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Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point

Sustainability now occupies a central place in corporate boardrooms: 70% of respondents to our global study have it permanently on their management agendas. The full report, by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group, is now out. Focus: "Harvester" companies, where sustainability is contributing to profits and changing operating frameworks and strategies. Read more »
IN THE NEW ISSUE: How managers can leverage employee social networks to uncover hidden talent and build a well-networked organization.

How To Make the Chinese Supply Chain Safer

Multinational companies such as Apple need to give Chinese suppliers better incentives to comply with local safety standards, say Stanford researchers in the new issue of MIT SMR.

Six Ways to Tweet Smarter

Want to build a better tweet? Think short, punchy and newsy: 70 characters max, attention words, news people can use. Also: offer a deal and talk about upcoming events.

Announcing Plans May Kill Motivation

Does talking about plans undermine productivity? Research says yes, sometimes — that when you talk about intentions you run the risk of creating a “premature sense of completeness.”

Personal Word Not Always Best in Marketing

Recommendations from friends are effective at creating viral campaigns. But research by Sinan Aral (left) and Dylan Walker shows that automated messages are surprisingly effective, too.

Winning the Race With Ever-Smarter Machines

Computers can now beat humans in tasks such as playing Jeopardy! (like IBM’s Watson machine, left). Partnering is the solution, say MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.

How To Suss Out “The Next Big Thing” in IT

UCLA’s E. Burton Swanson’s five questions to consider when figuring out which IT innovations to pay attention to — and which to wait out because they might end up being lemons.

How to Identify New Business Models

“Business model experimentation” lets managers explore alternative value creation approaches quickly and inexpensively with six key business model levers.

The Dark Business of Social Network Fakes

Hiring people to create fake online profiles and post comments is a booming business and “poses a concrete threat to online communities,” say researchers at UC Santa Barbara.

Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point

New survey: 70% of companies that have placed sustainability on their agendas have done so in the past six years. They draw on strong CEO commitment to the strategy.

Special Report: Analytics, The Widening Divide

The ability to create a competitive advantage with analytics has surged in the past 12 months. Our 2011 global survey of over 4,500 executives identifies two distinct paths forward.

Employee Profiling That Works: IDEO’s System

The global design firm develops profiles of employee capabilities and shares them across the organization. The goal: uncover talent and staff projects more smartly.

Why Dominant Companies Are Vulnerable

Many consumers are predisposed to switching to new alternatives if they’re viable. A critical factor: our passion for choices, a key psychological force driving consumer decisions.

 

FROM THE MAGAZINE

Winter 2012: Cover Story

Winning the Race with Ever-Smarter Machines

 

Recent progress in information technology has been both rapid and dramatic. Is your company ready?