peter Pekar, Jr., Ph.D. | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy

Many of the problems associated with quality programs are the result of increased complexity. The half-life concept, a new tool, strives to make complexity more manageable. By doing so, learning is accelerated and improvement becomes continuous.

Editor’s Note: a highly recommended read…

Content: Article | Author: Arthur M. Schneiderman | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Operations

In commodity-goods markets, price is usually the only differentiator. But if you can brand those goods and bundle them with services, even bricks and sand can command premium prices. Here is how to turn commodities into branded goods.

Editor’s Note: see a related European Business Forum (EBF) article, “Marketing through collaboration: how seller and buyer can benefit” by Kamran Kashani at:
Content: Article | Authors: Jack McGrath, Sam I. Hill, Sandeep Dayal | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Strategy