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Leadership Matters

N2Growth Blog

CEO Interview: Sam Walsh. This edition of the CEO interview features Sam Walsh, the recently retired CEO, of Rio Tinto. Since taking up the CEO seat at Rio Tinto Sam has steered the business through a torrid industry downturn and firmly positioned them for new growth. (as featured in mining.com).

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How One CEO Grows Her Business with Feeling

Harvard Business Review

As product is sold, some of the initial working capital that SHE puts up is paid back, with the entrepreneurs eventually owning their local franchises. In turn, SHE reinvests its profits in new geographies or other disruptive enterprises.

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Are You Growing Too Fast?

Harvard Business Review

hit an all-time high, but Paul Heffington, Allen Printing's owner and CEO, wasn't celebrating. Heffington, working with Steve Curnutte, a restructuring advisor, realized that as new orders poured in, it became difficult to establish the true cost of fulfilling them. For Allen Printing, 2008 should have been a banner year.

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Why Preventing Disruption in 2017 Is Harder Than It Was When Christensen Coined the Term

Harvard Business Review

Every winter, my colleagues and I invite CEOs of some of the world’s largest businesses to join our students at Stanford University. Invariably, each CEO we host recognizes two truths: Digital disruption will reshape their industry in one fashion or another and they must find a way to embrace these changes. They are asset-light.

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Creating Michelin-star Quality for the Masses

Harvard Business Review

Capital investment and operating expenses are high because cooking equipment and raw materials must be the best: wines devour working capital, the kitchen and serving staff must be paid handsomely, and crystal glasses and crockery will break. Operating such restaurants is expensive. Why can't more companies do the same?

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How Banks Should Finance the Social Sector

Harvard Business Review

As a result, charities and social enterprises do not have the cushion of external financing to manage their various capital requirements. Like any small business, they need working capital to balance out the peaks and troughs of their business cycle. It is time and resource intensive.

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To Grow, Social Enterprises Must Play by Business Rules

Harvard Business Review

Founding CEOs realize—or fail to realize—that their maniacal energy and personal devotion can only take their enterprises so far. It's an example of an organization seeking to meet this challenge of scale by providing top-tier, in-kind expertise and working capital to promising social enterprises.