Manufacturing’s central role in global innovationCompanies compete on the decisions they make. For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once manufacturing capabilities go away, so does much of the ability to innovate and compete. Manufacturing, it turns out, really matters in an innovation-driven economy.In Producing Prosperity, Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih show the disastrous consequences of years of poor sourcing decisions and underinvestment in manufacturing capabilities. They reveal how today’s undervalued manufacturing operations often hold the seeds of tomorrow’s innovative new products, arguing that companies must reinvest in new product and process development in the US industrial sector. Only by reviving this “industrial commons” can the world’s largest economy build the expertise and manufacturing muscle to regain competitive advantage. America needs a manufacturing renaissance—for restoring itself, and for the global economy as a whole.This will require major changes. Pisano and Shih show how company-level choices are key to the sustained success of industries and economies, and they provide business leaders with a framework for understanding the links between manufacturing and innovation that will enable them to make better outsourcing decisions. They also detail how government must change its support of basic and applied scientific research, and promote collaboration between business and academia. For executives, policymakers, academics, and innovators alike, Producing Prosperity provides the clearest and most compelling account yet of how the American economy lost its competitive edge—and how to get it back.
Is your company delivering products to customers at the right time, place, and price—with the best possible availability and lowest possible cost and working capital? If not, you're probably alienating your customers and suppliers, eroding shareholder value, and losing control of your fixed costs. These dangerous mistakes can put you out of business.In The New Supply Chain Agenda, Reuben Slone, J. Paul Dittmann, and John Mentzer explain how to reinvent your supply chain to avoid those errors—and turn your supply chain into a competitive weapon that produces unprecedented economic profit for your firm.Drawing on a wealth of company examples, the authors show how to activate the five levers of supply chain excellence:· Putting the right people with the right skills in the right jobs· Leveraging supply chain technologies such as system optimization and visibility tools· Eliminating cross-functional disconnects, including SKU proliferation· Collaborating with suppliers and customers to generate a seamless flow of information and supply chain improvements· Managing supply chain projects skillfullyApply the steps in this book, and you build a supply chain that delivers as it should—without leaving money on the table.
The current downturn may prove more brutal than most previous recessions. It's already hammering companies in markets around the globe. It will test businesses to their fullest-many won't survive. But downturns present strategic opportunities, too. In fact, many more companies achieve dramatic gains during recessions than in normal times. How to ensure your company emerges successful? In Winning in Turbulence , a new volume in the Memo to the CEO series, Bain & Company downturn strategist Darrell Rigby provides the playbook. He presents a powerful framework and diagnostic tool (available in the book and online) for assessing three dimensions of your situation:Your industry's sensitivity: How hard is it hit by this downturn?Your company's strategic position: Are you an industry leader or follower?Your firm's financial position, including cash reserves. The author then explains how to craft an action plan tailored to the situation you've diagnosed, providing tools for:Cutting costs intelligently-sustaining your margins and brandBoosting revenue by refocusing your sales force on the right customersChanneling resources into your core businessesPreparing for bold moves, such as game-changing acquisitions Timely and practical, this book positions you to survive a downturn and emerge stronger once the recovery begins.
Why do so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no related experience? Charles Darwin was a geologist when he proposed the theory of evolution. And it was an astronomer who finally explained what happened to the dinosaurs. Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect shows how breakthrough ideas most often occur when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory and offers examples of how we can turn the ideas we discover into path-breaking innovations. Clayton M. Christensen, bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma , has described The Medici Effect as «one of the most insightful books about managing innovation I have ever read. Its assertion that breakthrough principles of creativity occur at novel intersections is an enduring principle of creativity that should guide innovators in every field.» Now with a new preface and a discussion guide, and a foreword by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, The Medici Effect is a timeless classic that will help you reach your innovative peak.
The best of W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne’s articles on blue ocean strategy, all in one place. The seminal book Blue Ocean Strategy has sold over 4 million copies globally and is in print in 46 languages. But much of W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne’s work on creating new market spaces was originally published in the pages of Harvard Business Review . This book brings the best of those articles together all in one place. Piece by piece, these articles explain the process of creating “blue oceans”–uncontested market spaces, untainted by competition. Kim and Mauborgne introduce tools for exploring and exploiting these markets, such as the Value Curve, the Strategy Canvas, the Price Corridor of the Mass, and the Business Model Guide—tools that have come to make up the blue ocean strategy framework. This collection also features the authors’ latest Harvard Business Review article, “Red Ocean Traps.” Whether or not you’re familiar with blue ocean strategy, this book will give you a new perspective on this important framework—and help you implement it in your organization. This volume includes the articles “Value Innovation: The Strategic Logic of High Growth,” “Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy,” “Creating New Maket Space,” “Knowing a Winning Business Idea When You See One,” “Charting Your Company’s Future,” “Tipping Point Leadership,” “Blue Ocean Strategy,” “How Strategy Shapes Structure,” “Blue Ocean Leadership,” and “Red Ocean Traps: The Mental Models That Undermine Market-Creating Strategies.”
Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: You can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small company offers significant financial rewards—as well as personal and professional fulfillment. Leading a firm means you can be your own boss, put your executive skills to work, fashion a company environment that meets your own needs, and profit directly from your success. But finding the right business to buy and closing the deal isn't always easy. In the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business , Harvard Business School professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff help you:Determine if this path is right for youRaise capital for your acquisitionFind and evaluate the right prospectsAvoid the pitfalls that could derail your searchUnderstand why a «dull» business might be the best investmentNegotiate a potential deal with the sellerAvoid deals that fall through at the last minute
Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders. Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, they’re becoming more and more popular—and profitable—due to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become today’s power brokers.Don’t let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails.In Matchmakers, David Evans and Richard Schmalensee, two economists who were among the first to analyze multisided platforms and discover their principles, and who’ve consulted for some of the most successful platform businesses in the world, explain how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success.Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an investor, a consumer, or an executive, your future will involve more and more multisided platforms, and Matchmakers—rich with stories from platform winners and losers—is the one book you’ll need in order to navigate this appealing but confusing world.
What does it take to lead and manage your company’s tech?Becoming an effective IT leader and manager presents a host of challenges—from anticipating emerging technologies, to managing relationships with senior executives, vendors, and employees, to communicating with the board. A good IT leader must also be a strong business leader.This book—now thoroughly updated with a new preface by the authors and current tech details and terminology—invites you to accompany new CIO Jim Barton as he steps up to leadership at his company. You’ll get a deeper understanding of the role of IT in your own organization as you see Jim struggle through a tough first year, handling (and fumbling) all kinds of management challenges. Although fictional, the scenarios are based on the authors’ long experience working with real-life companies across industries and sectors.The Adventures of an IT Leader is both an insightful story and an instructive guidebook. You can read it from beginning to end or treat it as a series of cases, skipping around to different chapters that address your most pressing needs. (For example, if you need to learn about crisis management and security, read chapters 10–12.) You can also test yourself and think about how to use the book’s lessons in your own company by reading the authors’ “Reflection” questions at the end of each chapter.This book is your indispensable manual for IT management and leadership, no matter what business you’re in.
Harvard Business Essentials are comprehensive, solution-oriented paperbacks for business readers of all levels of experience. Managing through change and crisis is difficult in any business environment, let alone one as turbulent as managers face today. This timely guide offers authoritative advice on how to recognize the need for organizational change, communicate the vision, prepare for structural change such as M&A, and address emotional responses to downsizing. With tools for managing stress levels and advice on gathering and sharing information during a transition, Managing Change and Transition is an indispensable guide for managers at any level of the organization.
Business scandals from Enron to WorldCom have escalated concerns about corporate governance into a full-blown crisis. Institutional investors and legislators have dominated the debate and enacted important changes in corporate accounting and other areas. But Colin B. Carter and Jay W. Lorsch say that we must now focus on the performance of corporate boards. This timely book argues that boards are being pressed to perform unrealistic duties given their traditional structure, processes, and membership. Carter and Lorsch propose a strategic redesign of boards–making them better attuned to their oversight, decision-making, and advisory roles–to enable directors to meet 21st century challenges successfully. Based on the authors' deep expertise and longtime experience working with boards around the world, and on a probing survey of CEOs, Carter and Lorsch help boards to develop a realistic value proposition customized to the company they serve. The authors explore the core dilemmas and responsibilities boards face and outline a framework for designing the most effective structure, makeup, size, and culture. This book provides a candid account of the current state of boards and points the way in a time of crisis and change.