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The state-owned copper miner Codelco is the largest contributor to the Chilean treasury and has helped the Latin American nation prosper through the global financial crisis. Notwithstanding the Chilean government’s prudent austerity measures and savings, it has deprived Codelco of much of the profits needed to increase competitiveness and production capacity, and has not addressed the firm’s inefficiency and lack of productivity. After examining this state-owned enterprise (SOE), this article describes ten best practices to turn around SOEs. 1. An agreement between the state and the SOE. 2. Cut through the old arguments for and against change. 3. History, relationships, and causality matter. 4. Transforming an SOE is more about execution than strategy. 5. The CEO can only manage what he/she measures. 6. The most sustainable turnarounds focus on both revenue and cost. 7. Arrange performance metrics to encourage value creation. 8. Empower functions that allow the “little things” to be done well. 9. Ensure that the ability to innovate is dispersed across the SOE. 10. Accept the fact that there will never be complete agreement. Most SOE mergers and acquisitions of the past decade have occurred in a resource-grab phase that has resulted in bloated, inefficient organizations, where acquiring SOEs export bad practices to acquired companies. As this article contends, moving to a talent-grab phase furthers the end point of acquisition strategy (efficient asset management), makes SOEs appear less threatening, reduces resource myopia, and matures an SOE’s management philosophy.

For most of the 20th century, innovation happened largely through co-location — that is, within one country, sometimes at different locations, where employees shared the same context and culture. This can no longer remain the norm, as the knowledge and skills needed for innovation are dispersed across the globe. There is only limited understanding of the difference between these two approaches, and this contributes to reluctance to embrace the opportunities of global innovation. Planning and managing global projects requires that the means of communication, co-ordination, and collaboration be approached differently. Organizational stability is a prerequisite for global innovation projects. Teams that are new to global projects and trying to build the necessary competence should start with small, non-critical collaborations between two or three geographically dispersed sites. It is important that the product or service architecture in a global project be thoroughly defined before development commences. Global projects require at least a small degree of competency overlap between sites. Senior managers of global projects, far from easing into informal roles, must not only champion projects but keep them together. A lead site should be designated in order to avoid inefficiency and lack of leadership. Communication must be built into the project, and an overreliance on information and communication technology should be avoided. Finally, multicultural managers should be sought out and the burden of managing subcontractors should be limited.

The stage for this case is set in South Central LA, the infamous battleground of bloody gang wars, and the original breeding ground for rap and hip hop music. The narrative zooms in on the charismatic Alfred Lomas, who since leaving prison and his gang, has set up a business that requires him to maintain strong links to the warring factions, while at the same time ensuring that neither he nor his team gets caught up in the gangs again: His company LA Gang Tours takes visitors through the urban war zone, and the proceeds from the tours are used for community interventions. In a peacekeeping effort, former gang members de-escalate conflict between gangs, and break the chain of violence on the streets. The LA police are grudgingly supportive, but the business isn't growing. Alfred ponders various growth strategies, as each will affect the network of trust that he has established with the gangs, the police and the tourists.

This is the first part of a two-part case study. Part A begins In December 2009, where Professor Peter Ng, director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR), is issued a challenge: raise S$25 million in the next seven months to fund the establishment of a natural history museum in Singapore. Raising enough money to resurrect the museum in the midst of a global financial meltdown seemed like an impossibly tall order for Ng. To complicate matters, donations for natural history or science-related causes were virtually unheard of in the country. How can Ng raise the funds?

Supplement to case SMU398. Part B follows Part A in June 2010, after Ng's team raised S$46 million (US$33.3 million). This overwhelming success has surprised everyone, including Ng. In addition to a S$10 million anonymous donation, the Lee Foundation donated S$25 million, while the Tote Board and the general public donated S$10 million and S$1 million, respectively. With funds in hand, the former Raffles Museum is finally ready to be resurrected as the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in 2014. Part B of the case reveals how the protagonist accomplished their fund raising goal by utilising corporate storytelling skills explored in Part A.

It's a fact of organizational life: some employees are more talented than others. Douglas Ready explains how to retain your 'high-potentials' (HiPos), who represent the top three-to- five per cent of your organization's workforce on two key dimensions: performance and living the company's values. He also discusses some of the downsides of being labeled a HiPo.

Netshoes is the largest online specialty retailer in Brazil, with sales approaching R$1b ($512m USD) in 2012, and annual growth next to 30%. With over 70% of its sales concentrated in the south of Brazil, the company has decided to expand internationally simultaneously starting operations in Argentina and Mexico. Both countries have in common a passion for soccer, economic affluence, and urban density, and large populations. The fact, however, that there is a large unexploited market at home works against the internationalization decision. The competition by several larger players seeking to increase their scale of operations (brick and mortar, flash fashion sales), and the possibility of foreign players (e.g., Amazon.com) entering Brazil via acquisition represents a major competitive risk for Netshoes.com. In addition, the challenge is trying to recreate the customer experience and launch a new positioning strategy to compete in the multi-screen retail world.

Past discussions on sustainability highlighted issues traditionally associated with it, such as reducing environmental impacts while growing the top line. More recent discussions focus on activities that extend beyond the firm, such as long-term collaborations. This article provides a top-ten list of initiatives to help companies become more sustainable in 2013, compiled by a network of sustainability leaders: 1. Create smart, integrated public policy. 2. Engage value chain members, including industry and non-governmental organization partners. 3. Build a national dialogue on responsible consumption. 4. Create organizational structures that support sustainability. 5. Embed sustainability in corporate culture. 6. Provide clear and equitable directives regarding Aboriginal rights and entitlements. 7. Create clear conditions that support sustainability-related innovation. 8. Incorporate a social license to operate into business strategy. 9. Prepare organizations and society to mitigate and adapt to climate change. 10. Lessen the burden of sustainability reporting.<br><br>The focus of sustainability has shifted outward and new challenges represent broad issues outside a firm involving multiple stakeholders, such as value chain collaboration and civic engagement. Two reasons for this shift could be that the “easy work” (e.g. technical improvements like going paperless) have already been done, and that it doesn’t pay to do sustainability half-way.

By 2025, a quarter of the world’s skilled workers might be Indian. How the cohort of Generation Y workers — those either just entering the workforce or who have been working for one or two years — make the transition to the workplace, and how firms develop and engage them to excel and become business leaders, are of key importance to Indian organizations. Gaps in education, skills, and vocational training are a big challenge that the government wants to address, and some non-governmental organizations are venturing into rural regions to provide basic vocational skills training. Generation Y needs promotion opportunities and transparency, as well as work-life balance, flexibility, and learning opportunities. The older generations must be proactive in nurturing talent in Generation Y. This article, by the senior director of people resources at McDonald’s India, concludes by proposing that firms operating in India should a) work with the government to reach semi-rural and rural youth and enhance their employability; b) create an engaged workforce through, for example, the use of social media and informal workplace forums that give workers the chance to hone their skills; and c) ensure that there is a talent-management process to harness the talents of youth.

Businesses should pay attention to the practices of pirate organizations, because piracy has reshaped industries and given birth to new ones since the dawn of capitalism. For example, sea pirates fought the monopolies of the East Indies companies in the 17th and 18th centuries and forced recognition of the freedom of the seas, pirate radio defeated the BBC’s broadcast monopoly, and online file sharing through Napster triggered an overhaul of the music industry. Rather than simply threatening capitalism, pirate organizations indicate the directions in which the economy is likely to move. This article discusses the history and future of piracy and puts forth five lessons for managers. 1. Take the long view and become an industry leader, recognizing the unsustainability of consensually legitimate industries. 2. Acknowledge that opposition to your industry might point to legitimate problems. 3. Don’t sue your customers. 4. Ally with pirate organizations if it suits economic opportunity. 5. Don’t slow down industry progress through monopolistic arrangements. The article concludes with an assessment of how the music industry violated these axioms in the late 1990s.

For years, people have bemoaned executives' zealous focus on short-term results, which often leads CEOs to make moves that undermine their firms' long-term prospects and, some say, act irresponsibly. But all the talk won't change anything if the business world doesn't adopt a new way of measuring performance. Three professors from France's Insead believe they have the answer: an innovative scorecard that evaluates CEOs on the basis of the results they delivered over their entire tenures in office. It incorporates three metrics: industry-adjusted shareholder returns, country-adjusted shareholder returns, and increase in market capitalization over that time frame. Using this scorecard, the authors have studied and objectively ranked the performance of thousands of CEOs of major corporations around the world. In this issue, we reveal who made it into the top 100. This is the second installment of the ranking, which we published for the first time three years ago. Since then, the authors have expanded the group of CEOs studied, making it even more global. And, recognizing the growing sentiment that great financial performance is no longer enough, they also looked at social and environmental ratings to see which of the top CEOs also did well on those metrics. Accompanying this year's list is an interview with Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, whose well-known focus on the long term has served his company extremely well--earning him the #2 spot in the ranking.

The more uncertain your environment, the greater the opportunity--if you have the leadership skills to capitalize on it. Research at the Wharton School and at the authors' consulting firm, involving more than 20,000 executives to date, has identified six skills that, when mastered and used in concert, allow leaders to think strategically and navigate the unknown effectively. They are the abilities to anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align, and learn. This article describes the six skills in detail and includes a self-assessment that will enable you to identify the ones that most need your attention. The authors have found that strength in one skill cannot easily compensate for a deficit in another. An adaptive strategic leader has learned to apply all six at once.

David McCullough, historian and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Truman and John Adams, on what the history of leadership means for managers today.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on his deep conviction that business leadership should not be only about maximizing profits for shareholders, but also about deliberately pursuing the many other positive impacts good businesses can have on their stakeholders.

Robert B. Zoellick, a former president of the World Bank Group who has held senior posts at the State and Treasury departments and the White House, offers seven points of advice for private sector executives who are invited to take high-level government posts.

The case is set in 2011. P&G has announced that it wishes to serve an additional billion customers globally within the next five years. To do so, it will have to expand its activities in China. P&G is widely considered successful in China, and it is the leader in several product categories in a rapidly growing China market, but Chinese people still buy only a fraction of the value of P&G products as in the US or the rest of the world. The case allows for a detailed discussion of how P&G has built up its business system in China, the challenges it faces in expanding its position in China, and its strategy to focus more on emerging markets around the world. The case can be used as a comprehensive country strategy case.

For centuries Lafite has been the most admired wine Estate in the world. How does Baron Eric de Rothschild protect this crown jewel in a conservative manner while DBR develops other Chateaux blending wine programs,and reaches out to new areas such as China and begins to take a more active interest in the world's number one market- the United States.

Bio-Vert is a leading Canadian brand of eco-cleaning products manufactured by Quebec-based Savons Prolav. Run by a brother and sister team, Savons Prolav bases its products on their vision, which includes eco-friendliness, affordability and effectiveness. Demand for Bio-Vert's phosphate-free detergents has increased dramatically since the 2007 blue-green algae bloom outbreaks in Quebec's waterways and subsequent legislation restricting phosphate use in cleaning products. However, now that "green" cleaning products have become more mainstream, Savons Prolav faces the issue of how to adapt and grow in an increasingly crowded marketplace. This discussion considers how Savons Prolav can remain competitive in this difficult industry segment while maintaining its environmental focus. This case highlights the pressures that an SME with strong environmental values faces in a competitive market. It includes a portrait of the cleaning products industry, consumer patterns with regards to eco-friendly products, and a background of the provincial socio-environmental event that triggered increased demand for green cleaning products in Quebec. Savons Prolav's history, business model and core values are discussed along with potential growth options. Details on related industry, societal and marketing perspectives are provided to guide the reader through the advantages and disadvantages inherent to each opportunity.

Bio-Vert is a leading Canadian brand of eco-cleaning products manufactured by Quebec-based Savons Prolav. Run by a brother and sister team, Savons Prolav bases its products on their vision, which includes eco-friendliness, affordability and effectiveness. Demand for Bio-Vert’s phosphate-free detergents has increased dramatically since the 2007 blue-green algae bloom outbreaks in Quebec’s waterways and subsequent legislation restricting phosphate use in cleaning products. However, now that “green” cleaning products have become more mainstream, Savons Prolav faces the issue of how to adapt and grow in an increasingly crowded marketplace. This discussion considers how Savons Prolav can remain competitive in this difficult industry segment while maintaining its environmental focus.<br><br><br><br>This case highlights the pressures that an SME with strong environmental values faces in a competitive market. It includes a portrait of the cleaning products industry, consumer patterns with regards to eco-friendly products, and a background of the provincial socio-environmental event that triggered increased demand for green cleaning products in Quebec. Savons Prolav’s history, business model and core values are discussed along with potential growth options. Details on related industry, societal and marketing perspectives are provided to guide the reader through the advantages and disadvantages inherent to each opportunity.