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The sole owner of the Gusto 54 Restaurant Group (Gusto 54), which owned and operated nine restaurant concepts in Toronto and Los Angeles, had grown the restaurant group into a huge success story. In a competitive, low-margin industry, Gusto 54 outperformed its peers and consistently achieved its desired profit margins. Gusto 54's strategy was grounded in innovative growth, the use of technology, and empowerment of all employees to take an entrepreneurial approach to their roles. The owner had grown the company strategically, making business decisions based on her belief that her most valuable resource was having the right employees. She focused on building culture, hiring employees who fit the culture, and investing in the employee experience to retain them. She also made efforts to keep the leadership team lean and to include all members in decision-making. While Gusto 54's strategy had fuelled its present growth, in 2020, the owner was concerned about the impacts of rapid expansion. She wondered how to balance growth plans with the need to hire and retain top talent and maintain an engaged, motivated workforce. How could she scale up without losing the family-style culture her employees valued?

When it comes to separating the roles of company CEO and board chair, many arguments—both for and against activist calls to do so—have been made. Arguments against the idea generally insist that separating the roles adds complexity to running a business by creating two armed camps with blurred responsibilities. Meanwhile, arguments in favour of separation tend to highlight numerous benefits, including improved executive oversight, diversity of thinking, and financial savings. The authors of this article argue that governance improvements alone justify separating the CEO and board chair functions. As investment industry professionals at one of Europe’s largest asset managers, they have long been concerned by a worrying pattern of companies only splitting these functions after a scandal. Separating the roles of CEO and board chair doesn’t just reduce costs along with the risks of bad behaviour—it can help companies achieve and maintain profitability, mitigate challenges, and focus on growth to create long-term value—even in times of crisis. The authors’ approach in advocating for better governance measures is twofold. On the one hand, they want to guide companies toward more responsible and sustainable behaviours; and on the other, they are acting out of self-interest to protect their shareholders as asset managers because they believe creating a more sustainable capitalist system is in the best interest of all investors.

When it comes to how decision makers understand problems, Nietzsche’s insights are as valuable to executives today as any lesson offered by modern business schools.

For people who aspire to drive change, studying the impact that character had on RBG’s judgment is as important as replicating her commitment and competence

This article examines the value of peer networks, then offers advice on how to maintain and grow professional relationships when physical gatherings are not an option. Developing a robust peer network has long been considered mission critical for business professionals. However, if you want them to last decades, networks require regular maintenance, which is more difficult when physical distancing requirements exist. Anyone who puts time and thought into virtual networking can build a more robust professional network that can help improve decision-making, identify career opportunities, and overcome personal challenges for years to come. The main obstacle to networking virtually is not taking the time to do it. Virtual networking, of course, will never replace connecting in person, so as you network online, think about ways to maintain and deepen your connections when larger physical gatherings become possible. No matter where your professional connections were formed, keep in mind that everyone on the planet has shared the soul-searching experience of being isolated from others during the pandemic. This represents an opportunity to connect with others like never before, which can help advance your career—not to mention improve how we collectively face the challenges and inequities that exist in the workplace and our communities in this disruptive age.

This article explores how companies can make themselves more competitive by understanding how crises open the door to innovation, then offers advice on how to foster innovation in good times and bad. Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, organizations around the world are experimenting like never before, and this forced increase in experimentation represents a unique opportunity to take innovation to a higher level because it is taking place while everyone’s standard operating environment has been disrupted. One lesson for organizations experimenting during the pandemic is that there can be value in mistakes. Making sure that you don’t miss the serendipitous opportunity of a lifetime requires the willingness to venture down a rabbit hole without being held back by your original objective. Working without a clear objective can be wasteful, but it also opens the door to finding something unique and valuable. At the same time, the tension that typically exists between an organization’s fiscal stewards and its creative folks exists for a reason—failure is costly. As a result, building an innovative culture that is also a sustainable and profitable culture is a balancing act.

Most global companies have made substantial investments in digital solutions and building deep functional excellence across the supply chain. But few have balanced those efforts with a corresponding push to develop the new competencies required to unlock the full value of digital. To build a supply chain that can sense unforeseen events and nimbly pivot in response, you must do more than retool with a range of the best available new technologies. You must also rethink and reskill your supply chain. In order to rethink a supply chain, you must move from viewing it as an inanimate mechanism built to execute against a plan to perceiving it as a living organism. A pivoting supply chain moves beyond traditional concepts of optimization to make your supply chain attuned to its ever-changing environment and free of a silo mentality. In practical terms, you bring your supply chain to life via uncompromising vision, real-life learning, and sprints (a minimum viable product approach with small and achievable portions of capability building). COVID-19 has delivered costly lessons on the strategic importance of supply chain agility, spurring companies to move beyond retooling their operations for traditional optimization, toward rethinking their basic assumptions about how their supply chains should operate, and toward reskilling their people with a focus on competencies that help supply chains sense and pivot.

Buying a high-tech solution that appears to quickly address an identified need or problem is tempting, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. So why resist? In short, the attractive easy out rarely pays off in the long run. According to the authors’ research, the ability to resist tempting but low-value IT investments is a hallmark of higher-performing companies. This article examines five temptations resisted by high performers, and outlines what they chose to do instead. The first temptation many companies face is to limit the application of new technologies to quick-payoff, high-visibility processes. The higher-value choice is to reimagine business processes across the company, not just in customer-facing areas. The second temptation is to patch or “lift-and-shift” legacy systems. The higher-value choice is to see the cloud not simply as a data centre but as a catalyst for innovation. The third temptation is to experiment with “hot” technologies in isolation. The higher-value choice is to identify foundational technologies and adopt them based on their potential effect on the entire organization. The fourth temptation is to rely on standard classroom training programs. The higher-value choice is to take a more flexible, future-focused approach. The fifth temptation is to move responsibility for IT to business leaders. The higher-value choice is to embrace systems that break down boundaries constraining data, infrastructure, and applications.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, countries and corporations are now examining supply chain strategies and aiming to reduce exposure to difficult future global events. While these responsive actions can help companies survive until market conditions improve, further mitigating disruption requires adding flexibility to business processes and product offerings. In the short to mid-term, companies can employ responsiveness and flexibility to enhance their chance of survival. To plan for the impact of disruption, assess how economic and political events, market trends, emerging technologies, or social movements might impact your supply chain. Any potential for a drastic shift in the balance of your bottlenecked vs. redundant resources, along with the potential emergence of new critical suppliers or the disappearance of core customers, warrants planning to take transformative action. When your own resources/assets/expertise become a bottleneck, you need to expand the corresponding resources/assets or acquire additional talent. When your resources/assets/expertise incur more redundancy, and this shift isn’t temporary, resources need to be trimmed. When your supply is the bottleneck and demand is the redundancy, critical supplies need to be rationed according to customer value and urgency. When your demand is the bottleneck and supply is the redundancy, the company might need to adapt like restaurants that started using their supply chains to operate as online grocery stores.

In order to overcome the challenges introduced by COVID-19 and leverage opportunities, firms need to embark on a born-again journey of self-discovery and healing. This involves accepting the need to engage in a grieving process that shapes a new raison d’être for the firm after rejecting traditional thinking and redefining business practices. Based on the author’s research and work with clients across numerous industries, this article outlines the Business Recovery Strategy framework and explains how it can help managers organize their thinking and plan innovation. To help stakeholders appreciate the reinvented firm, managers should take the following actions to align business practices with the new normal: 1) firms’ strategic review processes should be demystified; 2) firms should set up a committee charged with anticipating possible future disruptions; 3) firms should engage in cost reduction strategies while creatively sourcing the funding necessary to avoid cutting key employees and budgets; 4) when social distancing needs subside and reduce the need for remote working, employers should consider a hybrid approach instead of a return to previous workplace practices; 5) companies should ensure they understand new customer needs and behaviours that the crisis created; 6) companies should implement a more bottom-up marketing strategy; 7) firms should focus more on value and consider empathic communication and branding strategies; and 8) firms should consider strategies that are a combination of the physical and digital, or “phygital.”

Why today’s business leaders need to show that great stories about fighting for what really matters can exist beyond fiction.

IDL Innovation Hong Kong Co. Ltd. (IDL) was a well-known interior design company specializing in commercial retail centres. The design company’s goal was to help its partners create more value by presenting effective interior design. However, with the rise of e-commerce, the financial performance of the conventional retail industry had dropped significantly. To help the industry regain customers, the design company developed a new business framework that combined online components with traditional consumer social spaces, based on the common interests, wants, and needs of consumers. In September 2018, the design company transformed a shopping centre in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, that had been losing sales for some time. The shopping mall soon saw a substantial and consistent increase in foot traffic, sales, and revenue. The project was a great success for both the mall and IDL, but could this concept be also effective when applied to other projects?

This case focuses on the supply chain strategy of Apple Inc. (Apple). Set in early 2020, it provides a detailed description of the company’s supply chain network and capabilities. Data in the case allows students to develop an understanding of Apple’s source of competitiveness and to gain insights into the management of a large, complex global supply chain network that focused on the intersection of services, hardware and software. Students will obtain an understanding of the supply chain challenges faced by Apple, in the context of supporting its corporate strategy and growth objectives.

In August 2019, WeWork filed for an initial public offering; investors in its 14 venture capital rounds were anxious for an exit. Softbank had invested US$6 billion in WeWork, including US$2 billion in the Series H round that valued the firm at US$47 billion; consequently, it hoped for a positive reception from Wall Street. While WeWork had 100 per cent recent sales growth, its net income was US$1.9 billion, and it was on pace to spend over US$5 billion in 2019; it needed capital. WeWork’s chief executive officer met with SoftBank in Tokyo to discuss a “dramatic reduction in its valuation.” Should they proceed with the IPO, even if it required a reduction in its valuation, or should they cancel the IPO and pursue an additional round of private capital?

Today, the information required to make highly technical and complex purchasing decisions is readily available to buyers through online, intelligently enabled self-service tools. So what happens to the traditional B2B sales structure? It evolves. Four disruptive shifts are creating the urgency and change, the root causes of which are deep and permanent: 1) B2B customer expectations are (surprisingly) not following B2C trends, such as Amazon-like shopping experiences, smart product replenishment, and consultative selling. 2) Widely available and extremely sophisticated technological capabilities are automating the selling process and making relevant sales recommendations, and they are always available with a responsive interface. 3) The retail market is consolidating, with traditional concepts of shelf space and brick-and-mortar becoming less relevant. 4) The previous three shifts together are leading to a radically redefined outside salesforce whose relevance, efficacy, and efficiency are diminishing. These shifts will see large B2B selling organizations supplanted by smaller commercial organizations that integrate marketing, sales, and service activities. The authors discern three pillars at the centre of a 21st-century commercial capability: 1) a reimagined customer experience, 2) technology-enabled sales execution, and 3) a digital-ready commercial organization.

The authors’ research examines new models for leadership flexibility recommended by CEOs and board members, including an underutilized resource that CEOs can turn to for help—the corporate board. The board chairs and directors they interviewed expressed a desire to contribute more value and be more involved in high-level strategy and discussions. When boards evolve to become a more strategic asset, CEOs enhance communication with board members and are more focused and effective in their interactions with them. Increasingly, CEOs are realizing that to make the board a strategic asset—a “smart board” and not just a sounding board—they must take the initiative and cultivate these relationships. One consistent theme runs through the authors’ research: board members do not like to be surprised. To lower the risk of surprises, it is usually better to err on the side of more communication with the board, rather than less. Reaching outside the organization to bring boards together can also be a powerful tool in creating tactical synergy and fresh new perspectives. The more deeply the CEO understands each board member’s personality and experience, the better the interactions with the board will be. By influencing what happens between board meetings, CEOs have the opportunity to curate and even co-create a better board experience.

This article examines the increasing need for resilience in organizations, then explains the three underpinnings of individual resilience and how they can be replicated in firms. In the pre-COVID period, VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) was the trendy acronym that summed up the four major challenges faced by managers in the Age of Disruption. Unfortunately, the VUCA world has now been disrupted by a pandemic—which has triggered all four dimensions simultaneously for most organizations. As Diane Coutu notes, resilient people tend to possess three core attributes: 1) an unwavering acceptance of reality; 2) a deep belief underpinned with strong values that life is meaningful; and 3) an uncanny ability to improvise. Organizations can build up three pillars of organizational resilience: facing down reality, the search for meaning, and the ability to improvise or bricolage. Within your organization, ask yourself: “Do people really understand and accept the realities we’re facing now?” These questions are important because people and organizations often slip into denial as a coping mechanism when facing adverse situations. It is time for organizations to rethink their people responsibilities if they want to help develop the resiliency that today’s organizations require. Since finding meaning in one’s situation is such an important aspect of resilience, it is no surprise that the most resilient people and organizations possess strong value systems.

Facing constant pressure to reach ever-increasing objectives, people across all walks of life have become dislocated from what is essential and meaningful to a happy life. As a result, many turn to various forms of escapism, ranging from drugs and alcohol abuse to conspicuous consumption. When addicted to acquiring stuff, consumers become anxious between fixes, fueling debt-financed consumption. With the pandemic driving expectations of major change, we have an opportunity to deploy big-picture thinking to instill more sanity into our society. This article proposes ways to address some of our common vices and historical missteps, aiming to improve mental health and enable the pursuit of sustainable happiness through reforms to how we educate our children, manage the business cycle, support entrepreneurs, and provide healthcare. As the article states, education should fight the mental health crisis, not compound it. Using consciousness practices, like yoga and meditation, individuals can achieve a profound state of relaxation that simultaneously alleviates stresses, trauma, and anxiety. In terms of economic reforms, one approach would be to attack the short-term corporate thinking that drives the need for bailouts; another would be to lower corporate taxes for entrepreneurs. Finally, with healthcare costs soaring along with government debt, it might be time to re-visit the decades-old debate around establishing a two-tiered healthcare model in Canada.

Zomato, a leading restaurant discovery and review platform, entered the highly competitive hyperlocal food delivery space in 2014. Though Zomato was a leading platform for search and discovery, it trailed behind the market leader in the delivery landscape. While Zomato’s attempt to increase profitability by implementing a subscription model proved popular among customers, it antagonized a significant segment of its restaurant partners. As December 2019 drew to a close, the key decision-makers at Zomato wondered whether entering the growing delivery market and the subsequent transition would be worth the cost of competition. The startup would have to make a strategic decision with respect to its market dominance and competitive moves in the delivery market. Should it focus on the large, hypercompetitive markets in major cities to build high-density delivery networks, or should it focus on pre-empting the competition by nurturing small-town markets? Would acquiring its competitors help in rapid scaling, or should Zomato engage in another round of business model innovation by focusing on cloud kitchens and private labels?

Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B20N015.