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Lured by the success of marketplaces such as eBay, many companies have tried operating as multisided platforms, which let buyers and sellers transact directly with one another. But resellers--which acquire and then resell products and services--often fare better. To determine the right position on the continuum between pure reseller and pure multisided platform, companies must consider four factors: 1) Scale effects. Amazon draws on its formidable scale economies as a reseller for high-demand items but serves as a multisided platform for low-demand products. 2) Aggregation effects. Resellers can extract value from buyers by bundling products and exploiting complementary relationships between them, as Apple has with its iTunes-iPod combination. 3) The buyer and seller experiences. As Zappos realized in its early days as a multisided platform, some buyers do not want to deal with multiple sellers. And individual sellers might have a better experience selling to a reseller than to a buyer in a marketplace. 4) Market failures. Many multisided platforms have avoided collapse by using mechanisms that keep buyers and sellers honest. It can take more than one move for a company to reach its optimal position: Companies that should ultimately be multisided platforms sometimes need to start out as resellers and vice versa. And as the competitive landscape changes, managers must be diligent about reevaluating their position.

Emerging economies are often thought of as environmental laggards; they're perceived to be focused more on addressing poverty than on protecting the planet. But when the Boston Consulting Group and the World Economic Forum went looking for the best sustainable business practices in the developing world, their researchers uncovered many visionary enterprises that defied that stereotype. These organizations show that in markets where resource depletion is most keenly felt, conservation efforts can be a wellspring of innovation--and a source of competitive advantage. Some of these enterprises pursue sustainability out of pragmatism; some out of idealism. But all have consistently generated above-average (and in some cases, astounding) growth rates and profit margins. They've achieved them by following one or more of three general approaches: (1) taking a long view and investing in initially more-expensive sustainable operating methods that eventually lead to dramatically lower costs and higher yields; (2) bootstrapping--making small adjustments that generate big savings, which then fund purchases of advanced technologies; and (3) extending their sustainability efforts to the operations of their customers and suppliers (and in the process, devising new business models). Collectively, these companies demonstrate that there need be no trade-off between sustainability and financial performance. Rather, the pursuit of sustainability can be a powerful path to reinvention for all.

Some personality assessment tools ably identify what you like to do, but they tell you very little about whether you're good at it or how to improve if you're not. Fortunately, one way of grouping people into types is based on an attribute that does predict performance: "promotion" focus or "prevention" focus. Promotion-focused people see their goals as creating a path to advancement; they are comfortable taking chances, like to work quickly, dream big, and think creatively. Prevention-focused people see their goals as responsibilities; they are vigilant, risk-averse, thorough and accurate, and like to maintain the status quo. Motivational focus affects how we approach life's challenges. It affects what we pay attention to, what we value, and how we feel when we succeed or fail. Once you know your focus, you can choose role models, frame goals, seek or give feedback, and provide incentives that will strengthen your motivation or your team's. This article details how you can create motivational fit, which enhances and sustains both the eagerness of the promotion-minded and the vigilance of the prevention-minded.

In this fictionalized case study, an in-house lawyer at a cosmetics company is trying to decide the best approach to negotiating with a government entity. The company is the largest extractor of volcanic ash in the Northern Mariana Islands and the governor of the territory has proposed a large tax increase. The lawyer believes the company should approach the negotiation carefully, but the company's CEO wants to take a harder line and threaten to shut down. The CEO wants to issue a press release to that effect. The lawyer must decide whether making a statement to the press is the right tactic. Written by Francesca Gino and featuring expert commentary by Andrzej Klesyk and Michael Hartman.

Ireland's first female president, Robinson went on to serve as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights and to launch her own foundation. In this interview with Alison Beard, she discusses wielding influence in the absence of formal authority, challenging powerful people and institutions, how women's leadership differs from men's, and more.

In this fictionalized case study, an in-house lawyer at a cosmetics company is trying to decide the best approach to negotiating with a government entity. The company is the largest extractor of volcanic ash in the Northern Mariana Islands and the governor of the territory has proposed a large tax increase. The lawyer believes the company should approach the negotiation carefully, but the company's CEO wants to take a harder line and threaten to shut down. The CEO wants to issue a press release to that effect. The lawyer must decide whether making a statement to the press is the right tactic. Written by Francesca Gino and featuring expert commentary by Andrzej Klesyk and Michael Hartman.

In this fictionalized case study, an in-house lawyer at a cosmetics company is trying to decide the best approach to negotiating with a government entity. The company is the largest extractor of volcanic ash in the Northern Mariana Islands and the governor of the territory has proposed a large tax increase. The lawyer believes the company should approach the negotiation carefully, but the company's CEO wants to take a harder line and threaten to shut down. The CEO wants to issue a press release to that effect. The lawyer must decide whether making a statement to the press is the right tactic. Written by Francesca Gino and featuring expert commentary by Andrzej Klesyk and Michael Hartman.

As the world population exceeded 7 billion by the end of 2011, various agencies working to alleviate poverty had come to a general consensus that pure charity was not a sustainable solution. In the absence of venture capital and angel investors in developing markets, Microfinance (MF) was one of the most promising tools in the fight against poverty. MF institutions tended to focus on micro-lending, providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs from which interest could be earned. This case details the issues and challenges that Microfinance institutions faced a decade into the new millennium. The rise of mobile technology is a key theme as it promised innovative solutions. The case discusses various mobile financial services, including Safaricom's M-Pesa and M-Kesho offerings, and focuses on Experian's MicroAnalytics (EMA) unit, created to serve the financial services sector in developing countries. EMA developed an innovative system to enable financial service providers (clients) to serve their customers via a distributed, branchless, "mobile only" model. After a successful pilot study in the Philippines, EMA created a mobile banking platform that offered the potential of extending mobile money to other financial services as well as new customer and geographic segments.

Companies that create new products and new business models--think of Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Xbox Live--experience much greater growth.

New companies have a better chance of surviving in the long term if they face rigorous competition during their early years.

New research finds that the longer a CEO is in office, the stronger the company-employee relationship becomes--but after a time, the company-customer relationship weakens because of changes in how CEOs learn over the course of their tenure.

When you're in a foreign culture, you actually do adopt the ideas and behaviors of that culture. In fact, even brief exposure to a symbol of a foreign culture can shift your thinking.

3-D printing, also known as additive printing, is ushering in a new era--of flexible, just-in-time, customized manufacturing. And as it revolutionizes manufacturing, it will tip the East-West balance, so that China is no longer the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.

"In a time when so many institutions of the industrial economy . . . are challenged by a connected world," the author writes, "the industry is the proper unit of analysis." By way of example, he describes how an unusual group of thinkers met in Madrid to reconceive how innovative medicines might be made available despite the "patent cliff" in pharmaceuticals.

A visual depiction of the minute-by-minute computer use of two workers--one who is relatively focused and stays on task, one who switches between activities constantly. The lesson: Sticking to one thing at a time means you'll get much more done.

Bent Mikkelsen is executive director of economic development for Denmark's second largest region, MidJutland (Central Denmark Region).. As the case opens, he is contemplating comments he has read suggesting that one of the main programs within his entrepreneurship responsibilities, the Growth House program, may not be working as well as he and others had hoped. This is the core program in his entrepreneurship development responsibilities, and a flagship program developed for the regions by the federal Danish Business Authority. The case describes Denmark's entrepreneurship and innovation policies, as well as its accomplishments, at least in terms of achieving top rankings in entrepreneurship policies by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union. Whereas more high-growth venture activity has evolved in Copenhagen, no one in Denmark claims that this is sufficient, and serious doubt that this success can be replicated in the other four regions, including MidJutland. Should every region be a locus of high-growth entrepreneurship, when talented entrepreneurs are moving to Copenhagen for its concentration of resources? Despite the fact that historically, numerous global ventures have emerged from the Central Denmark region, it appears that these older-generation entrepreneurs are not very involved in stimulating entrepreneurship among the current generation. Mikkelsen must decide if and how to tap into the expertise of the successful global Danish firms in entrepreneurial development in the region, increase the rate and effectiveness of angel investing in new ventures, and position the Growth House program better so as to accelerate private sector investment. He also wonders if the existing social and economic development programs are actually deterring risk-taking, and whether it might be time for regional authorities to stop playing such an active role.

Nate Katz at Yokun Ridge Capital Management is evaluating an investment in Assured Guaranty, a municipal bond insurance company that is trading at a discount to book value.

Case A describes the creation and growth of Nuru Energy. Starting from nothing, the founder 'bootstraps' a social venture with the goal of providing affordable and effective lighting solutions for 800 million people without access to the electricity grid in sub-Saharan Africa and India. The case narrates the challenges involved in developing a social enterprise with a dual aim of turning a profit and making a social impact. It focuses in particular on the finanical challenge and provides a context to discuss difference financing options and their implications. It looks at the different business model alternatives - market-based and donor-based. The central theme is to assess the merits and drawbacks of the different funding alternatives. Case B is an update that explains what financing option the founder chose and its implications. It sets the stage for a discussion about trade-offs in the geographical expansion of social ventures.