Execution and First-mover Advantage

A Survey of 3,000 Executives Reveals How Businesses Succeed with AI

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 28, 2017

Through a study of AI that included a survey of 3,073 executives and 160 case studies across 14 sectors and 10 countries, and through a separate digital research program , we have identified 10 key insights CEOs need to know to embark on a successful AI journey. Machine learning is a powerful tool, but it’s not right for everything.

Survey

Survey Execution First-mover Advantage Technology

Five Myths of a CEO's First 100 Days

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 30, 2012

Starting off on the right foot is crucial, especially during "the first 100 days," when new top executives are under intense scrutiny to prove they're equal to the job. After a year of "I'm-not-the-other-guy" leadership, this executive hadn't stamped his own identity on the business or made any distinctive decisions.

CEO

CEO First-mover Advantage Leadership Styles Execution

Strategic Choices Need to Be Made Simultaneously, Not Sequentially

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 3, 2017

Many people ask me why Capabilities and Management Systems are part of strategy when they are really elements of execution. That is yet another manifestation of the widespread, artificial, and unhelpful attempt to distinguish between choices that are “strategic” and ones that are “executional” or “tactical.”

First-mover Advantage

First-mover Advantage Retail Strategy Pharmaceuticals

Growing, or Not, in an Age of Permanent Volatility

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

When it comes to growth in a stagnating global economy, clearly most corporate executives tend to see their own prospects in a similar way. Digging deeper provides a few more clues as to how executives expect to achieve this growth despite an apparently flagging market. Innovation focused on first-mover advantage, not price point.

First-mover Advantage

First-mover Advantage Supply Chain Price Cost

Strategy and The Uncertainty Excuse

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 8, 2013

When I ask business executives about their company's strategy — or about an apparent lack thereof — they often respond that they can't or won't do strategy because their operating environment is changing so much. There isn't enough certainty, they argue, to be able to do strategy effectively.

Uncertainty

Uncertainty Strategy First-mover Advantage Fashion

NewTV Is the Antithesis of a Lean Startup. Can It Work?

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 20, 2018

Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive five-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent, and built) to the plan. The mantra of “ first-mover advantage ,” the idea that winners are the ones who are the first entrants in their markets, became the conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley.

IPO

IPO First-mover Advantage Business Model Agility

Best Practices for Leading via Innovation

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 6, 2012

Toyota's decade-long investment in its Prius sub-brand ultimately succeeded in strengthening the company's reputation as a respected product innovator while allowing Toyota to capture first-mover advantage in the fast-growing hybrid category. Enable organizational agility.

Innovation

Innovation First-mover Advantage Chemicals Agility

How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 7 Years

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 12, 2018

In France and India, for example, homegrown leaders offer local-language video content, thus depriving Netflix of first-mover advantage. and Netflix has managed to make inroads into even those markets where Prime arrived first. Furthermore, strong competition in streaming already exists in many countries.

First-mover Advantage

First-mover Advantage Globalization Content Operations

How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 8 Years

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 12, 2018

In France and India, for example, homegrown leaders offer local-language video content, thus depriving Netflix of first-mover advantage. and Netflix has managed to make inroads into even those markets where Prime arrived first. Furthermore, strong competition in streaming already exists in many countries.

First-mover Advantage

First-mover Advantage Globalization Content Operations

The Hidden Costs of Initial Coin Offerings

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Those benefits fall into three categories: To jumpstart network effects that provide a first-mover advantage: Many of the projects being built using blockchain technology are “protocols” that govern the interactions between users in a decentralized autonomous network.

Cost

Cost Decentralization Finance Entrepreneur

What Investors Need to Know About Zimbabwe After Mugabe

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 28, 2017

In this environment, multinationals that are willing to accept some risk and invest in the country could benefit from first-mover advantages – but only if the new administration follows through with much-needed economic reforms. Most importantly, executives have to follow developments closely.

Banking

Banking First-mover Advantage Politics Finance

Structure Your Global Team for Innovation

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

This hands-off approach works because on-site executives can rely on informal communication and feedback mechanisms to maintain oversight. Companies that are smart about global innovation create an explicit role for senior executives in their projects. To ensure first mover advantage, the schedule was extremely aggressive.

Globalization

Globalization Innovation Team First-mover Advantage

Structure Your Global Team for Innovation

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2012

This hands-off approach works because on-site executives can rely on informal communication and feedback mechanisms to maintain oversight. Companies that are smart about global innovation create an explicit role for senior executives in their projects. To ensure first mover advantage, the schedule was extremely aggressive.

Globalization

Globalization Innovation Team First-mover Advantage

How AI Will Change Strategy: A Thought Experiment

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 3, 2017

That’s the single most common question the three of us are asked from corporate executives, and it’s not trivial to answer. How will AI change strategy? AI is fundamentally a prediction technology. All this is due to the single act of turning the dial on the prediction machine.

Strategy

Strategy First-mover Advantage Business Model Retail

When to Change a Winning Strategy

Harvard Business Review

JULY 25, 2012

In our research on the telecom industry, for example, we found that the great majority of the executives we surveyed preferred internal development to external sourcing when they needed to develop differentiated products and services. Companies tend to repeat what has worked for them in the past.

Strategy

Strategy First-mover Advantage Pharmaceuticals Learning-by-Doing

Leadership Digital

A Survey of 3,000 Executives Reveals How Businesses Succeed with AI

Five Myths of a CEO's First 100 Days

Trending Sources

Strategic Choices Need to Be Made Simultaneously, Not Sequentially

Growing, or Not, in an Age of Permanent Volatility

Strategy and The Uncertainty Excuse

NewTV Is the Antithesis of a Lean Startup. Can It Work?

Best Practices for Leading via Innovation

How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 7 Years

How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 8 Years

The Hidden Costs of Initial Coin Offerings

What Investors Need to Know About Zimbabwe After Mugabe

Structure Your Global Team for Innovation

Structure Your Global Team for Innovation

How AI Will Change Strategy: A Thought Experiment

When to Change a Winning Strategy

Stay Connected