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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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...
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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)…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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%...
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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...
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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%...
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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…
View the Article
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...
View the Article
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…
View the Article
Friday, February 26, 2010
Critical Insights Vol. 1 Issue 4
ECONOMICS & MACRO MARKET
While Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% in January, the index for all items less food and energy fell 0.1%, indicating that consumers are not willing to spend more money except paying for the necessary living costs amidst high unemployment rates, declining personal wealth due to the drop of home prices, and bearish news ranging from clogged foreclosure homes in supply and upcoming waves of the reset of the rates of accumulated adjustable rate mortgage to sovereign debt compound spirals in countries such as Greece. The anxiety fuel by the negative news sent Consumer Confidence Index from 56.5 in January to 46.0 in February (1985=100). Although signs of economic recovery have been detected here and there, the recovery is vulnerable as long as individuals’ consumption is not on a steady rise. Dow Jones Industry Average closed at 10,325 today. Given the great deal of uncertainty in economic growth, the stock market is likely to be volatile in 2010.
STRATEGY & MARKETING
Windows Phone 7 Spurs Microsoft's Mobile Strategy
Microsoft recently announced the new version of its phone operating system, Windows Phone 7. It’s a sweeping redesign, coupled with an aggressive new partnership with handset makers and mobile carriers. Initial reviews are not only positive but actually excited…
View the article
Is Nexus One's Rocky Start a Product of Google's New Approach?
Initial sales figure of Google’s Next One was not impressive. It was significantly lower than that of iPhone 3GS, Droid, and My Touch 3G. But Nexus One definitively is trying to be a different method of distribution, one done only by Google and directly to end users…
View the article
The Art of Persuasion - Aligning Consumer Goals with Level of Abstraction
Marketing professionals understand the roles of selective exposure, comprehension and retention in marketing communications. They are interested in finding out the most persuasive types of messages. For example, would you be more likely to buy a TiVo if an ad described it as offering you freedom or if it explained how you could replay sports events? Research indicates that the key to an effective message is finding the fit between the consumers’ goals and the level of abstraction…
View the article
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Innovation beyond Apple
Apple’s success in its new product, especially the iPhone, has triggered the “Apple thrill” – executives are increasingly interested in pushing product innovation in an attempt to replicate Apple’s success. However, experts are saying that focusing exclusively on product innovation may be a mistake for most companies and innovation is not only about product…
View the article
Why the Rock Band Network is the Greatest Innovation since Colored Buttons
Rock Band Network, which was announced last year, has just been released in open beta, which means anyone with the gall to hit up their multi-track recorders can begin programming songs into the system by downloading the software. Of course, this all comes at a price, since creating your own songs will technically classify you as a developer you'll have to register at the XNA Creator's Club for $100 a year before you can start running the software…
View the Article
How Google's Ad System Stifles Innovation
The European Commission has launched the first-ever official antitrust inquiry into Google's search and search advertising services. Despite Google's estimated 90 percent share of the European search advertising market, it hasn't necessarily done anything illegal. But its stranglehold may still be a prohibitive barrier to competitors, present and future…
View the article
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Overcome Resistance with the Right Questions
You'll need different kinds of questions for different stages in the discussion. Here's a list of six categories of questions for a Socratic Dialogue, compiled by Richard Paul of the Center for Critical Studies: 1) questions that help clarify what the other person means; 2) questions that probe assumptions; 3) questions that look into the rationale, reasons and evidence the other person's using; 4) questions examining viewpoints and perspectives; 5) questions that probe implications and consequences; 6) questions get to the root of the other person's questions…
View the article
Air Marshals Say Service Roiled with Cronyism, Chaos
Despite calls from President Obama to beef up the program designed to provide security aboard U.S. flights, the Federal Air Marshal Service is in disarray, a CNN investigation has found. In more than a dozen interviews across the country, air marshals said the agency is rife with cronyism; age, gender and racial discrimination; and attempts by managers to make the agency appear more efficient than it is by padding numbers. Air marshals describe an agency in chaos, where bored and frustrated marshals focus more on internal squabbles than watching for bad guys. The marshals refused to let their identities be known, for fear of retaliation in an agency that is driven, they say, by intimidation and favoritism…
View the article
Don’t Stand by Me - The Role of Personal Connections in Failing Projects
When business leaders leave organizations following poor decisions, constituents often find comfort in replacing them with insiders — others familiar with the problem and original choices. "Vicarious entrapment," however, may prevent the new leader from making better decisions due to their psychological attachment to previous leaders or previous decisions.
View the article
While Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% in January, the index for all items less food and energy fell 0.1%, indicating that consumers are not willing to spend more money except paying for the necessary living costs amidst high unemployment rates, declining personal wealth due to the drop of home prices, and bearish news ranging from clogged foreclosure homes in supply and upcoming waves of the reset of the rates of accumulated adjustable rate mortgage to sovereign debt compound spirals in countries such as Greece. The anxiety fuel by the negative news sent Consumer Confidence Index from 56.5 in January to 46.0 in February (1985=100). Although signs of economic recovery have been detected here and there, the recovery is vulnerable as long as individuals’ consumption is not on a steady rise. Dow Jones Industry Average closed at 10,325 today. Given the great deal of uncertainty in economic growth, the stock market is likely to be volatile in 2010.
STRATEGY & MARKETING
Windows Phone 7 Spurs Microsoft's Mobile Strategy
Microsoft recently announced the new version of its phone operating system, Windows Phone 7. It’s a sweeping redesign, coupled with an aggressive new partnership with handset makers and mobile carriers. Initial reviews are not only positive but actually excited…
View the article
Is Nexus One's Rocky Start a Product of Google's New Approach?
Initial sales figure of Google’s Next One was not impressive. It was significantly lower than that of iPhone 3GS, Droid, and My Touch 3G. But Nexus One definitively is trying to be a different method of distribution, one done only by Google and directly to end users…
View the article
The Art of Persuasion - Aligning Consumer Goals with Level of Abstraction
Marketing professionals understand the roles of selective exposure, comprehension and retention in marketing communications. They are interested in finding out the most persuasive types of messages. For example, would you be more likely to buy a TiVo if an ad described it as offering you freedom or if it explained how you could replay sports events? Research indicates that the key to an effective message is finding the fit between the consumers’ goals and the level of abstraction…
View the article
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Innovation beyond Apple
Apple’s success in its new product, especially the iPhone, has triggered the “Apple thrill” – executives are increasingly interested in pushing product innovation in an attempt to replicate Apple’s success. However, experts are saying that focusing exclusively on product innovation may be a mistake for most companies and innovation is not only about product…
View the article
Why the Rock Band Network is the Greatest Innovation since Colored Buttons
Rock Band Network, which was announced last year, has just been released in open beta, which means anyone with the gall to hit up their multi-track recorders can begin programming songs into the system by downloading the software. Of course, this all comes at a price, since creating your own songs will technically classify you as a developer you'll have to register at the XNA Creator's Club for $100 a year before you can start running the software…
View the Article
How Google's Ad System Stifles Innovation
The European Commission has launched the first-ever official antitrust inquiry into Google's search and search advertising services. Despite Google's estimated 90 percent share of the European search advertising market, it hasn't necessarily done anything illegal. But its stranglehold may still be a prohibitive barrier to competitors, present and future…
View the article
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Overcome Resistance with the Right Questions
You'll need different kinds of questions for different stages in the discussion. Here's a list of six categories of questions for a Socratic Dialogue, compiled by Richard Paul of the Center for Critical Studies: 1) questions that help clarify what the other person means; 2) questions that probe assumptions; 3) questions that look into the rationale, reasons and evidence the other person's using; 4) questions examining viewpoints and perspectives; 5) questions that probe implications and consequences; 6) questions get to the root of the other person's questions…
View the article
Air Marshals Say Service Roiled with Cronyism, Chaos
Despite calls from President Obama to beef up the program designed to provide security aboard U.S. flights, the Federal Air Marshal Service is in disarray, a CNN investigation has found. In more than a dozen interviews across the country, air marshals said the agency is rife with cronyism; age, gender and racial discrimination; and attempts by managers to make the agency appear more efficient than it is by padding numbers. Air marshals describe an agency in chaos, where bored and frustrated marshals focus more on internal squabbles than watching for bad guys. The marshals refused to let their identities be known, for fear of retaliation in an agency that is driven, they say, by intimidation and favoritism…
View the article
Don’t Stand by Me - The Role of Personal Connections in Failing Projects
When business leaders leave organizations following poor decisions, constituents often find comfort in replacing them with insiders — others familiar with the problem and original choices. "Vicarious entrapment," however, may prevent the new leader from making better decisions due to their psychological attachment to previous leaders or previous decisions.
View the article
Monday, February 15, 2010
Critical Insights Vol. 1 Issue 3
STRATEGY & MARKETING
Marketing In a Weak Economy
Experts' views from the Wharton Marketing Conference: 1) recent research shows that 80% to 90% of people are willing to trade off or trade down when it comes to shopping and many of those customers might not bounce back with the economy; 2) trading off and trading down is not happening across the board - the middle range of products has suffered far more than the top-of-the-line items; 3)general consumer pullback masks some interesting dynamics that marketers could benefit from. People are starting to change what they're doing with their time and that's where opportunites emerge. The experts discussed about the issues of high consumer anxiety, threat of private labels, and keeping up with consumers...
View the Article
Targeted Ads in the Works
Marketers have long dreamed of a day when they can stop blasting ads out to the world at large, and instead send TV commercials for Pampers, Chevrolet and Barbie dolls only to those people in the market for diapers, a new car or a child's toy. Comcast Spotlight, the ad-sales unit owned by Comcast Corp., and Starcom MediaVest Group, the media-buying unit of France's Publicis Groupe, have completed a second test of technology that delivers different ads to different households, and they say the ads in both cases have proved to be about one-third more effective in keeping audiences from tuning them out. They also believe the time is drawing nigh for discussions about creating a business model around the new ad format…
View the Article
Top 10 Tools to Measure User Experience
Pragmatic Marketing proposes 10 tools for user experience improvements: 1) heuristics; 2) expert review; 3) web hits/usage; 4) user testing; 5) session analysis; 6) online surveys; 7) A/B and multivariate testing; 8) eye tracking; 9) emotion/trust measurement; 10) neuro-marketing…
View the Article
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
In the midst of Recession, People Want Value, Innovation
CEO Thomas Falk did things most executives ran from during the recession: He plunged money into innovation and marketing, and raised prices…
View the Article
Where innovation creates value
Value innovation is defined as delivering exceptional value to the most important customer in the value chain all the time, every time. Unlike other forms of innovation, the most important customer can be internal or external to the organization. Exceptional value can be delivered in many other ways besides a new product or service. It could be a new process, a new way of going to market or business model, a new way of delivering the product or service, new packaging, or new services. Any organization of any size, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, an association, a government agency, a school board and so on can use the value innovation methodology. Support groups within an organization such as IT, finance, purchase and human resource can use these tools to deliver much greater value to the most important customers in their business units…
View the Article
Is This Innovation Too Disruptive for My Firm
One of the trickiest decisions in business is to assess: is this innovation too innovative for my firm? You need to decide whether the core business will embrace the new product or service or reject it. Xerox, which invented the laser printer, Ethernet, and the personal computer, actually rejected the new computer and network — but adopted the laser printer. Why?
View the Article
A Little Chip Designed by Apple Itself
The most notable aspect of Apple's new iPad is the A4, the chip that powers the tablet device and was developed in house. As we first highlighted last week, the A4 chip is the first fruit to come of Apple's 2008 acquisition of P.A. Semi, a low-power chipmaker. Recent upticks in supplier and channel risk have made vertical integration an especially attractive strategic decision for many firms. In periods of increased volatility, a collection of diversified businesses provides executives visibility into currently volatile leading indicators of performance, and this information could lead to smarter capital-allocation decisions…
View the Article
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Having Fun with Cutting Up Oxen
A cook was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-Hui. With each blow of his hand, each hoist of his shoulders, each step of his foot, each thrust of his knee, each hiss of cleaved flesh, each howl of the axe, all were in perfect harmony – rhythmical like the dance of the mulberry groves, simultaneous like the chords of Ching-shou…
View the Article
Why Your Friend Becomes Hostile?
You are a caring person and you love to help people when they face difficulties. Then an unexpected episode happened. A person you have helped wholeheartedly became hostile to you out of the blue, accusing you of being exploitative and manipulative – a conspirator all along. “How could you do that to me? I wish I had found it out earlier” the distressed person says while you are shocked by the attack. How could that happen? A very interesting series of research reported on Science recently shed lights on the weird things like this one…
View the Article
How to Get Along With Frenemies
Here are what you should do: 1) stick to the facts; 2) don't take it personally; 3) talk it out; 4) if you can't talk it out, work it out; 5) while you are working it out, spread it out; 6) if all else fail, relax; 7) rinse and repeat…
View the Article
Marketing In a Weak Economy
Experts' views from the Wharton Marketing Conference: 1) recent research shows that 80% to 90% of people are willing to trade off or trade down when it comes to shopping and many of those customers might not bounce back with the economy; 2) trading off and trading down is not happening across the board - the middle range of products has suffered far more than the top-of-the-line items; 3)general consumer pullback masks some interesting dynamics that marketers could benefit from. People are starting to change what they're doing with their time and that's where opportunites emerge. The experts discussed about the issues of high consumer anxiety, threat of private labels, and keeping up with consumers...
View the Article
Targeted Ads in the Works
Marketers have long dreamed of a day when they can stop blasting ads out to the world at large, and instead send TV commercials for Pampers, Chevrolet and Barbie dolls only to those people in the market for diapers, a new car or a child's toy. Comcast Spotlight, the ad-sales unit owned by Comcast Corp., and Starcom MediaVest Group, the media-buying unit of France's Publicis Groupe, have completed a second test of technology that delivers different ads to different households, and they say the ads in both cases have proved to be about one-third more effective in keeping audiences from tuning them out. They also believe the time is drawing nigh for discussions about creating a business model around the new ad format…
View the Article
Top 10 Tools to Measure User Experience
Pragmatic Marketing proposes 10 tools for user experience improvements: 1) heuristics; 2) expert review; 3) web hits/usage; 4) user testing; 5) session analysis; 6) online surveys; 7) A/B and multivariate testing; 8) eye tracking; 9) emotion/trust measurement; 10) neuro-marketing…
View the Article
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
In the midst of Recession, People Want Value, Innovation
CEO Thomas Falk did things most executives ran from during the recession: He plunged money into innovation and marketing, and raised prices…
View the Article
Where innovation creates value
Value innovation is defined as delivering exceptional value to the most important customer in the value chain all the time, every time. Unlike other forms of innovation, the most important customer can be internal or external to the organization. Exceptional value can be delivered in many other ways besides a new product or service. It could be a new process, a new way of going to market or business model, a new way of delivering the product or service, new packaging, or new services. Any organization of any size, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, an association, a government agency, a school board and so on can use the value innovation methodology. Support groups within an organization such as IT, finance, purchase and human resource can use these tools to deliver much greater value to the most important customers in their business units…
View the Article
Is This Innovation Too Disruptive for My Firm
One of the trickiest decisions in business is to assess: is this innovation too innovative for my firm? You need to decide whether the core business will embrace the new product or service or reject it. Xerox, which invented the laser printer, Ethernet, and the personal computer, actually rejected the new computer and network — but adopted the laser printer. Why?
View the Article
A Little Chip Designed by Apple Itself
The most notable aspect of Apple's new iPad is the A4, the chip that powers the tablet device and was developed in house. As we first highlighted last week, the A4 chip is the first fruit to come of Apple's 2008 acquisition of P.A. Semi, a low-power chipmaker. Recent upticks in supplier and channel risk have made vertical integration an especially attractive strategic decision for many firms. In periods of increased volatility, a collection of diversified businesses provides executives visibility into currently volatile leading indicators of performance, and this information could lead to smarter capital-allocation decisions…
View the Article
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Having Fun with Cutting Up Oxen
A cook was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-Hui. With each blow of his hand, each hoist of his shoulders, each step of his foot, each thrust of his knee, each hiss of cleaved flesh, each howl of the axe, all were in perfect harmony – rhythmical like the dance of the mulberry groves, simultaneous like the chords of Ching-shou…
View the Article
Why Your Friend Becomes Hostile?
You are a caring person and you love to help people when they face difficulties. Then an unexpected episode happened. A person you have helped wholeheartedly became hostile to you out of the blue, accusing you of being exploitative and manipulative – a conspirator all along. “How could you do that to me? I wish I had found it out earlier” the distressed person says while you are shocked by the attack. How could that happen? A very interesting series of research reported on Science recently shed lights on the weird things like this one…
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How to Get Along With Frenemies
Here are what you should do: 1) stick to the facts; 2) don't take it personally; 3) talk it out; 4) if you can't talk it out, work it out; 5) while you are working it out, spread it out; 6) if all else fail, relax; 7) rinse and repeat…
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Critical Insights Vol.1 Issue 2
Strategy & Marketing
Can Apple Stay Ahead of Google?
Competition between Apple and Google has arrived at a more adversarial phase marked by Nexus One’s entrance into mobile phone market. Apple has a substantial lead in establishing this ecosystem. Developers have created more than 125,000 mobile applications for Apple devices—seven times as many as exist on Android—and the endless diversity of apps has helped the iPhone quickly pick up 14% of smartphone share. However, it is yet to figure out strategy to help app developers make money and attract large number of mobile advertisers to complete the ecosystem and create a bandwagon effect…
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Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?
It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else…
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Why Be an Ethical Company? They're Stronger and Last Longer
A focus on short-term profits to the exclusion of all else led to the current financial crisis. And guess what? Companies with the steadiest moral compasses have sailed through it…
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INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
Space-based solar power, advanced car batteries, utility storage, carbon capture and storage and next generation biofuels are the disruptive technologies which will likely change everything in the next few decades…
View the article
10 Ways to Identify an Impending Product Launch Disaster
Pragmatic Marketing presents 10 ways to identify an impending product launch disaster: 1) there are no goals for the product launch; 2) the launch strategy is based on a set of deliverables from a launch "checklist;" 3) the launch plan contains unrealistic timeframes and expectations; 4) sales enablement training is based on product features; 5) significant effort is spent creating collateral for people who never read it; 6) no single person is responsible for driving product launch results; 7)the launch plan is based on hunches, not market evidence; 8) the launch plan mimics your competitor; 9) existing customers are not adequately considered in the launch plan; 10) the launch team isn't a team. This article points out solutions to each of the problems...
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Is Your Company Brave Enough for Business Model Innovation?
IBM is in a process of introducing its "Spoken Web" to help market its ERP program in areas where literacy rate is low. Historically, the company has come up with new complementary business models when it brought new products into the market…
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LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Make Us to Choose the Harder Right Instead of the Easier Wrong
Bob McDonald, the new Chairman and CEO of P&G, is a well-recognized leader in corporate world. As a cadet at West Point, he encountered, in the Cadet Prayer, the phrase, "Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong." It's a phrase that he says guided him at West Point and beyond, and which he repeats often today. Although West Point's influence is evident, McDonald doesn't practice a military-style brand of leadership and doesn't behave as a staunch military man. In his mind, Patton-style charismatic leadership is not really leadership. "He's a West Point grad, but he doesn't behave as if he's a staunch military man…
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Consistent Contributor and Organizational Change
Cooperation is risky business—group members who place their own interests above the greater good can scuttle the whole endeavor. But cooperation is everywhere, and research shows consistent contributors may be the key to successful groups…
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How Ted Kennedy Got Things Done
It has been said that when Republicans wanted to drum up financial support all they had to do was invoke the name of Ted Kennedy in a piece of direct mail and the funds would roll in. That a man who was an anathema to some could over time become so revered by men and women on both sides of the political aisle is a tribute to Kennedy's ability to connect personally, as well as to his dogged perseverance in causes that mattered to him. How Kennedy was able to bring sides together is a virtue that leaders at every level need to master. While leadership in the corporate sector can come largely from the executive suite, to get things done well you need to act more as a legislator. That involves working with and persuading people who don't agree with you. Regardless of what the CEO desires, initiatives do not happen until people on the ground embrace them; and that's where peer-to-peer leadership, the kind that occurs in legislative bodies, works...
View the article
Can Apple Stay Ahead of Google?
Competition between Apple and Google has arrived at a more adversarial phase marked by Nexus One’s entrance into mobile phone market. Apple has a substantial lead in establishing this ecosystem. Developers have created more than 125,000 mobile applications for Apple devices—seven times as many as exist on Android—and the endless diversity of apps has helped the iPhone quickly pick up 14% of smartphone share. However, it is yet to figure out strategy to help app developers make money and attract large number of mobile advertisers to complete the ecosystem and create a bandwagon effect…
View the article
Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?
It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else…
View the article
Why Be an Ethical Company? They're Stronger and Last Longer
A focus on short-term profits to the exclusion of all else led to the current financial crisis. And guess what? Companies with the steadiest moral compasses have sailed through it…
View the Article
INNOVATION IN BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
Space-based solar power, advanced car batteries, utility storage, carbon capture and storage and next generation biofuels are the disruptive technologies which will likely change everything in the next few decades…
View the article
10 Ways to Identify an Impending Product Launch Disaster
Pragmatic Marketing presents 10 ways to identify an impending product launch disaster: 1) there are no goals for the product launch; 2) the launch strategy is based on a set of deliverables from a launch "checklist;" 3) the launch plan contains unrealistic timeframes and expectations; 4) sales enablement training is based on product features; 5) significant effort is spent creating collateral for people who never read it; 6) no single person is responsible for driving product launch results; 7)the launch plan is based on hunches, not market evidence; 8) the launch plan mimics your competitor; 9) existing customers are not adequately considered in the launch plan; 10) the launch team isn't a team. This article points out solutions to each of the problems...
View the article
Is Your Company Brave Enough for Business Model Innovation?
IBM is in a process of introducing its "Spoken Web" to help market its ERP program in areas where literacy rate is low. Historically, the company has come up with new complementary business models when it brought new products into the market…
View the article
LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION
Make Us to Choose the Harder Right Instead of the Easier Wrong
Bob McDonald, the new Chairman and CEO of P&G, is a well-recognized leader in corporate world. As a cadet at West Point, he encountered, in the Cadet Prayer, the phrase, "Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong." It's a phrase that he says guided him at West Point and beyond, and which he repeats often today. Although West Point's influence is evident, McDonald doesn't practice a military-style brand of leadership and doesn't behave as a staunch military man. In his mind, Patton-style charismatic leadership is not really leadership. "He's a West Point grad, but he doesn't behave as if he's a staunch military man…
View the article
Consistent Contributor and Organizational Change
Cooperation is risky business—group members who place their own interests above the greater good can scuttle the whole endeavor. But cooperation is everywhere, and research shows consistent contributors may be the key to successful groups…
View the article
How Ted Kennedy Got Things Done
It has been said that when Republicans wanted to drum up financial support all they had to do was invoke the name of Ted Kennedy in a piece of direct mail and the funds would roll in. That a man who was an anathema to some could over time become so revered by men and women on both sides of the political aisle is a tribute to Kennedy's ability to connect personally, as well as to his dogged perseverance in causes that mattered to him. How Kennedy was able to bring sides together is a virtue that leaders at every level need to master. While leadership in the corporate sector can come largely from the executive suite, to get things done well you need to act more as a legislator. That involves working with and persuading people who don't agree with you. Regardless of what the CEO desires, initiatives do not happen until people on the ground embrace them; and that's where peer-to-peer leadership, the kind that occurs in legislative bodies, works...
View the article
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Critical Insights Vol 1. Issue 1
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…
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