Space is becoming a potential source of value for businesses across a range of sectors, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and tourism. To understand what the opportunities are for your company, the authors advise you to consider the four ways in which using space could create value: data, capabilities, resources, and markets. For most companies thinking about their space strategy over the next five to 10 years, data will be the dominant focus. For instance, many companies are turning to remote-sensing satellites for data that will inform business decisions. Whether it's tracking the number of cars parked in retail locations, detecting costly and environmentally damaging methane leaks from natural-gas wells, or assessing soil type and moisture content to maximize crop yields, creative uses for data gathered from space abound. Companies looking further ahead will want to explore the value to be gained from conducting activities in space, utilizing space assets, and meeting demand from the new space age. Businesses engaging with commercial space should be willing to experiment and should look for partners.
Many organizations take big actions in the realm of DEI because of something they see another company do--such as publicly declaring themselves champions of people of color or setting an ambitious top-down DEI strategy across the firm. However, these grand stances usually fizzle out, leaving leaders frustrated and saying, "DEI work is too hard. It takes too long to see results." The fact is, DEI isn't a short-term project, and a company making big moves before it has the right culture and structures in place is likely to fail, leaving marginalized employees and customers no better off and giving companies a reputation for hollow promises. Academic research and the author's experience working with firms on DEI strategy suggest that companies tend to follow predictable stages on their DEI journey. In this article, Georgetown professor and organizational psychologist Ella F. Washington describes the five stages: aware, compliant, tactical, integrated, and sustainable. She also includes questions for leadership teams to ask themselves. Understanding what stage your company is in can help you decide where to focus your energies most effectively and keep you from getting stuck.
While the popular view is that insights are the key benefit of artificial intelligence, in truth AI creates value by improving the quality of decisions. The good news is, the opportunities for it to do that in business are countless. But because decisions in one area of an organization usually have an impact on decisions in other areas, introducing AI often entails redesigning whole systems. In that way, AI is similar to groundbreaking technologies of the past, like electricity, which initially was used only narrowly but ultimately transformed manufacturing. Decisions involve a combination of prediction and judgment, and because AI makes highly accurate predictions, it will shift decision rights to where judgment is still needed, potentially changing who makes decisions and where, when, and how. More-accurate predictions in one part of a value chain will also have ripple effects on other parts. For instance, if a restaurant can reliably forecast the amount of ingredients it needs each week, its orders will fluctuate, making its suppliers' sales more uncertain. Strong communication is needed to synchronize effort and resources in a system, and modularity will help prevent changes in one area from disrupting others.
Mentoring programs operate under the promise that matching seasoned executives with up-and-coming professionals will produce all sorts of benefits. Unfortunately, relationships often remain superficial and transactional. These problems have only gotten worse with remote and hybrid work, which makes meaningful personal interaction difficult. To reap the full benefits of developmental relationships and create "authentic sponsorship," companies must focus on two vital qualities: public advocacy and relational authenticity. Public advocacy is a one-way process by which "seniors" use their power to help "juniors" get career opportunities. It produces visible and measurable outcomes, such as promotions and stretch assignments. Relational authenticity is a two-way process in which both parties share their perspectives and make themselves open to hearing and learning from each other. Juniors get the support and validation they need to take on new challenges, and seniors understand where their juniors' capabilities and talents lie and care enough about them to put their own reputations on the line. This article lays out the various stages of the journey to authentic sponsorship: mentor, strategizer, connector, opportunity giver, and sponsor.
Many salespeople today are struggling; only 57% of them make their annual quotas, surveys show. One problem is that buying processes have evolved faster than selling processes, and buyers today can access a wide range of online resources that let them evaluate products before even meeting a salesperson. AI tools can help organizations close the gap, but most don't know how to use them effectively. In this article the authors describe how sales AI has been a real game changer at a few companies. They also provide a self-assessment tool, the Sales Success Matrix, that will show sales leaders where to start or improve their AI journeys. The matrix has two dimensions: relationship level (which runs from transactional vendor on the low end to trusted co-creator at the top) and process level (which runs from ad hoc to customized). At the lower levels of both relationships and processes, simple AI that decreases costs and improves efficiency works best. In the mid levels, advanced AI increases sales effectiveness by analyzing opportunities and customer needs. At the highest level, cutting-edge technologies help firms generate deep insights about customers. No matter where a firm falls on the matrix, AI can help it boost sales. And the sooner and more broadly it applies AI tools, the better they work.
Many sustainability initiatives focus on improving the sustainability of products and operations in legacy or adjacent markets or on achieving sustainability gains by exploring new markets with a more diverse set of products. This is a variation on the classic "where to play/how to win" strategy familiar to most executives. Fewer leaders, however, are exploring an important new frontier in sustainability, in which brands actively partner with customers to achieve ongoing impact. This article describes a practical framework for creating sustainability strategies that take into account both dimensions--markets and customer engagement. The model lays out the four key ways that legacy companies can nurture growth in their sustainability efforts.
Few organizations provide strong guidance or training for managers on meeting individually with their employees, but the author's research shows that managers who don't hold these meetings frequently enough or who manage them poorly risk leaving their team members disconnected, both functionally and emotionally. When the meetings are done well, they can make a team's day-to-day activities more efficient and better, build trust and psychological safety, and improve employees' experience, motivation, and engagement at work. The author has found that although there's no one-size-fits-all approach to one-on-ones, they are most successful when the meeting is dominated by topics of importance to the direct report rather than issues that are top of mind for the manager. Managers should focus on making sure the meetings take place, creating space for genuine conversation, asking good questions, offering support, and helping team members get what they need to thrive in both their short-term performance and their long-term growth.
The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander.
The cofounder of Rolling Stone discusses how a magazine launched on the fly revolutionized music journalism, changed the way politics and social issues were covered, and promoted great talent.
The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander.
The new system in a day-care center is producing biased results--setting off an alarm when some dark-skinned parents enter the lobby. The director of the center must decide whether improving security is worth the possible legal ramifications. This fictional case study by Mary C. Gentile, David Danks, and Maralee Harrell features expert commentary by Joseph Steinberg, Cedric L. Alexander.
On November 2, 2021, Enrique Lores, CEO of HP, Inc., ended the first online huddle of the week with his executive leadership team. The day was an historic one for the Palo Alto-based global company: six years earlier, HP Inc. came into being after the split of the iconic hardware company into two: HP, Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. As soon as Lores, who had become CEO the year prior, took over the reins at HP Inc., he immediately began to strategize the aggressive transformation of the hallowed company from a product-oriented to a customer experience-oriented company, identifying three areas, each requiring significant innovation: 1. Evolution of core business models to adapt to changing customer needs; 2. Pursuit of adjacencies in relation to the personal computer and print businesses; and 3. Leveraging platforms (capability and asset) and software assets to create new businesses. The broad and deep change initiative that he had charted for HP would require changes in skills, talent, infrastructure, and culture. To communicate what was required of his team, shift their thinking, and achieve a better multiple on their earnings per share, Lores asked his leaders to focus their attention on three key concepts: (1) Advance the business models of HP's core businesses; (2) Disrupt using HP's core assets; and (3) Transform the processes, cost structure, go-to-market capabilities, supply chain and brand of HP. Perhaps unsurprisingly, discussions at the morning meeting centered around the need to harness the past and drive the future. Markets were changing, HP's performance was accelerating and the company was seeing new customer behaviors. In addition, there was an inflection point in the PC stack and importantly, 3D printing, where HP had a great position, was attracting a lot of interest.
In 2022, Hyundai Motor Group had become the world's third-largest automaker by sales volume. Under Executive Chair Euisun Chung's leadership, HMG was shaping its vision as a "game changer" in the global automotive industry. The company no longer viewed itself as a traditional car manufacturer, but as a provider of smart mobility solutions. The case study explores Hyundai's strategies to pivot beyond the "fast follower" mission that had guided its rapid international expansion since the 1980s, under the leadership of founding Chairman Ju-yung Chung. Three decades later, South Korea's automaker declared its next goal: achieve global leadership in vehicle electrification. Hyundai's IONIQ 5 and the Kia EV6 were award-winning electric vehicles; the company planned to expand to 23 electric vehicle lines and sell more than 1 million EVs by 2025. Beyond electrification, Hyundai was making big bets on hydrogen energy, AI technology, robotics, and advanced air mobility-all of which could help make Hyundai the pioneering leader of the transportation sector of the future.
Promigas, founded in 1974, is one of the pioneering companies in the natural gas sector in Latin America. Its role has been fundamental in the process of widespread use of this energy source in Colombia. This case presents its history and that of one of its subsidiaries, Gases de Occidente (1992). The case describes the challenges of innovating to increase gas service coverage in contexts where institutional voids are prevalent. The case provides an opportunity to discuss a lack of intermediaries, or the participation of a few actors in these voids, and how companies can take actions to overcome shortcomings. Provision of public services such as gas distribution implies exposure to risks, including interference from political actors with claims unrelated to collective interests.
Familia Torres, a Spaniard winery, had been working actively since 2008 to mitigate and adapt to climate change through its Torres & Earth program. At the beginning of 2022, when the pandemic was finally nearing its end, the challenge for Familia Torres was how to define a sustainability strategy for the future. This had led Familia Torres to search for new terroirs at higher altitudes to find the right balance of heat during the day and cold at night, in order to achieve a quality wine. Another strategy had been to recover local ancestral varieties, resilient to these new climate scenarios. The threat of water scarcity also loomed over the vineyards, as well as other ecological risks which reduced its productivity. A "beyond sustainability" strategy was presented as a hopeful one, which focused on reversing climate change from the local sphere of action and was consistent with the family motto "the more we take care of the land, the better wine we produce". However, this promising strategy involved many uncertainties. From a commercial perspective, it was not clear how it would affect production, how it would be articulated with the commercial strategy, or whether consumers would know how to appreciate this product. From an ecological perspective, it was unclear how much carbon it would absorb, and for how long. In the light of this situation, the Familia Torres management team sometimes ask themselves whether they should maintain the strategy of going "beyond sustainability" or consider strategies more con-sistent with the mainstream approach to climate resistance viticulture, such as, for example, the genetic improvement of the grapes, or intensify the strategy of transfer to colder areas.
In July 2013, the chief information officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was preparing for an upcoming meeting with FINRA's board of directors. He was building an argument for why the organization should reverse the decision he had advocated just a few months earlier and shift from a model that used on-premises data centres to one that focused on public cloud resources. Some board members were already familiar with the cloud and were using it in their own organizations, whereas others were concerned about taking their most critical data and putting it into the hands of a cloud service provider. This decision would have a profound impact on the technical direction of the regulator moving forward. Choosing to abandon their on-premises resources and shift to the cloud was a fundamental architectural decision that would significantly affect job roles and be difficult to reverse. The chief information officer had to make the case that a cloud-focused approach would meet FINRA's current needs and serve the organization better in the long term.
Dalian Bio-Chem Co. Ltd. (Bio-Chem) had been deeply involved in the field of industrial fungicides for nearly twenty years and occupied a place in both domestic and overseas markets. Since its establishment in 2003, Bio-Chem had adhered to a strategy of centralization, with industrial fungicides as its main business products. Bio-Chem was successfully listed on the A-share market in China in 2012, and it grew rapidly in the ten years that followed. Although Bio-Chem had become a leader in the field of industrial fungicides, its chairman believed that companies should not be content with the status quo. Some within the company believed Bio-Chem should carry out a diversification strategy because it had sufficient funds to do so; others thought it should carry out an integrated strategy because the downstream industry was very profitable; and others thought it should stick to a centralized strategy because the market demand for industrial fungicides was still very large, and adhering to a centralization strategy meant there would be room for growth. The chairman had to consider the opportunities and challenges of each strategy and determine which direction to take the company.
Rebel Foods, the world's largest internet restaurant company, had operations globally and launched multiple cuisine brands to satisfy consumers' taste buds. Among them were Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, Mandarin Oak, Lunch Box, and many more under the Rebel umbrella.1 Over time, only three brands-Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, and Faasos-became the highest contributors to the bottom line. Rebel also started offering cloud kitchen space services to early-stage food entrepreneurs and distribution of well-known established brands such as Wendy's. However, Rebel's revenue slipped in FY2021 to INR 405.1 Crore (USD 52.11 million) compared to FY2020, which was approximately INR 558.7 Crore (USD 71.87 million). Rebel Foods' frequent launch of multiple brands, many new initiatives, and slipping financials left many unanswered questions. How should the company manage its brand portfolio? Should it launch new brands or collaborate with established brands? Was there a need for Rebel to change its brand portfolio?