Critical Insights Vol. 1 Issue 6

ECONOMICS & MACRO MARKET

According to the Conference Board, economic indicators have improved in February with both leading and coincident indices increased 0.1% and lagging index increased 0.3%. Although the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stays unchanged for All Urban Consumers in February, the prices of goods and services consumed showed some increase given the fact that the prices of foods and energy dropped in February. The data indicate that the economic recovery is pretty bumpy and fragile at best.

The recovery of the Dow Jones Industrial Average has come close to the 11,000 mark and its short-term advance seems to be unsustainable. From long-term point of view, the stock market is expected to be volatile in 2010.

STRATEGY & MARKETING

iPad for Enterprise?

My students at University of Washington are fascinated by customer perception. If customer perception is more or less mysterious to you as well, take a look at that of iPad. It is supposed to be about web surfing, email and photo and movie watching experience for consumers, according to Apple’s promotion campaign. Customers, however, want a stretch – taking it into an enterprise product category. With over 150,000 applications already produced and much more on the way, customers’ “wrong” perception has a pretty good chance to be proven right…

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Wal-Mart, Deviating from Its Fundamental Strategy, Suffered Negative Same-Store Growth

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has seen better days. Yes, profits rose 22%, to $4.63 billion, in the fourth quarter of '09. Even coming out of the Great Recession, many consumers are trading down to shop at the discount superstore. However, for the third straight quarter the store saw negative same-store sales growth; during the last three months of 2009, same-store sales dropped 2%. Overall traffic in Wal-Mart stores was down too…

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Microsoft Office for Free?

Two years ago, I wrote to a Microsoft executive, urging the company to offer Microsoft Office for free. The idea is to deliver an online version of Office and provide links to highly relevant online information on the interface using user’s context for automatic search. Given customers’ concern with privacy, the most likely early adopters would be enterprise users who need to gather information from intranet. According to an IDC report, Microsoft has made a progress in this regard and the company is going to offer to corporate customers web-based versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint for free early this year...

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INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

Innovation and Air Sandwich

Chances are, you're already familiar with the concept of the Air Sandwich, if not the term itself. An Air Sandwich is what happens when the leadership within an organization issues orders from 80,000 feet and lobs them down to the folks at 20,000 feet. A former Autodesk employee talks about how air sandwich prevented vision from being realized…

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The Fundamentals of Innovation

As the economic environment stabilizes, there's a temptation for executives to return to business as usual. And although much about the future of the economy is uncertain, an expert says that a return to the recent status quo would be a colossal mistake…

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Chips with “Designer Salt”

PepsiCo will soon introduce a secret new ingredient that improves the healthfulness in its Lay's potato chips: "designer salt" whose crystals are shaped and sized to reduce the sodium intake consumers ingest with each chip. Pepsi recently pledged to reduce the average sodium per serving in its products by 25% over the next five years. As consumer and government pressure for healthier food products mounts, PepsiCo's move attempts to get ahead of the curve of potential demand shifts or new regulations…

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LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION

How to Survive in an Unhappy Workplace

When you don't like your job, going to work every day can be a challenge. Your problem might be with a bad manager, that you constantly feel stretched to the breaking point, or that you are resentful about taking a pay cut. Or, the whole environment may just feel toxic. You might need to stay in your job because it provides health benefits, or maybe you're only staying while you look for another position. Whatever your reasons for being unhappy, you need to maintain your professionalism and prevent a bad attitude from sabotaging you. The principles you need to remember: 1. Differentiate between what you can change and what you can't. 2. Take responsibility for making a change. 3. Focus on making the best of a bad situation. 4. Don’t assume nothing will ever change. 2. Don’t allow negative thoughts to rule you. 3. Don’t go it alone…

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What Makes Us Happy?

What makes the human heart sing? It is not about great wealth, good education, or high IQ, It is about strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them. There are three components of happiness: pleasure ("the smiley-face piece"), engagement (the depth of involvement with one's family, work, romance and hobbies) and meaning (using personal strengths to serve some larger end)…

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Does Your Passion Match Your Aspiration?

Leaders who create extraordinary new possibilities are passionate about their mission and tenacious in pursuit of it. Many people have good ideas, but many fewer are willing to put themselves on the line for them. Passion separates good intentions and opportunism from real accomplishments…

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Critical Insights Vol. 1 Issue 5

ECONOMICS & MACRO MARKET

According to the Conference Board, its Employment Trends Index rose in February for the sixth consecutive month and now stands at 93.5. Furthermore, US Net Employment Outlook has turned to positive (8%) for Q2 2010. The rising indicators show that job growth is about to begin.

Dow Jones Industry Average closed at 10,566.02 today. It has gained 4,009 points since its 7,600+ point fall to 6547.06 on March 9, 2009. This recovery is not yet finished; it is likely to approach 12,500 before another major correction.

STRATEGY & MARKETING

Choosing a Marketing Plan: Traditional or Social Media?

Social media has been increasingly considered as a media for marketing promotion. Marketers are eager to learn whether it actually works. EPC Cigar Company decided to promote its brand using social media, which allow the company to communicate directly with cigar buyers, retailers, tobacco growers and others with whom it does business. “To have a lot of people talk about the limited-edition cigar after only a few months, in a market that’s challenged, in an industry that’s not really growing, is very exciting,” The head of the ad agency said…

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Trading Places: A Smart Way to Change Your Mind

Placing ourselves in other’s shoes is an approach which smart professionals often take in their business practice. The common problem, however, is that we often got it wrong when it comes to take others’ perspectives. Maxine Clark, founder and CEO of Build-a-Bear Workshop, switched companies for a day with Kip Tindell, cofounder and CEO of the Container Store. Both outfits are big, fast-growing, passion brands in the ultra-competitive world of retail — although they have little in common in terms of target customers, in-store zeitgeist, or corporate missions. Take a look at what they had gained from the switch…

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The Devil Is in the Detailing

Executives who strive to improve the effectiveness and lower the costs of their businesses are often frustrated by the fact that they have run out of ideas. In fact, opportunities can often be uncovered by diving down to the details. In pharmaceutical industry, for instance, marketing efforts usually focus on physicians who prescribe higher volumes of drugs. However, an analysis of prescription data suggests pharmaceutical companies should focus on a more refined target: heavy prescribers who treat higher percentages of new patients, since patients are seldom switched to a different drug within a specific drug class, even if they switch doctors and the likelihood that a physician will choose the last drug prescribed for a patient is greater than 90%...

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INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

‘Natural’ UI Will Be the Wave of the Future

There's a new computing revolution coming and it's not based on a keyboard and a mouse. Instead, it will be based on touch, gestures, spoken language, and even painting -- what is becoming known as "natural user interface" or NUI…

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Nike: Alive and Kicking

Nike has a research & development process that is very well aligned with marketing objectives. It hopes that the two-pronged approach – the detail of product innovation and "premium club" feel of online – will give the global sports company the edge when it comes to its titanic battle with the two other sports behemoths – Adidas and Puma – for supremacy in the sportswear and leisure market…

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New York Isn’t Silicon Valley. That’s Why They Like It.

When it comes to selecting a place for innovation, people usually think of Silicon Valley. However, New York has become a hotbed of innovation, with great infrastructure, tech customers in backyard and sources of financing right in town…

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LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION

Why We Don’t Always Choose Our Favorite Option

If you are like many people, you enjoy chocolate and eat it frequently. That’s okay, you might think. After all, chocolate has antioxidants and it boosts your mood. Although this may be true, it is not the real reason why you eat chocolate: it is just a line of reasoning you follow to feel less guilty about eating something high in fat and sugar. People often rationalize in this way, telling themselves stories of sometimes dubious merit to justify their behavior. A research at Northwest University shows how rationalization—once studied mainly in psychology—impacts choices and can help economists understand why people make decisions that violate standard economic theories…

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Toyota's culture faulted in recall crisis

Toyota has not been very effective in terms of responding to safety and quality problems. Expert observations show that some of the dysfunction at Toyota that has come to light as part of the company's recall crisis is caused by culture...

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Confronting the Problem Personality

As a manager, you are responsible for your team members’ performance and their job satisfaction and yet you don’t always have the power to choose the ones whom you work with – you may get stuck with someone who has nasty personality. In this article, an expert shows you how to turning a managerial liability into an effective and empathic leader…

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