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In 1989 Michael C. Jensen wrote an article for HBR titled "Eclipse of the Public Corporation," in which he analyzed early leveraged buyouts and identified a new form of corporate organization, the LBO association, which he believed would eventually outperform the traditional public company. Here Martin agrees with Jensen's assessment but acknowledges that it won't come to pass for some time, primarily because LBO associations rely on the existence of a robust public market to make their model work.

Language is a reflection of culture, so the terms we use most tell us a lot about our shifting management priorities. Ngram graphs highlight how things have evolved.

Whether characterized as corporate social responsibility (CSR), business ethics, or some other name, best practices in a given industry often fall short, thus causing efforts of companies seeking to improve their own CSR practices to fall short as well. A typical CSR model uses philanthropic donations to demonstrate the company's commitment to social welfare. Even a strategic version of CSR falls short of what it could achieve. To be sure, these can be important efforts worth celebrating, but we seek to raise the bar higher. Our case study focuses on the pharmaceutical industry because of our experience working in and studying that industry. In Section 2, we identify the typical CSR efforts of pharmaceutical companies. Dissatisfied with the scope of current efforts, Section 3 switches from an inductive approach to a deductive one in which we rely on scholarly literature and some exemplary benchmarks to propose a stronger model of corporate ethics. At the heart of this model is the claim that optimum instrumental benefits accrue to corporate CSR actions when they are undertaken for sincere aims rather than for instrumental ones. Section 4 then explains how this framework provides a way for pharmaceutical companies to embrace a more robust model of corporate responsibility that could be extended to other industries as well.

The story of Infosys' growth and transformation from a $250 start-up to its current market valuation of approximately $26 billion provides one of the most pertinent lessons in leveraging India's strengths and managing the challenges faced by an emerging market global enterprise based in India. In this article, we present a wide-ranging interview with Infosys' current CEO, Mr. S.D. Shibulal, as he explains what he considers to be the core strengths of the company that made it successful in the past, lays out his vision for the company's future, and discusses in detail how he sees the company's transformation taking place over the coming years. The conversation uncovers several interesting themes and lessons for multinational enterprises in emerging as well as developed economies, including the relevance of being born global, values-based governance, the necessity of creating hybrid business models that infuse the 'India way' with local cultures and practices in global markets, leveraging strategic partnerships via co-creation and co-evolution, and the delicate balance between 'preservation-creation-destruction.'

Better-aligned operational and strategic plans and a better balance of supply and demand bring tangible benefits to firms. However, functional departments in firms often operate without vertical and horizontal alignment. The outcomes are delays and amplification of the information flow, suboptimal corporate plans, uncoordinated reactions within the business, insufficient operational flexibility, and discrepancies in supply and demand. Sales and operations planning (S&OP) can circumvent these negative consequences and align the organization. Our multimethod research develops a holistic S&OP maturity model that firms can use for the assessment of their internal S&OP processes and shows the pathway to an integrated S&OP approach for the achievement of a better-aligned organization. We present a case study of a medium-sized, Swiss-based pharmaceutical company that has recently implemented S&OP to highlight why companies implement S&OP, the prerequisites and roadblocks encountered during implementation, and the benefits envisioned and achieved. Finally, we reveal the great relevance of the topic by means of a questionnaire survey which shows that organizations' current S&OP performance is underdeveloped and that many improvements are indispensable to enjoy all benefits associated with the alignment process.

Recent events in the economic and natural environments have tested buyer-supplier relationships like never before. Based on dyadic buyer-supplier case data from a variety of industries that were deeply affected by the 2008-2009 recession, this article explores how long-term relationships responded to an economic downturn. Prior to the downturn, these mutually dependent relationships all appeared to be very similar to each other and were characterized by significant value-added and social capital stores. However, due to varying degrees of bounded rationality, the relationships were affected differently and responded differently to the downturn. Based on the characteristics of the relationship, we develop a framework of three types of close supplier alliances. This framework can be used to assess such relationships and likely responses to adversity to reduce unpleasant surprises for the alliance partners. This article also provides a set of lessons learned for managers.

Leadership development and executive education have taken on increased prominence in recent years. The natural tendency is to approach the subject of leadership as a hierarchically-based process that is focused on higher-level individual leaders influencing lower-level followers. This tendency is consistent with myths surrounding charismatic and heroic visionary leaders who are often portrayed as single-handedly inspiring and directing their organizations to new heights. Unfortunately, these simplistic portrayals of leadership are promulgated by the media and desired by the consuming public. However, this kind of framing of leadership is dangerous: it lays the seeds of centralization of power, which can have innumerable detrimental outcomes. Accordingly, we explore two potent antidotes to this simplistic hierarchical formulation of leadership that have become an increasing focus of leadership research: self-leadership and shared leadership.

The widespread adoption of technology and electronic media has dramatically altered the set of products consumers compare before making a purchase decision. Online platforms have succeeded at drawing linkages among products by highlighting those that are preferred, evaluated, or purchased together. However, despite the increase in both product and customer inter-connectedness across markets, managers continue to make decisions based largely on the dynamics of competition within narrow product categories. In this article, we raise the call for a migration from a category-focused mindset to an ecosystem-focused strategic mindset that acknowledges and accounts for the network of related or unrelated entities that a specific product resides within. We illustrate the importance of this shift using examples of preference, choice, and customer networks from popular online platforms. We then discuss the impact of the shift in strategic mindset toward ecosystems on competitive structure analysis, market research, brand footprint analysis, intraband ecosystems, promotion planning, new product development, customer valuation, strategic alliances, and market segmentation.

South Korea was first introduced to luxury brands in the 1990s. Since then, a great interest in luxury products, or myungpoom, and foreign products, called waejae, has developed. Despite the strong preference for fashion products from the United States and Europe, Sang A, a brand founded by a woman born and raised in Korea, is recognized as a myungpoom in Korea. This new luxury brand is also known for its designer handbags in the United States and is quite successful in both countries. In a comparative study of Sang A and the internationally well-known luxury brand Jimmy Choo using literary research, Internet research, field research, and interviews with Sang A bag consumers, I identified several key elements of success for the two brands: niche market targeting, storytelling, a 'hungry attitude,' high prices but accessible discounts, thorough management of distribution channels, and image-making through star power. This article implicates that Korean consumers have complex desires that go beyond simply wanting foreign goods.

There is substantial interconnection between the reduction of product counterfeiting and quality management. This article seeks to demonstrate how integrating anti-counterfeiting initiatives into quality management strategies can reduce risk in the supply chain. We explore issues pertaining to product counterfeiting, the practical application and constraints of anti-counterfeiting initiatives within the supply chain, and the intersection of anti-counterfeiting initiatives with quality management programs. Gaps in current management strategies to address these issues are identified, and a potential remedy to address these deficiencies is proposed. Practical suggestions regarding the application of quality principles to offset counterfeiting should reduce risk in the supply chain.

This case study examines the initiation, financing, development, and failed merger of an ambitious online grocery retail venture: HomeGrocer.com. It highlights the risks and challenges associated with developing a revolutionary venture. Even though the HomeGrocer.com team did many things right developmentally, some key errors and unfortunate timing resulted in them expanding too quickly and running low on cash. It also forced them to make a tough strategic decision about whether to scale back operations and renege on their IPO commitments or merge with a well-funded competitor, Webvan. The case discusses lessons that can be learned from business failure.

Companies that focus on their "superconsumers"--a subset of heavy consumers who are highly engaged with a category and a brand--can realize even greater sales from them, along with new product ideas and insights that can help products gain mass appeal.

U.S. companies seeking to export their products are often thwarted by widespread anti-American sentiment in regions such as Asia and the Middle East. However, new research finds that segments in those regions keenly identify with U.S. urban youth culture--the world of hip-hop and rap--and identifies nontraditional sources of influence (TV shows, music and music videos, athletes and other celebrities) through which companies can reach them.

At work, many executives feel pressured to conform to the mainstream and to hide any signs of belonging to a minority group. A new study indicates that dynamic undermines employees' self-confidence and engagement and adversely affects diversity in organizations.

In a new study, subjects chose to experience a higher electric shock immediately over waiting a while to experience a milder shock--indicating that dread may be a powerful negative force.

The president and CEO of the American Red Cross talks about changing its organizational structure, making processes more collaborative, and learning the power of emotion.

The executive director of the Global Solution Networks program at the Rotman School of Management calls on business leaders to engage with other sectors in addressing issues of sustainability, social justice, and public well-being.

An elaborately engraved Spanish stock certificate issued in 1758 could almost be a template for modern stock certificates. Here's the story that its iconography reveals about the royal trading company it came from.

When Pinault stepped into the top job at Kering (formerly PPR), in 2003, he faced a key question: Should he leave things as they had been under his father, who had built a conglomerate of eclectic businesses, or take them in a new direction? He felt that the company should become more international, more growth oriented, and more profitable--and that it should build on its ownership of Gucci Group to create a strong position in the global luxury market. Kering began a series of acquisitions that included Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta, and helped its brands develop their own retail store networks. It set out to pair creative directors--who retained a high degree of control--with strong and complementary CEOs. And it introduced operational synergies, coordinating sourcing and creating two product development centers. The transformation of the business has made the company much smaller but far more focused. Since 2003 its profits have risen by about 40%.

All companies claim that their strategies are customer driven. But when "customer" means any number of entities in a company's value chain--consumers, suppliers, retailers, even internal units like R&D--managers tend to lose focus, and their firms become vulnerable to competitors who have clearly defined who they serve and how. In this article, Robert Simons of Harvard Business School presents a framework that can help companies develop strategies that are truly customer-centric. The framework lays out four steps: (1) Identify the best primary customer for your business. This choice determines what resources and capabilities you invest in and how you organize your business. Amazon serves four very different types of customer (consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content providers), but it devotes the lion's share of its resources to pleasing consumers, even if that means sellers or content providers sometimes feel shortchanged. (2) Create processes to learn what your primary customer's values are. Data analytics, ethnographic research, and other methods can reveal needs and preferences that customers themselves may not be aware of. (3) Allocate resources accordingly, using one or more of the five business-model configurations: low price (Walmart), local value creation (Nestle), global standard of excellence (Microsoft), dedicated service relationship (IBM), or expert knowledge (Merck). (4) Build an interactive control process to monitor shifts in the assumptions that underlie your choices and prepare an action plan to respond.