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Why Network Neutrality Is Good for Business
Web-based technologies Digital ArticleEditor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […] -
Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Leaders, Make Curiosity the Core of Your Organizational Culture
Organizational Development Digital ArticleKeeping a competitive edge requires constant questioning. -
The Risky Business of Diversification
Innovation Magazine ArticleOn the basis of a sample from the top 200 of the Fortune “500” and data from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) project, this author gives some guidelines for established companies on what to expect from new ventures. He points out that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years before the […] -
Companyism and Do More Better
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleImagine yourself solving an arithmetic problem with the top managers of a leading Japanese automobile company. As a group, Japanese producers already export 2.3 million passenger vehicles a year to the United States. They are also building capacity for an additional 2.5 million vehicles in North America. You remind your friends across the table that […] -
The Role of Private Equity in Driving Up Health Care Prices
Competitive strategy Digital ArticleIt prioritizes short-term profits over patients’ health. -
Research: Which Firms Are Allowed to Be Disruptors?
Change management Digital ArticleNewcomers may have the will, but industry insiders have the way. -
Why Firms Are Struggling with the U.S. Economy's Soft Landing
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleWaning pricing power, a tight labor market, and expensive capital all present challenges for business. -
Bringing the Environment Down to Earth
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleManagers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks. -
Strategy is Different in Service Businesses
Strategy Magazine ArticleMany managers of service businesses are aware that the strategic management (by which I mean the total process of selecting and implementing a corporate strategy) of service businesses is different from that of manufacturing businesses. This article discusses how pure service businesses are different from product-oriented businesses and why they require different strategic thinking. A […] -
The Comcast-Time Warner Merger Is Not a Sign of Strength
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleThere is no "cable industry" anymore. -
Innovating in the Great Disruption
Innovation Digital ArticleWhile the global economy began slowing down in late 2007, forces transforming the face of business trace back more than a decade. Over that time period, technological improvements have made it ever easier to start and scale a business. Convergence went from being a cliché to a reality. Companies from countries like China, India, and […] -
Must Finance and Strategy Clash?
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleMarketers and finance people seldom see eye to eye. The makers say, “This product will open up a whole new market segment.” Finance people respond, “It’s a bad investment. The IRR is only 8%.” Why are they so often in opposition? The financial criteria used to decide if a project will be profitable are entirely […] -
How 1% Performance Improvements Led to Olympic Gold
Leadership & Managing People InterviewAn interview with the former head of British Cycling. -
The Chief Strategy Officer
Competitive strategy Magazine Article“What we’ve been doing isn’t in line with the company’s strategy—and we need to fix that.” Someone in your organization has the mandate to walk into any office, speak those words, and spark some sort of transformation. Maybe it’s the CEO and the CEO only. That’s the traditional model, after all—vision, planning, and directives flow […] -
Why Google Fiber Is High-Speed Internet's Most Successful Failure
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleIt forced existing companies to improve their services. -
Stop Wasting Valuable Time
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleCompanies routinely squander their most precious resource--the time of their top executives. In the typical company, senior executives meet to discuss... -
Effective Public Management
Strategic planning Magazine ArticlePolitical scientists, legislators, educators, business executives, lawyers, consumerists—practically everyone, it sometimes seems—is calling for better public management. For businessmen, the need is especially important because they feel surrounded by government institutions with which they are legally required to interact. But enthusiasm for good government is one thing; understanding the nature of it, to say nothing […] -
Don’t Let Platforms Commoditize Your Business
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleHow to make them work for your brand -
Facebook and The Future of Competition
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleLast week, I discussed Facebook's relentless evil, how that was a profound strategic error, and why the costs of evil are starting to outweigh the benefits...
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Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza... -
AI21 Labs in 2023: Strategy for Generative AI
Management Case Study11.95View Details Israeli generative artificial intelligence company AI21 Labs was founded in 2017 to realize the vision of true machine intelligence. It sought to reinvent... -
Coal: Exit, voice or loyalty? The case of three mining multinationals
Management Case Study11.95View Details Coal plays a critical role as an energy pillar in many parts of the world. In three of the world's most populous countries - China, India and Indonesia... -
iPod: The Perfect Thing?
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details -
Amazon, Google, and Apple: Smart Speakers and the Battle for the Connected Home
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Amazon, Google, and Apple all offer their own smart speaker. The devices represent each firm's entry point into the connected home market. All three companies... -
Netflix in 2011
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model.... -
Pinnacle Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Pinnacle Mutual is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the world. Offering a full range of financial services, it competes with a broad... -
Dr. Lal Pathlabs (B)
Global Business Case Study5.00View Details India's diagnostics business valued at USD 10 billion was growing at 20% annually. Several players with different business models competed. Dr. Lal PathLabs,... -
UFO Moviez Flying in the Digital Cinemaspace in India
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Founded in 2005, UFO Moviez India Limited (UFO) was the largest satellite-based digital cinema distribution company in the world by late 2012. Within... -
East to West: China's Lesso Group Entering the US Retail Market
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The case contains a discussion on Lesso Group, a leading construction material and home decor manufacturer in China, and its market entrance strategy... -
Roll-Ups and Surprise Billing: Collisions at the Intersection of Private Equity and Patient Care
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the increasing investment by private equity (PE) firms in patient care and other healthcare services. The case focuses on investments... -
The Taste Of LIME: Competitive Dynamics and Strategies In The Telecommunications Industry
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Cable and Wireless, Jamaica (C&WJ) operated in Jamaica under an exclusive license that made it a virtual monopoly. In 1999, the Government of Jamaica... -
Google Inc. in 2014 (Abridged)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Describes Google's history, business model, governance structure, corporate culture, and processes for managing innovation. Reviews Google's recent strategic... -
Sustaining Superior Performance: Commitments and Capabilities
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Presents evidence on the unsustainability of many competitive advantages, reviews the typical threats to the sustainability, and discusses ways in which... -
Cat Fight in the Pet Food Industry (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Describes the pet food industry in the mid-eighties prior to the breakout of a major competitive battle as manufacturers fight for share. Illustrates... -
WWF and Greenpeace: Two Strategies to Save the Arctic Ocean
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the two leading environmental NGOs: WWF and Greenpeace. It discusses these organizations' different approaches to the preservation... -
Matrix Cellular: Tapping into Innovation to Disrupt a Regulated and Saturated Indian Telecom Market
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Set in July 2015, the case follows Matrix Cellular (International) Services (Matrix), a telecommunications company that forayed into the nascent cellular... -
Monitor's Opportunities in India (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The CEO of a strategy consulting firm must decide which of the firm's functions, if any, to move to India. In particular, he wonders whether business... -
Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal Industry in 1994 (B)
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details Updates the (A) case.
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Why Network Neutrality Is Good for Business
Web-based technologies Digital ArticleEditor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […] -
Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Leaders, Make Curiosity the Core of Your Organizational Culture
Organizational Development Digital ArticleKeeping a competitive edge requires constant questioning. -
Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza... -
The Risky Business of Diversification
Innovation Magazine ArticleOn the basis of a sample from the top 200 of the Fortune “500” and data from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) project, this author gives some guidelines for established companies on what to expect from new ventures. He points out that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years before the […] -
AI21 Labs in 2023: Strategy for Generative AI
Management Case Study11.95View Details Israeli generative artificial intelligence company AI21 Labs was founded in 2017 to realize the vision of true machine intelligence. It sought to reinvent... -
Coal: Exit, voice or loyalty? The case of three mining multinationals
Management Case Study11.95View Details Coal plays a critical role as an energy pillar in many parts of the world. In three of the world's most populous countries - China, India and Indonesia... -
Companyism and Do More Better
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleImagine yourself solving an arithmetic problem with the top managers of a leading Japanese automobile company. As a group, Japanese producers already export 2.3 million passenger vehicles a year to the United States. They are also building capacity for an additional 2.5 million vehicles in North America. You remind your friends across the table that […] -
The Role of Private Equity in Driving Up Health Care Prices
Competitive strategy Digital ArticleIt prioritizes short-term profits over patients’ health. -
iPod: The Perfect Thing?
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details