Netflix was only ever present in the US till 2010, and even as recently as 2015, only had a presence in 50 countries. But now it is there in 190 countries, more than half of its 130 million subscribers are from outside the US, and in the second quarter of 2018, the revenues accruing from international streaming, for the first time exceeded domestic ones. Of course, this sort of growth in the digital era is not unheard of having been accomplished also by the likes of Google and Facebook. But Netflix’s growth is unique as they need to sign content deals on region-specific basis before any launch. Plus, it had rivals such as Amazon Prime and domestic players curating content in local languages. A key factor in their growth was that they didn’t try to enter all markets at once. It followed a three-phase policy, starting in 2010 with Canada which was a very similar market to the US. Then, in the second phase Netflix made substantial use of big data and its derived business analytics to gain an understanding of different markets, to expand to 50 countries. By the time of the third phase, the company had mastered the art of curating regional content, so was able to expand rapidly to the magic figure of 190 countries. Whichever market that Netflix has entered in, it has rapidly responded to local tasted and preferences. They have also developed strategic partnerships with players such as Telefonica in Spain and KDDI in Japan.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-netflix-expanded-to-190-countries-in-7-years

Uploaded Dare:17 October 2018

A lot of companies these days have been afflicted with the malaise of drafting lofty purpose statements. This has happened due to employees and customers’ desires to see the brand do something for the good of the planet. The statements then become highly misleading, as key stakeholders then fail to understand the real purpose of the brand. A succinct mission statement is crucial as it gives shape to the corporate strategy. To define an effective purpose, one must leverage the intellectual capital present within the organization to come up with actionable ideas. To execute this, a courageous but compassionate leader is needed. All this and much more has been discussed in the latest book written by retired US Army General Stanley McChrystal titled- Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. The purpose must reflect truly what the company stands for. This purpose must then be used for effective talent management and employee engagement.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Your-Companys-Purpose-Isnt-to-Save-the-World?gko=280a9

Uploaded Date:16 October 2018

If one goes through the mission statements of several companies, it seems many want to identify themselves as lifestyle brands. Chipotle, Blue Apron and Godiva are cases in point. All three and others have taken steps to fulfill this promise of theirs, but few have convinced. Instead, one thing all lifestyle brand aspirants could do is to open hotels. Spanish footwear giant Casa Camper started out with their hotels in Barcelona and Berlin, to much success. The style-minded home furnishings company West Elm has likewise set up boutique hotels across US cities such as- Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Portland and Savannah. Through this hotel, obviously outfitted with West Elm furnishings, marketers are able to show their entire customer base how any place would look when using furnishings from the company. This business innovation can work wonders as it creates enduring and emotional connections with their customers.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/09/lifestyle-brands-are-building-hotels-now-heres-why-that-actually-makes-sense

Uploaded Date:16 October 2018

Merely drafting a pretty corporate strategy does not make a good leader, but he/she needs to get it executed in the right manner. For this, ambitious targets need to be set, specific metrics identified for measurement and the team progress periodically reviewed. Today, 95% of organizations set goals for themselves, a number even visionary management thinker of the “management by objectives” fame- Peter Drucker- could not have envisaged. Most organizations are blindly wedded to this concept of goal-setting, yet few realize that this actually goes counter to the targets of strategic alignment. Many go to the extent of setting easily achievable targets, so they can rely on their bonuses and other incentives. And that is why goals need to be FAST and not SMART. FAST here refers to Frequent, Ambitious, Specific and Transparent. SMART talks of Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related. Google, Intel and Anheuser Busch In Bev are examples of organizations that are following FAST principles.

Source:https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/with-goals-fast-beats-smart/

Uploaded Date:27 September 2018

The modern business world is fraught with several disruptions changing the way work was conducted earlier in the industry. Uber has brought convenience to the taxicab industry, something that Amazon has been doing in the online retail space. Wal-Mart brings access to physical retail. Car Max is one such disruptor which is working like a Wal-Mart but specifically for cars. Carvana meanwhile is doing something similar but for used-cars. It actually has a giant wheel from which instead of candies, it is cars that drop out. Carvana is making use of five key consumer principles, starting with reducing friction between different stakeholders involved. They are using technology to make information navigation easier. This is further giving rise to seamless self-service. For delivery customers are given the choice of their home location too. Its accessibility is increasing with presence in 13 sites at the moment. A sixth principle not yet relevant to Carvana, but may soon be is subscription. Several carmakers such as Volvo, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche have already made use of this system. This combo between creativity and technology is ideal to spawn digital marketing success. Competitors or even entire industries can then be disrupted.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/09/09/disrupt-your-competition-lessons-from-uber-amazon-walmart-and-carvana-who-is-carvana/#3d31887017d9

Uploaded Date:26 September 2018

Businesses have constantly changed over the years, primarily driven by technology. But the pace of change in the last few years has been exceptional. EY is one such which has constantly braved the storms and emerged with new ideas of its own. Due to the company’s presence in over 150 odd countries across more than 170 years, it was able to disrupt from within. There are times when the technology will make the first move followed by the corporate culture as has happened in the field of talent recruitment where so many companies are now preferring the gig workers. EY has itself created a platform called Gig Now to somehow increase its present ratio of part-time/freelance workers from a mere six percent to five times the figure. But to prepare for the future, solid groundwork needs to be done now. Companies must invest on corporate training programmes that will fix the culture at the company to take advantage of future technological innovations.

Source:https://www.ey.com/en_gl/workforce/are-new-technologies-changing-culture-or-should-culture-change-t

Uploaded Date:15 September 2018

Cannibalizing one’s own product has become a common trend, albeit often unsuccessfully in the digital era. The thinking goes that if one does not cannibalize one’s own, a competitor will soon end up disrupting. This is easier said than done, as capabilities to scale are built over many years. Also, it is extremely difficult to transition from one industry to another, otherwise makers of horse-drawn carriages would end up as the auto-makers. That is where the Saudi Aramco’s latest business innovation is a rather counterintuitive, but possibly shrewd method of protecting one’s turf. They have invested in research, to help engines run more efficiently on oil. This means that lesser of Aramco’s produce i.e. oil would be used. But this is a smart ploy as every year we see more number of electricity-driven cars and buses hit the road. There is increasing pressure to make more use of renewable energy. So, this development if successful will ensure that people will continue to use oil well into the future, albeit a bit less than at the present rate.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/A-Counterintuitive-Way-to-Shape-Demand?gko=fe7a4

Uploaded Date:15 September 2018

Most businesses crave to know what their competitors are thinking and planning ahead. Traditionally, strategy analysts have used financial models to predict competitors’ moves. But now due to the enormous data storagegoing on, more specific, pinpointed insights can be eked out. One can make use of NLP (Natural Language Processing) for the same. Unstructured textual data can be really difficult to engage with, so some form of encoding is required to get the right results. Cognitive maps are the latest fad, with deep insights. Cognitive biases and the mental models that people apply are also important to be understood. AI or NLP can even be used to detect patters a simple data warehousing will not display. Google is already using such tools in a big way, while Facebook plans to make a grand entry.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/natural-language-processing/

Uploaded Date:13 September 2018

A major strategic dilemma companies used to face was whether to produce all the sub-components of a final product themselves or outsource these parts. Now the older decision-making process has become outdated due to several competing factors. The TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) model is getting obsolete. So, experts have identified a more holistic approach titled coherent capability make-or-buy framework. This framework has a few inherent questions that need to be posed right away, beginning with understanding the impacts of the business innovations and technologies currently. Another is identifying the existing as well as potential competitors or even disruptors in the near future. The third question is about markets and which of the existing markets will remain lucrative in the future. It also looks at product categories whether already prominent or still at the drawing board. The company need also evaluate its product line to see whether there exist any that will be a market leader soon. All kinds of disruptions are evaluated here. This includes commercial, technological and product disruptions.

Source:https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/reports/new-make-or-buy-question

Uploaded Date:13 September 2018

In spite of having completed about a decade since the economic crisis, most banks in Europe are still struggling to reach their pre-crisis returns. For this recovery a mechanism has been identified by banking experts known as Fit for Growth. It is a mechanism where the banks remain an integral central platform, but its operations are modular. Key processes such as trading, marketing, business analytics, procurement or even some finance functions may now be safely outsourced. This reduces the overheads for the banks. Of course, such outsourcing is always liable to certain risks but the rewards far outweigh them. A major strategic driver for banks’ long-term sustainability will be their ability to build scalable, flexible models to keep up with enormous market changes. All such strategic decisions can be divided into four categories, beginning with the unique “differentiating capabilities”. Another is “table stakes” which are the basics needed, followed by “lights on” that are the daily operations. The last of these is “not required” which as the name suggests is simply are artefacts no longer needed, so must be replaced.

Source:https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/reports/building-modular-bank

Uploaded Date:13 September 2018

The definition of a CEO is set to undergo, unofficially if not on paper. This is because of the era of the all-knowing leader who barks instructions for others to execute is on the run. Instead, the new CEO will be more of a Chief Enablement Officer. One of the critical roles he/she will need to perform will be to reduce uncertainty. This will be possible when priorities are well defined in the corporate strategy itself and the organizational structure is streamlined towards this end goal. The language to be used for communication need be simple with transparent practices promoted at all levels. Another task with the new CEO will be to remove organizational barriers by increasing cross-functional collaboration. Employees need be provided with the right level of autonomy, so they may work on creative functions as well. Challenging assignments need be given, while at the same time ensuring a supportive atmosphere. There must be frequent management training sessions so that the employees may get educated on the newer technologies as well as other skills required at work. The CEO has to have a grip on the business, but at the same time must also be in touch with the outside world, so that external insights may be picked up. A really important intangible actthey need to be good at is to be the role model for all to see.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/ceos-should-be-chief-enablement-officers-9056

Uploaded Date:11 September 2018