Stay Loose
By breaking decisions into stages, executives can build flexibility into their plans.
Think Big
In today’s fast-moving marketplace, companies typically compete by improving their products in small ways. They make them visually more attractive, or more reliable, or less costly. Maybe they tinker with the marketing.
The result is predictable: Competitors make a countermove — and in the end, market share moves slightly, if at all.
In thinking small, though, companies [...]
Together We Innovate
How can companies come up with new ideas? By getting employees working with one another.
Expanding the 24-Hour Workplace
In 1914, Henry Ford introduced the concept of three eight-hour shifts to achieve round-the-clock assembly in an automobile factory. Today we are witnessing the advent of 24-hour knowledge factories.
Spreading out across the globe with clusters of three or four facilities, each six to eight hours apart, was an idea first limited to 24-hour call centers [...]
How To Fill the Talent Gap
It’s no secret that global companies are finding it harder to fill critical jobs these days. They’re struggling to land top recruits in emerging markets, for instance, and haven’t prepared people in their own ranks to step seamlessly into management slots.
Companies are racing to find solutions, but most of them are making a crucial error: [...]
The Distribution Trap
It's every manufacturer's dream to get on the shelves of Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers. Too often, it turns into a nightmare.
Group Analysis
Why some regional clusters work better than others.
