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In 2010, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India, had been working for several months on an initiative to catalyze cleantech start-ups in India. This required multi-point intervention, including mentoring, acceleration, and funding. Substantially funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), this policy experiment aimed to address both market and government failures in developing countries like India by unlocking venture capital to clean-energy start-ups. As the project required CIIE to raise additional funding from other sources and there had so far been no venture capital funding of clean energy projects in India, the CEO wondered who he could approach for such funding, how to approach them, and how to structure the resulting fund to ensure the greatest potential support for innovative cleantech solutions.

RiQian Motor was a Chinese company focusing on the development of wheel motors for mining machinery. Its long-term track record with providing high-quality products and service had won the trust and favour of its many clients. In 2016, the mining machinery industry began to focus on the production of electric vehicles. RiQian Motor invested in this new direction, but as of 2018, it was suffering losses in this new area. RiQian Motor was faced with a difficult choice: Should it discontinue its efforts at diversification and go back to the specialized strategy it excelled at? Or should it take a risk and continue the diversification strategy?

As managers face a flood of data, it is very important that they effectively analyze and interpret the available data to make decisions. Plotting data will help them in their analysis and interpretation of raw data. The same is true for students in business programs. However, students in business programs (and managers) often do not see the importance of plotting data. This exercise presents a typical classroom scenario in which the professor of data visualization quotes statistician John W. Tukey to his students and tries to drive home the importance of plotting data. A representative student understands about presenting summary statistics and running some statistical tests, but questions the usefulness of plotting points as well. The professor must decide how to teach the class about the merits of plotting data. The professor gives the student an assignment with data and instructions, and tells the student to report the class the next day. The student is unaware that he has been given the Anscombe quartet, and he becomes convinced of the benefits of plotting data.

Zhongke Xinke (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd. (Zhongke Xinke), founded in November 2016, enjoyed a high reputation in China’s makerspace industry. Miao Jinsheng, the founder of Zhongke Xinke, sensed the changing environment and the development challenges of the enterprise and created the Foreseeing Unicorns Project. Jointly launched with the Jiangxi provincial government, the project supported the success of entrepreneurs and helped Jiangxi Province to discover and cultivate unicorn enterprises, creating shared value economically and socially. However, its commitment and close ties with the local government limited Zhongke Xinke’s future growth to a certain extent. How could the project grow by balancing its commitment to Jiangxi Province with its need to grow outside the province (national)?

Brandix Group (Brandix), an apparel manufacturing firm with facilities in Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh, began its sustainability journey in the early 2000s, much before there were established practices in the apparel manufacturing industry, in an effort to combat and adapt to the challenges of climate change. The company had worked across all of the group’s establishments to ensure waste minimization, material efficiency, energy efficiency, and eco-efficiency in operations. Ashroff Omar, chief executive officer of Brandix, felt the time had come for Brandix to review its sustainability efforts and assess whether its sustainability strategy could be continued. He was planning to expand the scope of sustainability practices beyond firm boundaries, and explore the impact of possible changes in regulations, technology, and challenges from competitors.

Presentation to accompany product W34178.

Inclusive leadership is at the heart of what former AT&T CEO Anne Chow calls 'leading bigger.' While a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is important, she argues that it is not enough. Inclusion, as she defines it, is not just about people. It can also relate to the work itself-through, for instance, taking in larger datasets and more viewpoints for better decision-making. And it can encompass the workplace, more agilely addressing where, when and how we work to support the needs of the business and its people in any given moment. In this article she provides a playbook for 'leading bigger'-and enabling your organization to thrive.

When considering internal data or the results of a study, often business leaders either take the evidence presented as gospel or dismiss it altogether. Both approaches are misguided. What leaders need to do instead is conduct rigorous discussions that assess any findings and whether they apply to the situation in question. Such conversations should explore the internal validity of any analysis (whether it accurately answers the question) as well as its external validity (the extent to which results can be generalized from one context to another). To avoid missteps, you need to separate causation from correlation and control for confounding factors. You should examine the sample size and setting of the research and the period over which it was conducted. You must ensure that you're measuring an outcome that really matters instead of one that is simply easy to measure. And you need to look for-or undertake-other research that might confirm or contradict the evidence. By employing a systematic approach to the collection and interpretation of information, you can more effectively reap the benefits of the ever-increasing mountain of external and internal data and make better decisions.

The boards of too many publicly traded companies are downright timid when considering matters involving science and technology. More often than not, they focus on security and digitization-a defensive posture that fails to consider the bigger opportunities emerging from new materials, space science, and a better understanding of the genome-to name just a few areas of opportunity. It's easy to be lulled into thinking that science does not matter to a nontech company. But that distinction isn't quite so meaningful when it comes to capitalizing on the opportunities from technological change that is now ubiquitous, rapid, turbulent, and often emanating from increasingly unlikely corners. The authors have observed firsthand an effective way to address this gap: the board technology committee. Drawing on the achievements of tech committees at AES, Johnson & Johnson, and Altria (companies for which the authors are or have been directors), they describe how these entities can advance the interests of organizations and offer advice on how to set one up.

Four new books and a podcast discuss the use of perception-altering drugs: Psychedelic Outlaws, by Joanna Kempner; Have a Good Trip, by Eugenia Bone; Trippy, by Ernesto Londoño; More! The Microdose Diet, by Peggy Van de Plassche; and Luminous, from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Soft-spoken as a child, Chung found her voice as a journalist and in 1993 was named coanchor of the CBS Evening News. In this interview she talks about her determination to climb the ladder, how she navigated sexism in the workplace, and more.

Hungunda Horticulture Farmer Producer Company Limited (HHFPCL), based in Bagalkot district in Karnataka, India, had confronted significant challenges amid shifts in policy and the environment. An abrupt ban on onion exports from India, coupled with severe drought, had jeopardized the company's growth trajectory, necessitating a strategic reassessment. Despite its innovative operational model and successful market penetration, HHFPCL had contended with declining commodity prices and agricultural-market volatility, which had threatened the company’s ambitious expansion plans and gender-inclusive policies. In January 2024, a member of HHFPCL’s board of directors had to devise strategic initiatives to help the company combat the drought while advancing its business-to-consumer branding and expanding its farmer network to fortify supply-chain resilience.

When Enrique Layola joined the San Pedro City Agriculture Office, he was highly concerned about the worsening conditions of Laguna de Bay and their affect upon the livelihoods of local fishermen. Improving Laguna de Bay’s water quality was vital to increasing the region’s production of fish. The deteriorating water quality had resulted in the proliferation of water hyacinth, which was likely to increase further due to worsening water pollution. Layola was determined to overcome the water hyacinth problem in Laguna de Bay and carefully considered the most appropriate method for tackling the management of the water hyacinth.

LI-NING, founded by China’s “prince of gymnastics” Li Ning in 1990, is a professional sports brand. On September 20, 2022, LI-NING held its “Chasing Dreams” airport show in Hubei, China. However, on October 15, netizens pointed out that some of the new products resembled Japanese military uniforms from the time of the Second World War, quickly sparking a heated debate online. On October 17, two senior executives from LI-NING made statements on social media regarding the situation but only succeeded in drawing further criticism from netizens. LI-NING’s stock price also fell, causing many to question the executives’ actions on the matter. On October 19, LI-NING released an official response, bringing the public debate to a climax. How should LI-NING manage its crisis and brand communication better in the future?

In a letter to its members in September 2022, London Food Co-op (the Co-op) in London, Ontario, shared that it was struggling with a number of challenges. The pandemic had taken a toll on the Co-op’s financial position, to the extent that its viability was at risk. The main challenges it faced were decreasing sales, low membership, and a lack of awareness of the Co-op among Londoners. One of the managers of the Co-op needed to find solutions to help increase its sales and membership. The unique elements of the Co-op included its core values of sustainability and supporting a local food system, its co-operative business model, and its strong connection to the community.

Manoj Dawane founded an advertising technology (AdTech) start-up in Delhi, India in 2020 that provided digital consumer behaviour intelligence for targeted digital advertising without using third-party internet cookies. His patented technology solved the issue of personal data privacy created by cookie-based targeting. His unique competitive advantage would not last long and he faced three dilemmas. First, to define a clear business model that would be a balance between the core competency of the company and the emerging market opportunities. Second, to identify an alliance partner for a faster growth. Third, to redefine his go-to-market strategy for seven times growth in two years, as demanded by investors.

In July 2023, managers at Exide Industries Limited (EIL), a prominent player in India’s power-storage industry, faced a pivotal decision during a strategic workshop led by the company’s managing director and chief executive officer. The company had been presented with a groundbreaking yet uncertain opportunity: to develop a metaverse-powered platform for battery customization and testing. This initiative, championed by the chief information officer, aimed to address specific challenges faced by EIL’s original-equipment-manufacturer clients. However, the decision to invest in the metaverse was complex and laden with uncertainties regarding the technology’s future and its alignment with EIL’s strategic goals. The company would have to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of adopting this new technology in order to decide whether or not to proceed with this ambitious project.

The central objective of the social-sector organization Kudumbashree, in the state of Kerala, in India, was to alleviate poverty in the state by facilitating the formation of income-generating micro-enterprises (MEs) led by women. In February 2024, the executive director at Kudumbashree was considering implementing a goal-setting framework that would align the various stakeholders to common objectives and ensure systematic and accurate collection of information related to various interventions. However, most management goal-setting frameworks were applied to for-profit settings, so he wondered if they would work in the social sector. He was considering the objectives and key results framework, which was increasingly popular and required review of the results in the short term. Would applying this framework to Kudumbashree facilitate ME formation and sustenance?

DeHaat was a technology-led platform offering end-to-end agriculture services to Indian farmers with an aim to improve inefficiencies in the agriculture value chain. By September 2022, after 10 years of operations, the company was well-established in India’s agricultural technology sector, and its network of centres across 12 states distributed seeds, pesticides, fertilizer, and farm machinery to farmers and offered them farm advisory services, financial services, and market linkages for selling farm produce. But despite DeHaat’s remarkable growth, profitability still eluded the company. In 2023, the company needed to determine what its founders could do to improve profitability and create stakeholder value. They had already received multiple rounds of funding. Should they now focus on existing markets, explore new domestic markets or exports, expand their offerings, or better control their costs to enhance credibility in the financial market? Or should they slow down growth to strengthen internal operations?

CZM Foundation Equipment (CZM) was a manufacturer of foundation drilling rigs founded in Brazil in 1976. The company set up a subsidiary in the USA in 2012, which was so successful that it turned into the headquarters. Twelve years later, CZM’s executives were considering expansion in Europe, which could provide CZM with opportunities to enhance the design and development of its machines, improve the efficiency of its global supply chain, and open the door to new markets. It already had an engineering department in Italy and relationships with suppliers in Italy, France, and Germany. However, CZM executives were concerned about the highly competitive environment in Europe, which could make establishing a European subsidiary a risky choice. They also faced two related decisions: a) which country to choose, and b) which entry strategy to use, either a wholly owned subsidiary or an equity alliance with a partner.