New Sustainability Study: The ‘Embracers’ Seize Advantage

How fast are businesses adopting sustainability-driven management? Findings from the second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study. Free to subscribers
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By Knut Haanaes, Balu Balagopal, Ming Teck Kong, Ingrid Velken, David Arthur, Michael S. Hopkins and Nina Kruschwitz

Why Companies Have to Trade ‘Perfect Data’ for ‘Fast Info’

Companies have been trained to think about data all wrong, say Attivio’s Ali Riaz and Sid Probstein. “Analytics don’t have to be based on super-precise data,” they say. “The report doesn’t have to be perfect. It needs to capture the behavior, not the totality of it.” Free to subscribers
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Ali Riaz and Sid Probstein, interviewed by Michael S. Hopkins

How Fast and Flexible Do You Want Your Information, Really?

Almost all executives want more and faster information, and almost all companies are racing to provide it. What many of them overlook, though, is that the real aim should be not faster information but faster decision making — and those aren’t the same things. Free to subscribers
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By Thomas H. Davenport and Jim Hagemann Snabe

When Unhappy Customers Strike Back on the Internet

Companies need to understand and manage the rising threat of online public complaining. There is ample incentive, because the best ways to respond, and to prevent complaints from recurring, apply not just to the Internet. Free to subscribers
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By Thomas M. Tripp and Yany Grégoire

The Power of Reconnection — How Dormant Ties Can Surprise You

The Web has made it easier than ever to reconnect with long-lost professional colleagues. Does it pay to do so? New research says yes — and suggests that every smart manager will try. Free to subscribers
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By Daniel Z. Levin, Jorge Walter and J. Keith Murnighan

Putting the ‘Relationship’ Back Into CRM

Many managers think that the way to capture value through relationship marketing is to focus on the ‘good’ customers and get rid of the ‘bad’ ones. But there is a lot more to best practice relationship management than maximizing revenues on individual customers and minimizing costs to serve. Free to subscribers
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By Susan Fournier and Jill Avery

Why Project Networks Beat Project Teams

Finding the expertise to handle complex, knowledge-intensive team projects is challenging. That’s where a project network — capitalizing on the potentially high-value contributions of ‘noncore’ contributors — can make all the difference. Free to subscribers
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By Jonathon Cummings and Carol Pletcher

Flat World, Hard Boundaries – How To Lead Across Them

Entrenched boundaries can limit an organization’s success; enlightened leaders see them not just as problems to solve but also as potential opportunities. Free to subscribers
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By Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason

How Too Much Multitasking at Work Can Slow You Down

Researchers confirm what many workers intuitively know: Excessive multitasking may result in the work flow equivalent of a traffic jam. You’ll be less productive if your attention is spread too thin. Free to subscribers
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By Martha E. Mangelsdorf

Making the Price of Indulgence Right Want to increase sales of a bundle of goods or services that includes both pleasurable and utilitarian items? Research suggests that a discount will increase sales more effectively if it’s offered on the pleasurable item. Uzma Khan and Ravi Dhar Free to subscribers
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Crib Notes Notes on the consumer benefits of Twitter, the desire for corporate data delivery that’s Internet-fast, and how companies “unwittingly encourage bad customer behavior” — plus other observations and ideas in this issue. Free to subscribers
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Unlocking the Business Potential of Virtual Worlds Virtual worlds have been slow to catch on in business — but employees familiar with the technology may help. And there’s evidence it would be smart for managers to encourage them to try. Saggi Nevo, Dorit Nevo and Erran Carmel Free to subscribers
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Overheard at MIT: Nobel Laureates on the State of Finance At a finance symposium that was part of MIT’s 150th anniversary celebration, seven of the contributing panelists were winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Here are clips from two of them. Martha E. Mangelsdorf Free to subscribers
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Does Social Responsibility Help Protect a Company’s Reputation? When consumers encounter negative information about a company, its reputation for corporate social responsibility can help — but only sometimes. Andreas B. Eisingerich and Gunjan Bhardwaj Free to subscribers
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What Great Projects Have in Common Research identifies seven common characteristics of highly successful projects, all adding up to an adaptive and strategic approach. Dov Dvir and Aaron J. Shenhar Free to subscribers
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