article thumbnail

Automation Will Make Us Rethink What a “Job” Really Is

Harvard Business Review

Pilots are a critical pool of talent for an airline; there must be a sufficient supply with appropriate skills to operate the airline. To answer these questions, we need to begin disaggregating work and understanding how automation and AI can differentially handle various aspects of work.

article thumbnail

A Brief History of Blockchain

Harvard Business Review

The second innovation was called blockchain, which was essentially the realization that the underlying technology that operated bitcoin could be separated from the currency and used for all kinds of other interorganizational cooperation. These changes, and others, represent a pervasive lowering of transaction costs.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

The 3 Ways Work Can Be Automated

Harvard Business Review

But just when we’ve sorted out preferred management routines, there is an entirely new landscape emerging with technology options central to the work and possibly your business model: work automation. How, when, and where should leaders be thinking about applying the various automation technologies to their businesses?

article thumbnail

Why AOL Should Double Down on Patch

Harvard Business Review

Patch has the potential to be a truly disruptive business. The startup is trying to build a platform that could replace a disaggregated network of local news sources. That's what disruptive businesses do; they displace their upmarket competitors by coming in with a low-cost, scalable offering. Consider the market.

article thumbnail

The Truth About How Uber’s App Manages Drivers

Harvard Business Review

The company manages a large, disaggregated workforce of “driver-partners” that deliver a relatively standardized experience to passengers, while simultaneously promoting drivers as independent entrepreneurs whose work is characterized by freedom, flexibility, and independence. million drivers are active on the platform globally.

article thumbnail

How To Really Measure a Company's Innovation Prowess

Harvard Business Review

So it began disaggregating return on equity into three components. Return on equity (net income divided by equity) results from multiplying three key operating ratios: Profitability (net income over sales). Operating efficiency (sales over assets). Financial leverage (assets over equity). Financial leverage (assets over equity).

article thumbnail

Traditional Strategy Is Dead. Welcome to the #SocialEra

Harvard Business Review

The companies thriving today are operating by a new set of rules — Social Era rules. The failing organizations around us — many of which I explore in my new book , which publishes today — continue to follow the operating rules and ethos of Traditional Strategy. They live it.