Innovation

The secret sauce is “socialstructing.”

Graphics aren’t just an alternative to representation in words.

Three strategies for surviving in a tough environment.

An entire generation’s prosperity vanishing, food stamp use exploding. Welcome to the jobless future. This month’s jobs numbers drive home the point. The unemployment rate fell at the fastest rate for years — great news, right? Wrong. The lion’s share of the gains came from (wait for it) “temporary help services.” See what just happened? […]

On the basis of a sample from the top 200 of the Fortune “500” and data from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) project, this author gives some guidelines for established companies on what to expect from new ventures. He points out that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years before the […]

It’s the only way to make sound trade-off decisions and choose the right practices.

Executives know that a company's measurement systems strongly affect employee behaviors. But the traditional financial performance measures that worked...

It's about knowing how to reallocate - and deallocate - resources.

We all know why leap years exist, right? Our calendars get out of synch with the solar system so we must periodically get our human calendars back on track with the celestial ones. In other words, February 29th is all about correcting drift. Without those corrections, things become more and more out of synch. Not […]

Editor's note: This blog was written with Madhu Viswanathan, Professor of Business Administration at University of Illinois at Champaign, Illinois. The...

Recently I delivered a talk a the Council on Foreign Relations titled “Managing the New Trajectory of Global Innovation” explaining why and how multinationals must revamp their Western-centric innovation strategy in order to effectively leverage global ideas, talent, and markets. In our increasingly multi-polar world characterized by the inexorable rise of emerging markets like Brazil, […]

Do 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...

Strategies for remaining gainfully employed in an era of very smart machines

There are still open questions, but the research can provide some answers about what works.

I gave a talk at the Canadian Marketing Association in Toronto last week. Leaving the hall, I fell into step with a young marketer. She seemed stressed. “How are you doing?” I asked. “I liked your talk,” she said, “but it’s hard. Everyone wants to be innovative but no one wants to make a mistake.” […]

The U.S. government will spend more than $25 billion on health-care-related IT as part of the health care reform bill passed by Congress in March of 2010....

When I started using my new Amazon Kindle, it became clear to me that CEO Jeff Bezos is trying to dominate the entire value chain in content, from author to consumption. At a svelte 10.3 ounces, my Kindle, through its free Whispernet connection, can download from 115,000 books, 327 blogs, 18 newspapers, and 15 magazines. […]

Networks are essential for collaboration, innovation, and career development. But too many executives have networks that, while they may be large, don’t have enough diversity to be effective. For the past fifteen years, I have asked the executives I teach to list the people with whom they have discussed important work matters over the past […]

From restaurants to lead paint, data is making government more efficient.

We all remember the SunChips Episode of 2010. Frito-Lay introduced bio-degradable packaging for SunChips in March, and was surprised to see sales of the...

By 2003, Rupert Murdoch and his team had built an impressive global sports regime within News Corp., while transforming the industry with innovative strategies,...

The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle-based scavenger hunt at MIT. It is run every year by a different team, and every year is slightly different as...

This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby...

The B case begins with the consultants' proposal to Kim Markey, executive director of revenue cycle at Huntington Hospital (HH). The proposal is untraditional...

February 2011: O.P. Bhatt reflected contentedly on his five-year term as Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest commercial bank. He had...

In 2003, Mike McCready, CEO of Barcelona-based Polyphonic HMI, was preparing to launch an artificial intelligence tool that could create significant value...

This case focuses on the Innovation Performance Management (IPM) methodology as a new approach whereby established and global companies, like Bosch, can...

Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited (HKT) is a member firm of the PCCW conglomerate and Hong Kong's largest telecommunications company. With its core...

Introduces David Green, a social entrepreneur with the mission of making advanced medical technology affordable and available to those in developing countries....

In October 2007, the British band Radiohead caused a stir when it announced it would allow customers to decide how much to pay for its new album, released...

Leveraging the power of business networks for success. Whether it sells computers, clothing, or cars, your firm's fate is increasingly linked to that...

In December 2021, Murat Ozyegin, Chairman of Fiba Holding, along with Omer Mert and İhsan Elgin, engaged in discussions about the future of United Payment,...

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...

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

Supplement to case LBS178

Details Nike Football's marketing efforts in the lead up to and during the World Cup in South Africa (2010). Allows students to reflect on the implementation...

Living PlanIT is a start-up company that has developed a new, innovative business model for sustainable urbanization. This model reflects the software...

Nike's Football division needs to devise a strategy to excel at the 2010 World Cup games in South Africa. Nike has gone from a niche player in the market...

You are married with two teenage children and living in a two-bedroom apartment. You have lived in the north of Horsley all your life, but following the...

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were heralded by some as a healthcare game changer, enabling smokers to switch to a new product which carried lower...

Harvard Business Review Special Issues are timely, single-theme collections of HBR articles written by some of the world's leading management scholars...

The secret sauce is “socialstructing.”

By 2003, Rupert Murdoch and his team had built an impressive global sports regime within News Corp., while transforming the industry with innovative strategies,...

Graphics aren’t just an alternative to representation in words.

Three strategies for surviving in a tough environment.

The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle-based scavenger hunt at MIT. It is run every year by a different team, and every year is slightly different as...

An entire generation’s prosperity vanishing, food stamp use exploding. Welcome to the jobless future. This month’s jobs numbers drive home the point. The unemployment rate fell at the fastest rate for years — great news, right? Wrong. The lion’s share of the gains came from (wait for it) “temporary help services.” See what just happened? […]

On the basis of a sample from the top 200 of the Fortune “500” and data from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) project, this author gives some guidelines for established companies on what to expect from new ventures. He points out that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years before the […]

It’s the only way to make sound trade-off decisions and choose the right practices.

Executives know that a company's measurement systems strongly affect employee behaviors. But the traditional financial performance measures that worked...