MIT Sloan Management Review

A surprising number of high-profile Western companies have stumbled in e-commerce in China, including Amazon and Google. This article offers a list of workable strategies to succeed in Chinese e-commerce, gleaned from U.S. companies’ experiences.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. However, in a market like China’s, where local knowledge and culture are crucial to success, more thought should be given to how to better serve local customers and adapt in a rapidly changing market.

A number of companies are starting to look to the cloud, not only for storing massive amounts of data, but for analysis and deriving insights, too.

The capabilities of computers are now improving so quickly that concepts can move from the realm of science fiction into everyday life in just a few years, rather than a lifetime. Rapid advances in information technology — computer hardware, software and networks — are yielding applications that can do anything from answering game show questions to driving cars. But to gain true leverage from these ever-improving technologies, companies need new processes and business models.

Google VP Marissa Mayer exemplifies the key traits of an idea connector, a person who links up idea scouts who have limited internal company networks with R&D engineers and others. One mechanism she uses: she holds three weekly sessions where she is accessible to all Google employees who want to pitch a new idea.

Companies such as Procter & Gamble, Cisco Systems, Genzyme, General Electric and Intel are often credited with having attained market leadership through open innovation strategies. By tapping into and exploiting the technological knowledge residing beyond their own R&D structures, these companies outmaneuvered rivals. But while other organizations try to follow their example, many are failing because they neglect to ensure that the outside ideas reach the people best equipped to exploit them.

Products and markets with nothing in common “taxonomically” can have “thematic similarity,” which may open up important business opportunities.

Research in innovation and creativity shows that giving employees unstructured time — on company time — pays off.

Two news items that capture some of the spirit of the times:

In a New York Times column, Thomas Friedman raises the question of whether this downturn may signal the end of an era of unsustainable growth.�

From both business and cultural perspectives, one of the lasting innovations of the late-'90s dot-com boom was getting individuals and companies comfortable purchasing items via their computers. On the consumer side, the twin ecommerce giants of the late '90s were eBay and Amazon.

Under the right circumstances, companies of any size can grow to become platform leaders. And particular business and technology decisions can help platform-leader wannabes achieve their goals.

Companies have four ways of building businesses from within their organizations. Each approach provides certain benefits — and raises specific challenges.

The paradigm of brand is worn out. Marketing and strategy must now be about shaping the competitive ecosystem.

The Internet marketplace allows companies to produce and sell a far wider range of products than ever before. This profoundly changes both consumer behavior and business strategy.

Many companies make incremental improvements to their service offerings, but few succeed in creating service innovations that generate new markets or reshape existing ones. To move in that direction, executives must understand the different types of market-creating service innovations as well as the nine factors that enable these innovations.

Many companies have struggled to design IT systems, databases and content repositories that provide their employees with easily accessible and relevant information. The authors urge organizations to emulate the strategies of Google, eBay and Amazon.com, whose core competence is based upon making it easy for customers to find what they want — quickly, accurately and usefully.