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Businesses and the Icarus Paradox
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleDo you know the tale of Icarus? Icarus was a figure in Greek mythology who fashioned some wings out of feathers and beeswax to escape an island. So enamored... -
Beyond Automation
Technology and analytics Magazine ArticleStrategies for remaining gainfully employed in an era of very smart machines -
Research: Which Firms Are Allowed to Be Disruptors?
Change management Digital ArticleNewcomers may have the will, but industry insiders have the way. -
On Tracking Transformational Trends
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleHow do you provide an expert opinion on a topic in which you are not an expert? That was the question I was wrestling with earlier this week when a multi-billion... -
Why Do We Care about Disruption?
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThe other week, two of my colleagues were engaged in a fierce debate about whether a particular business was or not in fact "disruptive." When they asked... -
Research: Self-Disruption Can Hurt the Companies That Need It the Most
Strategy & Execution ResearchVery few studies have quantified disruption. This one does. -
Could Pixar’s ‘Secret Story Guidelines’ Work for Your Team?
Creativity Digital ArticleBelieve it or not, Pixar was once a scrappy startup. The multi-billion dollar juggernaut with a near-perfect record of churning out hit after hit today was once “a bunch of guys going on their gut” according to Andrew Stanton, a co-founding filmmaker with the company whose credits include writing and directing Wall E and Finding […] -
How Understanding Disruption Helps Strategists
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleEven imperfect theories are useful. -
The HBR Article That Keeps Google Growing
Technology and analytics Digital ArticleFrom the person who should certainly know. -
With Innovation, You Don’t Get Points for Difficulty
Innovation Digital ArticleSomeone in India recently asked me what I thought about an innovation strategy featuring a heavy dose of “imitation.” My response was, “Innovation isn’t Olympic diving.” What did I mean? An individual diver’s scores for an event are a factor of two things: how well they execute their dive, and the “degree of difficulty” of […] -
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Battle for E-Books
Competitive strategy Digital ArticleThere’s a battle emerging over the industry structure of e-books: Amazon has one approach, Barnes & Noble another. Will the clash play out like the computer wars of the late 80s, or the music wars of the late 90s? Let’s take a look. Years of declining music sales reflect a grim story for the music […] -
Why Spotify Will Kill iTunes
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleFor another look at the Spotify launch, see “Why I’m Not Going Near Spotify (and Why You Shouldn’t Either).” iTunes as we know it is over. It is walking, talking, and continuing to pretend it’s alive, but Spotify, Europe’s outrageously successful streaming music product, has just shown us the future. Though you might not even […] -
A Manifesto for Leaders: Time to Summon Your “Animal Spirits”
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleWarning: This is my first post of 2009, so please excuse the length. You know things are dire when one of the country’s most influential columnists devotes several articles (and a new book) to parallels between what’s happening now and the Great Depression. Here’s Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in his latest New York Times column: […] -
Why Today’s Leaders Need to Be Perpetual Learners
Business and society Digital Article“Changing yourself in the job, especially if you’re doing well, is one of the hardest things to do.” -
Don't Confuse Passion with Competence
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThe most successful innovators are consistently portrayed as possessing a passion that borders on dogmatism. They work tirelessly to bend reality to achieve... -
On-the-Brink Disruptors: Two Years Later
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleBack in January 2009, my colleague Tim Huse and I wrote an article for Forbes.com in which we offered some predictions based on a pattern we'd observed... -
Don’t Make These Mistakes When Entering a New Market
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleThere may be very good reasons no one has seized the opportunity you see. -
The President of SRI Ventures on Bringing Siri to Life
Disruptive innovation Magazine ArticleBefore it could become part of every iPhone, the “virtual personal assistant” had to cross innovation’s valley of death. -
Ebooks: Getting Beyond Disruption
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleAt O'Reilly Media's Tools of Change for Publishing conference in New York this week, book industry dreamers and doers gathered, as they do every year,... -
Why Newspapers Were Doomed All Along
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleThe best job I’ve ever had was as an editorial writer at The Birmingham News in Alabama in the early/mid 1990s. It was a perfect combination of boss, colleagues, place, subject matter, and time of life. I left in 1995 because my then-fiancée (now-wife) had taken a job in Washington, D.C., and I was getting […]
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Make Decisions with a VC Mindset
Organizational decision making Magazine ArticleThe key is to embrace risk, disagreement, and agility. -
Overcoming Common Challenges to Disruptive Innovation
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleHow companies can improve their prospects for growth. -
The Benefits of Innovation That Isn’t Disruptive
Growth strategy Digital ArticleFinding entirely new opportunities for growth has four clear advantages. -
Is Your Job AI Resilient?
AI and machine learning Digital ArticleAn analysis spanning more than 160 million U.S. jobs, 20 industries, and 800 occupations. -
4 Forces That Are Fundamentally Changing How We Work
Business and society Digital ArticleOrganizations that harness these forces will unlock productivity and creativity. Those that resist risk becoming relics of a bygone era. -
How the Science of Choice Can Boost Innovation
Innovation Digital ArticleA process called choice mapping helps you apply constraints that can uncover novel solutions to problems. -
Why Today’s Leaders Need to Be Perpetual Learners
Business and society Digital Article“Changing yourself in the job, especially if you’re doing well, is one of the hardest things to do.” -
Can the Construction Industry Be Disrupted?
Technology and analytics Digital ArticleFlashy automated solutions struggle to find a foothold in the trades, but there are technological advances taking place. -
The Right Way to Cut Costs
Management Digital Article"Efficiency" has become a corporate watchword as the era of cheap capital has ended. Amid layoffs and uncertainty, this Spotlight explores how companies... -
How Midsize Companies Can Make the Most of Disruption
Organizational change Digital ArticleNew research shows three ways these smaller companies can drive change rather than react to it. -
Ethics in the Age of AI
Management Digital ArticleThe next generations of generative AI, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies don't just pose a challenge for organizational operations and... -
Innovation Doesn’t Have to Be Disruptive
Innovation Magazine ArticleCreate new markets for growth without destroying existing companies or jobs. -
How Generative AI Could Disrupt Creative Work
AI and machine learning Digital ArticleThree scenarios — and how to navigate them. -
How Biometrics Are Transforming the Customer Experience
Innovation Digital ArticleAs technology like facial recognition becomes more pervasive, companies need to prioritize privacy and security. -
Lessons on Customer Engagement from Fan Controlled Football
Innovation Digital ArticleThe esports venture uses blockchain to let fans call the shots in real time. -
Genpact CEO Tiger Tyagarajan: AI Is Getting Good, But Still Can’t Replace Human Curiosity
Business and society Digital ArticleIf developed the right way, technology will augment–not replace–human labor. -
Innovating in Uncertain Times: Lessons from 2022
AI and machine learning Digital ArticlePlus strategies for driving transformative growth in 2023. -
ChatGPT and How AI Disrupts Industries
AI and machine learning Digital ArticleA look back at the taxi business illustrates what OpenAI’s newest model might mean for creative work. -
What Makes Innovation Partnerships Succeed
Innovation Digital ArticleCollaborations often start with high hopes — then break down. Here’s how to actually make them work. -
Welcome to Web3
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleWeb3--a blockchain-based web that includes cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and more--promises to transform the experience of being...
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Reinventing the Automobile: General Motors' AUTOnomy Project
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Describes the history of General Motor's attempts to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell powered car. As of 2003, GM developed several prototypes of such a vehicle... -
Turkcell (B): From a Telecom Network Operator to a Customer Experience Provider
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details Supplement to case IMD972 Kaan Terzioglu, Turkcell's CEO, and his top team had spent Capital Markets Day with global investment analysts celebrating... -
Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (A): Disruptive Innovation in Major League Baseball
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Billy Beane and the Oakland A's have 'changed the game' in terms of talent identification, analytics, and player investment in Major League Baseball (MLB).... -
Identifying Goals and Boundaries: A Tool from "The Innovator's Guide to Growth"
6.95View Details Many companies subscribe to a notion that the way to unleash innovation is to let chaos reign. According to this theory, companies should seek to avoid... -
ZipDial: Reaching The Next 3 Billion Consumers
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In early 2014, Sanjay Swamy and Valerie Rozycki Wagoner, respectively chairman and CEO of ZipDial, were discussing the possibility of extending the company's... -
Riverstone
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In 2020, Luke Minion and the leadership team at Riverstone, a hog producer founded in 2013 in Shandong, China, were evaluating Riverstone's strategy as... -
Birla Carbon Egypt: Building Soft Power in a Foreign Country
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Birla Carbon, a flagship business of the nearly $60-billion global conglomerate and India-headquartered Aditya Birla Group (ABG), is one of the world's... -
Intermountain Healthcare: Pursuing Precision Medicine
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Intermountain Healthcare operates 23 hospitals and hundreds of clinics in Utah and Idaho and provides insurance to approximately... -
Intel Research: Exploring the Future
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details It is 2004 and David Tennenhouse, the director of Intel Research, is reviewing the organization he has built since 2000. Intel Research was charged with... -
Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get... -
Nintendo Switch: Shifting from Market-Competing to Market-Creating Strategy
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Nintendo languished in last place during the console wars of the early 2000s, with game industry analysts suggesting that the Kyoto-based firm exit the... -
Calgene, Inc.
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In 1993, Calgene is on the verge of introducing the world's first genetically engineered plant product--a tomato will taste better and stay fresh longer.... -
Snapp: Scaling under Sanctions in Iran (B)
Global Business Case Study5.00View Details The case opens in November 2020 as Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, co-founders of Iran's first and leading ride-hailing platform, Snapp, eagerly await... -
Gharpar: The Lean Beauty Start-up: Beauty done Comfortably (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case series follows a series of events over the first two years of the life of GharPar (GP), a Lahore-based start-up that provides at-home beauty... -
Microsoft in 2004
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Surveys Microsoft's expansion into new businesses, such as mobile and embedded devices, home and entertainment, and business solutions, as it faces challenges... -
Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details Billy Beane and the Oakland A's have 'changed the game' in terms of talent identification, analytics, and player investment in Major League Baseball (MLB).... -
The National Geographic Society (A) (Abridged)
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic... -
Future-proofing HEINEKEN: The EverGreen strategy
Management Case Study11.95View Details Dolf van den Brink, CEO of HEINEKEN, left the company's global headquarters in Amsterdam for a company retreat. Over the next three days, the entire executive... -
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Technology and Strategy Collection (7 Books)
150.00View Details Are analytics and technology a strategic part of your business? Artificial intelligence, platforms, algorithms, machine learning. Most business leaders... -
Syntellix: Disrupting the Medical Implant Titans with a Screw that Disappears
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Set in early October 2017, this case follows Utz Claassen, the founder and chairman of Syntellix - a medical parts company that specialised in the research,...
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Disrupting the Meat Industry: Tissue Culture Beef
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Dr. Mark Post and his team at Maastricht University were perfecting their tissue culture beef product-made entirely from muscle grown in his lab-to give... -
What Innovative Companies Can Learn from Keurig's Highs and Lows
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleExperiment, but be thoughtful. -
Turbulent Times for TikTok's Platform Strategy
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details At the beginning of 2021, TikTok was facing multiple market threats and had to decide what strategies to implement to manage them. TikTok was the world's... -
Research: Which Firms Are Allowed to Be Disruptors?
Change management Digital ArticleNewcomers may have the will, but industry insiders have the way. -
How Midsize Companies Can Make the Most of Disruption
Organizational Development Digital ArticleNew research shows three ways these smaller companies can drive change rather than react to it. -
Which Customers to Listen to, When
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleOnly hearing your most profitable, demanding customers leads to disruption. -
Blue Nile's Cheaper Diamonds Need Not Threaten Tiffany. Here's Why.
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleLuxury jewelers should be willing to part with low-end customers. -
Innovation Lessons from Electric Cars
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleWhat will customers expect from electric vehicles? It is a critical question that automobile companies are debating right now. And the way in which companies... -
When Your Business Has Nowhere to Hide
Organizational Development Digital ArticleOnly the Paranoid Survive was the title of Andrew Grove's candid account of the years he headed Intel, leading it from a small maker of computer chips... -
Gharpar: The Lean Beauty Start-up: Beauty done Comfortably (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case series follows a series of events over the first two years of the life of GharPar (GP), a Lahore-based start-up that provides at-home beauty...