Harvard Business Review

MARCH 28, 2011

Most companies focus on minimizing costs rather than maximizing flexibility, which would entail making large investments in supply chains. For instance, many companies feel they don't need to develop alternatives to Japanese suppliers because they buy so little from them nowadays. Variabilizing costs. to RMB 4.5

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Fixed Costs Price Crisis 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 16, 2011

Such a strategy limits an early venture's funding in order to force the business to develop a profitable business model and then invests heavily in growth once such a model is identified — Christensen terms such investments "good money" for incubating growth businesses and extols the strategy for three reasons.

Christensen 20

Christensen Fixed Costs Metrics Venture Funding 20

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 11, 2011

Management has made promises to senior executives about what a project will achieve, and fixed costs have built up because they looked prudent in comparison to planned revenues. Some new products under this umbrella, like the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, were breakthrough hits, but they probably cost a good deal to develop.

Innovation 15

Innovation Fixed Costs Airlines Business Model 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 17, 2012

Cipla, an India-based producer of low cost antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is one of the biggest success stories in the pharma industry. You could argue that Cipla's formula is simply to piggyback on other companies' products, so it doesn't have to pay for R&D. and other traditionally developed markets.

Company 11

Company Pharmaceuticals Business Model Fixed Costs 11

Harvard Business Review

MAY 19, 2015

The discipline they brought to these often loosely-run businesses drove much of the post-war productivity boom. The company has invested heavily in 3D printing technologies that are flexible enough to produce a variety of products. Their job done, they fell out of favor in the ‘80s and ‘90s as focus came into fashion.

Engineering 8

Engineering Learning Curve Fixed Costs Competitive Advantage 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 22, 2011

It is walking, talking, and continuing to pretend it's alive, but Spotify , Europe's outrageously successful streaming music product, has just shown us the future. To appreciate the truth of this claim, it's vital to understand one of Clayton Christensen's theories on marketing and product development: Jobs-to-be-done.

Christensen 16

Christensen Disruptive Innovation Price Business Model 16

Harvard Business Review

MAY 9, 2013

Harley helped V&S launch Fan Machine by enlisting its fans to develop a new campaign. Taking the campaign further, V&S has turned Smartwool''s fans into field-testers who not only star in the advertising but also help the brand in its product innovation process.

Advertising 10

Advertising Brand Innovation Creativity 10

Harvard Business Review

JULY 27, 2017

And the fixed cost from “touchpoint-to-pilot” are immense. For example, in the case of a $100 million CVC fund, which can close five to 10 investments a year, these costs typically range from $1 to $2 million per startup — not including the administrative and variable costs of the pilot itself.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Meyer Innovation Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 6, 2016

These conflicting pressures are especially present when the product provided by the asset is not very differentiating (think, for instance, of commodity steel products or container shipping services). The common idea behind these models is that the company does not have to be the (full) owner of the asset to be its (sole) operator.

Co-Opetition 8

Co-Opetition Operations Cost Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Eden McCallum, thus, manages to keep its overhead and other fixed costs at a minimum. In fact, many companies have begun to realize that real competitive advantage is usually based on people rather than patents or products. And that is exactly what many consultants like doing.

McCallum 13

McCallum Competitive Advantage McKinsey Consultative 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 21, 2015

The costly and complex operations of transporting energy have made utilities natural monopolies, while regulatory barriers and the high fixed costs of building and maintaining regional electrical grid infrastructure have also kept much competition at bay.

Energy 8

Energy Transportation Software Price 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 6, 2014

UK retail, like the rest of the developed world, is witnessing a few big long-term trends. It provides consumers with a viable, lower cost alternative to the manufacturer branded products. Hard discounters aim for twice the volume with the same fixed costs so they can make the same returns at half the gross margin.

Retail 12

Retail Merchandising Discount Price 12

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2018

Directly influenced by investor input, Nikon developed a restructuring plan that would carry a onetime cost of ¥48 billion ($460 million) but generate ¥20 billion ($190 million) in annual savings. It also called for streamlining headquarters and cutting executive management’s compensation.

Company 9

Company ROIC CFO Restructuring 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

At each tier of the supply chain, the decline in demand sparks a bigger decline in orders from suppliers — each company reasoning that it needs to quickly cut production (to adjust to declining sales) and work off its seemingly bloated inventory. Senate Banking Committee to save his competitors.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Retail Crisis Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

Google and Intel rely on experts in social science and biomechanics to develop transformative products by better understanding how people think about and use technology. Organizational Development Book. But there are also extrinsic factors that complicate the relationship. Adapted from. Agile Talent. Jon Younger Norm Smallwood.

Agility 8

Agility Organization Resources Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

As each of these companies expands its fixed-cost infrastructure, profits grow geometrically because the additional variable cost of adding each new user is near zero. Adding a profile on Facebook has little to no impact on Facebook's operating costs. Greater scale bestows greater competitive advantage.

CPA 15

CPA CPM Advertising Disintermediation 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 1, 2018

However, if we do not develop and implement tools for pooling the financial cost of new high-cost treatments, access to them will be cut off, even for patients with generous insurance policies. Problems may get worse.

Cost 8

Cost Insurance Incentives Policies 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

These preparatory steps are of particular importance for carve-outs that are not full-fledged business units with profit & loss responsibility, such as R&D centers or production units whose only customer is their parent.

Chemicals 8

Chemicals How To Kahneman Reputation 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

In 1980, the national expenditure on health care in the United States was just over 9% of Gross Domestic Product. Working under a fixed-cost ceiling was, of course, difficult. Today it accounts for nearly twice that — close to 18%. This increase has come at a high price, hitting home most obviously in workers’ pay.

Health Care 8

Health Care Constraint Budgeting Quality 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

A fascinating business dynamic will unfold as health care providers in the United States shift from a reimbursement system that has historically paid for procedures performed to one that rewards population health — providing the total care of a community at a fixed cost and improving its members overall health.

Health Care 8

Health Care Committee Cost Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 5, 2017

They’re more productive, as the chart below illustrates. He excluded tech industries from the analysis since his aim was to study how IT adoption was helping firms, rather than industries that produce IT-related products.) They’re also more profitable, more innovative, and they pay better.

Document 8

Document Industry Software Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

In addition, its broad distribution network aimed at same-day delivery in many markets (through Amazon Flex , its “Uber for delivery” service) may also make the immediate delivery of certain prescriptions along with one’s groceries or other products a reality. Data analytics.

Health Care 10

Health Care Retail Operations Insurance 10

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2017

Political campaigns are marketing campaigns, messages aimed at selling a product. Two developments bear noting. The implications are threefold: The best product doesn’t always win. Even if you have the best product or candidate, if you run a hub-and-spokes campaign, you’ll attract followers one by one.

Media 12

Media Advertising Fixed Costs Content 12