Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Why is one multinational consumer goods company organized by category, while another organizes by region? Why is one insurance company deep into an agile transformation while another is experimenting with it only at the edges of its business? How do banks switch customer relationships from branch offices to mobile phone screens?

Strategy 8

Strategy Company Banking Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 8, 2013

A client recently told me that he knew it was time to leave his previous job when he was no longer proud to wear the company''s T-shirt in public. The seemingly simple and innocuous act of wearing a company''s T-shirt is actually a very personal and public endorsement that carries a degree of social risk. His comment is telling.

Company 8

Company Apparel Brand Advertising 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 6, 2015

The fear of getting Netflix-ed or Uber-ized is spurring big companies to dial up their investment in innovation. But as investment increases, many companies are struggling with a challenging question: how do you know whether your chosen innovation strategy is actually bearing fruit? Large public companies can be more capricious.

Metrics 8

Metrics Innovation Company Stage-Gate 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

For every Apple, there is an Atari, for every Fuji a Polaroid, and for every Zara an American Apparel. In today’s dynamic business environment, leaders of large established companies need more than ever to run and reinvent the business at the same time. Why does this happen to large companies with a legacy of success?

Company 8

Company Succession Maturity Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 17, 2014

How much does your company need to invest in innovation? Identifying this so-called “growth gap” is critical, because the bigger the gap, the more a company needs to look beyond its current offerings, markets, and business models to find growth opportunities. By reaching new customers in current markets?

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Venture Capitalist Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 26, 2016

However, until recently there was little evidence on this question in the countries that dominate global markets in low-cost manufacturing. The technologies and processes that are transforming companies. In the mid-2000s, Nike embarked on a program to introduce lean manufacturing to its apparel suppliers in the developing world.

Lean Manufacturing 8

Lean Manufacturing Supply Chain Apparel Compliance 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The network effect, which describes how services and technologies become more valuable as more people use them, has driven the success of many internet companies. The advertising guru David Jones dubbed this mixing of branding and technology as “brandtech.” They leverage technology in innovative ways.

Brand 8

Brand Apparel Software Content 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Companies are spending millions on digital transformation, yet studies find many leaders feel their projects aren’t achieving their objectives. Workfront CEO Alex Shootman says digitization is happening in most companies on a function-by-function basis, leaving teams to work in silos instead of executing new strategies together.

Content 8

Content Crisis Apparel Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 25, 2013

If some of the buzz is any indication — and I believe it will be — it's a concept that will gain a lot of traction this year as more companies look for ways to better manage dwindling natural resources and more consumers demand action on environmental issues. The marketing model changes. How do you begin to address those?

Company 8

Company Apparel Engineering Welch 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 15, 2018

Here’s a truth: many in the marketing industry today don’t really understand brands. The emergence of the iPhone and smart technology completely altered the way consumers interact with media and brands. Data-Driven Marketing. Ilka & Franz/Getty Images. But that kind of brand is a layer of communications.

Brand 8

Brand Productivity Products Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 5, 2012

With the Winter holiday shopping season, fashion apparel retailer Zara has been the focus of media attention — the New York Times recently profiled the innovative fast fashion business model pioneered by Zara, while Elizabeth Cline's book on the costs of fast fashion has climbed up the sales charts. Why wasn't it copied immediately?

Business Model 8

Business Model Innovation First-mover Advantage Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2018

For example, in 2009 professors Brian Becker, Mark Huselid, and Richard Beatty estimated that in most companies less than 15% of jobs are what they call strategic positions and said management should focus “disproportionate investments” on finding A players for those jobs. Connectors in the middle. Customer experience creators.

McKinsey 8

McKinsey Human Resources Reputation Brand 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 16, 2015

But our work with a community of senior executives in the Bay Area suggests that today’s market leaders are following the advice of Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” When it comes to digital engagement, many companies feel they have to choose either transactions or relationships.

Chief Operating Officer 8

Chief Operating Officer Apparel Marketing Porter 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

The last few weeks have brought news of turmoil in China, including currency devaluations, an economic slowdown, and a stock market plunge. manufacturing companies, defined as firms that have their headquarters in the United States, responded. companies responded that they were “definitively” planning to do so.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Survey Price Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 7, 2017

It is tough to beat the market and over long periods of time indexing has been shown to outperform most active managers. On the other side, fans of active management see it as a trend that can damage market efficiency and lead to distortions in market prices. But what’s the role of investors?

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Asset Management Chemicals Long-term 8

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

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

In emerging markets, billions of people have moved out of extreme poverty. 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.

Globalization 8

Globalization Supply Chain Human Capital Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 2, 2014

So, a decade ago, marketing professor Florian von Wangenheim ( now at the ETH Zurich technical university in Switzerland) and his then-student Markus Wübben ( now an executive at a tech incubator in Berlin) set out, in Wangenheim’s words, to “convince companies to use these models.”. What they found surprised them.

Simon 8

Simon Retail Uncertainty Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 2, 2013

By helping business leaders to improve their businesses, the CIO becomes an obvious candidate to fill any open role that involves technology, process, or strong governance. In many companies, "digital" is a cacophony of disconnected, inconsistent, and sometimes incompatible activities.

CIO 8

CIO Technology Apparel Information Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 2, 2011

In reality, each country needs the other to succeed in order to thrive — to finance growth, secure export markets, train talent, transfer technology, and more. For example, pharmaceutical firms license compounds to each other and co-promote products in different markets.

Apparel 14

Apparel Pharmaceuticals Finance Licensing 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Here, Try Some Nixon and Kimchi: How the Garment Industry Came to Bangladesh Planet Money I admit it: The reference to Nixon and kimchi in the headline got me to read it, but this piece on how Bangladesh came to be a world center for apparel manufacturing held my interest. They said, ''This kid is a fad.

CTO 8

CTO Apparel Ryan Proposal 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 23, 2015

Besides possibly saving humanity, the deal has another big upside — it signals to financial markets and businesses that the low carbon economy is worth investing in. Multi-trillion-dollar markets are in play and there will be many more winners than losers. Companies line up like never before for climate action.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Apparel Energy Price 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 2, 2015

Leaders of many companies — in industries ranging from contract manufacturing, and software services to consulting and health care — tell us the same thing: “We want to move up the value chain.” But by taking over the steps at the beginning and end of that process, the company gained valuable control.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Contract Manufacturing Outsourcing Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 16, 2013

We know this approach can work because we''ve seen it: We studied a large corporation that was being split into two public companies for which two new boards had to be created. The chairman wanted to create two balanced boards, with the mix of skills, knowledge, and experience each company needed.

Telecommunications 8

Telecommunications Biotechnology Health Care Real Estate 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

By lowering the "China price," the world's low-cost manufacturer is doing to solar what it did to the apparel and electronics sectors: driving higher-cost producers (usually in the West) out of business. Once technologies take off, doublings can happen pretty fast — just ask the investors in the Internet, mobile or social media.

Energy 8

Energy Apparel Cost Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2014

Meanwhile, the world’s largest companies have begun to understand that their viability depends on a healthy world. The evaporation of the middle class, like the disappearance of fish stocks or forests, will be the end of many companies. As with other sustainability issues, the social and business consequences are inseparable.

Golden Parachute 9

Golden Parachute Apparel Trends Short-term 9

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

So you look at past projects, gather and analyze relevant market data, make predictions about how much revenue you’ll be able to generate, decide what resources you’ll need, and set milestones to reach your targets. McGrath recalls the painful experience of working with a big chemical company that wanted to diversify its business.

Planning 8

Planning Benchmarking Project Competitive Advantage 8

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. The passion was infectious.

Airlines 8

Airlines Energy Self-aware Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 8, 2018

When brothers Shep and Ian Murray cut their ties with Corporate America to start a little company on Martha’s Vineyard in 1998, their motivation was clear : “We’re making neck ties so we don’t have to wear them.” ” Of course, this type of real-time, one-to-one marketing is easier said than done. .”

Retail 8

Retail Apparel Engineering Audience 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 6, 2018

Apparel brands are investing especially heavily in online shopping capabilities and introducing interactive features that complement apps and websites. Data-Driven Marketing. To get a clearer, more-complete picture, we studied actual decisions made by 1,500 apparel and footwear shoppers in the United States. Insight Center.

Apparel 8

Apparel Retail Fashion Brand 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2011

From relentless demand for resources to bamboo-like 9% growth to vicious competition for the technologies and industries of the future, China will be the big story for a long time. Here's the rest of my top 10 stories, with callouts for companies and examples that typify the trend. China, China, and China.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Apparel P&L Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 17, 2013

But as I’ve done for the last 4 years, I’ll attempt to summarize some of the latest stories about the big environmental and social pressures on business, and how some innovative companies are dealing with them. The clean tech markets keep growing fast: three of the world’s biggest economies — the U.S., So what’s really new this year?

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain McKinsey Apparel Energy 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 12, 2014

Any company building an online presence wouldn’t think twice about the need for sophisticated web analytics. Despite its success online, relatively few companies with physical venues employ advanced analytics solutions that track customer behaviors in their physical spaces. Marketing. This is changing fast, however.

Retail 8

Retail Customer Intimacy Apparel Wireless 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 18, 2017

In the age before the digital revolution, marketers used to tell customers about a product and then work through a traditional step-by-step purchase funnel. “Advances in technology have helped us reimagine fan engagement and create new business models that we never thought possible. “It’s tribal.

Sports 8

Sports Brand Content Industry 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 24, 2015

This data can be used by material-management systems to control ordering and distribution of products throughout a company’s extended supply chain. The technologies and trends shaping tomorrow’s businesses. Insight Center. The Future of Operations. Sponsored by GE Corporate.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Management Constraint Apparel 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 9

Chemicals Short-term Energy Report 9

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Yet, the imperatives of offshore facilities and employees are — and will remain — central to American companies' international competitiveness. A company's foreign sales can approach or exceed 50 percent; its non-U.S. especially in fast-growing foreign markets. Business Purpose.

Offshoring 13

Offshoring Outsourcing Supply Chain Globalization 13