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What U.S. E-Commerce Can Learn from Its Global Copycats

Harvard Business Review

Every new market I look at seems to have an Amazon-style copycat — a website that looks, functions, and sells products a lot like a well-known online retailer. In India there''s Flipkart , in Russia there''s Ozon , and in Thailand, Indonesia, and other South East Asia markets there''s Lazada. In some cases this is true.

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Strategic Choices Need to Be Made Simultaneously, Not Sequentially

Harvard Business Review

For example, Uber made a Where to Play choice that included China because it’s a huge and important market. It turned out that Uber’s How to Win had a lot to do with building a first-mover advantage in markets like the U.S.; But it didn’t work in the Where to Play of China.

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Growing, or Not, in an Age of Permanent Volatility

Harvard Business Review

In a recent Accenture study involving 1000 CFOs and CMOs across eight industries and a dozen countries in developed and emerging markets, 85 percent of executives expected their companies to grow at a rate equal to or significantly greater than global growth forecasts. Why is a growth market that "lifts all boats" so tough to imagine?

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Four Ideas for Creating Mobile Strategy

Harvard Business Review

Mobile technology presents all marketers with a tantalizing proposition. The chance to tap into this ever-present and intimate consumer channel at such tremendous scale seems like a no-brainer for marketers. But marketing spend on mobile pales in comparison to time spent there by consumers. At my company, Mondel?z

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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. Broaden perspectives.

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

Harvard Business Review

And AI success stories are becoming more numerous and diverse, from Amazon reaping operational efficiencies using its AI-powered Kiva warehouse robots, to GE keeping its industrial equipment running by leveraging AI for predictive maintenance. Machine learning is a powerful tool, but it’s not right for everything.

Survey 12
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What Investors Need to Know About Zimbabwe After Mugabe

Harvard Business Review

This is promising for a market formerly dubbed the “breadbasket of Africa.” ” Once one of Africa’s most developed markets – with a solid education system, good infrastructure, and a relatively large middle class – decades of mismanagement have cost Zimbabwe. . billion a decade later.