Most companies struggle with setting executive performance targets. From 2006 to 2014, almost all of the 1,000 largest U.S. firms completely changed their CEOs' performance metrics at least once, and almost 60% changed them multiple times. The problems with such targets are well known: They often encourage managers to sacrifice a firm's long-term health or to manipulate their numbers in order to make their bonuses. What companies need is an incentive structure that makes it easier to meet targets by creating real value than by gaming the system. New research analyzing data from more than 900 firms over 15 years suggests companies can create one by following these four principles: Use multiple metrics; increase payouts at a constant rate; reward relative performance; and include nonfinancial targets.
Private philanthropists have helped propel some of the most important social-impact success stories of the past century: Virtually eradicating polio globally. Ending apartheid in South Africa. Creating a universal 911 service in the United States. These efforts have transformed or saved hundreds of millions of lives. That we take them for granted now makes them no less astonishing: They were the inconceivable moon shots of their day before they were inevitable success stories in retrospect. Today's donors aspire to similarly audacious outcomes, but despite having written big checks for years, many aren't seeing transformative results. A study of 15 breakthrough initiatives, ranging from broad access to end-of-life hospice care to the widespread use of a lifesaving oral rehydration solution in Bangladesh, revealed five shared elements that may help philanthropists improve the odds of swing-for-the-fences success. Effective initiatives: Build a shared understanding of the problem and its ecosystem; set concrete and compelling "winnable milestones"; design approaches that work at massive scale; drive demand; and embrace course corrections.
Business schools teach MBA students that you can't compete on the basis of management processes because they're easily copied. Operational effectiveness is table stakes in the competitive universe, according to the strategists. But data from a decade-long research project involving 12,000 firms challenges that thinking. The study examined how well companies performed 18 core management practices. It found vast differences in how they execute basic tasks like setting targets, running operations, and grooming talent, and that those differences matter: Firms with strong managerial processes do significantly better on high-level metrics such as profitability, growth, and productivity. What's more, the differences in process quality persist over time, suggesting that competent management is not easy to imitate. In this article the authors review the findings of the research and explore what prevents executives from investing in management capabilities, arguing that such investments are a powerful way to become more competitive.
The idea that management is a hard science, which MBA programs have promoted for the past six decades, has become even more entrenched in the era of big data. But a scientific approach has its limits, say Martin, the coauthor of the best-seller "Playing to Win," and consultant Golsby-Smith. In fact, overreliance on scientific analysis tends to narrow strategic options and shut down innovation. That's because it's designed to understand natural phenomena that cannot be changed. It's not an effective way to evaluate possibilities--things that do not yet exist. The two authors offer an alternative approach to strategy making and innovation that relies on imagination, experimentation, and communication. To make decisions about what could be, managers should devise narratives about possible futures, using the storytelling tools first proposed by Aristotle (who ironically also originated the scientific method). If executives then hypothesize what would have to be true for those narratives to happen and validate their hypotheses through prototyping, they can determine which narrative has the most compelling chance of success.
Two decades ago the psychologists Robert and Joyce Hogan created an inventory of 11 qualities, ranging from excitable to dutiful, that when taken to the extreme, resemble the most common personality disorders. Subsequent profiling of millions of employees, managers, and leaders reveals that most people display at least three of these "dark side" traits, and about 40% score high enough on one or two to put them at risk for career disruption. For example, being excitable may help you display passion and enthusiasm to coworkers and subordinates, but it can also make you volatile and unpredictable. Having a deeply skeptical, cynical outlook makes it hard to build trust. And diligence, in excess, can morph into procrastination and obsessive perfectionism. The author discusses the individual traits and suggests how to manage them, which involves identifying the ones that trip you up, modifying some of your behaviors, and continuing to adjust in response to critical feedback. In the process, you can greatly enhance your reputation, your career, and your leadership potential.
The new CMO of an extreme-race company is on the hook to come up with a way to further monetize the underexploited brand while also fixing customer pain points related to the registration process. She and the COO propose a premium membership that allows die-hard fans to buy early access to race registration, but tests on social media reveal strong animosity toward the program among some racers. Should the company pull the plug or move forward, potentially upsetting the company's most loyal customers? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Michael Bolingbroke and Huib van Bockel.
The new CMO of an extreme-race company is on the hook to come up with a way to further monetize the underexploited brand while also fixing customer pain points related to the registration process. She and the COO propose a premium membership that allows die-hard fans to buy early access to race registration, but tests on social media reveal strong animosity toward the program among some racers. Should the company pull the plug or move forward, potentially upsetting the company's most loyal customers? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Michael Bolingbroke and Huib van Bockel.
The new CMO of an extreme-race company is on the hook to come up with a way to further monetize the underexploited brand while also fixing customer pain points related to the registration process. She and the COO propose a premium membership that allows die-hard fans to buy early access to race registration, but tests on social media reveal strong animosity toward the program among some racers. Should the company pull the plug or move forward, potentially upsetting the company's most loyal customers? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Michael Bolingbroke and Huib van Bockel.
In May 2012, the director of human resources at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited was involved in negotiating a long-term collective agreement between management and the unions at the large public-sector oil corporation in India. The negotiations had begun in 2009 and were stalled largely because of wage issues. Due to time-bound promotions and open-ended pay ranges, workers' salaries had spiralled out of control. When economic conditions changed from an administered price mechanism with government subsidies to one in which the corporation was expected to compete with national and multinational private-sector companies, the issue of high operating costs had to be addressed. After 13 rounds of discussions, there was still no agreement. The management team needed to decide which of the issues originally identified were essential for resolution and which were only desirable. The team also had to decide how to approach the negotiation in order to secure agreement from the unions.
Precia Pharma Private Limited was considered one of the fastest growing companies in the highly competitive Indian pharmaceutical industry. An email from the company's star performing executive in March 2017, highlighting sales pressures and unethical practices in the industry, forced the managing director to face the reality of how the ills plaguing the pharmaceutical sector might affect his company. He wondered what he must do to maintain the company's ethical code of conduct while striving for a healthy balance between ambitious targets and good selling practices. The case explores the strategies of the company for managing the different ethical issues in a pharmaceutical setting.
On April 1, 2016, fashion house Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) announced the departure of its creative director who had been responsible for successfully reviving the struggling YSL brand since 2012. Three days after this surprising departure, the company announced that its next creative director would be a relatively inexperienced, 36-year-old designer. After decades of leadership turmoil and financial instability at YSL, the incoming creative director was facing increasing pressure from stakeholders to build off the success that his predecessor had achieved. The global luxury fashion industry had become increasingly competitive, with multiple brands competing for the industry's estimated value of €265 billion in 2017. Had YSL made the right decision in selecting this young director? To help YSL remain one of the top brands in the fashion industry, should the new director implement a strategy that builds upon the successful foundation created by his predecessor, or should he develop new strategies?
Maha Research Labs Private Limited was a growing pharmaceutical company. It ended 2016 with sales worth ₹508.4 million at 31.2 per cent growth over the previous year. The company's ambitious goal was to achieve 38 per cent growth and a net revenue of ₹700 million in 2017. In May 2017, on receiving a call from a friend in Turkey suggesting he explore the Turkish pharmaceutical market, the managing director of the company was considering doing so. However, he had some doubts, and wondered what the best way to enter the market in Turkey would be. Was his product range suitable for the Turkish market? What were the possible risks?
Curana BVBA was a small family-owned company in Belgium. In the 1990s, it was producing mudguards and fenders as an original equipment manufacturer for the European bicycle industry. As Curana BVBA faced increasing competition in 2009, it needed to make a strategic turnaround. The company focused on the top segments of the market and introduced innovative and design-based bicycle accessories. The company didn't have the competency to develop these new products itself, so it built and relied on an open innovation strategy that included several partners who could develop and manufacture the original products. As the network matured, Curana derived new competencies from the partners, which ultimately allowed Curana to embark on a proactive innovation process, spawning entirely new product designs more rapidly than anyone else in the industry.
In 2015, the owner and the founder of a restaurant business in Dubai was concerned about the company's future expansion and growth. Although it was doing well in terms of profitability, a financial forecast was required for the following year, particularly in light of tough competition in the restaurant business in Dubai.
Bali Hai Cruises had grown from a start-up company in 1990 to become a thriving multimillion-dollar business in 2017 that employed 460 people on the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lembongan. This solid and consistent business development took place despite a business environment and government that had not always been friendly and positive toward foreign investors. What critical factors brought success to this tourism-based company in such a challenging market? What behaviours and strategies had Bali Hai Cruises followed to build trust, deliver on performance, and resolve challenges in developing this vertically integrated company? The company now faced new challenges in terms of an aging leadership and workforce, the continuing need to manage and maintain its working relationships with the Indonesian government and the harbour authorities, the rapidly developing information technology capacity of the marine tourism industry, and the potential of growing competition. What strategies could Bali Hai Cruises implement to continue its success and growth in 2018 and beyond?