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Responsibility

The Power of Public-Private Partnerships

W. Ulaga, M. Adade

How both sectors can collaborate to tackle global challenges.

Strategy

INSEAD Insights: March 2024 Research Picks

Lily Fang

Recent findings on the gender gap in start-ups, conspiracy theories, stock price predictions, improving supply chain networks and more.

Strategy

Six Principles for Successful Multiparty Negotiations

H. Falcao, N. Ferchachi

What managers can learn from COP28, which resulted in nearly 200 nations endorsing a landmark climate accord.

Strategy

How to Spot the Next Technology Breakthrough

A. Shipilov, F. Burelli

The three factors that can predict which B2C and B2B technologies are about to take off.

Strategy

Paving the Way for NFTs

P. Zemsky, F. Godart

While specific use cases may warrant regulation, applying broad rules to NFTs would be akin to regulating fire or bricks.

Leadership & Organisations

Winning the Game of Boardroom Chess

M. Jarrett, A. J. Yap, C. LeBaron

How subtle, seemingly innocuous actions can shift the balance of power in your favour.

Leadership & Organisations

Business and Politics Should Never Mix – Or Should They?

M. Scholz, C. Smith

When companies have a responsibility to speak out on politics.

Strategy

Chinese Automakers’ Secret to Scaling Up Electric Vehicles

Chengyi Lin

How China’s electric vehicle sector drove to the front of the pack.

Strategy

To Use AI Tools Smartly, Think Like a Strategist

Phanish Puranam

Consider how specific AI tools will impact your own skills and capabilities.

Leadership & Organisations

Let’s Get Specific About Kindness in Business

Nadav Klein

Being kind in business has its limits – here’s why you shouldn’t go overboard.

Strategy

Boeing’s Tragedy: The Fall of an American Icon

Y. Doz, K. Wilson

The recent Alaska Airlines incident is just the latest in a string of sometimes tragic mishaps by the aircraft manufacturer – where did it all go wrong?

Strategy

Why Some CEOs Are More Likely to Downsize

Guoli Chen

A firm’s decision on whether to downsize when facing performance shortfalls may depend on the CEO’s internal attribution tendency.

Leadership & Organisations

How Leaders Can Effect Change by Changing Themselves

Narayan Pant

A four-step framework to help leaders look inwards to better lead organisational change.

Leadership & Organisations

INSEAD Insights: January 2024 Research Picks

Lily Fang

Recent findings on enhancing experiences, gender wage transparency, long-term planning, networks and the dangers of flattery.

Operations

To Bundle or Not to Bundle

Guillaume Roels

Bundling isn’t just a pricing tactic. It’s a strategic way of designing product offerings.

Strategy

Leave Intuition to the Machines

A. Lawson, M. Lobo, P. Puranam

Is it time for System 3 thinking by humans?

Economics & Finance

How Web3 and AI Will Transform Finance

J. Davis, J. Kasko

Artificial intelligence and crypto are not only reinventing financial products and delivery, but also influencing who gets to participate.

Career

What 2023 Taught Us: The Rules Are Always Changing

INSEAD Knowledge

This year's top trending articles explore how we can keep pace with a world in flux.

Strategy

Why We Can Be Quicker to Judge Others Than We Think

N. Klein, R. E. Lim

People tend to violate the thresholds they set for evaluating others, which can have significant consequences for their reputation and relationships.

Strategy

How Overconfidence Affects CEOs’ Investment Decisions

Guoli Chen

In uncertain climates, overconfident CEOs tend to invest less in assets that allow a firm to maintain strategic flexibility compared to non-overconfident CEOs.

Entrepreneurship

AI Is Coming for All Our Jobs... Or Is It?

Rachel Eva Lim

How leaders, employees and organisations can better prepare themselves for the impact of AI.

Career

The World’s Most Talent Competitive Countries, 2023

B. Lanvin, F. Monteiro

The tenth anniversary edition of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index reveals changing attitudes and persistent trends.

Strategy

Shareholder Activism at What Price?

Philipp Meyer-Doyle

Financially driven campaigns waged by institutional investors against companies can lead to more workplace illness and injury.

Strategy

Regrowing Local Roots

Yves Doz

Why and how to reinvent multinational management skills

Career

INSEAD Insights: October 2023 Research Picks

Lily Fang

Recent findings on bias in employee evaluations, shareholder activism, children’s mental health, the meaning of work and knowledge weighting.

Strategy

How Does Self-Serving Attribution Affect Strategic Decisions?

Ji-Yub (Jay) Kim

How a firm evaluates its past alliance performance can influence its choice between future alliances and acquisitions.

Strategy

A Simple Corporate Strategy for a Better Political Game

Xiaowei Rose Luo

Even within the same government, different branches may have divergent goals. Here’s how firms can play this to their advantage.

Strategy

A Smarter Way to Design Business Strategies to Serve the Poor

I. Popescu, B.S. Uppari, S. Netessine, R. Clarke

With intelligent modelling, a little data can go a long way when it comes to predicting the performance of bottom-of-the-pyramid strategies.

Strategy

How to Destigmatise Repulsive Products

S. Harrison, S. Nurmohamed

Entrepreneurs can leverage “dirty creativity” to pitch unusual products that consumers may find objectionable.

Responsibility

ESG Is Not Impact

Jasjit Singh

ESG efforts are essential for reducing harm, but it is not the same as striving for a net positive impact.

Strategy

Is the Globalisation Recession Here to Stay?

Marcos Troyjo

Potential pathways to a new chapter for globalisation in an increasingly disconnected world.

Strategy

A First Step Towards Resilient Organisations

Ekin Ilseven

Cultivating resilience in the face of organisational crises hinges on the foundation of a clear strategy, heightened awareness and robust reserves.

Marketing

INSEAD Insights: September 2023 Research Picks

Lily Fang

Recent findings on online marketplace dynamics, new market creation, trust in AI, diversity in corporate boards and consumer choices.

Strategy

A Nondisruptive Approach to the Environment

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne, M. Ji

Companies can help the transition to a greener economy without sacrificing their financial interests.

Strategy

Mastering the Game: The Advantage of AI Training

Henning Piezunka

In the same way chess computers gave players a competitive edge, AI has the power to elevate skills and enhance performance.

Entrepreneurship

How Founding Conditions Impact Start-Up Success

D. C. Motley, C. E. Eesley, W. W. Koo

Diverse founding teams formed in unpredictable environments tend to perform better in similar subsequent conditions.

Strategy

Inside the Black Box Crucial to Megaproject Success

S. Shekshnia, V. Vyas

Despite their importance to the global economy, most megaprojects fail to be delivered on budget or schedule. Here’s how managers could improve on that dismal record.

Strategy

How LLMs Can Change the Way We Strategise

E. Ilseven, Y. Doz

LLMs have notable limitations when it comes to strategy formulation, but deliberately imperfect prompts can challenge conventional thinking.

Strategy

Democracy, Defence and Conflict in the Age of AI

Rachel Eva Lim

How can we ensure that AI fosters, rather than undermines, democratic values?

Strategy

Must AI Accuracy Come at the Cost of Comprehensibility?

F. Candelon, T. Evgeniou, D. Martens

Companies looking to integrate AI in their operations should think twice before turning their backs on simpler, more explainable AI algorithms in favour of complex ones.
1 comment

Leadership & Organisations

Stop Going It Alone

Michael Jarrett

Negotiating radical organisational change needs to be a collective effort.
1 comment

Strategy

The Importance of Strategic Minds

Y. Doz, K. Wilson

Directors and CEOs need to develop specific traits to effectively navigate strategic issues and help shape the future of companies.
1 comment

Operations

Navigating Trust and Safety in the World of Generative AI

T. Evgeniou, J. Dunn, A. Hunsberger

The new generation of artificial intelligence can help defend against online harms – if we can effectively manage the risks.

Strategy

How AI Can Improve Human Performance

F. Gaessler, H. Piezunka

AI training enhances strategic skills, especially in lower-skilled individuals. But it isn’t a perfect substitute for human training partners.

Economics & Finance

Why Demographics Matters More Than Ever for Businesses

C. Zeisberger, D. G. Munro

How understanding expanding and shrinking population subsets could help business and investors identify opportunities to pursue and pitfalls to avoid.

Strategy

ChatGPT and AI Disruption: Is Consulting Next in Line?

Phil Parker

Consultants need to up their game to match algorithms’ ability to provide affordable strategic due diligence.

Strategy

Developing AI With a Growth Mindset

T. Ojanperä, T. Vuori, Q. Huy

Nurture AI like you would a child.
1 comment

Operations

The Road Ahead for XR Technology in Business Education

INSEAD Knowledge

How business schools can navigate the challenges and maximise the impact of immersive learning using VR.

Strategy

Leveraging Generative AI for Digital Transformation

Chengyi Lin

Opportunities and risks for companies incorporating generative AI as part of their digital transformation strategies.

Leadership & Organisations

Governance in the Age of Technological Innovation

Geraldine Ee

With new technologies redefining the global business ecosystem, how can boards navigate these changes and reinvent their business models?

Responsibility

Thoughtful Consumption for Well-Being and Sustainability

H. Plassmann, S. Rangan, E. Hansmeyer

Understanding consumer behaviour is key to making fashion more sustainable.

Strategy

Five Key Insights for Positive-Sum Innovation

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

With the right tools, businesses can innovate and achieve growth without negatively impacting society.

Strategy

Super Apps in Asia, “Everything App” in the US?

Guoli Chen

All-in-one apps that dominate China and other Asian markets may soon materialise in the United States, albeit with significant variations.

Entrepreneurship

What All Tech Start-Ups Need to Succeed

T. Evgeniou, L. Van der Heyden, Y. Lechelle

Governance exists to help tech entrepreneurs prevent value destruction from day one.

Responsibility

When Shareholders Share, the Business Benefits

Claudia Zeisberger

Offering company ownership to every employee can help reduce inequality.

Strategy

Recognising Possibility in Uncertainty

N. Furr, S. Furr

If we frame uncertainty in a different way, we might embrace the possibility it brings instead of fearing it.

Strategy

An Alternative Path to Innovation and Growth

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

How leaders can innovate and achieve growth without displacing industries, companies or jobs.

Strategy

Intellectual Honesty Is Critical for Innovation

Nathan Furr

Here’s how to balance psychological safety and intellectual honesty for better team performance.

Responsibility

Without Shared Values and Goals, Tech Regulations Won't Work

T. Evgeniou, L. Van der Heyden

The world needs to harmonise goals and values in order to rein in the potential harm technology can cause.

Strategy

ChatGPT vs. Hybrids: The Future Depends on Our Choices

Phil Parker

Imposing the equivalent of a worldwide moratorium on generative artificial intelligence is absurd. But developers might want to pause and reflect on what they hope to achieve before releasing AI applications to the public.

Strategy

How Will ChatGPT Shape Business, Society and Employment?

Geraldine Ee

Will next-generation AI systems such as ChatGPT deliver the productivity boost modern economies need – and are we ready for it?

Strategy

How to Effectively Engage Stakeholders

Lite Nartey

Strategies for identifying key players, managing stakeholder networks and creating joint value.

Leadership & Organisations

Joint Strategic Decisions: Do We All Need to Agree?

H. Piezunka, O. Schilke

How organisations’ decision-making rules affect the way individual managers vote.

Strategy

The Social Costs of Not Sharing Fake News

Asher Lawson

Not engaging with fake news online has its social costs; individuals are therefore forced to choose between spreading misinformation and social exclusion.

Operations

How Large Mergers Can Benefit Smaller Players

Xabier Barriola

Joint ventures between dominant incumbents can create opportunities for smaller firms to enter the market and capture market share.

Strategy

For MNCs, Big Decisions About China Are on Ice

Hellmut Schütte

Western multinationals have put important moves on hold amid political and economic uncertainty.

Leadership & Organisations

How to Rapidly Test New Organisation Designs

Phanish Puranam

Instead of blindly adopting industry best practice, companies can use gamified randomised control trials to pilot new organisation designs.

Strategy

How Conspiracy Talk Helps People Make Sense of the World

Henrich Greve

Sharing Covid-19 conspiracy theories on online social networks helped individuals cope with fear and uncertainty during the pandemic.

Responsibility

How Organisation Design Can Rescue the SDGs

Phanish Puranam

We're not on track to meet any SDGs by 2030. Organisation designers can help.
4 comments

Strategy

Demystifying China’s Internet Giants

Guoli Chen

A behind-the-scenes look at what makes or breaks China’s Big Tech flagbearers and their foreign exploits.

Entrepreneurship

China’s Internet Giants: The Nuts and Bolts of Going Global

G. Chen, J. Li

The lowdown on how ByteDance, Shein and Xiaomi succeeded outside of China while WeChat failed.

Leadership & Organisations

Leading Change in Turbulence: Case of Discovery Inc.

J. Petriglieri, G. Petriglieri, M. Soldi

In this video, Marinella Soldi shares ways to navigate the turbulent waters of digital transformation and why it is important to tackle both the strategic and cultural facets of change.

Strategy

Only Fools Rush In: Pitfalls of Hasty Problem-Solving

Asher Lawson

Research into mindless maths reveals why it’s crucial to take your time when approaching a problem.
1 comment

Strategy

Three Key Global Strategy Challenges Companies Face

Felipe Monteiro

Multinationals are adapting and redesigning their global strategies in response to mounting pressures.

Strategy

After the Guns Fall Silent, What Then?

Douglas Webber

Would an end of Russia's invasion of Ukraine result in lasting peace for the region?
1 comment

Strategy

Managing in an Unimaginable World

José Santos

Business leaders can leverage serendipity to help their companies deal with far-reaching market shocks.

Career

Collaborations That Are Bad for Business but Benefit Employees

H. Piezunka, T. Grohsjean

Sharing a partner with competing companies hinders the success of firms but helps employees’ careers.

Strategy

Creating Your Blue Ocean Through Noncustomer Analysis

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne, M. Ji

Adopting a blue ocean perspective can allow you to reach beyond your existing industry’s customers.

Strategy

Can AI Help You Strategise Better?

P. Puranam, P. Sen

Machine learning algorithms can uncover intricate patterns in big data and enable managers to strategise with more confidence.

Operations

Do Unconventional Offices Promote Creativity?

M. Sosa, S. Lee

It is widely assumed that unconventionally-designed offices stimulate creativity. But that isn’t always the case – sometimes they may even impede innovation.
1 comment

Strategy

A World at War With Putin’s Regime

Ludo Van der Heyden

To defend democracy, the civilised world needs to stand with Ukraine in securing victory and continue to engage and pressure Russia to reform itself.

Responsibility

Rising to the ESG Challenge: Towards Effective Governance

Geraldine Ee

Boards can drive the ESG agenda effectively by identifying what is material to their organisation and being willing to adapt along the way.

Strategy

How to Design for Disruption

A. Chadha, S. Hasija

Why a structured approach can turn a volatile world into a growth opportunity.

Strategy

Speed Kills: Why Some MNCs Fail to Pay Attention to Quality

Quy Huy

When managers are too fixated on quick financial results, ethics and service tend to take a backseat.

Leadership & Organisations

Why Communication Breaks Down

P. Puranam, Ö. Koçak

As workplaces become more diverse and work becomes more distributed, it is more important than ever to converge on a common code for effective communication.

Strategy

Thinkers50: The Upside of Uncertainty

Rachel Eva Lim

In this Thinkers50 webinar, Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr share practical tools for navigating life’s ambiguities.

Strategy

Will China’s Internet Giants Conquer the World?

G. Chen, J. Li

Dissecting the success and strategies of Chinese internet firms as more of them venture overseas.

Strategy

Four Elements of Successful Stakeholder Communication

Lite Nartey

Firms can enhance cooperation and reduce conflict by understanding the different dimensions of stakeholder dialogue.

Leadership & Organisations

The Special Bond Behind Every Brilliant Idea

M. Lazar, E. Miron-Spektor, J. Mueller

The way we view ourselves shapes the way we develop and connect with our own ideas.

Strategy

In Age of Deglobalisation, MNCs Need Closer Ties to Thrive

Q. Huy, C. Moschieri, D. Ravasi

Cultivating relationships with local communities and other stakeholders will help multinationals counterbalance increasingly powerful governments.

Entrepreneurship

Corporate VC Is Booming, but Is It What Your Start-Up Needs?

N. Sauvage, C. Zeisberger, M. Varadan

A guide to choosing the right corporate investment for entrepreneurs.

Leadership & Organisations

Paradox Mindset: The Source of Remarkable Creativity in Teams

E. Miron-Spektor, K. Emich, L. Argote, W. Smith

Teams are more successful if they embrace internal differences and explore conflicting ideas instead of glossing over them.

Operations

Making Sense of Attribution in Online Advertising

Antoine Desir

While online advertising has grown rapidly, methods to justify marketing spend on digital platforms have yet to catch up.
1 comment

Strategy

Can We Get Better at Navigating Uncertainty?

Nathan Furr

What innovators have learnt that empowers them to face the uncertainty of new pursuits.

Leadership & Organisations

The X Factor in Crafting New CXO Roles Successfully

J. L. Alvarez, S. Svejenova

CXO roles have proliferated in recent decades, making it difficult for some title holders to find their footing in an ever-changing C-suite landscape.

Marketing

Consumer Streaks Are Motivating – The Key Is Keeping Them Alive

A. Barasch, J. Silverman

People often go out of their way to repeat a behaviour if it is logged and highlighted to them.
1 comment

Strategy

Why the Customer Isn’t Always Right

Alixandra Barasch

Consumer behaviour on food-logging tools reveals initial expectations don’t match actual experience.

Operations

Mind the Inventory Risk: Price Paradox Under Competition

A. Ovchinnikov, H. Pun, G. Raz

In competitive environments, operational innovation could well be the answer to inventory risk.

Leadership & Organisations

What the World Can Learn From Nordic Boards

S. Shekshnia, S. B. Jensen, L. Engstam

Proactive, engaged and democratic, corporate boards in Nordic countries are well-placed to deal with today’s increasingly complex operating environments.

Marketing

Unlock the Full Value of Your Business Relationships

Christoph Senn

A fruitful relationship starts with asking the right – and sometimes difficult – questions.

Strategy

The Rising Importance of Value Innovation for Creating New Growth

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne, M. Ji

With limited resources at hand, companies need to stay smart and efficient when it comes to investing in innovation.

Strategy

Overcoming Competitive Pressures: “Making” vs. “Milking”

P. B. Zemsky, A. A. Costa

A fresh take on the classic theme of generic business strategies.
1 comment

Responsibility

Not All Heroes Wear Capes. They May Just Have More Willpower

Amit Bhattacharjee

We instinctively see people with stronger self-control as more virtuous and more capable of realising good intentions.

Career

The Pitfalls of Flaunting Your Social Status

A. Barasch, S. Srna, D. Small

Ditch the luxury logos if you want to be seen as a cooperative team player.
1 comment

Strategy

Stop Labelling Negotiations as Win-Win or Win-Lose

Horacio Falcão

Too many people have an either naïve or fatalist view of these terms, which have become so misunderstood that we should perhaps even discard them.

Operations

Unfinished Business: Co-Creating Solutions With Beneficiaries

Atalay Atasu

Under severe budget constraints, how can NPOs manage the trade-offs between offering variety versus serving more beneficiaries?

Leadership & Organisations

Creating People-Centric International Organisations With AI

R. McLachlin, K. Tatarinov, T. Ambos, P. Puranam

The United Nations is both a fascinating playground for artificial intelligence applications and a showcase of AI implementation problems and solutions.

Strategy

ENGIE: Powering the Energy Transition With Data

P. Boza, T. Evgeniou, M. Sarkar

What does it take for a utility company to develop a data- and AI-driven software business?
1 comment

Leadership & Organisations

Rethinking the Role of Leaders in the Creative Process

S. Harrison, E. Rouse

A strong vision and a more disciplined approach can actually equal more creative results.
1 comment

Entrepreneurship

Venture Capital Crucial to Push for ‘Ethical’ AI and Tech Standards

T. Evgeniou, C. Zeisberger

Venture capitalists’ role as funding source and mentor of tech start-ups makes them uniquely placed to press for more responsible use of technology.

Entrepreneurship

Escaping the Survival Trap

Martin Gargiulo

Why expanding your network is crucial for long-term creative success.

Strategy

Russia’s War on Ukraine: First Lessons and Outlook

Michael A. Witt

Russia loses big, China gains, and win-lose becomes a new normal.
18 comments

Responsibility

ESG in the Air

L. F. Monteiro, G. Szulanski

How the airline industry is riding a transformation to sustainability.

Strategy

Negotiating With a Team? Skip the Chit-Chat

R. Swaab, R. B. Lount Jr., S. Chung, J. M. Brett

Team negotiators may achieve higher joint gains when they first discuss superordinate goals that either team can’t achieve without the help of the other.

Strategy

A Simple Guide to Charting the Evolution of an Ecosystem

A. Shipilov, F. Burelli

Capture key changes and pivots with a timeline.

Marketing

Why Facebook Is Rebranding Itself as Meta

Klaus Wertenbroch

Is the tech company dodging bad publicity or creating a gatekeeper economy?
2 comments

Strategy

Could Green Methanol Be What China Needs to Reach Net Zero?

Quy Huy

Methanol produced with solar and wind energy is a clean and cheap alternative fuel that could slash China’s emissions by as much as 80 percent.
2 comments

Strategy

A Sociological Take on Creativity: Believe in the Unexpected

Frédéric Godart

Amid the relentless pursuit of creativity, it may be time to reconsider how we define it.

Strategy

ESG Strategy in Action

C. Lin, T. Smoor

Lessons from translating a global water conservation strategy into a coherent and impactful action plan.

Strategy

The Power of Collective Intelligence

Nathan Furr

Lessons from an ant colony.
1 comment

Strategy

Our Best of 2021: Managing Change in Tumultuous Times

INSEAD Knowledge

This year's top articles look at adaptation, resilience and how we all manage change.
1 comment

Strategy

Why Businesses Should Negotiate Prices With Customers

H. Falcao, A. Komaromi

In most scenarios, B2C companies have more to gain by bargaining than not.

Strategy

Negotiators Should Decrease Concessions Across Rounds

K. S. Tey, R. Swaab, M. Schaerer, N. Madan

Signalling your bottom line reduces your counterparty’s ambitions.

Career

Performance Reviews Need a Brand-New P&L

Chengyi Lin

Is your firm’s performance review process helping or hindering progress for your high potentials?
2 comments

Career

The World’s Most Talent Competitive Countries, 2021

L. F. Monteiro, B. Lanvin

The pandemic revealed strengths and weaknesses in how nations develop and retain talent.
1 comment

Strategy

An Unintended Side-effect of Hedge Fund Activism? Human Capital Loss

Philipp Meyer-Doyle

When hedge fund activism triggers an exodus of key employees, everyone loses.

Strategy

The Importance of Incorporating Innovation in a Firm

R. Noyes, L. F. Monteiro

In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, the author describes lessons from his work with innovation and multinationals.

Strategy

If Your Company Were a Political Party, Which Would It Be?

Ayman Jawhar

Four simple questions will tell you where your organisation stands on today’s wide-ranging ideological spectrum.

Strategy

Five Lessons From Xiaomi’s Path to Smartphone Supremacy

Chengyi Lin

Xiaomi’s leadership team idolised Steve Jobs. Now, it seems the student has become the master.
3 comments

Strategy

How the “Butterfly Effect” Can Harm Firm Performance

I. Stern, G. Chen

Firms need to develop appropriate HR risk management strategies to lessen the impact of unanticipated employee departures.
1 comment

Strategy

Research Hacks to Help You Negotiate Anything

Alena Komaromi

Even zero-sum negotiations can turn into a win-win.

Strategy

Strategising for Success in Winner-Take-All Industries

Phebo Wibbens

Wild differences in performance within a market are largely shaped by that market’s dependence on resources.

Strategy

Are You Asking the Right Questions of Your Data Team?

C. Zimmerman, T. Evgeniou, D. Kelly, J. Weng

Asking great questions is perhaps the most underappreciated skill of great data-driven leaders.
2 comments

Strategy

Xiaomi’s Road to Internet-of-Things Dominance

A. Chattopdhyay, H. Yang, J. Ma

The key to building the world’s largest IoT company? A novel collaboration-based strategy of “strategic coalescence”.

Strategy

CEOs Who Play to Type Win the Market

Guoli Chen

An important CEO attribute that shapes firm strategies such as mergers and acquisitions is uncovered.

Strategy

A ‘Lab in the Field’ Approach to Evidence-Based Management

P. Puranam, J. Singh, H. Rao

Simplified experimentation in the field may be the best of both worlds, provided its results are viewed with the proper perspective.

Strategy

A Blue Ocean Compass for Your Post-Covid Strategy

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne, M. Ji

Four questions to help you rethink industry logic and existing practices to prepare for a powerful comeback.
2 comments

Strategy

The Relationships That Create Successful Acquisitions

Laurence Capron

A study of start-up acquisitions shows important patterns on both sides lead to a successful integration.

Strategy

Why Do Innovation Outposts Fail?

L. Felipe Monteiro

The steps multinationals can take to create a brokerage environment that fosters innovation.

Strategy

Building and Leading Your Organisation’s Data Capability

C. Zimmerman, T. Evgeniou, G. Lotan, S. Bala

The most impactful data teams can think strategically while delivering technically.

Strategy

The “Frenemy” Effect: When Strategic Alliances Go South

Javier Gimeno

How to fuel – and cool – competitive wars.

Strategy

Simple Rules for the Post-Pandemic World

Nathan Furr

Learning and using rules of thumb makes a difference both during crises and when opportunity knocks.

Strategy

Do CEOs Matter?

S. H. Lee, G. Chen

Conditions that underpin the power and impact of chief executives vary widely, with remarkable results.

Strategy

Three Key Steps to Prepare for Data and AI Leadership

C Zimmerman, K Walsh, J McMillan, T Evgeniou

To harness the potential of new technology, today’s data-driven business leaders must also be politicians and communicators.
1 comment

Strategy

Testing Google’s Claim of Quality

Hyunjin Kim

Research suggests that, by using a tying strategy, dominant platforms may be able to gain traction in new markets with a lower quality product than what is offered.

Strategy

What Makes Business Ecosystems Succeed?

Andrew Shipilov & Francesco Burelli

Our framework guides you through the forces driving Airbnb and other ecosystem-based businesses.
1 comment

Strategy

What Yelp Reviews Can Tell Us About the State of the Economy

Hyunjin Kim

Data from online sources like Yelp can help you take the pulse of local business activity in the absence of updated official statistics.

Strategy

The Fundamentals of Transforming from Matrix to Agile

Y. Doz, M. Guadalupe

Nothing less than an evolution of strategy, structure, processes, people and technology will do.
3 comments

Strategy

How Happiness, Anger and Anxiety Can Help You Negotiate

Don’t suppress your emotions – harness them to negotiate better.

Strategy

Not Everyone Can Be Agile

Y. Doz, M. Guadalupe

An essential checklist for Agile aspirants.
2 comments

Strategy

The Five Essential Roles of Corporate Ecosystems

Andrew Shipilov & Francesco Burelli

Most firms that try to build an ecosystem would be better off joining an existing one. The first step is for them to know where they would fit.
2 comments

Strategy

Nokia’s Reinvention Was Emotionally Driven

Q. Huy, T. Vuori

No less than start-ups or SMEs, large organisations can accomplish a radical strategic shift – if they can regulate managers’ raw emotions in the aftermath of failure.

Strategy

Can the Subscription Economy Save Financial Services?

Wolfgang Ulaga & Michael Mansard

The traditional FSI business model is looking threadbare – and not only because of the pandemic. Some players are seeking new territory by transitioning to subscriptions.
1 comment

Strategy

The Post-Covid Future of “Everything as a Service”

Wolfgang Ulaga

The tough lessons of 2020 will provoke two major developments in B2B, having to do with technology and people.

Strategy

Don’t Confuse Platforms with Ecosystems

A. Shipilov, F. Burelli

A beginners’ guide to high-value business models.
3 comments

Strategy

Six Tools for Turning Your Ideas Into Reality

Nathan Furr

From finding the right analogy to tapping into FOMO, learn how to sell your ideas to potential supporters.
2 comments

Strategy

How to Be a Blue Ocean Strategist in the Post-Pandemic World

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne, M. Ji

A blue ocean mindset uncovers hidden opportunities amid the Covid-era economic crisis.
2 comments

Strategy

Hold the Emoji and Other Tips for Successful Email Negotiations

Tactics for increasing B2B sales.

Strategy

Four Steps to Business Model Innovation

Sameer Hasija

Success in this new era of accelerated disruption requires a holistic approach to technology.

Strategy

Scorched-Earth Strategic Thinking for Covid Times

“Disrupt yourself first” is so five years ago. The new motto is “Burn your company to the ground then rebuild it.”

Strategy

Food Security in a Pandemic: Lessons From India’s Lockdown

W. W. Koo, X. Li

Portable food ration cards allow migrant populations to shelter in place, but implementation across state borders faces hurdles.

Strategy

Innovation Plucked from the Zeitgeist

Michaël Bikard

A method to quantify the phenomenon of simultaneous discoveries sheds insight into how one innovation wins and another is left on the shelf.

Strategy

How Hedge Fund Activists Influence Target Firms

Understanding settlement agreements is important to see the complete picture of the corporate governance landscape.

Strategy

What the War Between Alibaba and Tencent Says About Strategy

Guoli Chen

In emerging markets or nascent industries, plan-as-you-go has proved to be a winner many times over.

Strategy

How to Make the Most of a Chief Sustainability Officer

Guoli Chen

Shift the focus from doing less bad to doing more good.

Strategy

Recession-Proofing the Subscription Economy

W. Ulaga, M. Mansard

Believe it or not, most subscription-based businesses are still seeing modest growth by exploiting four strategic manoeuvres.

Strategy

How to Become a Star in a Strange Land

A. Shipilov, S. X. Li, W. Li

It helps if you’re a generalist with no ego.
1 comment

Strategy

Global Strategy for a De-globalising World

Benjamin Kessler

The world may not be as flat as it once was, but global business strategy is, if anything, a more urgent priority than before.
1 comment

Strategy

How Social Impact Start-ups Are Solving Brazil’s Covid-19 Challenges

F. Salum, K. Coleta, F. Monteiro

The persistent problem of inequality in Latin America leaves citizens more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Innovative platforms move towards balancing the scales.
2 comments

Strategy

Creating, Fast and Slow

Michaël Bikard

Instead of bickering about the superiority of specialists or generalists, why not recognise that creative strategies involve trade-offs?

Strategy

How Data Is Transforming the Energy Sector

Pál Boza & Theos Evgeniou

One German utility company has taken the lead in transitioning to “embedded, scaled and disrupted” AI.

Strategy

Green Shoots for Businesses in China’s New Normal

Guoli Chen

After a historic economic contraction, opportunities beckon nimble-footed companies.

Strategy

The Three Essentials of B2B Digital Transformation

Joerg Niessing & Fred Geyer

The most common question we hear is, “Where do I start?” The answer is, “Where it makes the most sense from a customer’s point of view.”
7 comments

Strategy

How Covid-19 Raises the Digital Stakes Even Higher

Rachael Noyes

Now is the time for firms to invest in digital transformation.

Strategy

Growing Resilience in Uncertain Times

Nathan Furr

Managing the current crisis is an inside job.

Strategy

Rising to the Challenges of COVID-19 Recovery

M Bikard, C Lin, A Shipilov

Which companies and industries seem to be getting it right, and which are floundering?

Strategy

Four Strategic Priorities for the Post-COVID-19 World

To build resilience going forward, the first question to answer is not, “What’s in it for me?” but “What if?”
3 comments

Strategy

How the SDGs Can Power Innovation

L. Felipe Monteiro

Risk-averse industries like the energy sector should use the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as the inspiration for new challenges.

Strategy

How to Handle Video Negotiations

Alena Komaromi

Better get used to virtual negotiations, as they might just be the way of the future.
2 comments

Strategy

How Virus-Hit China Manages Its Sprawling Gig Economy

Chengyi Lin

When it comes to employee satisfaction in these extraordinary times, Alibaba and other Chinese e-commerce players leave Amazon in their trail.
2 comments

Strategy

Blending Public and Private Value Creation at Natura

Aline Gatignon & Laurence Capron

One major, home-grown firm in Brazil offers a successful, impactful business model to overcome skill and talent scarcity.

Strategy

Maximising Outcomes in Impact Investing

Jasjit Singh

Debates on whether investing for impact should involve financial compromises are moot. Here’s the more relevant question: How can different kinds of investors optimise their societal impact?
1 comment

Strategy

TMT: The Unit for Success

How the right mix of experience and innovation generates a great start-up top management team.
1 comment

Strategy

The Changing Tides of the Global Economy

L. F. Monteiro, M. Troyjo

Political economist and diplomat Marcos Troyjo advises us to buckle up for a possible new round of globalisation.

Strategy

What Companies Tend to Get Wrong About AI

Jenny Watkins

In the stampede to build an AI strategy, executives fall into four main traps.

Strategy

Firms Favour Academic Insights That Come From Hubs

M. Bikard

Innovators can improve their performance by paying attention to academic science.

Strategy

How to Bend the Rules Like Beckham

The risks professional footballers take as they flirt with foul play hold lessons – positive and negative – for high-stakes competitors in every arena.

Strategy

LIVA: How to Truly Measure Long-Term Success

P. Wibbens, N. Siggelkow

Most executives care about creating long-term shareholder value but haven’t had the right tool to track it – until now.
5 comments

Strategy

The Secret Ingredients of ‘Superforecasting’

Data from a political predictions tournament are starting to yield insights into the main drivers of forecasting excellence – and how to cultivate it.

Strategy

Big Food Is Ripe for a Revolution

Kevin Parker & Boris Liedtke

The wine industry shows how eco-friendly production can benefit both companies and consumers.

Strategy

Developing a Toolkit for Strategic Foresight

D Midgley, T Coltman, T Simnadis

Why some companies see disruption coming from a mile away, and respond accordingly.
2 comments

Strategy

Super Apps: How to Create a Mass Market of One

G. Chen, M. Trocha

By targeting each customer as a single market, super apps build a business model that is transforming lives in emerging markets.

Strategy

Why Foreign Firms Struggle to Break Into China

J. S. Black, A. J. Morrison

Trade wars are not even the biggest problem.
1 comment

Strategy

Boards Under the Influence

H. Greve, A. Shipilov, T. Rowley

Directors need to carefully manage their reactions to what they read in the business press.

Strategy

How Silence Can Help Win-Win Negotiators

Alena Komaromi

While silence can be uncomfortable, its benefits are too numerous to ignore.
1 comment

Strategy

Making the Online World Less Addictive – and More Popular

Paulo Albuquerque & Yulia Nevskaya

How companies can use five levers to regulate online user engagement over time.

Strategy

The Best CEO-CFO Team for M&As

G. Chen, W. Shi

Buyouts engineered by optimistic CEOs and pessimistic CFOs have the best odds of success.
1 comment

Strategy

Why Negotiators Should Be on Social Networks

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

The mere presence of a Facebook connection increases trust and forgiveness in negotiations.
1 comment

Strategy

Can Emotion Be Automated?

Chengyi Lin

The emotional literacy gap between bots and humans is expected to narrow, thanks to a series of technological advances.
4 comments

Strategy

Responding to the New Cold War

Michael A. Witt

Multinationals have two options for dealing with rapidly rising tensions between China and the United States.
1 comment

Strategy

Define, Broadcast, Attract and Select: A Framework for Crowdsourcing

H. Piezunka, L. Dahlander & L.B. Jeppesen

Crowds are not inherently wise. They become so under the right set of conditions.
1 comment

Strategy

Automakers, Don’t Listen to Henry Ford

Boris Liedtke

Car manufacturers would be wise to invest in multiple alternatives to the conventional car in order to succeed in diverse markets.

Strategy

Blockchain Is a Technology for Collaboration

The unique strength of blockchain is authenticating “stuff” to enable trust between partners.
1 comment

Strategy

Digital Business: Three Core Concepts Exploded

The digital world has pushed old curves off the whiteboard as new trajectories arise.
1 comment

Strategy

How Strategic Alliances Can Strengthen Investigative Journalism

M. Hunter, L. Van Wassenhove & M. Besiou

Collaborations between journalists and NGOs forge new avenues for mutual value creation – and social impact.

Strategy

How Airlines Manage Conflicts Between Profits and Safety

Henrich Greve & Vibha Gaba

Warning: Don’t read this just before your next flight.

Strategy

Global Open Innovation in the Silicon Valley of Sport

L. Felipe Monteiro

One of the world’s biggest football clubs has set out a pioneering collaborative strategy of innovation.

Strategy

The Ten Stages of Successful Strategic Alliances

Corporate partnerships resemble marriages in many respects – including an unfortunately high failure rate.
2 comments

Strategy

The Real Business Case for Quantum Computing

Disregard the alarmist headlines: Quantum computers won’t end privacy online. In fact, their most revolutionary impact may be felt offline.

Career

The World’s Most Talent Competitive Countries, 2019

Felipe Monteiro & Bruno Lanvin

Entrepreneurial talent is a critical component of both competitiveness and innovation.

Strategy

It’s Time for a Behavioural Revolution in Innovation

Transformative change requires organisations to rethink the way they envision their future.

Strategy

Will Apple Be the Next Nokia?

Amid a stunning slowdown in smartphone sales, what does the future hold for Apple and its global tech rivals?
1 comment

Strategy

Designing Durable Alliances: Lessons From Renault-Nissan

An alliance should continually enable mutual value creation. Otherwise, it’s just a disguised merger.

Strategy

Three Principles for Targeted Innovation

Marcel Corstjens & Gregory Carpenter

Leading consumer goods companies can revive their flagging innovation capacities by investing differently.
1 comment

Strategy

How to Prolong Competitive Advantage

The resources that take a company further.
1 comment

Strategy

Don’t Let Time Pressure Dictate Your Options

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Proactive negotiators are less likely to be tempted by inferior deals.
1 comment

Strategy

Managing the Paradoxes of Coopetition

A. Shipilov, W. Hoffmann, D. Lavie, J. Reuer

The challenging tensions of coopetition require leaders who can cope with ambivalence and uncertainty.

Strategy

How Speech Recognition Is Set to Disrupt

In the digital age, nothing stays the same for very long.

Strategy

Don't Discount the Competitiveness of State-Owned Multinationals

Dated notions about large state-owned MNCs need to adapt to the 21st century.

Strategy

How Nokia Bounced Back (With the Help of the Board)

Quy Huy & Timo Vuori

To help the former mobile giant find a radically new strategic direction, Nokia’s board assumed a unique role.
3 comments

Strategy

Does Eating Together Improve Negotiations?

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Who you share your table with may add or detract value.

Strategy

Why Successful Companies Usually Fail

Y. Doz, K. Wilson

The dynamics of corporate collapse are caused by three phenomena.
5 comments

Strategy

How the Platform Economy Is Reshaping Global Trade

Firms and even countries will need a strategy as the world moves from pipelines to platforms.
1 comment

Strategy

What Happens to Firms That Don’t Adopt Dominant Technologies?

Firms that choose the non-dominant technology in an industry shakeout can innovate in other ways.
3 comments

Strategy

Is Neo-Feudalism the New Nation-State?

John Hulsman & Boris Liedtke

The simultaneous rise of hyperlocal and transnational politics could fill the power vacuum left by the decline of the nation-state.
2 comments

Strategy

The Truth About Lies in Negotiations

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

It’s a complex game of “catch me if you can”.

Strategy

Do Dating Apps Really Want You to Find Love?

Y. Wu, V. Padmanabhan

Matchmaking services charging a monthly fee to fill a personal or professional void are in a somewhat conflicted position.
1 comment

Strategy

Imagine Alternatives to Negotiate More Ambitiously

M. Schaerer, M. Schweinsberg, R. Swaab

Mentally simulating an attractive alternative can provide some of the advantages that real alternatives typically offer.
1 comment

Strategy

What if the EU Invited Canada to Join Its Bloc?

John Hulsman & Boris Liedtke

Trump’s trade war opens the door to a move that would change the geopolitical game entirely.
1 comment

Strategy

Does a Tough Reputation Pay Off in Negotiations?

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

How to build the type of reputation proven to lead to better deals.

Strategy

Don’t Reinvent the Regulatory Wheel

How internet companies under siege can learn from the finance industry.

Strategy

The Technologies Senior Leaders Plan to Deploy in the Coming Years

Cloud computing is expected to take a back seat to AI, big data analytics and blockchain.
1 comment

Strategy

Who Benefits From Transparent Pricing?

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

The American steel industry provides a case study on the effects of price disclosure.

Strategy

Ryanair: A Role Model for Europe’s Banks

The industry sorely needs a low-margin, high-volume business model relentlessly focused on long-term value creation.

Strategy

Three Factors for Happiness at Work

Consider these questions before you embark on a career.
2 comments

Strategy

Why Negotiators Should Lose Sometimes

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Lose a battle to win the war.

Strategy

A Matchmaker for Public-Private Partnerships

Manuel Sosa

Collaborations between dissimilar organisations can benefit from the involvement of neutral third parties.
1 comment

Strategy

Can Alcohol Help You With Negotiations?

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

What research tells us about the art of negotiating under the influence.

Strategy

Where Amazon Is Headed With Whole Foods

P. Padmanabhan & D. Lecossois

The search is still on for a viable omni-channel business model in the grocery industry.

Strategy

Governance Needed for Initial Coin Offerings

Traditional board-like governance can provide credibility for companies raising capital via ICOs.
2 comments

Strategy

Why Tech Innovation Isn’t the Answer Everyone Thinks It Is

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

Value innovation is the cornerstone of new market creation.
4 comments

Strategy

How Incumbents Are Adapting to Disruption

Incumbents are focusing on people skills, culture and customer centricity when it comes to digitisation.
1 comment

Strategy

Business as a Force for Good: A Blue Ocean Perspective

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

How to shift from dividing to expanding the economic pie.
2 comments

Strategy

Leapfrog Into an Innovative Future

How Brazil’s development bank aims to coordinate the nation’s digital transformation.

Strategy

When Winning Means Losing in Negotiations

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Be careful about imposing your terms as it may backfire.
2 comments

Strategy

Spanning the Boundaries That Limit Organisational Innovativeness

Yves L. Doz

Managers must bridge across their firms’ geographic, cultural and institutional diversity to gain a unique competitive advantage.

Strategy

Is Kim Jong-un Crazy, and Other FAQs on North Korea

Despite appearances to the contrary, the protagonists in the North Korea conflict are pursuing rational negotiation strategies.

Strategy

Digital Winners Transcend Technology

Successful digital disrupters are good at solving bread-and-butter problems, attracting staff and staying nimble.
2 comments

Strategy

Nudging Your Staff to Healthier Habits

Wendy Wood

Adequate cues and a dash of rewards can go a long way towards persuading employees to adopt and maintain healthy behaviours.

Strategy

Can Advisors Afford to Give Uncertain Advice?

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Confidence may go a long way when there are no certain answers.

Strategy

The Other Way to Make Money Out of Bitcoin

The best strategy to piggyback on a new ecosystem may be to build a complementary product or service.

Strategy

Our Best of 2017: A Thirst for New Ideas

INSEAD's research points the way forward.

Strategy

The Three Dilemmas of Data Gathering

What companies do with customer data needs to be considered more closely.
1 comment

Strategy

How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming the IT Hierarchy

The ability to adapt and learn quickly helps smaller IT companies compete against industry heavyweights.

Strategy

The Art of Selling With Executive Sponsors

Why sales teams should consider involving non-sales senior leaders in the selling process.

Strategy

How Attention From Top Managers Impacts Innovation

When companies acquire external knowledge, they need to make sure management attention doesn’t wane.

Strategy

The Strategic Decisions That Caused Nokia’s Failure

Yves L. Doz

The moves that led to Nokia’s decline paint a cautionary tale for successful firms.
16 comments

Strategy

The Persuasive Power of Transparency

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Cost transparency can be a compelling strategic choice in both marketing and negotiation.
1 comment

Strategy

How to Outsmart the Car Dealers’ Tricks

Horacio Falcão & Alena Komaromi

Skilled persuaders use a few key principles to influence potential buyers.

Strategy

When to Abandon an Unresolved Project

Successful breakthroughs are always elusive, so don’t get too attached to any one prospect.

Strategy

The Consummate Opportunities of Cross-Cluster Collaboration

When a Swiss watchmaker visited Silicon Valley seeking help to create a luxury smart watch, it brought with it intangible benefits.

Strategy

Is Amazon Dooming Retailers or Are Retailers Dooming Themselves?

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

Retailers are focused on competing instead of creating.
2 comments

Strategy

What It Takes to Shift From Competing to Creating

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

Why non-disruptive creation is as important as disruption in seizing new growth.
1 comment

Strategy

Market Segmentation at the Bottom of the Pyramid

Isabelle Laporte

Serving the poorest requires using a micro-lens to fully understand their needs and challenges.

Strategy

The Power of Social Media When Disaster Strikes

How virtual networks can encourage resilience in a disaster.
1 comment

Strategy

What Makes a Number One Hit

A look at 58 years of Billboard Hot 100 uncovers the secret ingredients of popular music.
3 comments

Strategy

The Nine Major Ways of Doing Business in the World

A new measure for gauging and understanding the challenge of business abroad.

Strategy

What Sales Leaders Can Learn From Start-Ups

Paul Sanders & Philippe Pereira

Key ingredients for start-up success could benefit even giant sales organisations.
2 comments

Strategy

Digitally Enabling Customer Loyalty

Empowering the front lines with digital tools enables organisations to capture the hearts of diverse consumer groups.

Strategy

The Digital Transformation of Museums

G. Tassini, T. Gu, A. Aris

Museums are embracing new technologies to better understand their audience and create a broader, more engaged customer base.
1 comment

Strategy

Why Digital Asia Is Different

Annet Aris

West meets East in the battle for global digital market leadership.
1 comment

Strategy

How to Thrive in the Subscription Economy

What you deliver and how you deliver it to customers has to be completely rethought.

Strategy

Strategy Making: How to Tap the Wisdom of the Crowd

Daniel Mack & Gabriel Szulanski

Even firms that typically prefer to centralise decisions needn’t miss out on the benefits of opening up their strategy making.
1 comment

Strategy

Amazon-Whole Foods Is Not About to Wipe Out Supermarkets

P. Padmanabhan & D. Lecossois

Amazon will gain access to new capabilities in retail, but the challenge to traditional supermarkets will come from elsewhere.

Strategy

Lessons from the Merchants of Venice

Giovanni Tassini & Loic Sadoulet

Many innovations underpinning Venice’s commercial success during the late-medieval period hold true today.

Strategy

Setting the Stage for Digital Transformation

Joerg Niessing & Clémence Knaébel

Being customer-centric in a digital world requires not a plan but a process.
1 comment

Strategy

How Disruptive Will Automation Be?

The speed of change will determine how disruptive automation is to the future of work and society.

Strategy

Does Racial Bias Call the Shots in the NBA?

Henrich Greve

Even in the performance-obsessed world of pro basketball, racial preference influences how the game is played.

Strategy

How Your Bonus Affects Your Colleague’s Behaviour

S.K. Lee, P. Puranam

Incentives aren’t just about rewarding individual achievement. They can also be a key factor in shaping group behaviour.

Strategy

Our Edge in a Machine-Dominated World

People can’t win against computers; fortunately we are irrational.
1 comment

Strategy

The Right Incentive Structure Makes Firms Smarter

Assessing top-level managerial contractual design from a long-term strategy perspective.

Strategy

Why Advertising Safety Isn’t Safe

Providing information that signals safety or quality may have a negative impact on sales, if it draws consumers’ attention to product safety risks.

Strategy

The Next Cycle of Capitalism

Fabian Salum & Paulo Vicente dos Santos Alves

In the latest cycle of technological change, capitalism is getting ready for its next act, but it is vulnerable to political developments.
2 comments

Strategy

Strategy as Hypothesis

Far from reducing complexity, the leaders of the digital economy absorb it, test it and change quickly.
5 comments

Strategy

Innovating at the Intersections

Nathan Furr, Jeffrey H. Dyer & Kate O’Keeffe

The most valuable innovation is often found at the intersection of firms’ capabilities. Exploiting these opportunities requires a new approach to collaboration.

Strategy

Forming Corporate Alliances That Get Results

A. Shipilov, I. Stern

Four principles that describe how well-chosen and well-managed alliances boost financial performance.
1 comment

Strategy

The Fine Line Between Optimism and Fakery

Are humans unrealistically hopeful about the future, or just pretending to be?

Strategy

Three Ways to Get Ahead of the Digital Competition

Leaders seeking to capture value in the digital age need to expect the unexpected.

Strategy

When Foreign Firms Are No Longer Welcome

Daniel J. Blake & Caterina Moschieri

Foreign firms are more likely to divest from a country when they experience a dispute with a host government.

Strategy

Making the Most Out of Public Money

Ilze Kivleniece & Julien Jourdan

Examining the dual effects of public sponsorship on firm performance

Strategy

The Strategic Science of Delayed Compliance

No company is above the law, but some firms are allowed much more time in complying with it.

Strategy

Storytelling: More Than a Presentation Tool

How a story can make a strategy come to life.
8 comments

Strategy

Converting Social Impact Into Competitive Advantage

Improve quality of life in an underserved region, and you create a blue ocean.

Strategy

Question the Consensus of Experts

If forecasters are too closely linked, less information can be gleaned from their opinions and decision-makers are more likely to make costly mistakes.

Strategy

A Framework for Driving Digital Transformation

David Dubois

Leading an organisation’s digital transformation requires simultaneously tackling three questions.

Strategy

The Harmful Effects of Workplace Incivility

Quy Huy

Low-level unpleasantness in the workplace can have disastrous results – but managers can do something about it.
4 comments

Strategy

Fear Can Stifle Collaboration, or Jumpstart It

During organisational change, play the radicals against the moderates to foster collaboration.

Strategy

Three Steps to Creating a Diverse Organisation

The path to successful diversification requires belief, courage and consistency.
3 comments

Strategy

How Products Can Climb the Social Ladder

In a few short years, one ambitious fashionista transported grappa from reviled to respectable.

Strategy

Leaders in Digital Merge the Physical and the Virtual

Organisations that treat “virtual” as real are moving ahead.
1 comment

Strategy

Mobilising Online Communities to Your Cause

Vinika Rao & Parminder Singh

Social media can amplify a message or start a movement, but there are fundamental rules for success.
3 comments

Strategy

When Strategy Becomes Fantasy

Ironically, when managers think they have all the answers, strategy can turn into fantasy.

Strategy

The Unrecognised Impact of Merit-Based Incentives

Olivier Chatain & Philipp Meyer-Doyle

Changing the way executives in professional service firms are compensated can help organisations address some tough organisational dilemmas.

Strategy

The “Africa” Framework for Start-ups in Tough Places

After an 11-year career at GE, Swaady Martin adopted many of the strategies and tactics instrumental to its successful African expansion to launch YSWARA, an African, global luxury brand.
1 comment

Strategy

Turning Products into Valuable Platforms

Paying attention to the management of your company and nurturing customers is the key to transitioning a successful product into a robust digital platform.

Strategy

The Heavy Burden of Forceful Negotiating

It takes several good interactions to counteract the effects of one negative one. Spare yourself the cost and approach your negotiating partners with care.
1 comment

Strategy

Factoring Synergies into Resource Allocation Decisions

Pigeonholing business units into categories like “dogs” and “stars” gives short shrift to the most important elements of corporate strategy.

Strategy

Embracing Uncertainty for Innovation

It has been said that the purpose of organisation is to eliminate uncertainty. Is this stifling the ability to innovate?
4 comments

Strategy

Negotiating a Win-Win for Brexit

Now that the UK has exercised its democratic right to follow its own path, the future will depend on how both sides enter a challenging and tricky negotiation.

Strategy

Why Corporate Social Media Platforms Fail

Many managers approach enterprise social media networks as technology deployments and expect them to automatically buzz with activity. Many fail to realise that emotional capital is key to the success of such platforms.

Strategy

How All-Star Employees Affect Firm Behaviour

The status-seeking moves of ambitious employees can alter the fate of a company.

Strategy

ZEE Entertainment’s Three Step Process for Worldwide Growth

Successful globalisation requires the flexibility to adapt products and think beyond established boundaries.

Strategy

How the Smallest Choices Matter

The Kingdom of Bhutan applies choice architectures to improve decisions and well-being.

Strategy

Four Signs That Your Industry is Ripe for Digital Disruption

If there are ways for your firm to improve the customer experience with digitisation or use technology to reduce costs, you should move quickly or risk being disrupted by an outsider.
1 comment

Strategy

Are Brands Losing Their Magic?

In the digital world, a product’s substance is more highly valued than the stories woven around it.
2 comments

Strategy

Corporate Strategy Decision Making, Demystified

For leaders of multi-business firms, the best decisions aren’t necessarily those that produce the best immediate outcomes.

Strategy

Preventing Social Media Armageddon

Gilles Hilary & Varun Mittal

The accessibility and fluidity of social media leaves organisations open to significant risks. But there are countermeasures organisations can take to prevent reputation disaster.
1 comment

Strategy

How Pricing Automation is Impacting E-Commerce

Are re-pricing algorithms putting e-traders at risk of being “gamed”?
1 comment

Strategy

Delay Your Offer, Not Your Deadline

Saša Zorc & Ilia Tsetlin

They may be disliked but “exploding” offers remain common corporate practice as an offer strategically delayed is, almost always, a negotiator's best bet.

Strategy

Are You Next for Digital Disruption?

No industry is safe from the tsunami of digital disruption, but some will be hit sooner than others. Three checks could reveal if you’re next.
5 comments

Strategy

The Risks of Brainstorm Negotiating

Throwing all your ideas onto the table can put you at risk of revealing too much and giving the other party an advantage. But careful brainstorming at crucial points of the negotiation can yield more value all round.

Strategy

Maintaining Market Dominance

Consumer tastes are changing rapidly. For leading brands to stay on top, meet their aspirations.

Strategy

Mobile Still Has a Long Way to Go

The voracity with which users have taken to mobile internet has once again turned digital on its head; just who will be a winner in this cyber sweepstakes remains to be seen.
1 comment

Strategy

10 Principles for Digital Disruption

Digital upstarts are rewriting the rules of strategy, adopting winning principles almost instinctively. Traditional incumbents and hybrids should take note.
2 comments

Strategy

What Corporate Strategists Need to Know About Synergies

Understanding the distinctive “footprints” of four different types of synergy can help improve the way you value and implement corporate strategies
3 comments

Strategy

Scaling Up Emotional Intelligence to Inspire the Crowd

Five ways to inspire purposeful collective action on a grand scale.
4 comments

Strategy

Three Steps Towards Market Domination

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

The market dynamics of value innovation.
5 comments

Strategy

Embrace the Fuzzy Crystal Ball

Complex models employed to forecast the future as accurately as possible are a poor way to plan for uncertainty.

Strategy

Monetising Digital Content Requires Focus

It’s better to stick with one approach to monetise digital content, rather than spread yourself too thin and confuse the customer.

Strategy

Cities Can Capture More Value

By implementing a centralised management platform, cities could create more value for business, citizens and investors. But they’ll have to reinvent their management approach.

Strategy

Digital Has Killed the Strategic Plan

Four crucial steps to creating a business strategy fit for the digital age.
2 comments

Strategy

How Communicator and Audience Power Shape Persuasion

Powerful people aren’t always the best choice for persuading others. Less powerful audiences require warmth and connection.
1 comment

Strategy

The Mindset Needed For Digital Change

The world’s going digital, but is your company ready to make the change? Sometimes having the technology is not enough.
3 comments

Strategy

Why Strategy Is Not Dead

Strategy is no longer necessary, according to some – but without it, business would not utilise our full human potential.
2 comments

Strategy

Volkswagen: Still Too Much Power with Majority Shareholders?

Regulations protecting minority shareholders are not enough. States must enforce them.

Strategy

Integrating Digital Intelligence into Brand Strategy

David Dubois

As organisations seek to integrate the massive flow of digital data into their brand strategy, they face a triple challenge to stay ahead.

Strategy

How Successful Start-up Teams Allocate Roles

The financial success of a new venture depends heavily on who does what within the founding team. The most successful start-ups allocate positions based on prior work experience as well as how co-founders fit into the social context around them.
3 comments

Strategy

Does Your Organisation Run on Fear?

Gilles Hilary & Vip Vyas

Overbearing and oppressive leadership can make people afraid of failure, destroy initiative and even cause unethical behaviours within the enterprise.
5 comments

Strategy

Rising Colleges Fees: a Reflection of Offerings or Aspirations

Are rising tuition fees a sign of how much an individual college degree is worth, or how worthy the college wants to be?

Strategy

Corporates and Start-ups: Engage or Else!

There have never been more ways for big companies and entrepreneurs to collaborate - and you’d be surprised at how common these unlikely pairings are becoming.

Strategy

Making Mergers Less of a Crapshoot

Very human factors are at play in mergers and acquisitions. Paying attention to them can increase your chance of success.

Strategy

Emerging Multinationals Use Purpose for Growth

Integrating a strong, cohesive purpose can ignite employee passion and drive growth, something emerging market companies have become good at.

Strategy

Why Local Companies Are Winning in Emerging Markets

When entering emerging economies, multinationals should get genuinely involved and actively participate in the development of local markets rather than just adapt to them.
1 comment

Strategy

How to Institutionalise Innovation

Family firms provide lessons in creating continuously innovative companies.

Strategy

Gaining Influence in a Crisis

Gilles Hilary, Marie-Hélène Mansard

Complex crises need less “managed” communication approaches.
1 comment

Strategy

AB InBev’s Acquisition Formula

Laurence Capron

The beer giant applies three core principles to swallowing its competitors.
3 comments

Strategy

Blue Ocean Politics: Trudeau’s Election Victory

Fares Boulos

How Justin Trudeau’s textbook blue ocean strategy made him the unlikely Canadian Prime Minister.
8 comments

Strategy

Five Reasons Most Companies Fail at Strategy Execution

If your organisational culture has these five characteristics, all attempts to implement strategic change will likely be doomed.
18 comments

Strategy

Our Best of 2015: New Paths to Success

What the most popular INSEAD Knowledge articles of 2015 tell us.

Strategy

Adopt Contrasting Strategies for Emerging Markets

Emerging markets have typically been lumped together by investors and corporations attempting to define all-encompassing strategies, but these markets are diverging. Tailored, local strategies are now more important.
2 comments

Strategy

The Strategic Edge of a Blue Ocean Thinker

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

The ten-year expanded edition of Blue Ocean Strategy came out this year. Blue ocean strategy continues to grow in popularity across the world and is widely used in practice and in MBA and executive education classrooms. INSEAD Knowledge interviews Professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne to understand the strategic edge it brings, its impact on business education at INSEAD and around the world, and what we can expect in the future.
2 comments

Economics & Finance

Collaborating to Compete

Maria Guadalupe

The Dutch flower cluster shows how much value can be found in a commoditised sector that collaborates before it competes

Strategy

Innovation Metrics and KPIs: Are You Getting What You Pay For?

Everyone’s pushing hard for innovation in science, technology, logistics and business planning but how do you know you’re getting the best return on your investment?
1 comment

Strategy

Hybrid Technologies: A Stepping Stone to the Future

When uncertain transformation threatens an industry, jump in or do nothing are not the only options.

Strategy

Disruptive Innovation in Mature Industries

With start-ups driving and defining transformation and disruptive change across industries, what is the role of larger companies?
2 comments

Strategy

Should You Preannounce Your Innovation?

Before telling the world about their innovation-in-progress, companies should carefully weigh the costs and benefits.
1 comment

Strategy

Monetising Others’ Success

Success in the twenty first century will depend on many things, including how well your organisation empowers others to make money.

Strategy

Making Customers Compete for Your Firm

Innovation contests can yield highly valuable ideas when designed in a way that stimulates customer creativity.

Strategy

Three Steps for Successful Digital Integration

The “uberisation” of the economy is making companies rush into digital integration, but they need to build some critical capabilities before investing.
3 comments

Strategy

Transforming Organisations for Sustained Innovation

“Market-oriented” firms are better able to innovate consistently, but getting there requires complex and demanding organisational change.

Responsibility

“Doing Good” Is a Source of Growth

Firms must develop a higher social purpose to achieve growth and longevity.
1 comment

Strategy

How Innovation Is Helping Emerging Multinationals to Race Ahead

Emerging market multinationals are strong market-driven innovators. But to go truly global, they would do well to shift their focus to technological innovation.

Strategy

Leveraging Communities to Create Social Media Momentum

As social networks become increasingly ingrained into brands’ communication strategies, organisations need to take a more global and creative approach to understanding the dynamics and cultural fabric of their target communities

Strategy

Are You Making Your Employees Attractive to Competitors?

Trumpeting your firm’s achievements makes your top managers more attractive to competitors and gives them a leg up in the labor market. Greater care should be taken with media splashes to hold on to your talent.

Strategy

Who Killed Nokia? Nokia Did

Q. Huy, T. Vuori

Despite being an exemplar of strategic agility, the fearful emotional climate prevailing at Nokia during the rise of the iPhone froze coordination between top and middle managers terrified of losing status and resources from management. The company was wounded before the battle began.
31 comments

Strategy

Eight Ways the Military Manages Uncertainty

From managing and structuring information to fostering internal learning and smooth communication, the military holds lessons for businesses operating in uncertain environments.

Strategy

Why Your Company Needs a Resident Futurist

Being far-sighted about your strategy can help you prepare for the big global changes already unfolding.
3 comments

Strategy

Expanding Through Uncertainty, the Carrefour Way

Any good strategy is based on a risk-reward analysis but what happens when the environment is particularly uncertain and the threats difficult to understand?
1 comment

Strategy

How to Build a Sustainable Blue Ocean

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

High performing and sustainable market-creating strategies align value, profit and people.
2 comments

Strategy

The Three Steps of Successful Turnarounds

Claudia Zeisberger

When companies find themselves in distress, turnarounds are one way to set them back on track. But turnarounds are messy and getting them right is no easy task.

Strategy

Keeping Brands Strong When Going Global

Consistent global positioning is the cornerstone of any successful global brand growth strategy. Without it brands risk becoming irrelevant before they even get established in international markets.
1 comment

Leadership & Organisations

What Business Leaders Can Learn from Generals

The military approaches peacetime with risk management and wartime with uncertainty management. To operate amid uncertainty, managers become leaders and more autonomy is given to troops to ensure agility and resilience.

Strategy

When Financial Incentives Don’t Work

Performance incentives may encourage employees to deliver but when it comes to innovation it’s by no means certain they trigger the best results.

Strategy

How Strong Internal Networks Can Save Client Relationships

Organising a diverse team to service one client may minimise the risk of them switching firms on the coat-tails of a senior executive, but if the individual coordinating the network departs, the cost could be even greater.

Strategy

Four Reasons Why Blue Ocean Thinking Is Crucial

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

The rising needs of consumers and their increasing voice means organisations need to move in new, creative directions.
1 comment

Strategy

Using Tax Havens Secretly Is Bad for Shareholders

Tax havens are used for more than just saving money. When companies take advantage of their lack of transparency for more sinister activities, shareholders can lose out.
1 comment

Strategy

How Firms Change Bad Practices

Organisations don’t always respond to threats, but they change quickly when their peers do.
1 comment

Strategy

Want to Create a Blue Ocean? Avoid These Six Red Ocean Traps

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

Firms trying to tap into new markets for growth often fall into the traps of putting resources into wooing existing customers and investing heavily in value-added offerings. But this won’t get them to blue oceans.
4 comments

Strategy

Leaders Who Can Read Collective Emotions Are More Effective

Quy Huy

How a leader manages collective emotions can create or destroy enormous market value. It can also have a huge bearing on what large groups of stakeholders think of you.
2 comments

Responsibility

Steering Clear of the Sustainability Reporting Trap

Companies get stuck in box-checking when it comes to sustainability. But there is substantial value to be found in making sustainability a strategy.
1 comment

Strategy

Private Equity vs. The Strategic Acquirer

When private equity firms and strategic acquirers meet on the M&A battlefield they come packing very different strategies and artillery. Who has the advantage?
2 comments

Strategy

How One Company Turned the Recession into an Opportunity – and Thrived

W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

We recently had the opportunity to interview Shawn Busse, CEO of Kinesis – a Portland marketing firm founded in 2000. When his company started to feel the impact of the downturn in 2009, Shawn turned to Blue Ocean Strategy to change the course of the company and steer it towards uncontested market space. This blue ocean journey has allowed Kinesis to enjoy becoming one of the Portland Business Journal’s 100 fastest growing private companies three years in a row, and be selected as a 2015 Portland Business Journal Small Business & Innovation Award honoree.
4 comments

Leadership & Organisations

Maximising Innovation with Diversity

Bringing people from different backgrounds together to work in teams can help generate new ideas, but creating diversity across teams can unlock even greater innovation.
1 comment

Strategy

Pirelli’s Acquisition by ChemChina: Has a New Era Begun for the Global Tyre Industry?

Consolidation speeds up in the global tyre industry as Pirelli gains rare access to the Chinese market ahead of Western peers.
3 comments

Strategy

Why Megaprojects Seem to Fail

P. Puranam, C. Lundrigan, N. Gil

Megaprojects come with big expectations. But a project’s success is often in the eye of the beholder. Can managers avoid the conflict – and cost – when competing stakeholders seek to influence large scale development?
2 comments

Strategy

Why Non-Compete Agreements Are Not Always Good for Business

Locking your employees in might seem tempting in order to protect your firm’s intellectual property, but have you also considered the potential downsides?

Strategy

When Strategy and Values Collide

Family-owned companies have entrenched cultures and values. Outsiders are needed to balance such firms, but they must tread very carefully.
1 comment

Strategy

Sustainable Improvement Through Big Data

If managed wisely, big data can help manufacturers make continuous, and ultimately sustainable, improvements in processes and product quality.

Strategy

Generate More Value From Your External Knowledge Sourcing

Are your scouts so busy looking outside for new knowledge they’re not understanding what your company really needs?

Strategy

Blue Ocean Strategy Inspires the First-Ever Blue Awards in France

French SMEs are embarking on a blue ocean journey to spur economic growth.
2 comments

Strategy

Turning Competition into Collaboration

Competition is healthy but winning can come at a hefty price. Sometimes the swiftest way forward is to replace conflict with collaboration.

Strategy

Culture Can Make or Break Strategy

Without a deep and accurate assessment of their organisation’s culture, boards and management teams will find it very challenging to initiate and implement strategic change.
1 comment

Strategy

Retailers: Who Needs Black Friday When You Have Big Data?

Arbitrarily slashed prices don’t necessarily win greater wallet share. Retailers need to bring ecosystem thinking to the store shelf.

Strategy

From Corporate Social Responsibility to Business Model Innovation

Compassion, enlightened self-interest and an innovative approach can make CSR projects a viable part of your business operation.
1 comment

Strategy

Culturally Savvy Leaders Boost Strategy Implementation

Business culture is a reflection of societal culture. Understanding its complexity is essential for those leading diverse, multicultural groups and implementing strategic change.
1 comment

Strategy

What Industry Leaders Are Doing With Their Data

Data can be your secret weapon, but using it effectively is much more about processes and people than about tools.

Strategy

The Power of Stakeholder Media

On-line forums of angry stakeholders have the power to destroy a unit of a multinational firm. Is anyone at your company listening to them?

Strategy

Four Lessons for Turning Around a Declining Business

The movie theatre business offers insights as to how firms can find new opportunities for turning around dying businesses by understanding consumers and their needs better.
1 comment

Strategy

When I Found the Salesperson’s Script

Many companies and individuals put too much faith in the magic of tactics, and apply them indiscriminately without fully understanding the balance of risks and rewards.
1 comment

Strategy

When to Partner and When to Acquire, Louis Vuitton Style

Controlling almost all distribution turned Louis Vuitton into a globally competitive force.
3 comments

Strategy

Preparing for Growth-Accelerating Partnerships

Influential alliances can help grow your business fast. It’s never too early to start building your global network.

Strategy

Keeping Clients Post-Merger

Strong rapport between a firm and its client can be beneficial to both, but when a competing firm is brought into the equation it’s this tight bond that can tear the relationship apart.
1 comment

Strategy

Add Value or Someone Else Will

The lure of maximising profits at the cost of creating customer value can be devastating in the long term.
4 comments

Strategy

Business Strategy: Are You Inside-Out or Outside-In?

An ideological gulf has opened in today’s business world, between companies that look outward for long-term value and those relying on internal resources.
5 comments

Strategy

Solving Your Business Dilemma by Solving Other People’s Dilemmas

Optimise the power of storytelling.
1 comment

Strategy

When Persistence Backfires

Pushy customer service representatives trying to drastically alter the decisions of consumers can end up being a costly headache.

Strategy

Keeping a Cap on a Crisis

Gilles Hilary

A close look at certain aspects of your company’s procedures could prevent a minor incident turning into a full-blown disaster.

Strategy

How Foreign Acquisitions Boost Productivity at Home

Foreign expansion can be more than just a gateway to new markets. When acquired in context, overseas companies can provide the capabilities and skills to raise productivity in operations back home.

Strategy

How to Lead Strategic Change Without Inciting a Mutiny

Strategic change is in the works, pressure to meet targets is mounting and there are rumblings in the ranks. As CEO how do you maintain your leadership role and avoid a mutiny?
1 comment

Strategy

How to Get More Out of Your Network Alliances

Business networks are not just about cutting costs. New strategy frameworks show how you can create value by combining ideas, resources or market access across different partners.
1 comment

Strategy

The Conspiracy Theory of Management: Implementing Strategy from the Top Down

Nurturing a coterie of 'true believers' and expunging the confirmed ‘doubters’ is key to strategic success.
5 comments

Leadership & Organisations

Are Bosses Becoming Extinct?

Hierarchy is often viewed as hindering innovation, but getting rid of hierarchy carries risks of its own. Savvy organisation design can help you strike a successful balance.
2 comments

Strategy

“Build, Borrow or Buy” Your Talent?

L. Capron, M. M. Tousif

Germany’s two leading football clubs are about to go head-to-head in the final of the German Cup. The talent management principles that got them there went well beyond just buying players.

Strategy

Why the Old Paradigms of Strategy Development Are Out of Date

Most of the tools managers use to craft business strategy today were developed in the 20th century. Strategy formulation needs an update.
1 comment

Strategy

Is Europe Stuck in a Vicious Energy Cycle?

The shale gas boom in the United States has made domestic power producers cleaner and turned coal producers into major exporters. A weak Europe, anxious about fracking, is becoming reliant on cheap U.S. coal to fuel its power stations, trapping it in a vicious cycle.
2 comments

Strategy

“How many cups of coffee does it take to close a deal in the Middle East?”

Investing in long-term liaisons is key to forging successful business relationships in the Arab Gulf.
1 comment

Strategy

Learning How to Expand Overseas

Expanding into new markets? It helps if you’ve entered others.

Strategy

Ten Pitfalls of Strategic Failure

In business, strategies fail not because they are flawed but because they are not implemented well.
2 comments

Strategy

What Could Have Saved Nokia, and What Can Other Companies Learn?

Nokia lost the smartphone battle despite having half of the global market share in 2007. Some argue that it was down to software, others that it was complacency. We argue that collective emotions within the company were a big part of the story.
21 comments

Strategy

Keeping Clients When the Rainmaker Leaves

Rethinking organisational ties: Don’t let the departure of an executive drain your client base.

Strategy

The ‘People’ Part of Successful Strategy Implementation

Most strategies fail to be implemented correctly. The companies that succeed are those which concentrate on creating strategy which has people and implementation at its heart rather than having annual planning exercises masquerading as strategy.
2 comments

Strategy

The Future of News

Miklos Sarvary

The diminishing pool of unbiased news networks should stick to what they do best.

Strategy

The Seven Myths of Win-Win Negotiations

It sounds fine on the face of it, but not everyone will get what they want and this is more likely to happen to you if you fail to spot the traps.
2 comments

Strategy

Why Even Bad Strategy is Worth Doing Well

Good implementation of even a poor strategy can lead to the discovery of better ones.
2 comments

Strategy

An Emotional Approach to Strategy Execution

Leaders who are able to identify and manage patterns of emotions in a collective are better able to make their ambitious strategies a reality.
2 comments

Strategy

Cheat-Proof Your Partnerships

Even trusted partners can sometimes turn on you, as demonstrated in a recent case from New York’s diamond trade.

Strategy

The Dark Side of Online Discounts

Companies can profit handsomely from online daily discounts but intermediaries often have conflicting objectives that need to be managed.

Strategy

Turning a "No" Into a "Maybe"

How value negotiation techniques turned a job rejection into a maybe.

Strategy

My First Job: Delivering Doctor Who's Daily Newspaper

Steve Knight

The LinkedIn Influencers Editorial team asked 150 Influencers "What was your first job and what were your key learnings?" My first three paid jobs all started around the same time, when I was at the tender age of 10.

Strategy

Why Social Media Is Luxury's Best Friend

Without embracing social media, luxury brands risk being shut out of conversations about their products. Here are three effective ways to go social.

Strategy

INSEAD’s Global Thought Leaders: W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

The creators of the Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, were ranked number two in the Thinkers50 listing of the world's top management gurus in 2013 and 2011. In addition, they won the Thinkers 50 Strategy Award in 2011 and were shortlisted for the Global Solutions Award in the 2013 Distinguished Achievement Awards.
3 comments

Strategy

INSEAD's Global Thought Leaders: Laurence Capron

Laurence Capron

INSEAD professor of strategy Laurence Capron, nominated for the 2013 Thinkers50 "Strategy Award," explains the three factors preventing business leaders from making crucial changes.

Strategy

Is Losing Talent Always Bad? Management Lessons from Prada

Andrew Shipilov

The recent departure of Marc Jacobs from Louis Vuitton might seem like terrible news for the company. But if you look a little more closely at the fashion industry you’ll find that turning over your talent isn’t always a bad thing.

Strategy

Head above the Rest

As the recession in Europe drags on, many companies are learning to rise-up against the downward trend. Two of the winners of this year’s Industrial Excellence Awards are highly innovative companies that are supplying customers with new products they never thought that they would need. How do they do it?

Strategy

INSEAD's Global Thought Leaders: Ideas With Power

Update: Herminia Ibarra, INSEAD Professor of Organisational Behaviour won the 2013 Thinkers50 Leadership Award and was ranked number 9 on the organisation's ranking of top management thinkers. W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, INSEAD Professors of Strategy and Management took second place in the top 50 thinkers ranking. INSEAD Professors Hal Gregersen, Gianpiero Petriglieri and Erin Meyer were all placed on the Thinkers50 Radar.

Entrepreneurship

Samsung Beats Blackberry in the Global Alliance Game

Andrew Shipilov

To the investors of Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry, the recent years have been really disappointing. It lost the fight to Apple and Samsung. There may be several explanations to this failure, but one which particularly stands out is the failure of RIM to build a strong alliance network. Alliances and partnerships are the sources of “network advantage”–the ability to improve operating efficiency and increase product innovation by combining resources and knowledge with partners.
4 comments

Strategy

The impact of social media on industry structure

Andrew Shipilov

In the previous post, I discussed some results of a survey where we asked about how companies can use social media to achieve competitive advantage. In that survey, Prof. Quy Huy and I, also asked participants to tell us how the structure of their industries was affected by the introduction of social media tools.
2 comments

Economics & Finance

How to Make Your Company More Creative? Hire a Senior Executive Who Worked Abroad

Andrew Shipilov

Creativity is an important driver of competitive advantage for companies. One way your company can be more creative is to hire executives who worked abroad. These people are likely to offer non traditional solutions to your problems.

Entrepreneurship

BlackBerry as Niche: Firm Disappointment and Strategy Change

Henrich Greve

BlackBerry director Bert Nordberg was elected recently, but is not shy about making statements: he has already said publicly that the BlackBerry smartphones need to retreat to certain niches in the market, leaving others for the competitors. This may seem reasonable to many listeners given how BlackBerry has suffered from competition by Samsung, Apple, and other firms, but it is probably not a popular view in BlackBerry, where employees remember their earlier great times.

Strategy

Preserving Innovation Flair

Budding start-ups often aim at the big prize of either going public or getting acquired, but both avenues can hurt innovation. What’s the best path to growth while maintaining your firm’s creative flair?

Strategy

Growth at Any Price?

J. Kim, C. Howells

When firms are desperate to grow and to please shareholders who demand growth, they take desperate measures such as overpaying for acquisitions and put themselves on the road to long-term hardship.

Strategy

What can Sony and Apple learn from the British MP Expense Scandal

Andrew Shipilov

My friend and co-author Henrich Greve recently made a blog post regarding the advantages of high status. He was wondering why every little bit of news about Sony or Apple made big waves in the media space and his conclusion was that this happened because both were high status companies.

Leadership & Organisations

Luxury’s Veteran Leader

First CEO of Gucci, now Chairman of Tom Ford International. Domenico De Sole has an eye for style, stores and the bottom line.

Leadership & Organisations

The Perils of Short-Term Thinking

It’s hard to ignore shareholder demands for quarterly earnings miracles. But too often what looks like “success” today can inhibit a company’s competitiveness tomorrow.
1 comment

Marketing

Is Feminine Perfection Still Good for Sales?

Contrary to popular opinion, those bikini-clad young models draped over the show-room Ferrari might be doing your sales more harm than good these days.

Strategy

Social Media in B2B Marketing: Publish or Perish!

Social Media can be an important part of B2B strategy. But to make an impact within the content ecosystem, you have to have a message and move fast.
2 comments

Leadership & Organisations

LinkedIn: The Content Exchange

Since going public in 2011, the professionals’ social network has gone from a networking site to a must-have tool for recruiters. Will adding content and big data enhance its professional value?

Economics & Finance

Improving European Board Effectiveness – insights from participants of the INSEAD International Directors Programme

Timothy Rowley

A healthy capital system is an important ingredient for European competitiveness. Indeed, investors look for stability and predictability, which leads to the necessary flow of capital into our markets. Besides the key role government plays in creating confidence, there are three main actors in the capital system: “owners” who supply financial resources, managers who apply their expertise to build attractive returns on the owners’ investments, and boards of directors that oversee the process. The entire system relies on each actor contributing such that economic value is created.

Strategy

Disseminating Strategy: A User’s Guide

Your new strategy looks good on paper, it looks good in the executive suite. But what does it take for the work force to get it?
3 comments

Economics & Finance

Europe’s shale gas competitiveness challenge and consequences for the petrochemical sector

“I think it’s simply irresponsible to declare that we don’t need [shale gas] and we don’t want [shale gas] here in Europe”. Kurt Bock, CEO of BASF[ii]

Entrepreneurship

What do Voltaire and Social Media Have in Common?

“We must cultivate our garden.” – Candide, Voltaire, 1759
1 comment

Strategy

Making Tyres for the Cognoscenti

Pirelli tyres mean race cars, sports cars and glamour but the man driving the company understands that to be number one on the fast track, you have to watch the landscape as well.

Strategy

Do Your Negotiating Techniques Create Value?

It’s no longer a game of hard-ball. Today’s negotiations are about more than just money.
7 comments

Strategy

Warning Against Binge Buying. When is M&A the Right Answer to Your Growth Challenges?

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell One of the truisms of business life is that mergers and acquisitions often create more headlines than value. Some studies indicate that 70% of deals fail to achieve their objectives. In our research on 150 ICT firms (“Build, Borrow or Buy: Solving the Growth Dilemma”, Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), only 27% of the responding firms reported they were able to extract the value that they wanted to achieve from their target firms’ capabilities following their acquisitions.
1 comment

Strategy

In Defence of Military Procurement

Western governments are debating hefty cuts in defence spending as deficits soar and the threat of large-scale war recedes. Now it’s the major contractors such as Northrop Grumman who are under fire. What’s their winning strategy?
1 comment

Strategy

Why Chinese Firms’ Cross-Border Deals Fall Apart

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell During the past decade, Chinese firms have become aggressive cross-border acquirers. Unfortunately they have been struggling to actually close their deals. Some deals have failed because of national security concerns in the U.S., including CNOOC’s attempt to purchase Unocal in 2005 and Huawei’s attempt to buy 3Leaf Systems in 2011.

Leadership & Organisations

Lessons from Obama’s Campaign Victory

Charles Galunic

Government and business organizations are different in important ways (for instance, one of them is not a democracy), but a political campaign has some useful lessons for leaders of any organization. While the balance of power in democratic governments can lead to deadlock and painfully slow consensus building (in their steady state), the “simplicity” of elections (competing bodies, a deadline, a vote, a decision) is, in a strange way, closer to the reality of business organizations (at least those in flux and who face choices which cannot be made through pure hierarchical fiat).

Strategy

Corporate Growing Pains: Build, Borrow or Buy?

Doing the wrong thing really well in growing your business could lose you your competitive advantage. Here’s how to avoid the “implementation trap”.

Strategy

Yahoo’s challenge: Finding a viable growth path via acquisitions

Laurence Capron

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently announced her plan to make acquisitions to revitalize and grow Yahoo. Her announcement generated a lot of reaction, but not so much about her ability to execute M&As — Mayer brings M&A experience gained at Google, and if she sticks with relatively small, educational acquisitions, failure on one deal will not break the company.

Economics & Finance

How a Scandinavian Firm can teach The World on how to use Social Media inside their Organizations

Andrew Shipilov

When we discuss about European competitiveness, there is often gloom and doom thinking about European non-competitiveness. We believe that such thinking conveys an over-pessimistic picture of Europe’s competences in many aspects of business. In this short text, we want to focus on European managerial competence and to underscore that there are executives in Europe who are exceptionally good at managing both the hard and the soft aspects of management to achieve competitive advantage.

Entrepreneurship

How to Manoeuver in Space

The battle for a bigger share of the commercial satellite market is heating up as demand skyrockets for new multimedia services. Innovative satellite technologies are cutting the cost of market entry. But what else does it take to secure a foothold in space?

Economics & Finance

Merger Control and Practice in the BRIC Countries vs. the EU and the US: The Timing

Karel Cool

By Philippe Ombregt, Karel Cool, Nicolas Harlé Mergers or acquisitions are often the preferred way to enter rapidly growing geographies such as the BRIC countries. Also, domestic companies in these geographies frequently use M&A’s to challenge foreign entrants or to become a player with global ambitions. Without surprise, the number of M&A’s in the BRIC countries exploded during the last decade. We documented in a first article “Merger control and practice in the BRIC countries vs. the EU and the US: The facts”, that the number of M&A’s in the BRIC countries increased more than twenty-fold between 2001 and 2011, from 346 to 7654. This is equivalent to about half the number of M&A’s in the EU or the US in 2011; it stood at roughly a twentieth in 2001.

Strategy

Why Apple Made the Right Call on Apple Maps

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell Though it has been widely available for only a few days, mounting complaints over Apple’s new mapping application, seen as a poor substitute for the Google Maps application that it replaces, are tarnishing the launch of the iPhone5. The episode is clearly a rare misstep by a company whose obsession for delivering outstanding product functionality is legendary. Indeed, CEO Tim Cook quickly and publicly issued an apology.

Strategy

French Flair, Asian Ambition

When Reinold Geiger put his money into L'Occitane en Provence, he thought he’d be a hands-off investor. Looking back he realises it takes a tough man to build a successful skin care company.

Career

Creating a Star Team

A perfect working team is more than a set of great CVs; it also encompasses competent jerks and loveable fools.
2 comments

Strategy

Use Social Media to Develop Emotional Capital with Your Employees

Andrew Shipilov

Many organizations have started using social media tools internally to interact with their employees. However, the majority of companies have either stayed away from using these tools or failed to see satisfactory results. In fact, in our survey of 1060 global executives, only 30% said that they work for companies that benefited from the internal use of social media.
1 comment

Economics & Finance

Merger Control and Practice in the BRIC Countries vs. the EU and the US: Review Thresholds

Karel Cool

Written by Nicolas Harlé, Philippe Ombregt and Karel Cool With more than 90% of global GDP growth coming from the rapidly developing economies,[2] companies from around the world are targeting these markets for future expansion. The BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) cluster has been a major magnet as it represents about 25% of global GDP and over 60% of global growth.

Strategy

The Company Outsmarting Big Pharma in Africa

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell Cipla, an India-based producer of low cost antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is one of the biggest success stories in the pharma industry. Most of its sales are in the developing world (including 40% in Africa) — where it sells its HIV drugs for about $350 per year per patient — yet it is as profitable as the pharma giants of Europe, North America, and Japan. It has doubled its market cap in the five years and sales reached almost $1.5 billion in the year ended March 2012, up close to ten times since 2000.

Strategy

Big Pharma’s Mixed Modes of Growth

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell Historically, big pharma firms made their own drugs. They might make a targeted acquisition here or there, form an alliance now and again, or license in some specialized technology, but by and large they made their own drugs, supporting big, fully staffed research labs, which they would then market themselves.

Strategy

When to Change a Winning Strategy

Laurence Capron

By Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell Companies tend to repeat what has worked for them in the past. In our research on the telecom industry, for example, we found that the great majority of the executives we surveyed preferred internal development to external sourcing when they needed to develop differentiated products and services. We get similar results in other industries, though the preferred growth mode may differ.

Strategy

Euronews: Confronting the revolution

Can a consortium of state broadcasters win the war for news viewers in the age of social media?

Leadership & Organisations

Dream your way to success

It’s not all about business plans and spreadsheets and getting to the next goal. The picture of real success is at least partly in your mind.

Strategy

Are you creating value for your firm?

It’s a tough world out there and only firms that succeed in creating value will survive in the long-term. The key is to focus on what your customers really want.

Economics & Finance

Carrefour: the new Kmart?

Karel Cool

The newly appointed CEO of Carrefour, M. Georges Plassat, has given himself three years to rebalance the Carrefour Group. Describing Carrefour as a “duck without a head”[i] – and thus no vision –, he is certainly aware of the challenge he is up to. The fall from grace of Kmart of the US is a frightening reminder of the potential urgency of Carrefour’s refashioning.

Economics & Finance

Merger Control in the BRIC Countries vs. the EU and the US: The Facts

Karel Cool

Written by Karel Cool, Nicolas Harlé and Philippe Ombregt With more than 90% of global GDP growth coming from the rapidly developing economies,[i] companies from around the world are targeting these markets for future expansion. The BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) cluster has been a major magnet as it represents about 25% of global GDP and over 60% of global growth.

Strategy

Where are Europe’s gazelles?

Javier Gimeno

In business, longevity has merit. Research shows that about a third or more of start ups discontinue within the first three years. Even for those that survive, most remain small, and unable to grow beyond their initial niche. Surviving for a long time requires dealing with ownership and management transitions, new technologies, new market trends, and new competitors. So, it is impressive when companies manage to remain vibrant for decades or even centuries.

Entrepreneurship

A Sad Lesson in Collaborative Innovation

Ron Adner

The innovator’s quest has been to find the win-win proposition: a great new product that can create differentiated value for consumers while supporting differentiated profits for the producer.

Strategy

The Corporate Growth Dilemma: Build, Borrow or Buy?

M&A is one tool in the corporate growth toolbox.

Leadership & Organisations

Steve Jobs: Speaking from the wilderness

Editor’s Note: Nearly 16 years ago to the day, I interviewed Steve Jobs at an investment conference in San Francisco, California. He was “out of favour,” in-between his bifurcated tenure at the helm of Apple, revolutionising movie-making as chairman and CEO of Pixar. In retrospect, we see that Jobs brought his Apple technology approach to the movies and took movie marketing with him back to Apple…

Leadership & Organisations

ASML - Owning the market with new technologies

Ever wonder how big companies in cutting edge industries manage to lead the market? The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker – ASML– is convinced it has found the solution in risk management. This has helped it rise to the top of the industry for photolithography machines. But is there more to market leadership than simply spreading the risk?

Leadership & Organisations

From Fiat to heart valves

Scott Hammen

How one CEO took part of a huge Italian industrial complex and turned it into a high-tech healthcare company…

Entrepreneurship

Nokia and Apple: What’s market power got to do with it?

Javier Gimeno

As Charlie’s previous post highlights, the flip of market dominance between Nokia and Apple has indeed been a powerful illustration of the unprecedented dynamism of modern markets. We tend to learn a lot from such outlier events. Why did a successful organization like Nokia lose its ability to innovate? Why did they miss the market new trends? How could Apple, a complete outsider to the mobile industry, capture such a dominant position?
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Marketing

Selling soap to Nigeria: One Indian conglomerate goes beyond

India is the darling of investors looking to benefit from the rapid growth of emerging markets. But well-established Indian companies are looking for growth, too, and they are finding it in the developing world.

Strategy

Bumpy roads in the sky

Rapid economic growth and an increasing demand for travel should make it easy to make money in the airline business in India. But it’s not. One private company explains how it’s navigating through the clouds.

Strategy

The Fuel for Kindle’s Fire: Ecosystem Strategy

Ron Adner

The most viable rival to Apple’s iPad isn’t produced by a traditional hardware firm. Where Samsung, Motorola, Toshiba, HP, RIM and HTC have hardly made a dent in Apple’s dominance, it is online retailer Amazon with its Kindle Fire tablet, that has emerged as the lead contender.

Economics & Finance

Benefit from the networks of your lost employees

Andrew Shipilov

Is losing employees bad for your firm? An intuitive answer would be a straight “yes” because by losing employees, your organisation seemingly loses not only its human capital (i.e. their skills and tacit knowledge accumulated over the years) but also its social capital (i.e. all the internal and external connections your employees have made over their career inside your firm). In other words, conventional wisdom suggests that by losing employees, companies lose both brains and address books. This idea is out of date.

Strategy

Innovation Success: How the Apple iPod Broke all Sony’s Walkman Rules

Ron Adner

In 1978, engineers at Sony successfully married a compact playback device with lightweight headphones to create the prototype for a product that would become a worldwide hit. In 1979, the ‘Walkman’ was introduced in the Japanese market, selling out its entire stock of 30,000 units within the first three months.

Leadership & Organisations

Reversal of Fortunes – Nokia and Apple

Charles Galunic

Some images are incredibly powerful. It takes just a few moments to capture the message behind the graph below. This graph measures the industry profit shares of major mobile phone vendors over the past four years, effectively since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. Along the diagonal is the story of some up and down, but largely stable, movements of competitors like RIM and Samsung. But the big story is the dramatic reversal of fortune for Nokia and Apple.

Strategy

Social media improves internal communication!

Andrew Shipilov

This is the final instalment of the presentation of our survey results on the impact of social media on the competitive advantage of organizations.
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Leadership & Organisations

Yielding to earnings pressure

Javier Gimeno

A triumphant Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, appeared in the Financial Times last week. Given the bleak state of the European airline industry, you might wonder what was the cause of celebration. Ryanair had announced a pre-tax profit of €15.5 million for the third quarter, against analyst consensus estimates of €16 million net loss. This lifted their full-year profit guidance, and share prices went up accordingly.

Leadership & Organisations

Strategy and Organization in Sony

Henrich Greve

Sony now has designated its next chief executive – Kazuo Hirai, whose credentials include running the US game division and then turning the overall game division back from a precipice of potentially enormous losses. With Sony’s long slide from leadership in multiple businesses (think TVs, portable music, and games), there is a lot of second-guessing of their strategies so far.

Strategy

Use social media to connect to your… suppliers!

Andrew Shipilov

Last year, an INSEAD professor Quy Huy (who also has a separate INSEAD blog), and I collected data on how companies used social media to achieve competitive advantage. We are currently working on a major thought piece using the most useful insights, but given that the journal review process takes a very long time, I thought that I could sharesome results in their general form.
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Entrepreneurship

Innovation Networks: a la Google or a la Apple?

Andrew Shipilov

A recent article in International Herald Tribune entitled “Yin and Yang of corporate creativity” describes two approaches to innovation, one of Apple and another of Google. The Google approach is a bottom up, open innovation which is based on rapid experimentation and receiving quick customer feedback. The Apple model is more top down model where the company achieves close to perfect integration of different elements in the product and then pushes it down to customers (remember a now famous comment from Jobs: it’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want).

Strategy

Middle Management: The Undervalued Asset of Developed Economies

Quy Huy

The business press and business schools have implicitly or inadvertently focused the public’s attention on extraordinary CEOs and top executives and continued to undervalue the role of middle managers, who are defined as managers who do not report directly to the top CEO and who are one level above front line workers.

Strategy

The business of making dreams come true

What is it about train travel that evokes a sense of romance and nostalgia, and what is the mystique and allure of trains? Who better to ask than the chief executive of the Orient-Express, the iconic hotel on wheels and arguably the ultimate train ride?

Strategy

Tracking financial and social returns

INSEAD Knowledge

The $24 billion Mubadala Development Corporation, set up by the Abu Dhabi government, was given the mandate to facilitate the diversification of the economy. INSEAD Professor Javier Gimeno speaks to Mubadala’s Chief Financial Officer and INSEAD alumnus Carlos Obeid about the company’s balancing act in terms of managing financial and social investment returns.

Entrepreneurship

How to benefit from closed networks?

Andrew Shipilov

Let’s continue reviewing basic topics in inter-personal networking. We learned that an individual with open inter-personal network is a person whose friends don’t know each other. This individual is considered to be a broker, because he or she can combine information and knowledge from some of his/her network contacts and create something new and innovative. We also know that some people are simply hardwired in their brains to become brokers, because they are more manipulative with their network contacts than the others (see the previous post on self-monitoring).

Strategy

Exploit Customer Turnover and Boost Your Market Share

Karel Cool

Written by Karel Cool & Petros Paranikas Customer turnover – the extent to which new customers enter a market and existing customers leave the market – can give thrust to market entrants and destabilize seemingly unbeatable competitors. Nintendo’s position in the video-game industry seemed unassailable in the mid-1990s. But the fast flow-through of gamers gave Sony an opportunity to successfully attract a dominant share of the market with their new game console. By 1999, Sony’s PlayStation 1 had transformed the industry and dethroned Nintendo. The tables turned again when Nintendo’s Wii overtook Sony’s franchise. The Wii’s combination of innovative play and low pricing appealed to the changing customer base – and put Nintendo in the lead.

Marketing

Social media: What next?

By now, most will acknowledge social media is here to stay. What can we expect and how do companies stay ahead? A digital strategist and former social media manager of The New York Times shares her views.

Entrepreneurship

Who is more likely to become a broker [in a network]?

Andrew Shipilov

Some blog posts ago we started talking about individuals who occupy brokerage positions in open networks, a.k.a. brokers. These are the people whose network contacts are not connected to each other. We also learned that brokers were more likely to generate good ideas, be promoted faster and get better salary raises. But who is likely to be a broker?

Entrepreneurship

Networks and Job Search

Andrew Shipilov

The never-ending financial crisis has sadly cost many people their jobs. It is well-known that networking can help people find jobs, but what is the most effective way of networking?

Leadership & Organisations

Value Creation Logic – Not Budget Logic – Is Key to Successful Turnarounds

Javier Gimeno

Profits come from the gap between revenues and costs. So it is not surprising that when a downturn hits (typically in the form of lower demand and revenues), the typical emergency response is to develop plans to (a) increase revenues, and (b) decrease costs. How this is done, however, explains the difference between successful turnaround strategies and incremental, cosmetic responses.

Leadership & Organisations

Fortis Healthcare: Moving beyond India

Mrinalini Reddy

Healthcare needs are almost desperate in many parts of Asia and one company is ambitiously ramping up its services across the region.

Strategy

A good strategy can turn crisis into opportunity

Javier Gimeno

According to the press, we are in the middle of the “ten days to save the Euro”. Although this may sound a bit sensational (it’s not clear how any country could exit the Euro without incurring economic suicide), it is evident that we are in the middle of unprecedented financial uncertainty in Europe, and that business leaders need to consider the impact of possible scenarios for their concerns.

Strategy

Can you survive today's business world?

Innovation may be the buzz word, but it’s no panacea. Professor Morten Hansen and Jim Collins’ new book “Great by Choice” shows what else you need to stay alive and ahead of the rest.

Strategy

Camus Cognac finds a brave new world in China

Camus Cognac ventured into China looking for a way to save the business. What it found was a new lease on life…and demand for a few new product lines.

Strategy

The alchemist of desire

Cartier understands its real customer draw is passion, not just the iconic watches and jewellery and other luxury goods it produces. CEO Bernard Fornas discusses volatility, tradition and the holidays.

Strategy

Want a successful merger?

Companies frequently cite synergies as a motivation for mergers. However, research shows many related mergers do produce increased cash flows and new products.

Strategy

Technology über alles

The death of Apple’s Steve Jobs has made the world reflect on how technology – not a little of that because of Jobs – has changed the way we spend our time: online, with music, just “being connected” with the world at large. It’s also an opportunity to take a look at Apple’s “seeds” and what those companies are doing today, thanks in no small part to the refocusing of the industry to which Jobs and his company contributed.

Economics & Finance

M&As in China: do politics still speak louder than money?

A couple of foreign M&As of Chinese companies look likely to go through. Is it just a chip in the Great Wall of protectionism or a real shift in policy?

Leadership & Organisations

Mimicry: The latest negotiating strategy

Negotiating online? New research shows that imitating your counterpart’s writing style can help seal you a better deal, proving that imitation is indeed the better part of flattery…

Leadership & Organisations

Winning in high-turnover markets

When managers evaluate potential new businesses, the first question they often ask is: How fast is the market growing? By focusing only on growth, however, they often overlook another critical measure of market potential — high turnover of the customer base. High turnover can make a market dynamic, even when the overall growth rate is low.

Leadership & Organisations

Betting on the wind

Strong headwinds are challenging Spain’s largest wind turbine manufacturer despite a surging demand for renewable power. Gamesa’s CTO discusses its emerging markets expansion, new technologies and the outlook for offshore, and rising competition in the rapidly evolving wind energy sector.

Leadership & Organisations

Growing a business with word-of-mouth marketing

Most start-up companies allocate a hefty budget for advertising and marketing at the beginning, especially when they have lofty goals of capturing market share. But an Indian online travel start-up has proven the unthinkable: you can do it all by word-of-mouth and not spend a penny on advertising.

Leadership & Organisations

Growing a business with word-of-mouth marketing

Most start-up companies allocate a hefty budget for advertising and marketing at the beginning, especially when they have lofty goals of capturing market share. But an Indian online travel start-up has proven the unthinkable: you can do it all by word-of-mouth and not spend a penny on advertising.

Leadership & Organisations

Infosys leadership transition: View from India

Planning for succession in India has traditionally been a matter for the country's family-run businesses. The recent leadership transition at Infosys Technologies could set new standards for professional management in the country’s burgeoning publically-held companies.

Leadership & Organisations

Infosys leaders on leadership

When Infosys Technologies Ltd. founder and CEO S. Gopalakrishnan addressed INSEAD as part of the Global Leadership Series in March 2011, the 55-year-old corporate titan said he believes in leading by example. Now, the world is about to see if he practices what he preaches.

Strategy

Can your business plan survive this stress test?

The road to success is littered with the wreckage of strategies gone awry. Here is a six-step stress test for your strategy.

Responsibility

The art of the deal: Is ethics in the picture?

Can you walk away from the negotiating table with a contract in your pocket and your ethics intact? Here we present the third and final instalment in a series of articles on value negotiation.

Strategy

Streamlining costs and statistics pay off

When the economy is in a tailspin, companies look for ways to trim costs as well as to grow. Grace Segran in London discovered the truth in bar codes and forecasting.

Strategy

Keeping spirits up in a downturn

Grace Segran reports from London on the current state of the spirits industry.

Strategy

Will your strategy succeed?

What's one of the best ways to gain market share, defy the vagaries of the economy, and adapt to rapidly advancing technology? Booz and Company's Paul Leinwand talks to Cindy Babski about how to win with a capabilities-driven strategy.

Economics & Finance

Cargill’s business longevity in China

For agribusiness giant Cargill, doing business in China required adapting its global business model to China's diverse domestic economies. An interview with Robert Aspell, President of Cargill China.

Economics & Finance

Foreign firms eye China’s rural markets

Foreign multinationals in China looking to expand are gearing up for its rural markets. Where are the opportunities and will the government facilitate their efforts?

Strategy

Playing China’s internet market

Forget the massively popular Facebook. In China, it's all about Qzone and QQ and a host of other internet and mobile value added services that's caught the attention of China's Internet users.

Economics & Finance

The upside of a down market

How did Spain's biggest bank become a white knight in the UK and emerge as the fourth most profitable bank worldwide? António Horta-Osorio, CEO of Banco Santander's UK operations discusses strategy and future plans.

Strategy

M&As: Not necessarily the best way to grow your company

There could be other ways to acquire the skills and competencies you need without actually buying them outright, says INSEAD Professor Laurence Capron.

Strategy

A leap into languages

Some entrepreneurs are born into the role. Such was the case of Tom Adams who, at the age of 30, became CEO for a family business selling language-learning software. Rosetta Stone may not have been Adams’ creation, but the company’s phenomenal growth during his tenure is testimony to the role of the entrepreneur within a mature corporate structure. Armed with his passion for languages and skilful execution, Adams took Rosetta Stone to new heights, achieving 20-fold growth during his seven-year tenure.

Strategy

CEO View: Paul Desmarais, Jr.

I like the INSEAD spirit of saying it truly embraces the world, says Paul Desmarais, Jr, "and not just the business world, but the social world and other things of that nature so that INSEAD grads can really be people who can move the dial."

Leadership & Organisations

The pursuit of value

In the second article of a three-part series, INSEAD Professor Horacio Falcao tells INSEAD Knowledge editor Stuart Pallister about strategies for creating and claiming value in negotiations.

Economics & Finance

MBC: Building a media powerhouse in an emerging market

Can Western broadcasters learn anything from the one of the Middle East’s most successful satellite channels? According to a recently-released case study by Annet Aris, Adjunct Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, the answer is yes.

Responsibility

Sustainability and your corporate strategy

Cindy Babski

Sustainability. Can it become a central part of corporate strategy? Today, the answer is: it had better be.

Leadership & Organisations

Taking the lead

Peter Grauer, the Chairman and CEO of Bloomberg, is a man with a mantra and he repeats it every chance he gets: “We have an aspiration at Bloomberg to become the most influential news organisation in the world.”

Leadership & Organisations

How LG Electronics reinvented itself in the US

It took three attempts in four years for Korean electronics giant LG Electronics (LGE) to launch its brand in the US market in 2002. Five years later, it became the top seller of refrigerators and washing machines, and has since been successfully maintaining its lead in the two home appliance categories with current respective market shares of about 24 per cent.
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Leadership & Organisations

A passion for education

If you build it, they will come, so the mantra goes, and that’s exactly what Ng Gim Choo did with the EtonHouse group of schools. However, after having become an established market leader in Singapore with 10 centres, Ng says breaking into the China market was more daunting.

Entrepreneurship

Raising the bar on dyslexia treatment

On a trip back home to North Carolina, Chad Myers (MBA ‘04J) met up with a friend and advisor, Sandie Barrie Blackley, and told her he was looking to get back into entrepreneurship. At that stage of his life, some two years ago, Myers was teaching at INSEAD and running the school’s International Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Strategy

Making room for life’s unexpected setbacks

In sports as in life, it’s perhaps best to accept that the best-laid plans can often be upset by the unexpected. That is certainly the approach that Essar Gabriel (MBA ‘96D), head of the Youth Olympic Games at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), advocates and adopts.

Economics & Finance

Doing it the Chinese way

As trite as the phrase ‘think global, act local’ may be, it nevertheless encapsulates The Walt Disney Company’s approach to making a success of its business in China. To that end, producing content that has a cultural and emotional resonance with Chinese consumers is crucial, says Stanley Cheung, Disney’s managing director for Greater China.

Strategy

China’s Babytree.com: how it achieved its growth spurt

Just three years after starting up, Babytree.com, a social networking site for parents in China already boasts some 12 million visitors, a mammoth feat by any standards.

Leadership & Organisations

Negotiating to win

Karen Cho

In the first of a series of articles on value negotiation, INSEAD Professor Horacio Falcao tells INSEAD Knowledge about the tactics and strategies you need in order to succeed at the negotiating table.

Leadership & Organisations

Is it too late to get into the China market?

Is it too late for multinationals to enter China right now? Not so, according to Edward Tse, Booz & Company’s senior partner and chairman for Greater China.

Leadership & Organisations

The power of true strategy

What do Google and Napoleon Bonaparte have in common? According to author Robert Greene, both are -- or were -- great strategists of their time. And because of that, both wielded enormous power and control, which made them formidable forces to contend with.

Leadership & Organisations

CEO view: Josep Oliu, Banco Sabadell

Josep Oliu has been through three economic crises as a banker in Spain -- two of them since becoming CEO of Banco Sabadell Group. The veteran banker spoke with INSEAD Knowledge recently at the Group’s headquarters in Barcelona about the crisis and what we can learn from it.

Strategy

Google’s China dilemma

Some four years after setting up Google China, the leading internet search engine company has decided to confront the Chinese authorities over censorship, following alleged cyber attacks on the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Leadership & Organisations

Inside the world of Sir Martin Sorrell

“Our strategy is built on three pillars,” says communications guru Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of the world’s largest communications services company, WPP. ‘New markets’, which means the shift to Asia and the South, the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and Next-11 markets; ‘new media’, that’s digital in the sense of PC, mobile and video content; and ‘consumer insight,’ “because we’re very focused on how the consumer is changing, not just in a recessionary environment but in the longer term: their media consumption habits, not just their reaction to products and services.”
1 comment

Strategy

Raffles Hotels marketing strategy

INSEAD Knowledge

Contrary to the way many companies try to grow their bottom line, the mantra for hospitality group Raffles Hotels & Resorts is slow and steady. And according to its President John M. Johnston, that has served this boutique luxury hotel chain just fine.

Strategy

Address pain points in society to do good and do better

Entrepreneurs looking for growth opportunities should begin by identifying 'pain points' in society, say INSEAD Professor Subi Rangan and Shantanu Prakash, the founder of Indian educational company, Educomp Solutions.
1 comment

Strategy

Finding the rhythm of the centre

'Finding the rhythm of the centre' is how Alex Cummings, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Coca-Cola, describes bridging the gap between his staff working in the field and those who work in the corporate 'centre' of power. He talks about a 'natural tension' between the two parts and how they can be brought together. "The rhythms are different," he explains.

Leadership & Organisations

Davos in Delhi: how India figures in the global agenda

The global economic recovery is for real and is being led by emerging countries such as India. That was one of the two key messages from the recently-held India Economic Summit here, jointly hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Responsibility

Healthcare: at the crossroads

Shellie Karabell

Healthcare reform today is being avidly discussed in political, social, medical and business circles around the world. In developing countries, the billions of dollars spent on containing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases such as TB and malaria, are beginning to show some positive results. In Europe, the cost of government-sponsored healthcare is having a negative impact on GDP, while in the US, the Obama Administration is embarking on the country’s most ambitious attempt at providing universal coverage for some 47 million plus people in the country without health insurance.

Strategy

Where next for GE?

“Investors love certainty. I just don’t think we’re going to live in a ‘certain’ time,” says Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric, commenting candidly on the current business environment and how successful business players need to have a corporate culture and strategic process that is flexible and can adapt quickly.

Strategy

LVHM sees potential of China’s traditional liquor market

When Moet Hennessy, the wines and spirits business of leading luxury products group LVMH, acquired a 55 per cent stake in Wenjun Distillery, one of China's premium bai jiu (white spirits) companies, the company raised a few eyebrows because it was doing something it had never, in its illustrious history, done before.

Strategy

Understanding markets key to globalisation

Even as some multinationals are still mulling over their China strategy, others like Siemens had been laying the groundwork in China a long time ago.

Strategy

Tupperware: a party somewhere every two seconds

Say “Tupperware” to anyone over 40 and you conjure up visions of 1950s American housewives gathered together at someone’s home for a chance to test and buy airtight, plastic food containers. Passe, right? Wrong.

Economics & Finance

Why Gymboree’s China strategy is no child’s play

As China’s star continues to shine, one of the more recent beneficiaries of the country’s economic boom is the early childhood development sector.

Strategy

Celebrating 50 years of action

“Are you actually planning to turn a national palace into a private business school?” a shocked French official asked of Olivier Giscard d’Estaing some 50 years ago when one of the key founders of INSEAD asked permission to use the Chateau of Fontainebleau as a home base for the school.

Strategy

INSEAD & Wharton together

“The thing I would say is, the financial services industry is not dead. Full stop.” That’s a view shared by INSEAD Dean Frank Brown and his counterpart at The Wharton School, Tom Robertson.

Strategy

Too late or just in time?

In The Art of War, 6th century BC Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu examines how you can achieve your goal before the enemy does, despite starting late. The tactic of deviation- taking a long and circuitous route, and luring away the enemy - is sometimes what it takes to win the battle.

Strategy

Cash is king, so work your working capital

With credit so hard to get during this recession, the old adage that “cash is king” is even more relevant. But most companies have access to more cash than they realise, say two INSEAD professors, and it’s right in front of them, in their company balance sheets.

Economics & Finance

Aviation facing strong headwinds, reshapes industry

Falling demand, collapsing yields, low consumer confidence and fears of a pandemic have thrust the aviation industry into survival mode. Airlines are expected to post losses of US$9 billion this year, with an unprecedented drop in revenue of 15 per cent, that will see industry revenues shrink by US$80 billion to US$448 billion.

Economics & Finance

The changing social landscape of Malaysia

Like many societies, Malaysia is in a period of transition from one generation to a new one and with that comes many issues. After 51 years of independence, the question of who they are as a nation is one that plays a lot on people's minds these days.

Economics & Finance

How to avert a financial crisis

Ludo Van der Heyden

Companies are overreacting to the economic downturn but, had they been better prepared in the first place, they wouldn’t find themselves in such a fix. This is according to Ludo Van der Heyden, INSEAD Professor of Technology and Operations Management.

Entrepreneurship

How Obama used social networking tools to win

In his bid to help Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States, Scott Goodstein spearheaded the use of new social networking and mobile media platforms, harnessing technological innovations to expand the audience base for the Obama campaign.

Strategy

Exploring new terrain

iXiGO.com has the rare combination of a passionate team with an idea that is not only innovative but also timely. The travel search engine was launched in a market where Indian online travel agents had received more than 100 million US dollars in venture funding.

Strategy

Leadercast: Greg Case, CEO of Aon

When Greg Case, CEO of Aon, spoke at the INSEAD Leadership Summit in Europe two years ago, he warned that the magnitude and complexity of risk in the world today were increasing.

Strategy

The illusion of control: dancing with chance

Looking back, it may seem obvious that there was insufficient risk management in the financial industry. In a new book called ‘Dance with chance, making luck work for you’ authors Spyros Makridakis, Robin Hogarth and Anil Gaba suggest that while there are events that you can’t anticipate, there are better ways of dealing with risk.

Economics & Finance

Re-skilling Europe for the new global knowledge economy

Europe today is suffering from a skills shortage, made even worse by the economic crisis. Over the past decade, many business leaders have stressed that Europe is simply not producing, attracting, or retaining sufficient numbers of scientists, engineers and IT specialists to meet the requirements of its industries, and the ambition of its ‘Lisbon Agenda’ - that is, to lead the global knowledge economy.

Economics & Finance

Why free trade, not protectionism, is the answer

The completion of the Doha Round of global free trade agreements is central to resolving the current global economic crisis. Speakers at this year’s European Business Summit stressed that governments should help enable global free trade to rejuvenate economic growth, rather than turn to protectionist measures.

Economics & Finance

Barroso makes the case for conclusion of Doha Round

The world should embrace free trade and repudiate protectionism, urges José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, adding that completing the Doha Round on global trade would send a “very important signal” that free trade is vital in lifting the international economy from the current deep recession.

Economics & Finance

Sustaining Europe's ambitions

Europe needs to be a lot more focused as to what it wants to lead in, to sustain its ambitions. So should it be leading in terms of policy, markets, supply and skills?

Economics & Finance

Tackling Europe’s unemployment crisis

New and better solutions are needed to tackle the worsening unemployment crisis in Europe. Speakers at the EBS said the EU's Lisbon Strategy and 'flexicurity' should form the cornerstone of such solutions. But Will Hutton, executive vice chairman of The Work Foundation, warns that the accelerating pace of technological changes means that wrenching economic disruptions will "become the norm".

Strategy

Disney eyes growth in Asia

Mickey Mouse, a character created by Walt Disney in the late 1920s, never seems to grow old. Today, this talking mouse with his trademark red shorts and white gloves, continues to charm legions of children around the world.

Strategy

Steering the MBA

Karen Cho

The numbers speak for themselves. When China first introduced an MBA programme in 1991, only 90 students signed up. Last year, an estimated 25,000 enrolled in China’s business schools. Choices are aplenty, with more than 100 such schools in China alone.

Strategy

KFC China's recipe for success

If there were just a few things that China has wholly embraced from the West, it would be their love for Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC as it is more commonly known. In 1987, the fast-food operator opened its first outlet near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Then came 2,000 other outlets, which sprung up across China within the next 20 years – a phenomenal achievement by any standard.
1 comment

Strategy

Navigating the downturn

The economic crisis is forcing businesses everywhere to make hard decisions - what’s important is remaining agile and keeping an eye on the future, said Bill Amelio, shortly before stepping down as CEO of the Lenovo Group.

Strategy

Planting the seeds of success in the desert: Lipton's tea factory in Dubai

INSEAD Knowledge

For many people, tea manufacturing conjures up images of tea pickers in Asia or Africa, with tea leaves being plucked at plantations and brought to a nearby factory for processing. Unilever's decision to build a tea factory in the desert of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is therefore not what one would expect to see, especially as it involves a major multinational company.

Economics & Finance

Governments have not done enough to address crisis

Governments around the world have not done enough to address the damaging effects of the global financial crisis triggered by the one-year old subprime credit crisis in the United States, economist Manu Bhaskaran says.

Entrepreneurship

Surfing on rocks with ‘Miss Daisy’

‘A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step,’ goes the ancient Chinese proverb. The modern-day, Peter Schindler version goes: ‘A journey of 21,000 kilometres in a yellow sports car starts with a slightly eccentric Swiss national, driven to explore the Chinese countryside.’

Economics & Finance

The Obama effect

The latest US election, and Barack Obama’s campaign in particular, was unprecedented in more ways than one, having set new standards for future elections. “This campaign will change all campaigns going forward,” says Steve Okun, who worked on transportation issues in the Clinton administration and is currently chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

Economics & Finance

Asia feels the pain caused by the crisis but could be poised for rapid recovery

Asia can’t escape the financial and economic crisis that is battering the rest of the world, but the region may be poised for a more rapid recovery if leaders in business and government work together and show leadership.

Responsibility

When social innovation makes good business sense

With the international community galvanised to look for ways to solve the current financial crisis, it appears that other problems have been relegated to the backburner. That could have dire consequences in the long term, especially if the problem is that of climate change, says Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream, Royal Dutch Shell.

Strategy

Sound long-term strategy is key, particularly in a crisis

With the current global economic downturn, there's been plenty of talk of doom and gloom. But Professor Michael Porter of Harvard University, a leading authority on competitive strategy, begs to differ. He believes this time of great economic upheaval to be the tipping point for companies – if only they know how to harness the right strategies.
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Strategy

CEO view: Wolfgang Prock-Schauer

As the aviation industry faces its biggest crisis in recent history because of high fuel prices and the economic slowdown, airlines are forced to do business differently as they seek to trim operating costs ruthlessly to brace themselves for tough times ahead.

Strategy

CEO view: Fadi Ghandour of Aramex

The Aramex story – that of a small player in the Middle East rising to compete against the biggest companies in the global transportation and logistics market – has been heralded by Thomas L. Friedman in his book The World is Flat as a model for companies benefiting from the ‘flattening’ of the world through globalisation – the levelling of the economic field and the destruction of barriers to entry, opening the door wide for individuals or companies anywhere in the world to collaborate or compete globally.

Entrepreneurship

What to do when everything changes

Israel has a thriving high-technology startup sector, which is based on world-class expertise and entrepreneurial talent. But nobody is perfect and even these sophisticated venture companies can improve in their management of uncertainty. When faced with risks and uncertainty, most high technology start-ups in Israel’s telecom industry carry out too much planning and then tend to adopt an insufficiently flexible stance. Conversely, the start-up companies facing low uncertainty appear to make too little diligent planning.