Many of the ups and downs of a company's revenue stream can be smoothed out. Doing so, though, requires a fundamental change in how the organization prioritizes its sales activities.

In volatile and uncertain environments, managers must encourage and enable the spurts of participatory innovation that lead to emergent processes and solutions.

Achieving a state of clarity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for making good decisions.

The marketing implications of litigation are often not factored into the decision to take legal action -- but they should be.

Advances in development tools have tremendous potential for increasing productivity, cost savings and innovation. To reap the full benefits of such technologies, though, companies need to avoid some common pitfalls.

By sharing insights and perspectives with a group of noncompeting peers from other regions, managers can stay abreast of industry trends and combat complacency.

Although IT portfolio management has been a best practice for some time now, many companies are still getting returns from IT investments that are below their potential. New studies show that a measurable premium can be gained by implementing a set of interlocking business practices and processes, collectively called "IT savvy."

A market research technique called conjoint analysis can help managers predict what kind of affinity marketing program is likely to offer the best return on investment for their brand.

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.

To avoid costly product failures, companies can integrate customers into the innovation process and ask for their commitment to purchase early on.

Using net promoter score, a metric that, in most industries, correlates well with a company's growth rate, managers can evaluate how investments aimed at improving the customer experience actually affect the bottom line.

For many companies, incremental growth is not sufficient. The changing business landscape is forcing corporate leaders to learn how to reposition their businesses more fundamentally.

Before investing in China, venture capitalists and private equity investors need to take the time to understand the differences between Eastern and Western business practices.