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Midsized Companies Can’t Afford Operational Glitches

Harvard Business Review

But they don’t think nearly enough about operational meltdowns – technological glitches and other problems that can put them out of business. They are usually quick to recognize operational problems and deal with them before they become disasters. Operational meltdowns at midsized companies can take much longer to notice and resolve.

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What Inclusive Urban Development Can Look Like

Harvard Business Review

Most cities fall well short of that ideal. metros that increased their productivity, average wages, and standard of living from 2010 to 2015, only 11 metros achieved inclusive economic outcomes. Inclusive prosperity is the idea that the opportunity and benefits of economic growth should be widely shared by all segments of society.

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How to Quantify Sustainability’s Impact on Your Bottom Line

Harvard Business Review

But we recognize that, in many businesses, resources are often allocated according to short-term, bottom-line pressures. For slaughterhouses and retailers (Brazilian operations), we also projected positive benefits: $20 million to $120 million (0.01% to 0.1% of revenues) and $13 million to $62 million (0.01% to 0.7%

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As Emerging Markets Slow, Firms Search for “New” BRICs

Harvard Business Review

In this new operating environment, I find more and more multinationals looking to new frontier markets for growth while demanding profitability from their emerging-market operations. Additionally, managing corrupt business practices often makes it difficult for MNCs to realize growth potential in the short term.

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Make Your Organization Anti-Fragile

Harvard Business Review

retailer, spent the last three decades improving its supply chain processes, and designing and launching a series of services, including smaller local convenience stores and online shopping. having sacrificed customer intimacy for increased operational excellence gains through widespread cost cutting, are well documented.

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Walmart's Shades of Gray

Harvard Business Review

And although the retail giant's green efforts have done a lot to showcase the company's commitment to sustainability, sometimes Walmart gives its critics some legitimate ammo, like the recent revelations and allegations of corruption in its Mexican operations. Of course not. That judgment so far is pretty clear in this case.

Ethics 11
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What to Do When Your Future Strategy Clashes with Your Present

Harvard Business Review

From time to time, the basis of competition in an industry shifts so dramatically that shifting with it requires a new long-term vision that calls for the organization to do things it never would have done in the past. Consider the case of MedStar Health, the largest nongovernment health care provider in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C.,