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From Zipcar to the Sharing Economy

Harvard Business Review

Avis has taken an interesting (and bold) step by acquiring Zipcar, absorbing an innovative but struggling competitor at what is likely to be seen as a bargain price while acquiring a small but desirable customer base and gaining a foothold in the rapidly growing world of collaborative consumption.

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What Good Is Impact Investing?

Harvard Business Review

Take micro insurance: If I allow a small-hold farmer to insure their crop, it means in the first year they can actually have less volatility around the outcome. They can put more of their assets to work because they don’t need to self-insure. Which in turn means they actually can run bigger farms, pay bigger insurance premiums.

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Uniting the Religions of Process Improvement

Harvard Business Review

When they set out to turn around processes that have become woefully inefficient or ineffective, most companies choose one of four process improvement "religions": Lean , Six Sigma , Business Reengineering or Business Process Management (BPM). In some of these companies, senior managers were dubious about the claims.