How Startups Can Avoid the Chrysalis Effect
As startups grow, they shelve their breakthrough innovations and move toward incremental releases such as feature updates. This problem is generally attributed to lags in market demand for new products.…
TV Ad Dollars Finally Follow Viewers Online
At the May 2016 TV upfronts, the annual mating ritual between advertisers and television networks, agency and brand executives received an inside peek at broadcast and cable’s 2016–17 programming. They…
For Innovators, a Drawback to Data Analytics
Bottom Line: Number crunching can be valuable for firms exploiting their existing resources, but can backfire for companies seeking to branch out with new products or services. As companies have…
How to Find and Engage Authentic Informal Leaders
In a recent article, “10 Principles of Organizational Culture,” strategy+business highlighted how crucial it is to deploy authentic informal leaders (AILs). As the acronym suggests, AILs are not people in your…
ElBulli and the Limits of Corporate Innovation
In 2010, elBulli was named the second-best restaurant in the world. In 2011, superstar chef and co-owner Ferran Adrià shuttered the small restaurant in a small town on Spain’s Mediterranean…
Don’t Fret About "Gas Guzzlers"
When gas prices are high, and remain persistently high, U.S. consumers tend to choose smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. When gas prices are low, and remain persistently low, Americans tend…
Building Strategic Capability through Good Works
Corporate philanthropy is big business these days. In 2014, according to a study by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy and the Conference Board, companies gave more than US$18 billion in…
The Way the Media Industry Works
Early in The Wright Stuff: From NBC to Autism Speaks, by Bob Wright (with Diane Mermigas; RosettaBooks, 2016), the author discusses NBC’s 2003 US$16 billion megadeal with Vivendi Universal’s entertainment…
Putting Your (Charitable) Money Where Your Market Is
Bottom Line: Manufacturing and service firms differ in their approach to domestic and international philanthropy. In recent years, the spotlight has shined brightly on issues surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR),…
These Five Behaviors Can Create an Innovation Culture
Many companies want to establish a culture of innovation, one that will encourage employees to take risks that lead to breakthrough products. But how exactly to build this type of…
What Consumers Most Want from Health Insurers’ Technology
In the US$3 trillion United States healthcare industry, choice has swung decisively toward consumers in recent years. Empowered by technology, encouraged by employers, and incentivized by new regulations and products,…
IoT: Food service industry meets technology in Arby’s deployment
The continuing expansion of the industrial internet has found a new home for IoT: food service companies. Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. provides one example of how IoT, food safety and…
Execs and Their Role in Digital Transformations
At this point, everybody’s talking about the need for a digital transformation. And, fortunately, words are translating to action, according to a recent survey from Pegasystems and The Economist Intelligence…
Are CIOs Ready to Mine a API Gold Rush?
By Aaron Sandeen, Phil Manfredi and Kiran Chinnagangannagari, Zuggand co-founders APIs are a new bullion rush. And usually like a California bullion rush 166 years ago, there will be winners…
Microsoft Cutting 2,850 More Jobs In Smartphone Business, Sales
The Redmond giant reveals in a regulatory filing that it’s planning another round of job cuts in addition to the 1,850 cuts it announced in May. (Click image for larger…
Apple’s Project Titan Focuses On Autonomous Driving Software
Apple is bulking up its and sharpening the focus of its Project Titan team with the hiring of Dan Dodge, the former head of BlackBerry’s automotive software division. (Click image…
Amazon’s Second Quarter Puts Competition In Rearview Mirror
Amazon’s cloud unit is disappointing competitors if they hoped it would slow down. In announcing its second quarter results, the company reported that its Amazon Web Services division grew at…
How An Agricultural Data Firm Puts The Cloud To Work
Integration — connecting computing services to one another — used to mean bringing in expensive consultants, investing in custom programming, and dealing with long timelines. But modern cloud-based options could…
Oracle NetSuite Buy Creates Serious Cloud Contender
Oracle announced plans to buy cloud-based ERP provider NetSuite, a company backed by Oracle CTO Larry Ellison. But how will the two companies resolve the overlap in functionality between their…
How does SAP sizing affect SAP HANA pricing?
On premises When sizing a HANA system for HANA on premises, companies will want to set up a system that is more than 100% larger than the sizing estimates recommended…