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Why Leaders Are Still So Hesitant to Invest in New Business Models

Harvard Business Review

As technology continues to change and challenge even the most successful incumbent organizations in every industry, the cost of inertia is growing. Consider the dramatic shift in the types of assets that create market value. Despite the shift to intangible assets, executives and their strategists are sticking to the status quo.

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What Younger Workers Can Learn from Older Workers, and Vice Versa

Harvard Business Review

We typically imagine that the young can help the old understand technology and the old can impart general wisdom. What we asked people was, at this point in their lives, are they actively building, maintaining, or depleting their tangible and intangible assets? Coaching and mentoring across age groups makes sense.

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Why Financial Statements Don’t Work for Digital Companies

Harvard Business Review

Contrast Walmart’ $160 billion of hard assets for its $300 billion valuation against Facebook’s $9 billion dollars of hard assets for its $500 billion valuation. The economic purpose of these intangible investments is no different than that of an industrial company’s factories and buildings.

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Startups Could Fundamentally Change the Way Big Investors Operate

Harvard Business Review

Small startup firms are already developing proprietary technologies — such as machine vision, deep learning, and other innovations —– that could help large investors evaluate opportunities and risks with far greater accuracy and efficiency than was previously possible. But right now that’s not happening.

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How NASA Uses Telemedicine to Care for Astronauts in Space

Harvard Business Review

Since the Expedition One launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001 — the first long-duration stay on the orbital construction site — NASA’s Human Health and Performance team has been developing expertise in the planning and provision of medical support to crews staying in our world’s most remote environment.

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Investors Today Prefer Companies with Fewer Physical Assets

Harvard Business Review

And equipment must be maintained in a world that is becoming virtual and augmented by technology (VR and AR). In some cases, these assets are preventing companies from adapting, and weighing them down. that companies own compared to other assets. For example, Health Technology had an average multiple of 5.1,

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How to Navigate a Digital Transformation

Harvard Business Review

Manufacturers invest most of their capital into physical assets, while high-tech firms invest in R&D to create new intellectual capital. But all assets are not created equal, especially as the technological landscape changes. There’s no question why legacy organizations are tackling digital transformation now.