Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2011

My last post talked about how a little-known company , Grace Manufacturing, took a flexible and opportunistic approach to its strategy when its core business faltered. In the 1950's, the American market was quite small and dominated by entrenched players such as Harley Davidson, Indian, and imports like Triumph and Moto Guzzi.

Strategy 15

Strategy Automotive Short-term Marketing 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 14, 2014

Or you are a supervisory board member of Mannesmann, a solid German engineering company, and your executive team suggests that the company bid for a mobile telephone license. Do you invest in the exciting new opportunity even though it does not fit with your existing strategy? Even capital markets logic is against this proposal.

Licensing 8

Licensing Competitive Advantage Proposal Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 13, 2016

As United Rentals, the largest equipment rentals company, shifted its strategy to focus more on national customer accounts, it faced a huge forgetting challenge; branch managers needed to forget the fiefdom mentality. .” Create win-win incentives. Incentives are a powerful lever to convince people they need to forget the old ways.

Company 8

Company Licensing Incentives Construction 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

I first noticed Commerce back in the late '90s, when it was developing a reputation for creativity and had a stock-market value of $400 million. The term it used to describe its strategy was "retailtainment" — making it fun for customers to do business in an industry that was devoid of personality.

Banking 18

Banking Retail Open-book Creativity 18

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2011

He blamed the Japan earthquake, the anemic PC market, and a troubled services organization. While HP was once the technology leader that could do no wrong, market watchers are now concerned that the company does not have a clear strategy to overcome its problems. The technology market is the epitome of creative destruction.

Software 12

Software Technology Intellectual Capital Marketing 12

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

This delightful tour through the history and marketing of the “amber restorative” is a blueprint for how to use our aspirational desires to sell us lots and lots of stuff — all over the world. "I came in one day and there were clowns that were passing out balloons," said the current Zynga principal engineer.

Class 8

Class Health Care Supply Chain Globalization 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 10, 2014

Yet, its strategy for almost three decades has largely been that of a sustainer, not a disruptor. Has it missed out on really key growth markets like search? EMI invented the CAT scanner but was crushed by GE, which brought to bear its superior engineering experience and distribution in diagnostic imagining. Absolutely.

Innovation 8

Innovation Disruptive Innovation Venture Capitalist Depreciation 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 7, 2013

Its approach was the first to align the key actors in the ecosystem in a way that addressed the critical shortcomings — range, resale value, grid capacity — that undermine the electric car as a mass-market proposition. Note to Tesla owners: you are not the mass market). A small number, but these are also small markets.

Mass Marketing 8

Mass Marketing Transportation Depreciation Short-term 8