個案總覽

A robust infrastructure is needed for a community — and a country — to thrive. Too much of Canada’s infrastructure is crumbling and neglected, this long-time elected official writes. He exposes the consequences of such neglect and explains how Canadians can locate the political will and financial resources to repair the problem. Attention is also given to infrastructure investments in Asia and the shifting economic clout of some of the world’s top cities.

Hiring a “proven winner” in major-league sports is usually seen as the solution for jump-starting a moribund team. But this is not necessarily true, at least in the National Hockey league, where hiring a winning coach or general manager from another team can make a team that is already skating uphill struggle even more. This Ivey professor has lots of compelling data to support this argument. As it turns out, a “proven winner” in one organization develops a skill set that won’t always translate into success in another.

The lack of female leaders may not be due to boards’ unwillingness to promote women to the position of CEO. Rather, it may be the result of women not being promoted while at lower and middle levels of an organization. As the author describes it, the challenge is not a glass ceiling, but rather a sticky floor. The author surveys compensation disparities, rewards for good management, and the relatively sudden interest in the compensation gap.

When a product that has been in development for one year can be copied and brought to market in days, first-mover advantage has lost its advantage. Imitation, once stigmatized, is now acceptable. In fact, this author says that to stay competitive and not fall behind, firms must imitate. In this article, he describes why imitation is as valuable as innovation, and argues that imitation can and should be strategically conceived and systematically executed. Consideration is given to the three main types of imitators, the correspondence problem (converting an imitation target into a copy that preserves the favourable outcome of the original), the value proposition of imitation, and overcoming imitation defenses.

Israel’s prowess in developing successful, cutting-edge high-tech companies is well known. But such success overshadows the failure of traditional Israeli industry to be more agile and innovative. With this in mind, the Israeli government has established several key programs that aim to facilitate and accelerate innovation in Israel’s less successful industrial firms. Readers will learn about these programs — including an R&D grant fund, cooperation between companies and academic research institutions, and a forum where low- and high-tech firms share best practices — by two people who have been instrumental in building Israel’s reputation for innovation.

Many established global companies discount the need to innovate when competing in emerging markets. After all, innovation is expensive and risky. So, how can it make sense to spend heavily on an innovation for a market in which customers have so little money? Readers will find out just why it does make a lot of sense. The article discusses five gaps separating the needs of consumers in developed and developing countries, including performance, infrastructure, sustainability, regulatory, and preference gaps.

Willow Creek Community Church, located outside of Chicago, IL, was one of the best attended and most influential churches in the United States. It was devoted to attracting seekers, people who were otherwise "unchurched," and helping them along a journey towards conversion and spiritual maturity. Greg Hawkins, executive pastor, wondered, of all the things that the Church did, what really made a difference? If a generous donor gave Willow $100,000 to invest in having the biggest impact on helping parishioners grow into disciples of Christ, would Hawkins and the leadership team truly know what to do with the money? In 2003, Hawkins was about to lead Willow in a strategic planning process. He was introduced to a consumer research expert who had helped an impressive list of large companies understand "what was happening in the hearts and minds of their existing and potential customers." This case explores Willow's decision to bring this type of research to its church and apply rigorous analytical techniques to understanding the needs and motivations of its congregants. It traces how Willow used the startling findings to identify which programs and ministries truly helped people grow spiritually and transform its approach to church.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The case describes an innovative business model offering wine and a French cultural experience to North Americans. Students are given an opportunity to learn about the challenges of reviving a 1,000-year-old chateau, farmhouse, and vineyard while building a viable wine export and travel experience business. The case refers to a 15-minute online video that includes an interview with the entrepreneur, pictures of the Montlaur estate, and excerpts about Guédelon Castle, a medieval construction project.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article.

Ryan believes that a CEO should spend more time on recruiting and managing people than on any other activity, and that the head of HR is one of the most important people in the company. He insists on his freedom to bypass managers and speak with any employee at any time. And he espouses certain talent-management principles, such as that your best people are usually underpaid (reward them with performance pay) and that people leave jobs mainly because they don't like their managers. Recruiting at Gilt Groupe focuses on references more than on resumes and interviews because, Ryan says, resumes only establish basic qualifications for a job, and interviewers can't help being influenced by well-spoken or attractive people. But reference checks need to go beyond the names supplied by a candidate: Employers should dig up people in their networks who are willing to speak candidly.

As the global economy vacillates between signs of recovery and omens of collapse, businesses and governments are clamping down. But the world doesn't need austerity; it needs audacity--bold, inventive ideas that take on big problems. So HBR asked experts from a range of disciplines to propose them. Robert J. Shiller believes an innovative form of national financing can solve the global debt crisis. Enric Sala has a radical but simple idea for saving the oceans. Bruce Gibney and Ken Howery want venture capitalists to bet on breakthrough start-ups. Bruno S. Frey and Margit Osterloh argue that corporations have been hurt by pay-for-performance schemes and should toss them. Ellen Gustafson says we can end obesity and famine by changing the way we produce food. Gregg Easterbrook thinks NASA must find an affordable way to reach Mars. Doc Searls argues that companies should ditch their data and let consumers direct transactions. Ellen Goodman believes we can change the way we die. Wayne Porter has a new vision for Afghanistan. Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback say crowdsourced reviews will make executives better managers. Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka think for-profit universities will jump-start the global economy. Arun Majumdar is looking for a battery to serve the bottom of the pyramid. And Eric Schmidt thinks social-impact bonds could transform the prison system.

Gross domestic product has long been the chief measure of national success. But there's been a lot of talk lately about changing that, from economists and world leaders alike. GDP is under siege for three main reasons. First, it is flawed even on its own terms: It misses lots of economic activity (unpaid household work, for example) and, as a single-number representation of vast, complex systems, is inevitably skewed. Second, it fails to account for economic and environmental sustainability. And third, readily available alternative measures may reflect well-being far better, by taking into account factors such as educational achievement, health, and life expectancy. HBR's Justin Fox surveys historical and current views on how to assess national progress, from Jeremy Bentham to Robert Kennedy to Nicolas Sarkozy. He also looks at where we may be headed. The biggest success so far in the campaign to supplant or at least supplement GDP, he finds, is the UN's Human Development Index--on which the United States has never claimed the top spot.

Most of us assume that success will lead to happiness. Shawn Achor, founder of the corporate strategy firm Good Think, argues that we've got it backward. In work he's done with KPMG and Pfizer, and studies he's conducted in concert with Yale's psychology department, he has seen how happiness actually precedes success. Happy employees are more productive, more creative, and better at problem solving than their unhappy peers. In this article, Achor lays out three strategies for improving your own mental well-being at work. In tough economic times, they're essential for keeping yourself--and your team--at peak performance.

In the 18th century, the Enlightenment ushered in the notion that happiness was the attainment of a worthy life. Since then the pursuit of happiness has spread to every aspect of behavior, from religion and politics to work and parenting. Today the happiness imperative creates pressures that, paradoxically, can make us miserable. Sadness is often mistaken for a pathology. Understanding the cultural commitment to good cheer as an artifact of modern history, not as an inherent feature of the human condition, opens new opportunities for understanding key facets of our social and personal experience.

Over the past decade companies have become more global and employee groups more diverse than ever before. Organizations are less hierarchical and more collaborative. And today's offices are full of once unimaginable technological distractions. We asked experts in cross-cultural communication, information networks, and the science of attention what skills executives should cultivate to tackle these new challenges. Molinsky thinks that managers must overcome psychological barriers in order to act in ways that other cultures find appropriate. Davenport and Iyer explain why the devolution of hierarchy has increased the value of building and wielding influence through digital networks, and offer tips for how to do it. And Davidson tells managers to get over their fears about distraction and embrace the brain's natural tendency to divide attention.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most celebrated centers in basketball history, has evolved into a successful writer, historian, and filmmaker.

A new study finds no correlation between how a company's stock fares upon the announcement of a new CEO and the share price over that CEO's tenure. In fact, under certain circumstances, CEOs whose appointments cause their company's stock to drop tend to achieve better results over time than CEOs whose appointments cause the stock to rise. Directors looking to choose a new CEO should think about other criteria, such as the company's recent performance and whether candidates are insiders or outsiders.

A new study uncovers a correlation between people's spatial skills and their social intelligence. Can strengthening your ability in one area improve your aptitude in the other?

The clinical experience gained by fledgling doctors is an ideal example of how professional schools address the "knowing-doing gap." Harvard Business School is sending its entire first-year class abroad to developing markets to gain a similar kind of real-world experience.

Corporate Communication: Tactical Guidelines for Strategic Practice is an eight-chapter book written by Michael B. Goodman, Professor and Director of the MA in Corporate Communication at Baruch College, The City University of New York, and Peter B. Hirsch, director of Reputation Risk at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. The title was published by Business Expert Press in January of 2012. Written for both students and business leaders, the text explores the challenges and opportunities in corporate communication posed by a rapidly changing global economy and a revolution in communication channels fueled by the internet. The book focuses on the process of communication in a corporate context, and then explores, analyzes, integrates, and applies the theory, practice, and functions of corporate communication. In the opening chapter, the authors describe the environment surrounding contemporary business and its impact on the transformation in communication practice in small and multinational corporations.