Management - Leadership

Aspiring to be innovative and agile, today companies of all shapes and sizes want to recruit entrepreneurial managers. But most firms lack a scientific way to separate the true entrepreneurs from other candidates.

For years, Walmart's unrivaled customer research capabilities helped it dominate retailing. Then along came the internet, and Walmart suddenly found itself playing catchup to e-commerce pioneers like Amazon.

If your company is undergoing a merger or acquisition, you're apt to feel anxious. Roughly 30% of employees are deemed redundant when firms in the same industry merge. But you needn't dread the outcome, say the authors, who draw on their experience as academics and consultants.

China and the U.S. in the 21st century

Brands spend billions of dollars a year on lavish efforts to establish and maintain a social media presence. But do those campaigns actually increase revenue? New research provides an answer to this question, which has vexed marketers ever since social media burst upon the scene.

The CFO of a global construction company disagrees with his CEO (and good friend) about the advantages of self-managed teams--particularly because lack of proper oversight of the Russia office resulted in a financial scandal several years earlier.

Companies must reorganize periodically to keep pace with changes in market conditions. But executives grapple with conflicting advice about whether, when, and how to do so. The term "reorganization" encompasses two distinct change processes: restructuring and reconfiguration. Each delivers value if pursued in the right way.

Research suggests a new way for companies to use customer satisfaction surveys: Instead of asking customers what went wrong, begin by asking what went right.

In many industries today--including aerospace, electronics, chemicals, software, global construction, global investment and commercial banking, and international manufacturing--even simple product or service innovations can become complicated, because so many companies now operate in ecosystems made up of powerful and highly interconnected stake

Early-stage research is expensive, risky, and unpredictable--so corporations generally shy away from it, leaving many opportunities unexplored.