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We've all experienced the meeting after the meeting when people have candid conversations about the meeting they just attended. These informal gatherings are inevitable. The question is how you, as a leader, will participate. These post-meeting discussions produce moments of clarification, grousing, and pushback. The way a leader handles those responses can make the culture more supportive or toxic. Explore five strategies to transform post-meeting dynamics in a positive way.

In 2016, A.P. Moller - Maersk (hereafter "Maersk") announced a strategic decision to separate its oil- and gas-related operations (sold to French Total in 2017) from the conglomerate and to concentrate on container logistics. However, instead of only focusing on sea freight, Maersk adopted a growth strategy aimed at making it an integrated logistics company offering customers end-to-end (E2E) supply chain solutions when the supply chain included containers. The strategy required substantial investments in land- and air-freight facilities as a supplement to the existing sea-freight business. Hence, Maersk embarked on a transformation of its business model from a focus on container shipping to globally integrated logistics. Under the slogan ALL THE WAY (later changed to ALL THE WAY TO ZERO to emphasize the importance of zero carbon transportation of cargo, including decarbonized shipping), the new value proposition offered to customers was to handle their entire container-related supply chain, including sea, land, and air transportation; storage; and customs clearance and other paperwork. The case provides relevant background information for a review of Maersk's E2E strategy (as per November 2023) seven years after its introduction. During the intervening years, the environment in which Maersk operated changed dramatically. Obstacles to the strategy arose and new opportunities to support it emerged. The case revolves around the question of whether Maersk should abandon its E2E strategy or continue it (possibly with some adjustments).

This case describes how the Chinese company Huitongda created a B2B platform to systematically connect rural mom-and-pop shops with urban-market-based suppliers, thereby opening a brand-new market for itself and contributing to the modernizing transformation of rural retailing in China. The initial two decades of China's economic reform were marked by a distinct rural-urban divide, as urban areas experienced rapid development of a consumer economy, while rural regions continued to maintain a partially self-reliant way of life. Retail in rural areas was primarily provided by small local shops that had no systematic access to suppliers of modern industrial products. Although substantial improvements in technological conditions and physical infrastructure had been made in rural areas, companies, in general, shied away from developing long-term business there because of the perceived lack of basic business conditions, despite huge demand potential. The founders of Huitongda addressed this problem by building an innovative B2B platform serving thousands of mom-and-pop rural shops with systematic supply chain solutions in a variety of industries while empowering them with digital tools and services for uplifting their operations, logistics and sales management, thereby transforming and modernizing the landscape of rural retail, and creating a thriving blue ocean of rural B2B market for itself. The case of Huitongda is an example of blue ocean creation through an approach called "nondisruptive creation", a concept coined by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in their book Beyond Disruption (2023). This is an approach to create new markets without disrupting existing industries.

Siti Rahman, the CEO of Malaysia-based NVF Bank, faces a pivotal decision. Her head of AI innovation, a recent recruit from Google, has a bold plan. It requires a substantial investment but aims to transform the traditional bank into an AI-first institution, substantially reducing head count and the number of branches. The bank's CFO worries they are chasing the next hype cycle and cautions against valuing efficiency above all else. Siti must weigh the bank's mixed history with AI, the resistance to losing the human touch in banking services, and the risks of falling behind in technology against the need for a prudent, incremental approach to innovation. Two experts offer advice: Noemie Ellezam-Danielo, the chief digital and AI strategy at Société Générale, and Sastry Durvasula, the chief information and client services officer at TIAA.

Siti Rahman, the CEO of Malaysia-based NVF Bank, faces a pivotal decision. Her head of AI innovation, a recent recruit from Google, has a bold plan. It requires a substantial investment but aims to transform the traditional bank into an AI-first institution, substantially reducing head count and the number of branches. The bank's CFO worries they are chasing the next hype cycle and cautions against valuing efficiency above all else. Siti must weigh the bank's mixed history with AI, the resistance to losing the human touch in banking services, and the risks of falling behind in technology against the need for a prudent, incremental approach to innovation. Two experts offer advice: Noemie Ellezam-Danielo, the chief digital and AI strategy at Société Générale, and Sastry Durvasula, the chief information and client services officer at TIAA.

Fighting climate change is a promising area for engagement between Western companies and China. However, geopolitical strains, the disruption of business relationships by the Covid pandemic, and domestic Chinese policies all make engagement complex. In this article the authors examine the complexities of the current climate-change opportunities in China and present practical strategies for businesses ready to enter the market. There is a twofold opportunity, they explain. First, China offers a vast market for Western-developed solutions. The Chinese government has set ambitious targets, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. That goal creates significant opportunities for firms with cutting-edge technologies. Second, businesses have an opportunity to integrate China's own advances in climate-related technology. The authors go on to outline four strategies, all of which involve partnering in some way. They advise companies to make sustainability a global theme, to join or form coalitions to find safe spaces for technological development, to forge partnerships with local companies for market access, and to insource technology.

Siti Rahman, the CEO of Malaysia-based NVF Bank, faces a pivotal decision. Her head of AI innovation, a recent recruit from Google, has a bold plan. It requires a substantial investment but aims to transform the traditional bank into an AI-first institution, substantially reducing head count and the number of branches. The bank's CFO worries they are chasing the next hype cycle and cautions against valuing efficiency above all else. Siti must weigh the bank's mixed history with AI, the resistance to losing the human touch in banking services, and the risks of falling behind in technology against the need for a prudent, incremental approach to innovation. Two experts offer advice: Noemie Ellezam-Danielo, the chief digital and AI strategy at Société Générale, and Sastry Durvasula, the chief information and client services officer at TIAA.

No matter what industry you are in, the path ahead is neither linear nor predictable. But that doesn't mean you need to fear it, say two leading design thinkers. Instead, they show how you can take steps to shape the future by taking a proactive look forward. They define the powerful skill of 'strategic foresight,' and show how it can be used in four ways: as a future shield; for future-proofing; for future-readiness; and as a future shaper. They show that strategic foresight entails using three mindsets or 'lenses' concurrently: an analytical lens, a speculative lens and a systems lens. In the end, they show that the leadership teams setting themselves up for success will be the ones who dedicate time, resources and energy to imaginative and rigorous explorations of multiple possible futures.

In the digital era every organization must continuously adapt to keep up with changing customer expectations, new digital competition and business models made possible by emerging technologies. For an established business, this means innovating within your core business; but it also means innovating beyond your core-testing new offerings in pursuit of new customers and revenue models. The author presents his four-part framework for making digital innovation a reality: problem validation, solution validation, product validation and business validation. In the end, he shows that digital innovation that grows your business can only happen with effective innovation measurement throughout the process.

ESG issues-environmental, social and governance-have emerged as some of the most critical management imperatives facing leaders across industries. As data and standards for disclosing ESG performance take hold, organizations will increasingly be required to report and be benchmarked against their peers by consumers, investors and employees. The authors dispel three popular myths about ESG-including that it is just 'woke capitalism'-and provide guidance for turning this challenge into an opportunity to engage your key stakeholders.

Twenty years ago, consultants at Bain & Company published a book that explored a dispiriting reality: Although companies spent billions of dollars a year pursuing deals, 70% of mergers and acquisitions wound up as failures. But today those odds have inverted. According to new research by Bain, over the past 20 years firms have done more than 660,000 acquisitions, worth a total of $56 trillion, with deals reaching a peak in 2021. And close to 70% of them have succeeded. Even among the roughly 30% that were less successful, many of the deals still created some value. What has changed? This article presents four explanations for the turnabout.

To remain competitive, smart multinationals ensure they can rapidly globalize or localize certain parts of their businesses as needed. Here's how they do it.

In early 2024, Ruth Jones, head of digital banking at Signa Bank, a (fictitious) European consumer bank, was thinking about how to best incorporate GenAI capabilities to improve efficiencies and create new ways to improve the customer experience. Where were the biggest opportunities? How could the bank incorporate GenAI to better personalize the customer experience? And what were the most effective strategies to mitigate the number of product and enterprise risks that would arise? Jones needed to ensure that as the technology was increasingly embedded and incorporated across the bank's operating systems, that there would be no negative fallout on its consumers or its reputation.

Why managers can assume making strategic assumptions supports effective decision-making.

Companies that are serious about sustainability tend to ignore one of the most powerful tools available to them: lobbying to advance climate policy. Yet, without a business case for doing so, companies fail to invest adequately in advocacy. To change this, they first need to identify the most applicable business rationale for investing in advocacy. This article explains what leaders need to know about building a business case and strategy for climate policy advocacy.

Lufthansa knew it had to do more to become truly data-driven. The airline's data experts were struggling to get everyone behind the company's transformation goals, and data and AI literacy was low. The organization felt that turning all of its leaders into data leaders would be key to its future success. In creating a data leadership program, Lufthansa learned much about the roles that different people play in data-driven change. Its approach has lessons for others facing similar challenges.

A survey of 500 U.S. realtors shows 32% had at least one client who relocated in 2023 due to political fit. What does this mean for your ability to attract and retain talent? Plenty. Examine three approaches that leaders and organizations can take to navigate the tensions, as illustrated in real-world examples.

Today's AI developers struggle to predict which algorithms will work. AI lacks a basis for inference: a solid foundation on which to base predictions and decisions. This makes AI tough to explain, creates mistrust, and dooms many AI models to fail in deployment. However, help for AI teams and projects is available from an unlikely source: classical statistics. This article explains how business leaders can apply statistical methods and engage statistics experts to improve results.

The Blue Hill case follows the journey of Dan Barber, one of the world's leading chefs. Having understood the limitations of the "substitution" model of sustainability, he redesigns his restaurant as an innovation lab for the food industry, seeking to win stakeholders' hearts and minds and embed it in the local ecosystem. The case provides an inside view of the innovation process and how, in collaboration with the local ecosystem, Dan reimagines the architecture of the food industry - its economics and operational activities - to create a "regenerative system", i.e., one that replenishes rather than depletes resources. The principles of regenerative design include (i) redesigning the system from beginning to end, (ii) giving as much, or more, than it takes, (iii) paying attention to interconnectedness, (iv) creating change through awareness, agency, and affection. Although set in the food industry, the lessons apply to all sectors of business.

New research suggests that people's judgments of equity depend on their beliefs about the structural causes of success. When they take into account the overlooked structural factors that influence how people work is evaluated and their ability to be productive, their ideas of fairness begin to shift. This finding is particularly salient when evaluating the work of women, who often face invisible barriers. The researchers suggest four takeaways for organizations and managers to address this.