Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

student in the engineering school at Johns Hopkins University, I had a business idea. I had taken two excellent courses on microelectronics, and decided that I could build a business around them in my native Nigeria. Most investors liked the business model and the fact that I was educated in Nigeria and knew the market.

Entrepreneur 13

Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Development Real Estate 13

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Over the past dozen years, I have participated in both the infusion of digital capabilities into traditional marketing organizations and the establishment and maturation of digital marketing organizations at Disney, J.Crew and, now, Conde Nast Entertainment where I am VP of marketing-digital. Each role is clearly defined and limited in scope.

Marketing 8

Marketing Team Advertising Affiliate Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 11, 2017

However, only 11% described themselves as being either “mature” or “advanced” on the learning curve. Unlike the way traditional due diligence usually works, acquirers need to be much more forward-looking, using approaches that evaluate the potential success of the business model under different scenarios.

Due Diligence 8

Due Diligence Company Learning Curve Finance 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 29, 2013

You have no funding, but you have to convince some engineer who’s already juggling 15 job offers (including offers from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google) to join you to help finish your product. Is this engineer going to accept your job offer? In any case, you don’t need outside investors till your experiments are somewhat mature.

Venture Funding 8

Venture Funding Entrepreneur Attrition Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Yet, it tried to sell its digital cameras using the same business model as its film-based cameras – by aiming to make high margins on instant film sales. But when dealing with new or changing situations, familiar, plausible actions can easily fail to achieve the desired effect.

Execution 10

Execution Strategy Gantt Chart Film 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2011

In a company setting, that would be the economics of its business model. The DNA that has been in HP's bones from the start is all about excellence in hardware engineering. As it has tried to invest in software, again and again it has killed products off before they had time to mature. This is what I've observed at HP.

Software 13

Software Intellectual Capital Maturity Customer Loyalty 13

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 21, 2010

Each of the industries that have sprung up around these innovations has become an engine for America's economic growth. They have been through periods of exponential growth, but now they're mature. The builders of every technical revolution — engineers — are being turned out at incredible rate in China. government.

Politics 14

Politics Innovation Engineering Entrepreneur 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Apple, DuPont and IBM are all wonderful examples of companies that have completely redefined their businesses through the pursuit of transformative endeavors. In the first part of this series , I argued that the reason most mature businesses can't innovate is because they're not designed to innovate.

Innovation 15

Innovation Company Technology Commitment 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 29, 2015

Similarly slow progress was seen in steam engines, factory electrification, and petroleum refining. It took decades for the training institutions, business models, and labor markets to emerge that unlocked the benefits of technology for ordinary workers. Only then did wages begin to grow vigorously.

Technology 8

Technology Learning-by-Doing Skills Offshoring 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 11, 2011

In both cities, even as people take pride in the past, some worry that it hasn't equipped them to build new engines of regional prosperity and job creation. It's a concern I see in cities in every mature economy that once lived in high-growth prosperity but no longer do. I'll admit this is based on a quick impression.

Innovation 14

Innovation Entrepreneur Kaplan Class 14

Harvard Business Review

JULY 30, 2013

You assign an annual quota to each rep, train them, feed them some sales tools and assign them a sales engineer (particularly for more technically complex products) and coach them along the way. The typical quota for a sales rep varies by type of business model (SaaS vs. perpetual), product gross margin (e.g.,

Marketing 8

Marketing Productivity Products Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2011

Knowing that mature firms must become more venturesome to continue growing, business gurus routinely advise them to embrace failure. And consider: can you imagine being in a large company hallway and hearing one manager ask another, "What's your business model?" Let's start with the human side.

Entrepreneur 14

Entrepreneur Innovation Intellectual Capital Mission Statement 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 19, 2017

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers estimates that annually between a third and a half of all food produced is wasted worldwide. However, their high volume–low margin business model also makes them vulnerable to threats such as competition, increasing wholesale prices, and changing consumer demands.

Retail 8

Retail Supply Chain Crisis Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Apple, DuPont and IBM are all wonderful examples of companies that have completely redefined their businesses through the pursuit of transformative endeavors. In the first part of this series , I argued that the reason most mature businesses can't innovate is because they're not designed to innovate.

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Technology Commitment 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 18, 2015

Alphabet, Larry Page writes on abc.xyz —Alphabet’s new URL—stands for two things: A collection of letters that represent language, the substrate for Google’s indexed search results (the company’s mature business). Many have already built maturing, multi-billion dollar core businesses, however.

Strategy 8

Strategy Maturity Business Model Wireless 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

Free fall is a crisis of obsolescence and decline that can happen at any point in a company’s life cycle, but most often it affects maturing incumbents whose business model has come under competitive attack from insurgents or is no longer viable in a changing market. Other companies can do the same.

Company 8

Company How To Business Model Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

This means significant growth potential for multinationals who have core competencies in high-tech infrastructure solutions such as jet engines, turbines, CT scanners, and satellite communications. It’s true that India’s ferociously challenging business environment poses challenges for all companies in the consumer economy.

Globalization 8

Globalization CAGR Class Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2017

Both then and in 1686, when Lloyd’s was born in a London coffee house, the global insurance industry was a business of utmost good faith , as it remains today. Intermediaries or “trust brokers” do not have to be written out of the equation — or disintermediated — as many blockchain enthusiasts argue.

Insurance 11

Insurance Industry Policies Market Penetration 11

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2018

New digital business models have flipped the customer-brand relationship on its head. No one likes to feel as if they’re being watched, yet with technology continuing to mature, we have found ourselves entrenched in a marketing machine that has become far too intimate for anyone’s liking. MirageC/Getty Images.

Marketing 10

Marketing Brand Storytelling ROI 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

But, as the venture matures, and they continue to close a few big annual deals, they can limit growth since the SaaS model requires higher volumes. Although it’s easier than ever to create a SaaS business, it’s also harder to scale one. © HBR.ORG.

CRM 8

CRM B2B Price Budgeting 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2017

that help propagate new products, ideas and business models?). To stay ahead, these countries need to keep their innovation engines in top gear and generate new demand, failing which they risk stalling out. Countries in the Stall Out zone can put their maturity, scale, and network effects to use to reinvent themselves and grow.

Innovation 8

Innovation Policies Technology Politics 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 13, 2016

A team of engineers, designers, operations specialists, and clinicians was assembled and led by an experienced, well-respected physician “chief engineer” whose vision for the future of care was disruptive. They are built through discussions, debates, and constant learning, and can take months to fully mature.

Health Care 8

Health Care Innovation Insurance P&L 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2017

It’s not that the media sets out to be sensationalist; its business model leads it in that direction. Consider the Scandinavian media firm Schibsted, which engineered an impressive digital transformation through a philosophy of connectedness. Thinking that way is tempting, but it misses the mark.

Media 11

Media Advertising Fixed Costs Content 11