Management - Leadership

Information technology is revolutionizing products, from appliances to cars to mining equipment. Products once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts have become complex systems combining hardware, sensors, electronics, and software that connect through the internet in myriad ways.

When Google bought Nest, a maker of digital thermostats, for $3.2 billion just a few months ago, it was a clear indication that digital transformation and connection are spreading across even the most traditional industrial segments and creating a staggering array of business opportunities and threats.

Big data and the "internet of things" promise revolutionary change to management and society. But their success rests on the assumption that all the data being generated by internet companies and devices scattered across the planet belongs to the organizations collecting it.

Commercial success with a new technology usually depends on the exclusive ownership of a critical asset or capability. But to create the technology, an innovator draws on knowledge from many different sources. Inventors who mismanage that tension often fail to successfully commercialize their innovations.

Health care providers in much of the world are trying to respond to the tremendous pressure to reduce costs--but evidence suggests that many of their attempts are counterproductive, raising costs and sometimes decreasing the quality of care.

In today's organizations, innovators are in demand everywhere--from the factory floor to the salesroom, the IT help desk to the HR department, the employee cafeteria to the C-suite. Innovation isn't a department, the authors say; it's a mindset that should permeate your entire enterprise.

…As soon as Harold Leeson, the CEO of Natural Foods, pulled into the parking lot of his company's headquarters, his phone rang. It was Kenneth King, one of his board members. Harold braced himself before answering.

A colleague of mine recently made this prediction: People who work together will soon start asking one another, "What courses are you taking?" It'll be the new "What are you reading?"

When most of the world’s financial services giants were stumbling and retrenching in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the asset management firm BlackRock was busy charting a course for growth. Its revenues, profits, and stock price all performed consistently through this tumultuous period.

Four stages of the corporate function life-cycle are identified and steps for management are presented. Stage 1 emphasizes focus; Stage 2 emphasizes planning and review; Stage 3 emphasizes relationships and monitoring; Stage 4 emphasizes value-adding activities.