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Taboos are a universal feature of social systems. Even the most avowedly open-minded organizations place tacit constraints on what can be said and even thought. Business leaders ignore these constraints at their peril. This article examines the role of the sacred, profane, and taboo in society, and links these phenomena to the psychology of moral outrage. In public debates, taboos are rarely as absolute as first assumed and can often be reframed as tragic choices. Leaders must performa delicate balancing act if they are to prevent taboos from blinding managers to either threats or opportunities. On the one hand, leaders who let their intellectual curiosity get the better of them risk paying a steep career price. On the other, leaders who bury their heads in the sand risk even worse consequences. Navigating this dilemma brings into sharp tension the policy prescriptions of advocates of authentic leadership (who see honesty as a trump virtue) and proponents of Realpolitik (who see organizational hypocrisy and obfuscation as unfortunate but unavoidable tactics necessary in an imperfect world.)

While there is widespread support for the notion that organizations with better reputations outperform their rivals, there is uncertainty about how to create such a reputation, especially among the managers responsible for this task. For example, organizations often give money to worthy causes or create social responsibility programs in the hope that this will appeal to their stakeholders. When approaches such as these are only loosely coupled to the strategy of the organization they appear to be "bolted on" rather than "built in." Thus, they are likely to foster a reputation that is less consistent with the principal actions of the organization and less credible. They are also easy for competitors to imitate. Because of this, a reputation grounded in the strategy of the organization has a better chance of providing a sustainable competitive advantage. This article presents a normative framework that illustrates a strategy-led approach to reputation building.

The only way to achieve real growth is to develop offerings so innovative that they create new categories or subcategories making competitors irrelevant because they lack a "must have" feature or benefit. The alternative, engaging in "my brand is better than your brand" brand preference competition, virtually never works because of market inertia. This article, based in part on hundreds of case studies, shows how to identify the "must haves" and discusses barriers to competitors such as going beyond functional benefits, finding shared interests with customers, ongoing innovation, superior execution, scaling the concept, becoming an exemplar, and branding the innovation.

This article, based on work with dozens of Business-to-Business firms, extracts general principles of brand architecture design based on specific examples, and then tests these principles by applying them more broadly to a wide sample of brand architectures. B2B brand architecture is a function of two key dimensions: the organizational structure, in particular, the extent to which a firm is centralized or decentralized (in terms of its product range, sales, and marketing); and the extent to which the firm's market offerings are standardized versus customized. This framework and the axiom of risk alleviation through the sales process together capture the principal elements of B2B brand architecture design.

As the role of the CIO continues to evolve, the determinants of CIO success remain elusive. Numerous articles and books have been written offering solutions to this problem. Is it placement in the organization's reporting structure, a combination of technical and managerial skills, or something more unique? This article identifies the most important role-specific CIO career success factors based on an examination of the careers of fourteen highly successful CIOs selected by a committee of globally respected peers.

Powerful technological, regulatory, and economic forces compel the senior executives of multinational corporations (MNCs) to repeatedly re-evaluate and reconfigure value chains in the search for ongoing competitive advantage. However, releasing assets from existing activities and redeploying them to new opportunities is a challenging and poorly understood task. In particular, the standard strategic management concepts of use- and firm- flexibility overlook the crucial international dimension of location. Utilizing examples from GM, Qantas, and a mining MNC, this article argues that strategic flexibility should be consciously measured along all three dimensions. By using the decision tool set out in this article, MNC executives can map their worldwide footprint of strategic roadblocks and opportunities to expand into new markets, divest redundant businesses, and build flexibility to adapt to future challenges.

In a search for Schumpeterian solutions, the Obama Administration has made venture capital a cornerstone of its Clean Technology policy, adopting a strategy of providing large loan guarantees to a few venture capital-financed firms. This article argues that three key conditions are necessary for venture capital to successfully open new economic spaces and then it applies them to assess the viability of venture capital investment in clean technology. The article concludes that large loan guarantees are unlikely to be effective. Other government policies such as SBIR grants, university R&D support, certain (de)regulatory actions, large-scale demonstration projects, and/or procurement decisions can better encourage both incremental and Schumpeterian innovation without distorting the turbulent dynamics of newmarket creation. This analysis can also be applied to other sector- and market-specific innovation policies.

While lying in the workplace is prevalent, it simply doesn’t work, argues John Carlson. In fact, the greatest risk is in “turning a blind eye” and making dishonesty acceptable. As Carlson writes, the potential damage unleashed by an ethically permissive workplace may far exceed the lost labour of an employee taking a short nap under his desk. Three types of deceptive impression management (IM) agents are identified — the sycophant, the cover-up artist, and the all-purpose liar. The author finds that once an employee begins a deceptive IM campaign, the employee will eventually receive negative feedback, which will often result in a vicious circle of even more deceptive IM that is difficult to break.

“Occupy” movements highlighting economic inequality, such as Occupy Wall Street, have quickly spread around the world. But they have not appeared in several countries, with one interesting example being India. How have businesses in India coped with the dual pressures of enhancing shareholder wealth leading to economic growth and operating in a society with a high level of inequality? Can businesses in the developed world learn from Indian enterprises that have attempted to balance corporate strength with societal benefit? This article discusses the initiatives of Indian companies, including in community development, education, partnerships, and the development of low-cost products.

Business leaders are trained to focus on big, attractive markets, yet some of the most compelling sources of growth come from markets that begin as tiny “footholds.” Eight of the ten most valuable U.S. companies started in small segments of the economy, such as IBM, whose origins were in punched cards to tabulate the 1890 U.S. Census, or ExxonMobil, which refined petroleum for kerosene lamps. Penetrating foothold markets requires an entirely different approach than that used for big, established markets, and there are three imperatives of successful foothold strategies: to reduce uncertainty, stimulate demand, and enable leadership. While the narrowness of foothold markets makes them powerful, it also creates difficulty in choosing them. Leaders can identify a strong foothold because it has a clear target customer, provides a pathway to a broader market, is easily satisfied, and has few dependencies on separate decision makers and business partners. After comparing the foothold markets of Blackberry and Gatorade, this article states that a company searching for footholds should consider what it wants to accomplish, assess potential markets, create an exhaustive list of footholds, and evaluate them according to its objectives.

It is common in the workplace to hear about the need to have more effective meetings. Yet employees still find themselves in meetings that are poorly organized, too long, and resolve little except when to have the next meeting. In breaking down a meeting into its component parts — including considerations of physical space and primary activities — and applying Michael Porter’s organizational value chain model, this author offers constructive steps that will turn meetings into exercises in value creation.

Every leader needs to have smooth, productive relationships with those around him or her. But what makes for a rewarding relationship — and its opposite — has long been unclear. Boyatzis, who has conducted studies and written extensively about the impact of brain activity on such relationships, describes some important new research that holds the promise of helping leaders to form more effective relationships. In one study, executives underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and were asked questions about past work events involving both resonant and dissonant leaders; recalling events with resonant leaders activated brain pathways linked to openness and learning, while recalling events with dissonant leaders had an almost opposite effect. In another study, sophomores were interviewed first about their ideal future and then about their current homework and work ethic; the latter questions activated parts of the brain associated with guilt and self-consciousness, calling into question the efficacy of traditional performance management reviews.

The sum of virtues, values, and traits equals good character, which, in addition to competence and commitment, is one of the three components that make a leader effective and respected. For many, however, virtues and values remain undefinable or elusive. These authors define and de-construct them, and in the process demonstrate how character helps people in their personal journeys to become better leaders. Furthermore, they explain how character develops and why it matters.

Most management intervention strategies are conceived to meet routine or predictable challenges. Yet managers rarely have effective strategies for non-routine challenges, which puts firms at a disadvantage, as non-routine challenges present extraordinary opportunities for innovations and breakthroughs. This article offers transformational leadership principles for non-routine challenges, based on perception, context, and self-empowerment.

That an organizational conflict can be an ideal learning opportunity may seem unlikely. But though a conflict may never be fully resolved, organizations may learn how to relieve or eliminate the larger problems of their dispute. Based on a study of British Columbia’s salmon farming industry — an industry marked by conflict between farmers, government, First Nations, environmental organizations, and industry associations — MacDonald proposes eight practices of organizational leadership, individual leadership, and learning processes that can be applied in order to manage differences and learn from them. 1. Build robust and adaptable learning capabilities. 2. Encourage learning from a range of sources. 3. Focus on gaps in knowledge. 4. Motivate individuals to act. 5. Pair similar individuals between organizations. 6. Agree on rules and hold everyone accountable. 7. Change structures and people as the relationship evolves. 8. Take the time to understand each other.

In an increasingly complex and volatile business environment, companies need leaders who can collaborate, whether across national boundaries or teams. According to a recent survey of over 300 organizations by the Hay Group, organizations have become flatter and more “matrixed”; employees work on different project teams and report to different managers. Alongside benefits to innovation, information sharing, and complex problem solving, this also results in unclear lines of accountability and authority, and slower decision making. The survey found that executives are lacking competencies for collaboration, suggesting that leadership skills have not evolved with the new organizational structure. This flat, matrixed structure requires leaders who can subordinate their agenda, yield power, and give up resources for the greater good, rather than exercise maximum control. The Hay Group’s research found that successful collaborative leaders have six key capabilities: enterprise perspective, cross-functional perspective, customer perspective, self-management, respectful listening, and matrix influencing. Furthermore, companies can improve their chances of successful collaboration by following five guidelines: be clear about the destination, develop mutual understanding, know when to lead and when to follow, set schedules and stick to them, and encourage information sharing. After examining these issues with examples from Procter & Gamble, Apple, Sony, and Cisco, this article ends with a collaboration assessment tool.

Britney Spears is one of the most successful female recording artists in contemporary music, world-wide. Herein, we analyze how Britney Spears and her team of employees rely on social media applications to communicate around this pop icon, and create and maintain her celebrity brand image. Specifically, we look at the use of social media during the launch of her single 'Hold It Against Me' and the associated album Femme Fatale in early 2011. The interplay of postings on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook-combined with comments on her webpage, BritneySpears.com-can be seen as a prime example of social media usage to support new product introductions.

In order to provide the highest quality services at lower costs, global firms have shifted their customer service functions offshore. Despite the apparent advantages of offshoring services, customers tend to object to the practice based on concerns about private/personal information being sent overseas. Additionally, executing service exchanges with overseas providers can be challenging because of perceived communication difficulties and cultural differences. The purpose of this article is to offer managers of firms that offshore services a clearer understanding of consumer concerns and provide guidance for alleviating these concerns. Specifically, suggestions are proffered regarding how to (1) minimize communication and cultural misunderstandings between customers and service providers, (2) assure customers that personal/private information is secure, and (3) restructure service activities to alleviate customer dissatisfaction. Unless such customer concerns are successfully identified and addressed, companies may not benefit from pursuing a services offshoring strategy.

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) strategies are widely recommended for established firms to solve growth- and economic performance-related problems that they encounter in highly competitive business environments. However, relatively little empirical light has been shed on practical CE strategy processes and how they function in the everyday lives of organizations. The case study presented herein addresses this underexplored issue by describing how one long-established firm in dire economic circumstances renewed its strategy, as related by an interview with the company's managing director. The analysis draws on the theoretical ideas of corporate entrepreneurship models and focuses on practical activities within the strategic renewal process: What did the case firm actually do to compensate for decreasing turnover and to improve its longer-term position in the market? The findings underscore the progressive, proactive, and impermanent nature of CE strategies; further, they suggest that firms need clients and other external partners with equally ambitious business objectives in order to successfully implement their CE strategies.

This article examines the explosive growth of competency-based, or behavioral, selection programs within organizations. Recognizing this trend, many job applicants have learned to position themselves for selection by leveraging competency-based selection program concepts and psychological factors that influence résumé screening processes and interview decision outcomes. Specifically, there is a growing trend for job applicants to submit behaviorally-focused résumés-that is, résumés which emphasize behaviors required for success in positions-to gain interviews for job opportunities. These behaviorally-focused résumés may position applicants as the 'right' candidates for job opportunities, even if they are not truly the 'right' candidates for the jobs they seek. As such, it benefits employers to familiarize their hiring professionals with behaviorally-based résumés and competency program theories. Understanding these concepts and the psychology of behaviorally-focused résumés helps hiring professionals evaluate behaviorally-focused résumés more accurately, and minimizes résumé prescreening and selection mistakes.