STRATEGY & MARKETING
How Can a Business Achieve Both High Quality and Low Cost?
High quality at a low price? While the key elements here – quality and cost—seem to be conflicting factors from classic teachings of corporate strategy, businesses strive for that combination. Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash. provides us an interesting case of how a business can be creative in achieving both high quality and lower costs…
Is It Safe to Follow Market Leaders?
Psychological studies have shown that people confronted with uncertainty tend to look to others for cues on how to behave. The psychologist Robert Cialdini calls this phenomenon "social proof." Social proof helps to explain some of the most startling paradoxes in human behavior. Managers try to figure out how to deal with discontinuous changes in market, they tend to follow their most successful peers , who have repeatedly proved their ability to make the right decisions in the past. In other words, they engage in benchmarking. Usually this is wise. When fundamental changes occur, however, looking to others within one's industry, especially market leaders, can be a recipe for the demise of everyone in the industry...
Customers Are Not Always Right
http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/06/innovation-customers-competitors-leadership-managing-marketing.html
Henry Ford once said: “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.” Even though voice of the customer is a critical element of product development process and they do know what could be improved in terms of existing products, they are not in the position of anticipating disruptive innovation or synthesis of incremental innovation that can offer something that they never see before…
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Innovation Made Incarnate
When employees are inspired by their leaders, innovation becomes much more fruitful. Much of Apple's success relies on the inspiration CEO Steve Jobs has fostered in employees. This article lists seven steps to turn inspiration into innovation: 1) make inspiration an imperative; 2) install and empower a chief innovation officer or CIO; 3) set goals and create enthusiasm to meet them; 4) create the right culture; 5) imbue inspiration as a start-to-finish endeavor; 6) observe, measure, and know; 7) never relent…
How Ford Got Social Marketing Right
Ford gave 100 consumers a car for six months and asked them to complete a different mission every month. And away they went. At the direction of Ford and their own imagination, "agents" used their Fiestas to deliver Meals On Wheels. They used them to take Harry And David treats to the National Guard. They went looking for adventure, some to wrestle alligators, others actually to elope. All of these stories were then lovingly documented on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter…
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Five Ways to Lead with More Compassion
Having fun in leading others is important to leaders. To do so, put the following in action: 1) assume the best in others; 2) understand what makes them tick; 3) serve their needs; 4) accept responsibility; 5) assume the best intentions...
Seven Communication Mistakes Managers Make
Seven communication mistakes managers make are: 1) making controversial announcements without doing groundwork first; 2) lying; 3) ignoring the realities of power; 4) underestimating your audience's intelligence; 5) confusing process with outcome; 6) using inappropriate forms of communication; 7) ignoring acts of omission...
An Exercise in Changing Yourself
Even though we feel that we need to change our own behavior times and again, we quickly either push it on the side or forget it all together - after all we are busy all the time. An exercise introduced by a psychologist is simple and proved to be effective…
MORE BLOGS BY WINSTON
Persuasion Story:
Strategy Framework
Persuasion Framework
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