MANAGING COLLABORATION

How To Manage Virtual Teams

Teams are the typical building blocks of an organization. Dispersed teams can actually outperform groups that are all in one place. To succeed, however, virtual collaboration must be managed in specific ways. Businesses will have to emphasize teamwork even more than before, a global culture is more important than ever, and don't expect face-to-face meetings to disappear. More »

ALSO: in the new issue of MIT Sloan Management Review, read about a systematic approach to innovation, how good executives make bad decisions, and much more.

Entrepreneurship

Why Business Plans Don't Deliver

Most business plans fail to make much impression on potential investors, largely because they are written before enough real work has been done to create a solid foundation. Why don't these business plans deliver? According to John W. Mullins, it's because they don't include three key elements that go into a successful business plan. More »

ALSO: Read the new issue of Business Insight, our collaboration with the Wall Street Journal. For more from the author, see how innovators identify the critical things they don't even know that they don't know.

Sustainability

Sustainability: Not What You Think It Is

MIT Sloan’s Peter Senge, founder of the Society for Organizational Learning, shows how companies, right away, can stop adopting sustainability measures that do “less bad” and start doing “more good,” both for the business and the world around it. More »

VIDEO: On MIT World, Peter Senge moderates a talk on sustainability strategies with representatives of IBM and Staples, companies that have implemented them.

 

Improvisations

An MIT Sloan Management Review blog about innovation

Redeploying finance talent

“One casualty of the financial crisis and subsequent global economic downturn has been employment in the financial sector,” observes McGill University’s Dror Etzion in an essay in the Summer 2009 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. But, in that bleak labor market for finance professionals, Etzion sees an opportunity for an unexpected area: environmental sustainability efforts.

In his essay “Creating a Better Environment for Finance,” Etzion reasons that some of the efforts to create and redefine markets to address sustainability challenges will require financial acumen — in areas ranging from cap-and-trade programs to biodiversity offsets to financing for solar projects. He writes:

Perhaps even more intriguing is the possibility of crafting new offerings that integrate economic and environmental concerns. For example, the city of Berkeley, California, is working with Renewable Funding LLC, a financial services company based in Oakland, California, to offer an innovative new program that helps homeowners purchase solar installations. The model allows property owners to install solar panels with little upfront cost, via funds generated through the sale of bonds. The property owners then pay for their solar installations over 20 years, through a line item on their tax bills — and thus repay the bonds.

Etzion’s conclusion? Companies pursuing environmental sustainability initiatives may find this downturn is a good time to attract financial professionals.

 

Morphing the Web

The new Summer 2009 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review includes an interesting article on websites that “morph” — by adjusting their content to the cognitive style of their visitors.

Data reuse on the Internet

Who owns data available on the Internet? An article in MIT Sloan Management Review examines that question.

Understanding the geography of venture capital

A new study explores the relationship between venture capitalists’ location and their investments — and finds some quite intriguing results.

Helping R&D and marketing get along

Relationships between a company’s R&D and marketing departments aren’t always cordial — but they can be improved, according to a new article.

Seeking innovation? Look in new places.

To generate innovative ideas, companies need to look beyond the familiar.

 

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