Harvard Business Review

JUNE 29, 2016

Heavy machinery company Caterpillar is reportedly exploring the use of drones for fleet vehicle management in the field, while drones are the cornerstone of Komatsu’s “Smart Construction” service, which can fully automate bulldozers and excavators. Insight Center. How Digital Business Models Are Changing.

Competitive Advantage 10

Competitive Advantage Company Outsourcing Analysis 10

Lead on Purpose

OCTOBER 16, 2009

In the late 1990s and early 2000s the word “virtual&# became associated with outsourcing jobs to other countries, so Jack changed the name of his program to “dynamic organization&# and implemented the program at US Cellular.

Review 100

Review Books Ethics Competitive Advantage 100

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Consequently, top management teams tend to be the Goldilocks of crazy: They don't want insane, and they don't need conventional; they want their craziness to be "just right." Crazy ideas, of course, can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Real craziness is what gets outsourced. Which ideas are too crazy?

Outsourcing 14

Outsourcing Management Core Competence Competitive Advantage 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 30, 2016

One applications outsourcing team, for example, proposed a clever UX tweak to help optimize a global fulfillment process their company managed for its biggest client. Their RFP-responsive outsourcing expertise had perversely obscured essential insights into what creative fulfillment should mean for both customers and client.

Process 12

Process Competitive Advantage Outsourcing Supply Chain 12

Strategy Driven

MARCH 26, 2015

Vollmer shows that small businesses “generated 64% of all new jobs over the past 15 years…employ more full-time people…and are far less likely to outsource jobs overseas.” EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage. FREE COPY of a StrategyDriven Expert Contributor book †. Women Are Today’s Brand Champions.

Conference 50

Conference Diversity Competitive Advantage Entrepreneur 50

Strategy Driven

MAY 29, 2015

In today's downsized business environment, outsourcing, privatization and consortiums are fulfilling the work. Accomplished managers want teams that give value-added, create new ideas and work effectively. EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage. Through osmosis, a working relationship evolves.

Teamwork 50

Teamwork Participative Learning-by-Doing Creativity 50

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 27, 2017

At some of the world’s most successful enterprises — Google, Netflix, Amazon, Alibaba, Facebook — autonomous algorithms, not talented managers, increasingly get the last word. Elite MBAs (Management by Algorithm) are the new normal. Top management would have to trust its computationally brilliant bidding software.

Outsourcing 8

Outsourcing Software CAPEX Competitive Advantage 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 26, 2012

In the worst cases, it only takes months to move from profitable differentiation to commodity competition. Scale economics has been one of the last bastions from the competitive storm. In other words, the advantages of size gave some companies a bit of safe harbor. The competitive advantages of scale are being commoditized.

Porter 12

Porter Competitive Advantage Safe Harbor Efficiency 12

Harvard Business Review

MAY 26, 2016

Conventional wisdom holds that improving working conditions (which typically costs money) would undermine the competitive advantage these firms enjoy. Traditional mass manufacturing is based on principles of “Scientific Management” that date back to the 19th century.

Lean Manufacturing 9

Lean Manufacturing Supply Chain Apparel Compliance 9

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

The debt becomes much more difficult to manage and cynicism corrodes the functioning of the society. That means cracking down on tax shelters that give some businesses a competitive advantage. Neither, though, is the belief that management should be entirely trusted independent of the results they have generated.

Class 8

Class Outsourcing Long-term Short-term 8

Strategy Driven

MARCH 18, 2011

Further, they need to limit their focus to, at most, six capabilities, and make those capabilities work together as a mutually reinforcing system that perpetuates competitive advantage. Assets are important, but they are, increasingly, table stakes in most competitive industries; everyone in the game has them.

Resources 52

Resources Industry System Strategy 52

Harvard Business Review

JULY 19, 2013

However, most companies require considerable planning and need both a competitive advantage and a solid business plan in order to succeed. Your projections for the business should not be wildly optimistic so you can manage your expectations and those of any partners. Consider the type of business and industry.

Entrepreneur 9

Entrepreneur Hotels Travel Call Center 9

Marshall Goldsmith

JANUARY 13, 2014

Future leaders will have to learn how to manage global production, marketing, and sales teams to achieve competitive advantage. Leaders who can make globalization work in their favor will have a huge competitive advantage. Know how to make and manage investments in new technology.

Competitive Advantage 140

Competitive Advantage Globalization Diversity Technology 140

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 18, 2012

These relationships were essential in gaining the confidence of customers who had qualms about outsourcing to IBM. Palmisano warned against prioritizing shareholders or other constituents, calling this "a false choice," and explaining that "Long-term management is a serious challenge in a world driven by short-term thinking.

Globalization 15

Globalization Golden Parachute Short-term Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2013

That doesn''t mean that companies should either outsource the task or bring in entirely fresh blood. It''s vital to include people in innovation initiatives who know how to work internal systems and have a good understanding of the unique, difficult-to-replicate assets that create your company''s competitive advantage.

Ries 8

Ries Telecommunications Business Model Competitive Advantage 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 23, 2014

A few years ago Dave Ulrich, a management thought leader from the University of Michigan, made a comment I found both insightful and profound: “ Every leader needs to have a model of organization design.” An effective organization design model guides a manager in answering five fundamental questions in a thoughtful and well-integrated way.

Ulrich 8

Ulrich Cost Efficiency Consultative 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 31, 2012

Back in 2002 , when Sam Palmisano took over, IBM had four main businesses each organized on a global basis: hardware, software, services,such as back-office outsourcing, and personal computers. While it's true that size once created competitive barriers and correlated with market power , it no longer does.

Operations 17

Operations Innovation Industry CEO 17

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 10, 2015

But for old-school bureaucracies, it’s a scary new world that requires managers to rethink the basic principles that govern established businesses. If your firm outsources mobile app development to an agency or design firm, there’s your answer). EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage.

Strategy 50

Strategy Succession Software Industry 50

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

Getting the funds that you need from tight fisted management is an ongoing process. Under the rules of supply chain dynamics, one must study your supplier relationships, formalize a plan of outsourcing and develop collaborations. Reduce management’s risk in doing business with you. Acquire an upper-management mindset.

Budgeting 50

Budgeting Planning Strategic Planning Competitive Advantage 50

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Manufacturers are therefore faced with a daunting choice: outsource the design and testing to countries where tactile intelligence is still high, or fill the knowledge gap of new hires in the U.S. And let’s enable the tactile intelligence we need to remain competitive in our growing global marketplace.

Engineering 8

Engineering Competitive Advantage Knowledge Management Outsourcing 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 19, 2015

Hailed in the 1960s as bastions of sophisticated management, they used cheap financing to acquire, then rationalize, many family-owned firms. Headquarters provides accountability and perhaps better metrics than the divisional managers might otherwise have. 3D printing offers even more advantages to these groups.

Engineering 8

Engineering Learning Curve Fixed Costs Competitive Advantage 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 24, 2015

Executives are bombarded with bestselling ideas and best practices for achieving competitive advantage, but many of these ideas and practices contradict each other. Should you create a blue ocean, be adaptive, play to win — or forget about a sustainable competitive advantage altogether?

Strategy 8

Strategy Competitive Advantage Environment Execution 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2013

The PwC consultants relentlessly stressed that "customers" were about managing transactions but "clients" were about investing in relationships. If the right words can cognitively and creatively reorient enterprise conversations, executives need to think twice about the vocabulary they outsource to their ad agencies and HR.

Ulrich 9

Ulrich Kaizen Innovation Competitive Advantage 9

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 20, 2016

” Rather, this approach recognizes a fundamental shift in the sources of value creation and competitive advantage toward software. But it also means evaluating whether you may be better served by bringing outsourced capabilities back in-house. Build an adaptive organization with the right leadership structure.

Software 8

Software Company Airlines Business Model 8

Great Leadership By Dan

APRIL 24, 2012

The challenge for business schools will be that most of their faculty don’t have coaching expertise and credentials, so when it’s outsourced, it’s often not fully integrated into the program. We do it with doctors, lawyers, electricians, and engineers – why not for the profession of management? Senior leadership development.

Leadership Development 256

Leadership Development Development Leadership Globalization 256

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 27, 2015

In a McKinsey poll , 94% of the managers surveyed said they were dissatisfied with their company’s innovation performance. Over the past two decades, we’ve led dozens of innovation projects and have talked to thousands of managers about the challenge of building a high-performance innovation “engine.”

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Engineering Supply Chain 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 23, 2015

They may be the folks on the shop floor trying to solve a product issue, an assistant talking to countless stakeholders, an analyst crunching the numbers, a customer service rep empathetically talking with customers, or a mid-level manager developing other people every day. Have you rewarded them and thanked them?

Company 8

Company Self-aware Long-term Mission Statement 8