Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 30, 2016

And the odds that your company, or industry, may find itself targeted by an activist are going up. Many activists are asking some very tough and fundamental strategic questions: Are the company’s investments in the right place? Is the company’s portfolio too diverse? What is our company great at doing?

Management 8

Management Short-term Constraint Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

Fewer than one-third (30%) of respondents to our survey see innovation as one of the top three challenges their company faces in achieving its strategic objectives, and just 21% think that technology trends are a major strategic challenge. We found that concerns about innovation fall behind other issues for most directors.

Innovation 11

Innovation Short-term Telecommunications Long-term 11

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Although they're no longer wage slaves, they still feel captive to the fortunes and whims of big companies. Artisans' cooperatives help market products from diverse artists. People who left corporate jobs for the joy of entrepreneurship are working harder and feeling less joy. Build collective clout.

Entrepreneur 17

Entrepreneur Cooper Apparel Bureaucracy 17

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Just look at Uber to understand the importance of diversity and product safety or at car manufacturers scrambling to develop a competitive advantage in electric cars as countries seek to decarbonize their economics and fight pollution. In both cases, social and environmental metrics matter for the business’s financial success.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Asset Management Chemicals Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 14, 2015

Reflecting this broader viewpoint, the company began to expand its market footprint, by, for instance, investing in a start-up that planned to sell furniture via the internet. Virgin has taken an entirely different tack from Starbucks by directly expanding its corporate brand into an incredibly diverse set of industries.

Brand 8

Brand Banking Apparel Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 2, 2013

In many companies, "digital" is a cacophony of disconnected, inconsistent, and sometimes incompatible activities. One company had three simultaneous mobile marketing initiatives, conducted by different groups, using different tools and vendors. The title CDO may or may not become permanent in your company.

CIO 8

CIO Technology Apparel Information Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

In the developed world, we enjoy better medicines, connectivity, and mobility than most of us could have imagined even 20 years ago. As a result, more companies are being valued based on their current earnings than on their growth potential. Our research shows that many companies are increasingly geared toward the short term.

Globalization 8

Globalization Supply Chain Human Capital Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2013

In one of the most comprehensive global surveys of corporate directors to date, we found that they were very worried about developing and enacting strategic plans that will enable their organizations to succeed. In fact, in two practices in particular — "firing" and "leveraging diversity" — many companies fail dismally.

Talent Management 8

Talent Management Company Telecommunications Management 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 18, 2017

Since the pace of marketing is now determined by everyone with access to the internet or a mobile device who can gleefully tweet, post, or blog their feelings and experience, customers can instantaneously become an extension of your company’s story—for good or bad. ” Read More from Microsoft.

Sports 8

Sports Brand Content Industry 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 19, 2014

Both in response and pre-emptively, the world’s leading companies continued to aggressively pivot their businesses toward more sustainable and innovative ways of operating. But I also ran across a few specific company stories that were just really compelling or cool. And it’s a fantastic example of what I call a Big Pivot.

Chemicals 13

Chemicals Short-term Energy Report 13

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

So it's not surprising that we received a striking diversity of entries from every kind of organization and from every corner of the world. The athletic apparel giant has also engaged a broad base of partners (and competitors) in innovation toward that goal. It's not enough to change one company.

Organization 14

Organization Cooper McKinsey Long-term 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2016

Every year, I find big themes or specific company stories that I feel are impressive, important, or indicative of where the world is going. It’s not yet clear what Trump’s election means for issues that impact companies’ efforts to manage environmental and social issues. Then came 2016. Trump Shocked the World.

Energy 8

Energy Banking Chemicals Globalization 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 23, 2016

That’s one of the questions we asked ourselves as we conducted a survey of directors of public and private companies headquartered in the United States. The disparities in the perceived importance of these issues could affect how directors prioritize and choose to address risks to the company. We also found that industry matters.

Politics 8

Politics Committee Telecommunications Diversity 8