Leading Blog

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

That’s a shame because the aviation industry as a whole still continues to be an industry model for how to operate with extremely high reliability despite having a highly fragmented set of organizational entities. The biggest challenge for companies when it comes to operational excellence is siloed behavior. Recall how the U.S.

Industry 267

Industry Stage-Gate Organization Company 267

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 13, 2017

Because I teach a course on Product Management at Harvard Business School, I am routinely asked “what is the role of a Product Manager?” ” The role of a Product Manager (PM) is often referred to as the “CEO of the Product.” Pricing and revenue modeling. Aron Vellekoop Len/Getty Images.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Core Competence Management 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 30, 2013

In every start-up, finding initial product-market fit is a magical moment. You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly. I''ll discuss each one below. 1) Enterprise Sales.

Marketing 8

Marketing Productivity Products Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 14, 2018

As a result, many B2B companies remain stuck in a stalemate. Disgruntled distribution partners may retaliate in ways such as switching to rivals, favoring competing products, or even lobbying for legislative remedies. Sometimes, an entirely new product provides the right entry point. For example, Cree Inc.

Strategy 11

Strategy B2B Insurance Business Model 11

Harvard Business Review

JULY 10, 2012

To be clear, all Orbitz users can see the same hotels if they opt to view hotels by price, and Orbitz does not charge different prices for the same room based on what kind of computer you use. Still, as pricing strategies go, this one is an attention grabber. Retailers often set different prices in different locations.

Retail 14

Retail Hotels Price B2B 14

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

On Friday, Microsoft slashed the price of Windows 8.1 by 70% for select B2B customers. The magnitude of this price cut was surprising; all that was missing was a pitchman screaming “If you call now, we’ll throw in a free Tae Bo workout DVD — a $29.95 The downside of Microsoft’s price cut is that it devalues Windows 8.1

Discount 8

Discount Airlines Price Licensing 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 6, 2015

And consumers, already attuned to price and accustomed to discounts, are becoming used to free, fast shipping from e-tailers — so they need a good reason to visit a physical store. The answer is to play defense: use surgical-strike discounts to entice customers who are at risk of defecting due to a cheaper price. Not really.

Discount 8

Discount Retail Price B2C 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

The “jobs-to-be-done” theory articulates the gap between how producers view and market a product and how customers actually use it. Every time a customer buys a product, they are trying to do a job that brings some value to them – and not necessarily what the product says on the label.

Marketing 8

Marketing B2B Levitt Disruptive Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 10, 2016

You’ve probably demonstrated your product’s potential with a subset of customers, and now experienced investors are willing to place a bet on you. Or perhaps it’s because the only person who is passionate enough to sell the product is the person who developed it. What about pricing? The list goes on.

Marketing 8

Marketing Software B2B Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 17, 2013

If you want to really understand a firm’s strategy—whether it’s a start up or Fortune 500 firm–you need only two documents: the compensation plan and the pricing plan. When I am meeting a company for the first time and I ask for the pricing and compensation plan upfront, I often get blank stares. Let me offer a few examples.

Planning 9

Planning Incentives Document Price 9

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2015

Technology-enabled services are the backbone of this industry, and the fastest growing sectors have demand for high-end skills, such as mobile app development and data analytics, as well as middle-level skills, such as video production, copywriting, and financial analysis. General Accepted Accounting Principles.

Outsourcing 8

Outsourcing Technology B2B GDP 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2014

for 10+ years; deployment of design as an integrated function across the entire enterprise; evidence that design investments and influence are increasing; clear reporting structure and operating model for design; experienced design executives at the helm directing design activities; and tangible senior leadership-level commitment for design.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Fashion B2B Hedge 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

There is a big, important change happening in digital product design. For a long time, there has been a clear split between business software (often called Enterprise or B2B ), and consumer software (B2C, or simply “products”). That split is increasingly irrelevant.

Software 8

Software Supply Chain B2C Education 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

Disruptive products and services were, by definition, cheaper, lower quality, and lower margin. If you were running a profitable business with growth opportunities from an existing customer base, it was unlikely that you’d prioritize building low-quality products for over-served customers at lower margins.

Christensen 8

Christensen Finance Innovation B2B 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Yet for all the shared responsibility, the marketing and sales relationship has often been a contentious and lopsided one, with sales dominating in B2B sectors while marketing leads in B2C ones. Products can then provide feedback on when to get maintenance and when the product will have reached the end of its useful life.

Marketing 11

Marketing Guidelines B2C Analysis 11

Harvard Business Review

MAY 6, 2013

At the time of the Geek Squad acquisition, it was considered foolish by many; a decade later, the $3 million purchase price has been repaid hundreds of times over. You must move from B2C to B2B, or vice versa. You must slash the price of your product or service by 50%.

Disruptive Innovation 9

Disruptive Innovation Hotels B2C Price 9

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 28, 2016

Of course, anyone who really knows the history of platforms may recall the many that aspired to make gobs of money but never did and quickly died (think of the many B2B exchanges that never made it to the other side of dot-com bust). Or unicorns like Uber that, if cap tables mean anything, someday will. Insight Center. The Platform Economy.

IPO 8

IPO Succession Technology Software 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2016

Compared to professions like engineering or business disciplines like Finance or Operations, the concept of a dedicated salesperson is relatively recent. Buyers now have easy-click access to information about products, prices, and other buyers’ opinions and usage experiences. Each group has its own operating procedures.

Education 8

Education Levitt Retail Training 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

In most larger companies, you'll need to generate roughly 200+ responses per operating unit per period. Bain research shows that leading companies can achieve 60% or better response rates in B2B companies and 30% or more in most B2C situations. Unless you have achieved stability, you're in for some fun at compensation time.

Incentives 11

Incentives Sample Customer Loyalty Metrics 11

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 5, 2015

These changes are driven by seismic shifts in consumer behavior and an explosion of both consumer- and B2B-facing technologies. When and how do we shift our businesses from legacy operating models to ones that better reflect the future? How do we maximize our creativity as an industry while integrating data-driven approaches?

Media 8

Media Advertising Audience Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

As the currency was crashing, he found himself facing a painful dilemma: either raise prices to recoup the losses and hit his annual target — set in U.S. But with the currency changing every day, how much of a price increase should he consider? Normally, MNCs raise prices in the emerging market, (e.g., Federal Reserve.

Price 8

Price Globalization Depreciation Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 24, 2017

Based on our research , inspired employees are three times more productive than dissatisfied employees, but they are rare. Consider the case of one B2B supplier that wanted to figure out what made some salespeople top performers. Energy, too, is difficult to come by. For most organizations, only one out of eight employees is inspired.

Human Capital 15

Human Capital Management Company ROCE 15

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

In B2B contexts, for example, rep performance in similar territories often varies by 300% between top and bottom quintiles, and in retail stores selling productivity typically varies by a factor of three to four. There’s a lot of competition, which keeps a lid on prices and increases customer acquisition costs.

CRM 8

CRM B2B Price Budgeting 8

Miles Anthony Smith

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Most customers are interested in your content first (how much you know about their pain points) before purchasing your products or services. TopRank Marketing TopRank Marketing has been doing innovative and impactful work with interactive content and B2B influencers for huge brands like SAP, Dell, LinkedIn, 3M, and Oracle for over 18 years.

Marketing 105

Marketing Content Audience Brand 105

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 20, 2017

In doing research on multinational operations in the Middle East and Africa, we’ve learned that companies are well aware of how President Trump’s foreign and trade policies could affect their businesses there. more competitive prices, more localized products) and improve their risk management and operational efficiency.

Depreciation 9

Depreciation Contingency Plans Policies Marketing 9