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Companies Need a New Approach to Investing This Election Year

Harvard Business Review

Election years are the time to pursue projects that entail minimal commitments and expenditures but will produce tremendous first-mover advantage and large payoffs if post-election policy turns out to be favorable. This year, however, is different.

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What Groupon and LivingSocial Cannot Offer

Harvard Business Review

But a new study shows that no amount of buzz, excitement or first mover's advantage will lead a product to sustained growth. The costs are clearly high, but companies with products that tend to generate early buzz seem to do very well. At least that is the conventional wisdom.

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Five Myths of a CEO's First 100 Days

Harvard Business Review

An incoming CEO of an entertainment company, eager to secure first-mover advantage, instituted an ambitious growth strategy and set specific targets for managers. A top talent who can't work effectively with colleagues is a liability, not an asset. MYTH #4 : New CEOs must promptly define and communicate performance metrics.

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When to Change a Winning Strategy

Harvard Business Review

Its story starts like many success stories do: An innovative concept coupled with a first-mover advantage, enabling a rapid physical expansion and generating increasing returns to scale. To succeed, therefore, managers have to learn when and how to abandon the strategies they have grown up with.

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Best Practices for Leading via Innovation

Harvard Business Review

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.

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Strategy and The Uncertainty Excuse

Harvard Business Review

They may be strategizing their way to first mover advantages and positions that leave few if any attractive options in the market. The danger, of course, is that while we are using uncertainty as an excuse to put off making strategic choices, the competition may be doing something else entirely.

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Why Family Businesses Come Roaring out of Recessions

Harvard Business Review

Not only is it easier to differentiate brands when there is less competition, but also, products introduced during recessions will enjoy a first-mover advantage as the economy recovers. The family businesses’ proactive approach clearly helped them do better.