Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2014

Strategic consistency is the hallmark of many great companies. Southwest Airlines’ decades-long strategy of “short-haul, high-frequency, point-to-point, low-fare service” produced what was not only one of the best-performing airlines in the U.S. Digital technology overwhelmed Kodak’s once-formidable business in photography.

Company 8

Company Supply Chain Airlines Health Care 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 29, 2016

In the oil industry, for example, what used to be weeks of inspection work now takes just days, thanks to drone-based thermal imaging and gas “sniffer” technology to inspect oil rigs and pipelines. Airlines Easyjet and Lufthansa have adopted drones as a tool for aircraft inspections. Insight Center. Sponsored by Accenture.

Competitive Advantage 9

Competitive Advantage Company Outsourcing Analysis 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 19, 2016

Customers choose the company that gives them value that other companies can’t match. A company that can show it is different from other companies, in a way that is relevant to customers, gains a major competitive advantage. With truly differentiated companies, much of the distinction goes beyond the product itself.

IAM 9

IAM Productivity Products Company 9

Strategy Driven

JANUARY 21, 2011

StrategyDriven effective executives, efficient employees Home About The StrategyDriven Organization Our Company Our Contributors Karen K. One retail CTO summed it up well at a recent SAS event when he said, “We don’t want to just struggle through and be hanging by our fingertips when the economy recovers. Juliano Howard T. Dickens Jr.

Real Estate 66

Real Estate Magazine Rogers Long-term 66

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2018

The retail world in particular abounds with catch-phrases, habits, and commonly copied templates: “Say it with a smile.” Even if you’re a member of the company’s team, it is often better to say “I” than “we.” ” “Never say no.” ” “Sorry is a magic word.”

Analysis 11

Analysis Retail Airlines Reference 11

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 8, 2015

Eighteen years ago, five airline companies—Lufthansa, Air Canada, United Airlines, Thai Airways and Scandinavian Airlines—formed an alliance with a vision to offer better services to their customers. Even when dealing with any one airline, they could enjoy access to the resources of several airlines.

Airlines 8

Airlines Hotels Operations Open-book 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 15, 2012

That's why I've begun to encourage senior leaders of companies, executives who run business units or departments, even mid-level managers who are responsible for a specific brand, to step back and take time (probably much longer than twenty minutes) and write their organization's obituary. What legacy did your company leave in its industry?

Company 10

Company Brand Banking Long-term 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 26, 2012

Welcome to problem #1 for retailers: The company knows that a potential customer has interacted with it across a lot of touch points but it has no idea that all these interactions are with Jane. Retailers are desperate to unlock this intelligence so they can make more personalized offers. Be systematic. Fill in the data holes.

Retail 11

Retail Loyalty Customer Loyalty ROI 11

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 2, 2014

The art of endurance can be studied in some of the world’s oldest companies. The company has been around for over 250 years. It started life as an ironworks company, pursued vertical integration by entering coal, eventually moved into pressed steel wheels before diversifying into front wheel drive technology and beyond.

Competitive Advantage 8

Competitive Advantage Airlines Telecommunications Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2011

And while these companies were the first to acknowledge the business benefits of delivering a great customer experience, business-to-business (B2B) organizations are increasingly getting in on the game. Often, the best way for B2B companies to satisfy the multitude of business customers is to focus on the needs of their customers' customers.

B2B 15

B2B Airlines Travel Stage-Gate 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 11, 2013

Last month, when I tweeted to American Airlines about a delay, no one tweeted back to me and no one realized that the tweet was also from a long-standing AAdvantage Gold member. It may seem simple to combine these discrete data sets into one holistic customer profile, but there are major technology obstacles brands need to get past.

Brand 15

Brand Advertising Airlines CRM 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 2, 2014

For a retailer, it’s extremely useful to know whether a customer will be back or has abandoned you for good. But as the amount of data that retailers are able to collect grows and the predictive models keep improving, the models will inevitably become markedly better at predicting customer behavior than simple rules.

Simon 9

Simon Retail Uncertainty Apparel 9

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2015

Aggressive moves by airlines to migrate frequent flyer metrics from miles flown to dollars spent have caused bargain-hunting road warriors worldwide to whine about “disloyalty programs.” Airlines have clearly calculated that customers who spend more are more valuable to them than customers who fly more.

Customer Loyalty 8

Customer Loyalty Loyalty Airlines Hotels 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

But does the fact that it earned more money in one quarter than any company in history mean that our beloved Apple is alive and well? When Southwest Airlines started to occupy the same market space as established air carriers, the incumbents predictably focused more on business class and international routes.

Report 8

Report Disruptive Innovation Banking Insurance 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2017

companies probably assume that their employees have the knowledge and skills they need to carry out their jobs. One global technology company my team works with, for example, discovered that, on average, its sales employees didn’t understand or know about 22% of its product features, even though they believed they did.

Skills 8

Skills How To Learning-by-Doing Airlines 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2014

Every CEO of a large company worries about the small competitor that will come from behind and change everything. Consider Southwest Airlines, which shook up the airline industry with its low-cost, high-customer service approach to air travel. What makes it work for our company? Who is that David to our Goliath?”.

Health Care 8

Health Care Innovation Airlines Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 30, 2014

McKinsey research shows that companies with advanced marketing and sales capabilities tend to grow their revenue two to three times more than the average company within their sector. The company shifted resources to its most lucrative markets, where two-thirds of the opportunity lay. They really know what the customer wants.”.

Marketing 9

Marketing Guidelines B2C Analysis 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2016

I’m talking about the superconsumers who are inside your organization, working at every level: the fashionista who works in the mail room at the headquarters of an apparel company, or the finance manager who works for a pork brand and who eats three pounds of bacon in any given week. So find them, ask questions, and let them help you.

Airlines 8

Airlines Energy Self-aware Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 18, 2016

A retailer’s point of sale (POS) system falls into that category. Note that whether the technology used is “leading edge” is secondary. They are essentially R&D investments in unproven ways to use digital technologies. They are driven by novel ideas or perhaps a new technology.

Tools 8

Tools Competitive Advantage Operations Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 11, 2013

Last month, when I tweeted to American Airlines about a delay, no one tweeted back to me and no one realized that the tweet was also from a long-standing AAdvantage Gold member. It may seem simple to combine these discrete data sets into one holistic customer profile, but there are major technology obstacles brands need to get past.

Brand 8

Brand Advertising Airlines CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 19, 2018

Why is that some companies have great heads of strategy who make an outstanding contribution to their companies while others don’t? Consider Staples, the office-supplies retailer, which had tumbled from being the market leader to being a third of the new leader’s size by 1992. alicemoi/Getty Images.

Strategy 8

Strategy Chief Financial Officer Short-term Chief Information Officer 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

For example, same-store sales or sales per square foot measure success in the retail industry, and various volume measures do it in commodity industries. Companies in industries facing change have to change their key metrics, often before the new reality is clear. For years, U.S. Know your metrics and the behaviors they drive.

Metrics 8

Metrics Business Model Retail Automotive 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 22, 2016

” Companies that go this route use preexisting digital platform tools to engage their networks. Airline JetBlue has turned its Twitter account into a highly responsive, 24/7 customer service line. British retailer ASOS also maintains a popular Instagram account. Think about this option as digital platform “lite.”

Real Estate 8

Real Estate Business Model Incubator Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 4, 2017

And that’s not just social media accounts; it’s bank accounts, retailer gift card accounts with cash and credit cards attached, airline loyalty accounts with years of accumulated frequent flyer points, and other accounts with real value. Shore up your company’s first line of defense. Insight Center.

ROI 8

ROI Long-term Banking System 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

This narrative has rested on three propositions: that globalization is a major driver of growth and prosperity; that technological progress enriches our lives; and that shareholder returns reflect businesses’ contributions to societal progress. The same goes for technology.

Globalization 8

Globalization Supply Chain Human Capital Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

While the idea of reaching out to consumers via smartphone apps is clearly not new, companies have been stubbornly hesitant to embrace app technologies. Executives who need reminding can examine their companies' websites from the early 1990s through the Wayback Machine , an archive of the internet.

Brand 11

Brand B2C Market Segmentation Travel 11

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 11, 2017

Among those that have met that fate in recent months are initiatives at Target, Alaska Airlines, Coca-Cola, the New York Times, and Chubb. The problem isn’t that large companies lack good ideas. At many companies, new innovation initiatives get the blessing of the CEO — but have little interaction with the business units.

Project 9

Project Innovation Press Release Survey 9

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 28, 2015

Companies were split into divisions, each with their own leadership. Even Brian admits that holacracy isn’t for everyone (I’m still not sure I would want to work in a company that adopted it), but I think every manager could benefit from a better understanding of the problems that it is trying to solve.

Groupthink 8

Groupthink Agility Diversity Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 9, 2013

GE, perhaps more than any other major company, is dedicated to the use of data visualization as a key part of its marketing and communications efforts. How do you think about using data visualization when it comes to different audiences and stakeholders, both within your company and outside of it? Design Marketing Technology'

Storytelling 8

Storytelling Airlines White Paper Audience 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 19, 2015

His letter announced a compensation restructuring, which accompanied a dismantling of hierarchy and the introduction of self-managed, self-organizing teams throughout the company. The purpose of a company, he proclaimed, was not to make money; it was to help its members (Stayer banned the term employee) thrive. Life is aspiration.

Management 8

Management Long-term System Delegation 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 8, 2018

Retailers know they have to find the right blend of digital convenience and in-person service. How technology is changing the design and delivery of care. Like banks, airlines, and retailers, health care providers will need to offer an easy, digital front-end experience to their customers. Fanatic Studio/Getty Images.

Health Care 8

Health Care Retail Strategy Licensing 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 27, 2015

The best, like American Airlines, make it feel natural. At least that’s better than the 70% of companies that plainly ignore complaints on Twitter. Yet, despite the urgency of getting it right—and the ample time that companies have had to figure it out—most corporations have an empathy deficit. This matters.

Company 8

Company Airlines Brand Analysis 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 12, 2018

Many retailers and proximity marketers have deployed beacons inside stores that have resulted in up to a 15% lift in retail foot traffic and a 73% increase in the likelihood of purchase among shoppers. ” Many companies already monitor social media networks for posts from customers.

Short-term 8

Short-term Brand Long-term Media 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 14, 2017

Loyalty programs have proliferated across travel, retail, financial services, and other economic sectors. How Blockchain Works Here are five basic principles underlying the technology. Best known as the technology behind bitcoin, blockchain enables a ledger of transactions to be shared across a network of participants.

Loyalty 10

Loyalty Customer Loyalty Travel Hotels 10

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Deep changes in technology and globalization that started in the 1990s continue to up-end how we live and work. Then the insurance companies attempted to consolidate, and were blocked by the antitrust authorities. Hospitals , too, are merging horizontally when they can, as did pharmacy retailers. Carson Jimi Filipovski/Unsplash.

Automotive 8

Automotive Retail Restructuring Chemicals 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2015

Is your company poised to build the next Uber? Have you started imagining how cryptocurrencies could be used to shore up your company’s digital security? Have you considered that the algorithms your company uses might inadvertently be lying to you? Where/how are people having difficulty with technology?

Trends 8

Trends Retail Learning-by-Doing Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 25, 2016

Once companies are logging and storing detailed data on all their customer engagements and internal processes, what’s next? Our goal in this article is to offer specific, real-world case studies to show how big data has provided value for companies that have worked with Microsoft’s analytics teams. Insight Center.

Supply Chain 12

Supply Chain Price Airlines Advertising 12