Harvard Business Review

APRIL 17, 2015

In this article adapted from their new book, Jerry Davis and Chris White explore what makes some companies more fertile for social innovation — that is, the ongoing (rather than one-off) initiatives that have positive social impact while promoting the core mission of a business.

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Supply Chain Open-book 8

Deming Institute

JANUARY 5, 2017

Out of the Crisis resonated with me – not because of statistics, but because of the human factors, the psychology, and the workplace dynamics that I already recognized from the workplace, having worked a few part time retail jobs at that point. During my junior year in college, I was running for leadership positions in my fraternity.

Deming 46

Deming TQM Kaizen Crisis 46

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Troubles at Tesco, the UK’s leading retailer, are mounting. If round after round of profit warnings was not enough – group operating profits fell 20% between 2011 and 2013 and are likely to fall another 30% in 2014 — the company recently announced it had overstated its first-half profit by about $400 million. How did this happen?

Retail 11

Retail Merchandising Discount Price 11

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 28, 2014

It’s not been a great year for venerable retailer Sears, which is reputed to be closing 130 retail stores and laying off more than 5,000 employees. Founded in 1886 as a mail-order watch retailer, Sears was already 71 when it became an original member of the S&P 500 in 1957.

Retail 9

Retail Quinn Real Estate Apparel 9

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2014

The tales of two companies, cell phone accessories retailer Cellairis and skin care products maker Rodan + Fields, illustrate the dangers of top-level strategic tinkering. They had the epiphany that they could use cheap retail space – the carts that sit in the middle of shopping malls – to sell mobile phone accessories, mostly cases.

Strategy 8

Strategy Wireless Company Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

retail chains. Following an entrepreneurial strategy ultimately means that managers and employees of a firm act more proactively and innovatively, and they take more risks — all which is known to drive growth and increase a firm’s advantage against competitors. Leadership is changing — fast. Insight Center.

CEO 8

CEO Letter Retail Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 30, 2014

In 2012, Electrolux leadership decided this had to change. To this end we eliminated silos between functions including marketing, sales, IT, consumer insight, and innovation and established “consumer experience teams” in each business and region. Our transformation centered on the consumer. Three finalists entered pilots this spring.

Marketing 8

Marketing Brand Globalization Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 17, 2017

Most plans have fewer than six: one or two financial metrics, such as sales growth or earnings per share, and two or three nonfinancial metrics, in areas such as quality or innovation. But for those that are ready for the concrete commitment, it can pay off in long-term market leadership. It’s not for every company.

Execution 12

Execution Metrics Long-term Incentives 12

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 12, 2016

Guest post from Michael Klassen : After three decades of working in marketing, I thought I had heard or read nearly every story of innovation and entrepreneurship out there. Today we fondly refer to these extraordinary American innovators as Haight-Ashbury hippies. Who were these people and how did they do it? How did they do it?

Apparel 120

Apparel Innovation Advertising Industry 120

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Zimbabwe’s new leadership faces a challenging task. After Mugabe claimed victory in a disputed election in 2013, however, corruption increased , while the strengthening U.S. An influx of capital could also result in a revival in the formal retail sector (e.g., Years of economic mismanagement.

Banking 8

Banking First-mover Advantage Politics Finance 8

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 11, 2013

Business shift from the retail dealer customer service mentality of Firestone shifted to a high-production tire operation. K-Mart had become the odd retailer out but still kept 1,500 stores for its reorganization. Inevitably, when retailers contract, they blame poor performance upon bad locations. Doing Things as We Always Have.

Crisis 59

Crisis Crisis Management Retail Budgeting 59

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2016

Good leadership certainly helps, but more often than not, the organization will revert to business as usual. I spoke with Patty McCord, the former chief talent officer of Netflix from 1998 to 2013. One of the biggest obstacles for brick-and-mortar retailers that are trying to win online as well is internal organizational conflict.

Airlines 8

Airlines Energy Self-aware Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 14, 2016

He eventually headed up the company’s development business before becoming the company’s president in 2013. ” Early on, they also attended a weeklong seminar at Harvard University that focused on leadership transitions. He credits Bayard’s no-nonsense leadership and advice with helping to inspire him.

Real Estate 8

Real Estate Supply Chain Learning-by-Doing Career 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2014

“We’ll spend a lot of time bringing product to market, but we need to plan for the fact that a launch gives us a six-month head start and no more,” says Gary Booker, CMO of Dixons Retail. Companies across the spectrum are grappling with change as new technologies, innovations, and customer behaviors disrupt old business models.

P&L 10

P&L Banking Marketing Call Center 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 27, 2014

doubled from 20% to 40% between July and December 2013, and has stayed at that level since. I studied large-scale change and innovation efforts in 56 randomly selected companies in the high-tech, retail, pharmaceutical, banking, automotive, insurance, energy, non-profit, and health care industries. Change leaders move fast.

Middle Management 13

Middle Management Six Sigma Taylorism Taylor 13

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2017

They have deep resources for innovation with the ability to accelerate the penetration and adoption of digital products. Retail e-commerce sales worldwide are expected to hit $4 trillion by 2020 , about double of where it is now. In 2013 85% of the world’s transactions were in cash. Innovation and change.

Innovation 8

Innovation Policies Technology Politics 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 14, 2016

The term “unicorns,” coined, in 2013, by Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures , is commonly used to identify venture-backed private companies valued at $1 billion or more. Similarly, Flipkart, the largest online retailer in India, has so far raised an impressive amount of around $3 billion in nine rounds of equity financing.

Company 8

Company Succession Analysis Entrepreneur 8