The current credit crisis presents an object lesson in data quality. This list of mishaps being reported is long, and ranges from incorrect mortgage and credit data to untrustworthy balance sheets. So how to separate the bad from the good? Ask “Data Doc” Tom Redman of Navesink Consulting, also the author of Data Driven who has been commenting on the role that data played in the lead up to the crisis—and what companies can do to decrease liability and use data to gain a competitive edge. See Redman’s recent column on TheStreet.com.
Author Archive for jdevoll
09
Oct
08
Data and the financial crisis
09
Oct
08
Urgency, complacency or fear?
Heard the phrase “a sense of urgency” recently? It’s been all over the papers in relation to the current global financial crisis. It seems John Kotter’s latest thinking on false urgency and complacency has come at just the right time. A nice review of his new book was published recently in The Financial Times and the LA Times. TIME Magazine also weighed in and pointed out Kotter’s quest to “light a fire” under America’s managers and leaders. If the reviews are correct, perhaps Kotter’s clear vision of change could help all of us navigate through what appears to be ever-increasing volatility.
05
Sep
08
Where’s the urgency?
The September 15th issue of BusinessWeek features an excerpt from John P. Kotter’s latest book A Sense of Urgency. Kotter, considered one of the great management gurus on the subject of organizational change, and best known for his 8-step change process, tackles the hardest step – upping the sense of urgency within an organization. The excerpt focuses on a basic strategy and the four main tactics that will help individuals and their companies combat complacency, fend off false urgency, and start moving towards meaningful change. Check out John Kotter’s site for video and additional information on his ideas.
Why do so many global strategies fail–despite companies’ powerful brands and other border-crossing advantages? Seduced by market size, the illusion of a borderless, “flat” world, and the allure of similarities, firms launch one-size-fits-all strategies. But cross-border differences are larger than we often assume, explains Pankaj Ghemawat in “Redefining Global Strategy.” Most economic activity–including direct investment, tourism, and communication–happens locally, not internationally. In this “semi-globalized” world, one-size-fits-all strategies don’t stand a chance. Companies must instead reckon with cross-border differences. Ghemawat shows you how–by providing tools for: assessing the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic differences between countries at the industry level and deciding which ones merit attention; tracking the implications of particular border-crossing moves for your company’s ability to create value; and creating superior performance with strategies optimized for adaptation (adjusting to differences), aggregation (overcoming differences), and arbitrage (exploiting differences), and for compound objectives. In-depth examples reveal how companies such as Cemex, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and GE Healthcare have adroitly managed cross-border differences–as well as how other well-known companies have failed at this challenge. Crucial for any business competing across borders, this book will transform the way you approach global strategy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pankaj Ghemawat is the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School in Barcelona and the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor (on leave) at Harvard Business School. His Harvard Business Review article Regional Strategies for Global Leadership won the McKinsey Award in 2005.
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The center of gravity in the technology world has shifted east. Today, India and China are churning out some of the world’s best-trained computer science and electrical engineering graduates. In both countries, consumer classes and domestic markets for technology have ballooned. Western high-tech firms are increasingly sourcing their products’ assembly from India and China. Meanwhile, indigenous Indian and Chinese companies are creating intellectual property and innovations that will compete with those same Western companies. In “IT and the East,” James M. Popkin and Partha Iyengar examine the vital questions these developments raise: What’s the long-term impact of high-tech outsourcing? How will innovation be managed in the future? Can Western firms compete in Asian markets while protecting key intellectual property? Will the innovation engine inexorably shift east? What would such a shift mean for Western countries currently driving innovation? The authors also discuss the emerging alliances between Indian and Chinese technology companies and outline the implications for Western businesses. Filled with extensive interviews with high-level executives, government officials, and academics from around the world, “IT and the East” is the first book to articulate the challenges that new business scenarios and capabilities in India and China pose for Western technology firms.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
James M. Popkin is a group vice president and Research Fellow in Gartner Research responsible for research content strategy in China, India and Korea. Mr. Popkin currently serves as senior advisor to the China Business Continuity Management Association. Partha Iyengar is Research Vice President at the Gartner India Research Center, where he researches areas such as Application Development and Global Sourcing. He is considered to be one of the most influential Analysts for Global Sourcing issues and is extensively quoted in the local, national and international press including the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Time.
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China has matured as a market–and the game has changed. Yesterday, multinationals grappled with fundamental strategic choices: Do we go to China; Whom do we partner with; Where should we invest? Winning in China was all about achieving approval to enter the market, picking the right joint venture partner, and selling in the right few cities to the right customers. Execution didn’t matter as much as privileged access–through government and partner relationships. Today, China is teeming with multinational corporations (MNCs) and local competitors. Government is no longer the main driver of deals. Barriers to entry have fallen. Regulations are less of a factor. Partners are no longer required in many industries. Winning now depends on great execution: effectively and efficiently developing, marketing, producing, and channeling goods to customers, and growing and retaining a talent base. In “Operation China,” Jimmy Hexter and Jonathan Woetzel explain how you can achieve superior execution in China–through operations including talent management, product development, information technology, procurement, supply-chain management, manufacturing, and sales, marketing, and distribution. Based on over two decades of consulting experience for both local and multinational operations in China, and extensive research on what drives success in operating in China, this book helps you get your operations right in the new competitive arena defining China today.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jimmy Hexter is a partner in McKinsey s Beijing office and the co-leader of McKinsey s Operations Practice in Asia. Jonathan Woetzel is a partner in McKinsey s Shanghai office and has published several books on China.
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As the world globalizes, countries compete for the markets, technologies, and skills needed to raise their standards of living. These strategies can make–or break–the government’s efforts to drive and sustain growth. In “How Countries Compete,” Richard Vietor sheds light on ways in which governments can best set direction and provide a healthy climate for a nation’s economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, Vietor provides concentrated examinations of different approaches to government facilitation of development. Individual chapters focus on the unique social, economic, cultural, and historical forces that shape governments’ approach to economic growth. Countries discussed include: China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Vietor challenges the widespread notion that, in market-driven economies such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success. A provocative resource, “How Countries Compete” offers potent insights into how the business environment has evolved in crucial nations–and what its trajectory might look like in the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard H. K. Vietor is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he teaches courses on the regulation of business and the international political economy.
To learn more click here.
14
Aug
08
Iconoclast, by Gregory Berns
No organization can survive without iconoclasts — innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the urge to conform, and the tendency to interpret sensory information in familiar ways.
Through vivid accounts of successful innovators ranging from glass artist Dale Chihuly to physicist Richard Feynman to country/rock trio the Dixie Chicks, Berns reveals the inner workings of the iconoclast’s mind with remarkable clarity. Each engaging chapter goes on to describe practical actions we can each take to understand and unleash our own potential to think differently — such as seeking out new environments, novel experiences, and first-time acquaintances.
Packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregory Berns, MD, PhD, is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. He has written for numerous science publications and has been interviewed on National Public Radio, CNN, and ABC’s Primetime. He has been profiled frequently in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other media.
It happens over and over again. Some innovation (a new product, a management trend) comes along that captures the public’s imagination. Everybody joins the parade with great fanfare and high expectations. This “next big thing” promises to transform the companies that adopt it — and inflict great peril on those that don’t.
Then, when the innovation fails to deliver as promised immediately, everyone starts bailing out. Investments are wasted; stock prices plunge; disillusionment sets in.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In Mastering the Hype Cycle, Jackie Fenn and Mark Raskino explain what drives this pattern and how your company can avoid its potential dangers. By understanding the hype cycle, you can ride it more skillfully — timing your investment decisions so that the innovations you adopt stand the best chance of succeeding in the long-term.
Drawing on company examples and Gartner’s proven STREET (Scope, Track, Rank, Evaluate, Evangelize, Transfer) framework, the authors show how to orchestrate the key steps in the innovation-adoption process — from choosing which innovations to take on and when in their life cycle you should adopt, to paving the way for a successful introduction.
The hype cycle isn’t going away. But this book arms you with the strategies you need to ride the crest of a new idea to success — and steer clear of the trough of disillusionment.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jackie Fenn is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research. She focuses on innovation management issues and emerging technology trends. Mark Raskino is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research, specializing in emerging trends.
“…the authors have provided a model that should help companies spot and seize opportunities for growth.” — Financial Times
More than a decade ago, Clayton Christensen’s breakthrough book The Innovator’s Dilemma illustrated how disruptive innovations drive industry transformation and market creation. Christensen’s research demonstrated how growth-seeking incumbents must develop the capability to deflect disruptive attacks and seize disruptive opportunities.
In The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman take the subject to the next level: implementation. The authors explain how to create this crucial capability for unlocking disruption’s transformational power. With a foreword by Christensen, this book provides a set of market-proven tools and approaches to innovation that have been honed through fieldwork with innovative companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Intel, Motorola, SAP, and Cisco Systems. The book shows you how to:
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Follow a market-proven process — so your company can reliably create blockbuster businesses
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Create structures, systems, and metrics — so the disruptive innovations that will power your firm’s future growth receive the funding and personnel needed to succeed
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Create a common language of disruptive innovation — so managers can reach consensus around counterintuitive courses of action
Incisive and practical, this book helps your company take the steps necessary to benefit from disruption — instead of being eclipsed by it.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Scott D. Anthony is president of Innosight, a consultancy cofounded by Clayton Christensen that helps organizations build innovation expertise. Mark W. Johnson is chairman and cofounder of Innosight. Joseph V. Sinfield is a senior partner at Innosight and an assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue University. Elizabeth J. Altman is vice president of strategy and business development in Motorola’s Mobile Devices business.
