For innovative social or non-profit enterprises, seeking to make an authentic impact on the lives of the people, receiving proper funding is crucial for survival and growth. Funding agencies though often require specific data to verify the claims of said impact. Due to the not-so-clear understanding of impact, social enterprises resort to data warehousing activities that are often unproductive or even misleading. They understand the kind of data that will be addressed by the donor bodies. An NGO’s work in Uganda is an example, where the organization actually did great work till it was relying on local donors and merchandize revenue. But once it plucked for serious funding, the data that was to be presented lead to loss of focus from the main things. That is where a new book launched The Goldilocks Challenge written by the duo of Dean Karlan and Mary Kay Gugerty is instructive. Here Karlan, a Professor from Northwestern University described the acronym CART to best explain the work under the Goldilocks parable. CART expands into credible, actionable, responsible and transportable. Randomized trials must also be used to understand the true impact of the ground.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/responsibility/a-goldilocks-framework-for-attracting-funding-9686

Uploaded Date:02 August 2018

There is often a faulty belief that is lauded in that having a clear-cut corporate strategy limits the flexibility that companies seek in the modern, tech-driven world. It apparently closets thinking and imagination. Yet, that is not true as great execution requires a fully-functioning operational team run on strategic terms. Of course, one must always have the flexible options of choosing plans that work rather than simply those stated. A clear statement of the current choices befalling the company are necessary to target customers, define its value proposition and directing people across various company departments. Companies towards the start of their journey must remain clear about defining these essential choices.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Strategy-Talk-Can-Strategy-Be-Decisive-and-Flexible?gko=32ae7&sf185475333=1

Uploaded Date:02 August 2018

The case of General Electric (GE) is one that all businesses must closely follow. The present business scenario is full of two kinds of people dominating. One are the deep pocketed but clueless activist investors. Others are those apparently building the corporate strategy while in reality being keener on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity. GE was held almost at gunpoint by the demands of Trian which is an activist hedge fund. GE CEO Jeff Immelt had to resort to a resignation. He had spearheaded an era of heavy M&A activity, many of which did not work out. One is now seeing a trend of rejuggling the corporate portfolio among large, modern corporations. M&A activity works only when it is designed to improve the overall experience of the customer. Cases in point being Google’s acquisition of Android, P&G buying Tambrands or Instagram getting acquired by Facebook. Most get their acquisition strategy wrong as they are simply poor attempts at troubleshooting. The GE Healthcare and Baker Hughes is one such abysmal failure. This combination of toxic investors and the M&A guys is at the heart of many business worries now.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/ges-fall-has-been-accelerated-by-two-problems-most-other-big-companies-face-them-too?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_monthly&utm_campaign=finance_activesubs_dalertnlsubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00209&deliveryName=DM10732

Uploaded Date:02 August 2018

A lot of excuses or reasons are often giving about the failure of Nokia. A common one is the arrival of Apple’s iPhone coupled with Nokia’s inability to see the disruptive nature of this business innovation. Another oft repeated claim is about the Symbian software’s inherent inferiority in comparison to the OS used by Apple. The truth however is that Nokia simply lost out due to its own internal flaws. The corporate strategy at Nokia had hidden flaws, as it was too simplistic and rigid. It only focused on the near-term. The top management did not like hearing the truth about any flaws in the system and wanted instant sales results. This percolated down to the middle level as well. To cite an instance, the employees had long known about the relative inferiority of Symbian but could not tell their superiors as they knew the truth could not be well-handled. In fact, the top management was deliberately misled just to hide these flaws. Production delays led to further panic from top-down and consequently pressures exerted on all concerned stakeholders.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/who-killed-nokia-nokia-did-4268

Uploaded Date:24 July 2018

Bitcoin has become the poster child of the entire blockchain technology. Yet it will be unfair to categorize the tech based only on the cryptocurrency. At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, a survey revealed that people believe that a tenth of the world’s GDP will be entrusted in blockchain by the year 2027. Massive investments are also being bet blockchain, with market leaders such as IBM pinning large hopes on it. However, the technology is still in its nascent stage so not matured completely. Consulting giant McKinsey leveraged its massive business analytics capabilities to carry out a detailed industry-wise study on the feasibility of blockchain across each sector. It so emerged that at this point it has the highest potential in the public sector and the least in arts and recreation. Technology, media, telecom, financial services, insurance, healthcare and surprisingly even agriculture get ranked in the middle. Others towards the bottom are mining, property, utilities, transport and another surprise- logistics. Five common myths exist around blockchain, one of them already discussed is its association with bitcoin, while it is much more. Another is that it is superior to all traditional data warehousing platforms, whereas in truth it only works bets in low-trust environments. Neither is it tamper-proof as popularly believed. It isn’t completely secure yet either. Its verifiability is still debatable, but people are working towards it.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/blockchain-beyond-the-hype-what-is-the-strategic-business-value?cid=other-soc-twi-mip-mck-oth-1806&kui=khu25NxEeCjyfmSGh3_RdA

Uploaded Date:21 July 2018

A lot of events take place periodically where people try to find meaning in life. It includes those such as Sundance, TED, SXSW, Art Prize and Burning Man. A lot of millennials and gen x-ers in particular are opting for different modes of such meaning making. They are doing it through their vocations and everyday work. Business innovation that is transformative is in many ways an art. It is needed even more in today’s environment as workplaces are increasingly becoming short-term oriented with a me-too culture to remain static. New products, services experiences and business models are bringing out this sense of innovation among the people. A lot of new startups have this spirit of trying out new challenges and working towards a mission. This is in contrast to a lot of older firms that have become too comfortable in their own stasis.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/06/29/meaning-making-how-the-innovation-driven-organization-imparts-purpose-meaning/

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018

The platform-based business model is thriving right now. Seven of the twelve largest companies worldwide follow this model. In spite of this, few of the traditional giant corporations have adopted this model. The likes of Alibaba, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Tencent and Apple all rule over huge pieces of the pie. They also have tremendous reach especially through social networks emanating from Instagram, We Chat, WhatsApp or YouTube. This gets leveraged by companies for their digital marketing activities. A digital platform is one with an open infrastructure. They are matchmakers connecting various resource providers towards collaborative innovations. Their ecosystems sprawl across international boundaries. Due to the vast digital activities, they end up performing vast quantities of data warehousing operations, from which business insights may be gleaned. Few incumbent market leaders have adopted a proactive platform strategy. It has instead been attritional to support their traditional businesses.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/five-fifty-platform-plays?cid=other-soc-twi-mip-mck-oth-1805&kui=WRrEnLPQHtax6yFuuFmpKw

Uploaded Date:10 July 2018

Osteria Francescana has now been voted as the world’s best restaurant in a noted study. But all was not rosy at the beginning. The restaurant was panned by Italians due to its constant experimentation in a culture which adheres to centuries-old norms when it comes to culinary habits. The initial success and subsequently being granted Michelin stars could have led to some sort of complacency, as is a common feature across successful new companies. But instead Osteria Francescana has constantly built on success due to it evolving at all times. Business innovation is the norm at Osteria with new practices or recipes being experimented with. Novelty is rewarded here above the mundane. This creativity also leads to an improvement in job satisfaction, further linked with increased productivity.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/what-the-worlds-best-restaurant-knows-about-keeping-its-creative-edge

Uploaded Date:04 June 2018

The US steel industry at one stage not that long back seemed invincible. This was primarily driven by demand-side economics mainly from the automotive and consumer electronics businesses. Now allthree have been disrupted thanks to cheaper foreign competition. The American healthcare is one ripe for such kind of disruption as costs are spiraling high. Regulation too is excessive. That is where Narayana Health’s business innovation could prove to be the first nail in the coffin. It’s Health City in Cayman Islands (HCCI) is not far from US shores, yet outside the regulatory boundaries. Concepts of reverse innovation have been brought in from India where the founder is originally from. The average cost per bed for building HCCI stands at a third of US prices. Even FDA endorsed medicines could be purchased at lower prices thanks to relations back home in India being leveraged. Back-end operations such as HR, finance and radiology were outsourced to Indian units. Certain units were even home-produced such as medical oxygen being made inhouse. This isn’t strictly medical tourism, but being so close to home, could en up being a major disrupter.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/is-this-the-hospital-that-will-finally-push-the-expensive-u-s-health-care-system-to-innovate

Uploaded Date:04 July 2018

Mergers, acquisitions and partnership agreements have become increasingly common in business. There have been many of late such as AT&T-Time Warner, CVS-Aetna, Express Scripts-Cigna and T Mobile- Sprint. This raises the specter of collaboration, yet there is a fear within the US Department of Justice (DoJ), that this could thwart the true spirit of competition, essential to a healthy business environment. Occasionally the DOJ can actually knock-down some proposed mergers when affects the customer base substantially. However, a lot of mergers take place due to other reasons and not just to kill competition. In fact, competition itself is a varied term. Five kinds have been identified, starting with horizontal competition which is naturally one where two or more compete within the same industry. Conversely, vertical is that where companies are in competition either with their suppliers upstream or buyers downstream, mainly over profit margins. Disruptive competition is one where any business innovation moves in to the market, threatening to deplete or eliminate legacy firms. State-sponsored competition is very common in China. Here, companies are backed by a central government, often for welfare purposes. Collective competition is increasing its presence but has always been around. It is when several players collaborate simply to fight an existing giant head-on. These collaborators do not have much in common except a common enemy, such as Apple is for the Android camp. Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/how-mergers-change-the-way-your-company-competes?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_not_activesubs&referral=00563&deliveryName=DM7457

Uploaded Date:22 June 2018

There are different models for any company to grow, but six of these are most commonly identified. The first one relates to technology through new processes. Apple was very good at offering new experiences. Features cannot always be completely overhauled, but even some incremental changes can have ripple-off effects. Getting new customers is always a challenge, so newer markets need to be forever explored. A business innovation such as the iPod or the Home Pod were revolutionary and not just enhancements on existing models. Solutions need to be found for existing problems within the society. iTunes is an example of a completely new model being developed. It involves reimagining the existing ecosystem to garner innovative revenue streams. A matrix needs to be built to plan future growth. Within this, markets must be divided into current and new, while capabilities similarly need to be broken down into new and existing.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/the-6-ways-to-grow-a-company?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_activesubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00563&deliveryName=DM7588

Uploaded Date:22 June 2018