HBR On Strategy

“Community” is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot in the business world. But what does it really mean to build one—and what does it take to make it last? More importantly, how can businesses create communities that drive long-term success? Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress and the founder and CEO of Automattic, tackles these questions in this episode. He shares insights on fostering community within a firm—like hiring the right people through auditions instead of resumes—and within a customer base by encouraging engagement and feedback. Key episode topics include: customer strategy, customer experience, customer feedback, hiring and recruitment, brand management, strategy, HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: The Creator of WordPress· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Stefan Thomke, professor at Harvard Business School, says running experiments can give companies tremendous value, but too often business leaders make decisions based on intuition. While A/B testing on large transaction volumes is common practice at Google, Booking.com, and Netflix, Thomke says even small firms can get a competitive advantage from experiments. He explains how to introduce, run, and learn from them, as well as how to cultivate an experimental mindset at your organization. Thomke is the author of the book Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments and the HBR article “Building a Culture of Experimentation.” Key episode topics include: experimentation, data and analytics, risk management, decision-making, strategy HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: How to Set Up—and Learn—from Experiments· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Founded in 2014, Thinx, Inc. makes absorbent underwear that can be worn during menstruation. But the feminine care market had seen virtually no innovation in half a century because of the taboo against discussing the topic of menstruation. As a result, the startup was competing against large incumbents like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. Harvard Business School Associate Professor Rembrand Koning examines these strategic marketing challenges and discusses the importance of removing taboos and biases in order to bring innovation to the feminine care market in his case, “Thinx, Inc.—Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care.” Key episode topics include: disruptive innovation, startups, marketing, gender, health and wellness HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full Cold Call episode: Innovating in the Feminine Care Market· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Venture capital firms notoriously embrace risk and take big swings, hoping that one startup will become a monster hit that pays for many other failed investments. This VC approach scares established companies, but it shouldn't. Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev says that VC firms have proven best practices that all leaders should apply in their own companies. He explains exactly how VC's operationalize risk, embrace disagreement over consensus, and stay agile in their decision-making—all valuable lessons that apply outside of Silicon Valley. With author Alex Dang, Strebulaev cowrote the new book The Venture Mindset: How to Make Smarter Bets and Achieve Extraordinary Growth and the HBR article “Make Decisions with a VC Mindset.” Key episode topics include: HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: What Venture Capitalists Can Teach Companies About Decision-Making· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

When a company, division, or product line has been struggling for some time, it can feel nearly impossible to get things back on track. But big turnarounds are possible, provided you have a team willing to work hard, be creative, and embrace change. When he was president and CEO of Marvel, Peter Cuneo oversaw the resurgence and sale of the media company, but even before that he had a long track record for turning around many types of consumer-facing businesses. He shares the strategies that work best for shaking up organizations and teams and boosting their performance. Cuneo is also the managing principal of Cuneo and Company. Key episode topics include: strategy execution, strategic planning, strategy, turnarounds, decision-making, problem solving, entertainment industry HBR On Strategy curates the best and conversations and case studies with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Lessons from a Turnaround Expert · Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

The use of artificial intelligence—specifically generative AI—is growing rapidly, and tech giants like Google have an important role to play in how that technology gets adopted and developed. Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google as well as its parent company Alphabet, which he's led as an AI-first company for several years. He speaks with HBR Editor at Large Adi Ignatius about shaping Google's AI strategy, putting safeguards in place, and how work and leadership will change as AI advances. Key episode topics include: artificial intelligence, generative AI, innovation, technology, strategy HBR On Strategy curates the best and conversations and case studies with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Leadership, AI, and Big Tech· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Getting a big, bureaucratic organization to innovate or adopt new technologies is hard. That's why Harvard Business School professor Maria Roche wrote a case study about U.S. Air Force Major Victor “SALSA” Lopez. He helped launch a program that uncovers ways to use AI to strengthen U.S. defense efforts. Professor Roche and Major Lopez talked about the challenges of fostering innovation within a large bureaucracy in a conversation with host Brian Kenny on Cold Call back in 2023. Key episode topics include: innovation, change management, artificial intelligence, defense sector, technology, analytics HBR On Strategy curates the best and conversations and case studies with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Fueled by the promise of concrete insights, organizations are increasingly prioritizing data in their decision-making processes. But that process can easily go wrong. Many leaders don't understand that their decisions are only as good as how they interpret the data. In this episode, Professor Michael Luca of Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Professor Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School share a framework for making better decisions by interpreting data more effectively.Luca and Edmondson are coauthors of the HBR article "Where Data-Driven Decision-Making Can Go Wrong." Key episode topics include: Analytics and data, data management, data strategy, data analysis, organizational decision making, strategy HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Is Your Company Reading Data the Wrong Way?· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Many companies, especially in the tech world, have come to embrace the idea of growth at all costs. But according to research from Gary Pisano, professor at Harvard Business School, most firms fail to consistently increase revenues and profits over the long term, adjusting for inflation.In this episode, Pisano explains why it's important for leaders to think more strategically about not just the rate of growth they want to achieve but the direction they want to grow in and their method for doing so. Trying to grow too fast can be the downfall of many organizations. He shares examples of companies that have fallen into this trap, as well as those getting the balance right. Pisano wrote the HBR article “How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?“ Key episode topics include: Growth strategy, strategy, competitive advantage, profitability, sustainable business practices HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Rethinking Growth at All Costs· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Imagine a company that, in a matter of weeks, can develop, prototype, build, and deliver innovative products. That's exactly what Haier, one of the world's largest home appliance manufacturers, achieved in 2019. When the city of Wuhan urgently needed mobile isolation wards to curb the spread of Covid-19, Haier leveraged their open digital supply chain platform to deliver in record time. In this episode, Kasra Ferdows, an operations management professor at Georgetown University, explains how open digital platforms facilitate innovation and problem solving by making the entire supply chain more transparent to suppliers. Key episode topics include: Supply chain management, strategy, innovation, competitive advantage, operations HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Open Digital Platforms to Spur Innovation· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

The insurance industry is centuries old and has historically been dominated by a few large incumbents. But the industry is experiencing disruption from smaller tech-driven companies—known as insurtechs—that are changing how insurance is bought and sold. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Lauren Cohen explores how insurtech firm Hippo is challenging traditional insurance models. He explains how Hippo is eliminating the need for insurance agents and using AI to lower prices. And he breaks down Hippo's unique approach to targeting customers who live in riskier markets and are comfortable with digital platforms. Key episode topics include: insurance, disruptive innovation, artificial intelligence, growth strategy, long-term growth, competitive advantage, climate change, case studies HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full Cold Call episode: How One Insurtech Firm Formulated a Strategy for Climate Change· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

It's a holy grail for many businesses—the search for sustainable competitive advantage. But Chris Zook points out that it's elusive for most companies. He notes that less than one in 10 companies even achieve a modest level of sustained and profitable growth over a 10-year period on average. Zook is the former head of Bain's global strategy practice and coauthor of the book Repeatability: Build Enduring Businesses for a World of Constant Change. In this episode, he shares three key principles that can help your organization find and maintain an enduring competitive advantage, with real-world examples drawn from IKEA, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Nike. Key episode topics include: strategy, leadership, growth strategy, long-term growth, competitive advantage, case studies. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Good Strategy's Non-Negotiables (2021)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

For a long time in the restaurant industry, there were two types of dining experiences: fast food or table service. But Ron Shaich, founder and former chairman and CEO of Panera Bread, managed to create an entirely new category in between the two: fast casual. That innovative idea laid the groundwork for companies like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and beyond. In this episode, Shaich breaks down his core strategies for successful innovation in the restaurant industry: pinpoint what your customers truly want, differentiate your offering, execute with excellence, and focus on growth. He argues that these strategies aren't only relevant for the food industry — they can be used to scale any type of organization.Key episode topics include: strategy, customer service, entrepreneurship, going public, growth strategy, scaling entrepreneurial ventures, strategy execution, restaurants, fast casual, panera, chipotle, sweetgreen, innovation, disruption. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Fast Casual Food Pioneer Ron Shaich Explains How to Find a Niche — and then Scale (2023)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Imagine this scenario: Your company's executive team has just announced their new master plan for growing the business. Now it's your job, as a mid-level manager, to put it into practice. So where do you start? In this episode, strategy consultant Andrea Belk Olson explains how to make the most of a plan that you may or may not agree with and that you may or may not have had any input into. She also has advice about the questions you should ask yourself before taking action, how to handle resistance from people you manage, and what to do if the new strategy isn't working well. Key episode topics include: strategy, strategy execution, growth strategy, managing people, managing up. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full Women at Work episode: How to Manage: Executing Strategy (2024)· Find more episodes of Women at Work· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In June 2022, the first ever LIV Golf event teed off outside of London. Offering players larger prizes and more flexibility, LIV Golf aimed to disrupt the sport. In response, the PGA Tour suspended all players who participated in the LIV Golf event, escalating tensions between the two entities. This conflict culminated in LIV Golf filing an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. Then, in a surprising turn of events, the two tours announced their merger in June 2023. University of Virginia associate professor Alexander MacKay discusses the competitive and regulatory issues at stake and whether or not the PGA Tour took the right actions in response to LIV Golf's entry in his case, “LIV Golf.” In this episode, He explores how a dominant organization like the PGA Tour can respond to challenges from innovative competitors. He also shares lessons from the PGA Tour's response to LIV Golf's market entrance and explains when it makes more sense to treat a competitor as a partner rather than an adversary.Key episode topics include: strategy, business management, antitrust laws, disruptive innovation, professional sports industry, media, entertainment, and professional sports, golf, merger. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: The PGA Tour and LIV Golf Merger: Competition Vs. Cooperation (2023)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In the last half century, relationships between employers and their employees have evolved away from being rooted in long-term loyalty to a new paradigm of short-term alliances driven by uncertainty and competition. Entrepreneurs and coauthors Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh argue that the new world of work isn't so different from the typical conditions that many entrepreneurs operate in. And if you're a manager, you may need a new strategy to hire and retain top talent. Casnocha and Yeh, coauthors of the book The Startup of You, explain why it's important for your organization to build internal and external employee networks—and how to get started if you don't already have those groups in place informally. Key episode topics include: strategy, entrepreneurship, talent management. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Talent Strategies for the Post-Loyalty World (2013)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

The consulting firm McKinsey has helped its clients navigate disruption in a wide range of industries. But what can we learn from how McKinsey, itself, responded to disruption in the management consulting industry in the early aughts? In this episode, the originator of disruptive innovation, the late Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, joined former McKinsey managing partner Dominic Barton to break down how the firm shifted its internal strategy to prioritize flexibility and efficiency. Key episode topics include: strategy, professional services, innovation, consulting, disruption. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Clay Christensen and Dominic Barton on Consulting's Disruption (2013)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Why did some companies thrive during the Covid-19 pandemic while others struggled?Keith Ferrazzi, founder of the consulting firm Ferrazzi Greenlight, surveyed more than 2,000 executives to learn how they changed their operations during the pandemic. The results show that some companies had already been cultivating a kind of extreme adaptability before the pandemic. That practice helped them come out on top.In this episode, Ferrazzi outlines the concrete steps organizations can take to cultivate the resilience and agility to stay competitive in the post-Covid-19 world. Key episode topics include: strategy, adaptive leadership, organizational transformation, collaboration and teams. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Some Companies Thrived During the Pandemic (2022)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Glossier launched in 2014 as an e-commerce, direct-to-consumer makeup and skincare brand aimed at millennial women. From the start, Glossier's founder Emily Weiss built a strong digital community around the brand. But after the company received its first major round of funding, Glossier was ready to scale up its marketing spending. The challenge: How to do that while also preserving the brand's all-important authenticity? In this episode, Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jill Avery explains how to think about marketing when scaling a business. Drawing from her business case on Glossier, Avery breaks down how their management team incorporated paid micro-influencers to grow their brand value without undermining their credibility. She also explores how Glossier leveraged their existing community to engage new customers.Key episode topics include: strategy, growth strategy, marketing, social media, beauty care, startup, scaling, DTC, digital marketing. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: Glossier Built a Cult Brand and a Digital Community, but What's Next? (2020)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

What does it take to succeed as a business while doing well by your employees? Harvard Business School professor emeritus Michael Beer has studied companies who invest in building long-term social value, and he says they offer some key lessons for other firms. In this episode, he breaks down how these companies set their strategies for new products and services. As he explains: “One of the key disciplines they have is what we called forging a strategic identity. So what does that mean? It means that they, first of all, start the process of deciding what they're going to do, what services or products they're going to offer…what markets they will go into…by first asking themselves, ‘Who are we?' They start from the inside out…rather than from the outside in.” Michael Beer is also the coauthor of Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value.Key episode topics include: strategy, leadership. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Higher Ambition Leadership (2011)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org ]]>

Looking at business news over the past decade (including a few HBR articles), you might assume that just about every traditional company has fallen — or will soon fall — to competitors from the tech industry. But London Business School professor Julian Birkinshaw says that story of disruption and destruction is overblown. His research into Fortune 500 and Global 500 organizations shows that many industries haven't been radically remade, despite the rise of a few tech giants like Amazon and Google. Birkinshaw outlines the strategies that many incumbents, like J.P. Morgan, Disney, and Proctor & Gamble, are using to survive and thrive. He breaks down the benefits and drawbacks of four key strategies that incumbents typically use to compete with insurgents. And he explains how you can decide which strategy best fits your organization.Key episode topics include: strategy, disruptive innovation, digital transformation. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: No, Tech Start-ups Aren't Taking Over the World (2022)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

If you're a fast-growing company in an emerging economy, you need a strategy for competing in your home market in the short term. But you also need a longer-term strategy that will help you grow beyond that initial market. John Jullens says the challenge is building both strategies simultaneously. Jullens is a longtime management consultant who specializes in corporate and business unit strategy. He explains why so many companies in emerging markets make the mistake of focusing on execution and first mover advantage. Instead, he argues that companies need to lay the strategic foundations for long-term success early on or risk flaming out. Key episode topics include: strategy, international business, asia, growth strategy. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why So Many Emerging Giants Flame Out (2014)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Khan Academy, the online global education nonprofit, launched in 2006 when founder Sal Khan created a few videos to help his cousin with her math homework. After a decade of growth brought Khan Academy's user base to more than 15 million monthly visitors, Khan knew he needed expert help to formulate and lead a strategy for the organization's future growth.He hired Ginny Lee from Intuit to serve as Khan Academy's COO and president. Her mandate was to redefine the organization's priorities, create a focused strategy for growth, and continue scaling the company. Harvard Business School professor Bill Sahlman studied the company's growth strategy, and wrote a business case study about it. He explains why it's so important to build a well-balanced leadership team as part of your growth strategy. He also breaks down how to create processes for everything from budgeting to giving feedback. .Key episode topics include: strategy, leadership and managing people, operations and supply chain management, digital learning, growth strategy. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: Can Khan Academy Scale to Educate Anyone, Anywhere? (2019)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Leadership transitions are challenging for both organizations and the leaders who must directly navigate them. But Michael Watkins says they're also a time of incredible opportunity — especially for those leaders who understand how to handle this crucial period. Watkins is a professor of leadership and organizational change at IMD Business School. He shares a framework for selecting a transition strategy that best matches the situation you're facing — whether you're building a new operation from scratch or trying to turnaround a business in crisis. Watkins also explains why it's so important to effectively assess your new leadership context and not to rely only on transition strategies that have worked for you in the past. Key episode topics include: strategy, strategic planning, leadership transitions. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Picking the Right Transition Strategy (2008)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In 1992, Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. signed NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the global business landscape began transforming. Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, studies how companies have adjusted their strategies to that disruptive change — from rethinking their supply chains to learning to navigate unpredictable trade policy environments. He discusses how companies can plan for an evolving world of multi-country international supply chains and cross-border information flows. Key episode topics include: strategy, competitive strategy, business history, globalization, technology and analytics. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Globalization: Myth and Reality (2017)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Disruptive innovation has proven to be such a powerful idea that the word “innovation” is often equated with the broader idea of market disruption. But that's not always the case.INSEAD strategy professor Renée Mauborgne says there is a way to create new markets without destroying jobs, companies, and communities. She calls this idea: “nondisruptive creation.”Mauborgne explains how some entrepreneurs and companies have been able to grow billion-dollar businesses by creating new markets rather than displacing existing ones. She points to Square, which enables credit card transactions with a mobile phone or tablet, as one prime example.Mauborgne also breaks down the key operational advantages that come with nondisruptive creation and explains how to spot a nondisruptive market opportunity and evaluate its potential. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, disruptive innovation, growth strategy, entrepreneurs and founders. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Disruption Isn't the Only Path to Innovation (2023)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Enel, Italy's state-owned power company founded in 1962, was one of Europe's largest coal users and polluters. Now it is recognized as a leader in renewable energy services and has integrated sustainability into its business model and operations. In this episode, former Harvard Business School senior lecturer Mark Kramer explains how Enel made that enormous strategic change — from its long-range planning to how it tackled the dreaded “innovator's dilemma.”Kramer studied the company's transformation into a renewable energy leader in his case, “Enel: The Future of Energy.” Key episode topics include: strategy, change management, leadership and managing people. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Cold Call episode: How a Coal Polluter Became a Renewable Energy Leader (2018)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Creating value is table stakes for any business. But is your organization also capturing the value you create? IMD professor Stefan Michel says that many businesses don't actually know how. “Many companies spend a lot of time on innovating, in a sense that they create more value for customers,” he argues. “What they often miss is to think about how to capture that value.” Michel studies marketing and strategy at the Switzerland-based business school. Through his research, he created a framework for defining the value of your innovations. In this episode, he explains how to apply his framework — whether you're developing new business ideas or formulating a strategy to compete with a new entrant in your market. He also discusses how value-capture works in the real world — drawing on examples from companies like Nespresso and Google. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, value-based pricing, pricing, value capture, Nespresso, Google, new revenue streams, growth strategy. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Focus More on Value Capture (2014)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Climate change is causing severe weather, dangerously elevated temperatures, and water shortages around the world. Meanwhile, firms are struggling to reduce their carbon emissions while adapting their operations to these new conditions. To address both challenges at once, Harvard Business School professors Forest Reinhardt and Michael Toffel have proposed an unconventional path forward: learning from the climate change strategies of the U.S. Navy. They argue that the Navy's scientific and sober view of the world's changing climate offers insight that can also apply to the private sector. In this episode, you'll learn how to balance mitigation activities in the shorter term with long-term investments that will help your organization adapt to future changes. You'll also learn how climate change could shift demand in your markets and reshape shipping routes and affect your supply chains.

Do you know the difference between accurate forecasting and effective forecasting?Technology forecaster Paul Saffo says accurate forecasting is nearly impossible to do. But if you aim for effective forecasting, he notes, then at least you're considering the full range of reasonable possibilities for the future, rather than jumping to one conclusion and preparing only for that outcome. “If you head straight towards accurate forecasting, you may end up in a much worse situation by overlooking things that eventually come to pass,” Saffo argues.In this episode, he shares his six rules for effective forecasting—from visualizing future uncertainty to discerning patterns in past data—and explains why it's important to be your own worst critic of your forecasts. Key episode topics include: strategy, strategic planning, risk management, decision making and problem solving, forecasting, technology. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Six Rules for Effective Forecasting (2007)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

AptDeco, a peer-to-peer marketplace for used furniture, launched in New York City in 2014. Despite its complexity and high costs, the company grew quickly. Co-founders Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis considered several different options for scaling the business—from expanding into new markets to rebranding with a sustainability focus. In this episode, Harvard Business School associate professor Ayelet Israeli and AptDeco co-founder Kalam Dennis discuss the path to scaling that AptDeco ultimately chose and what their experience can indicate about how to successfully scale a startup. They focus on how to translate early failures into valuable information that can help your business move forward and grow in the long term. They also explain how to use data and analytics to improve your value proposition.Key episode topics include: strategy, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial business strategy, marketing, furniture, analytics, start-up, scaling, growth strategy. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: How to Scale a Startup Marketplace for Used Furniture (2022)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Some managers develop strategy by focusing on problems in the present, and that's especially true during a crisis. But Mark Johnson, co-founder of the innovation consulting firm Innosight, argues that leaders should imagine the future and then work backward to build their organization for that new reality. In this episode, he outlines the practical steps managers can take to look beyond the typical short-term planning horizon and help their teams grasp future opportunities. Johnson also shares real-world examples from Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Intel to illustrate what can happen when leaders shift their strategic mindset to focus on the future. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, decision making and problem solving, growth strategy, crisis leadership, managing teams. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: To Build Strategy, Start with the Future (2020)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Is your company's existing growth formula finally reaching its limit?Bain & Company partner Chris Zook says you may need to redefine your core business if you want to power new growth. Zook was co-head of Bain's Global Strategy practice for 20 years. He's also a best-selling business author.In this episode, he shares three warning signs that indicate your core business needs to be redefined, and he explains how to approach that transformation. In particular, he focuses on how to uncover what he calls “hidden assets” within your company that can offer future sources of growth.Key episode topics include: strategy, competitive strategy, growth strategy, transformation. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Unleash Your Hidden Assets (2007)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Many people aspire to entrepreneurship. But Bill Aulet, who has advised founders for decades, warns that it remains a high-risk endeavor. In this episode, he outlines concrete steps anyone can take to get a new venture off the ground — including intrapreneurs within large organizations. He also breaks down some of the important trends he's seeing in entrepreneurship, like the increasing commoditization of products and lower barriers to entry, due to technology. Aulet is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He's also the author of the book Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup. Key episode topics include: strategy, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and founders, entrepreneurial business strategy, innovation, start-ups. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: A Roadmap for Today's Entrepreneurs (2024)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

The Super Bowl isn't just American football's championship game. It's also one of the world's biggest stages for brand messaging. In 2024, the average 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $7 million —and that doesn't even include production costs. So how do brand managers know if they're getting a good return on that huge investment? In this episode, Bentley University assistant professor of marketing Shelle Santana discusses the evolution of corporate branding, using lessons from classic Super Bowl ads, like Budweiser's iconic Clydesdale horses. She shares how to choose the best, measurable goal for an ad campaign, while also accounting for the risks that can accompany bold storytelling—like controversy or online backlash. She also explains why some brands release their ads ahead of the game, while others don't. (Hint: It's about social media engagement, and ultimately expanding the ROI on your ad investment.)Key episode topics include: strategy, brand management, sales and marketing. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands? (2019)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Online influencers are an increasingly important way for companies to find new customers and drive sales. But if you're a marketer hoping to target consumers, it's important to understand how the social media industry works.In this episode, Emily Hund, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, explains that influencers grew out of Great Recession-era job cuts that forced people in creative fields to innovate.She offers advice for brands developing influencer marketing strategies. You'll learn how to find the right influencer for your brand and how to measure success. Hund recommends starting with a small experiment to get familiar with the process before making a larger investment. You'll also learn why longer-term creative relationships with influencers can produce stronger results than one-off endorsements.Hund is the author of the book The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media. Key episode topics include: strategy, social media, entrepreneurship, social marketing, customer strategy, influencer marketing. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: The Ins and Outs of the Influencer Industry (2023)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

More and more companies are turning to pricing algorithms to maximize profits. But many are unaware of a big downside.Marco Bertini, a marketing professor at Esade Business School in Barcelona, says constant price shifts can actually hurt the perception of your brand and its products. He warns that employing AI and machine learning without considering human psychology can damage your relationship with customers.In this episode, he outlines steps you can take to avoid these pitfalls, including some basic guardrails, overrides, and communication tactics. He also shares real-world examples of companies that are using dynamic pricing to smooth demand and provide better customer experiences. Key episode topics include: strategy, pricing strategy, algorithms, psychology, customer experience, communication, dynamic pricing, brand, AI, machine learning, profits. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Algorithms Won't Solve All Your Pricing Problems (2021)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In 2010, Japan's largest e-commerce platform Rakuten was rapidly expanding into global markets when CEO Hiroshi Mikitani made a surprising announcement: Rakuten's internal language would be changing to English. That meant that all meetings, emails, and other communications would have to be conducted in English. The company's employees had two years to become proficient in the language or be demoted. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley discusses her case, “Language and Globalization: ‘Englishnization' at Rakuten,” and explains why Mikitani introduced this new mandate and what results it achieved. You'll also learn about the early challenges that accompanied this enormous change, including loss of productivity and employee skepticism, as well as how the shift to English shaped Rakuten's long-term working culture.Key episode topics include: strategy, global strategy, globalization, cross-cultural management, language, communication, leadership, transformation, organizational culture. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: Language and Globalization: The Mandate to Speak English at Rakuten (2017)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Managing rapid growth is a huge challenge for young businesses. Even start-ups with glowing reviews and skyrocketing sales can fail . That's because new ventures and corporate initiatives alike must sustain profitability at scale, according to Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeffrey Rayport. He has researched some of the biggest stumbling blocks to long-lasting success and he explains how to successfully transition out of the start-up phase. Rayport argues that success has a lot to do with an organization's cash flow and its ability to meet growing demand. But it also involves something he calls “profit market fit,” which is when an enterprise becomes financially sustainable. Key episode topics include: strategy, start-ups, entrepreneurial business strategy, customer strategy, growth, scaling, demand, cash flow, sustainable business. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale (2022)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

What do LEGO, GoPro, and CarMax have in common? Wharton professor David Robertson says they all have a similar strategy for growth that involves building families of complementary innovations around a core product or service. It's an approach to innovation that's neither disruptive nor incremental, but rather somewhere in the middle. And Robertson argues it's a strategy that any company, no matter the industry, should consider. In this episode, you'll learn how to use customer feedback to identify a product or service that can anchor a family of complementary innovations as well as how to prepare for common challenges. Robertson is the author of The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, growth strategy. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Low-Risk, High-Reward Innovation (2017)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

It's an idea that's a non-starter at many organizations: collaborating with a competitor. But Yale School of Management professor Barry Nalebuff says leaders who refuse to consider teaming up with other companies—even when there are clear mutual benefits—may be leaving value on the table. In this episode, you'll learn how companies like Apple, Ford, Google, and others have analyzed and capitalized on what Nalebuff calls “co-opetition” opportunities. You'll also learn how to think strategically about which tasks work well for these collaborations and how to mitigate your organization's risk through time-tested tools like contracts, performance guarantees, and conditional penalties. Key episode topics include: strategy, negotiation strategies, competitive strategies, co-opetition, collaboration. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: When to Team Up with Your Competition (2020)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

As the chair and CEO of Sodexo, the France-based food services and facilities management company, Sophie Bellon leads one of the largest employers in the world, with front-line workers in nearly 50 countries. Managing that workforce—and the supply chains that enable them to do their jobs—is a complex undertaking that involves balancing both global strategy with local execution. In this episode, Harvard Business Review executive editor Alison Beard sits down with Bellon to discuss her approaches to talent management, environmental sustainability, and supply chain resilience—all while driving future growth. Key episode topics include: strategy, growth strategy, talent management, operations and supply chain management, supply chain management, environmental sustainability, food and beverage sector. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Learn more about HBR's “Future of Business” virtual conference (November 2023)· Find more Harvard Business Review live events· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In early 2015, Microsoft's senior leaders were facing a set of difficult decisions. The firm had been struggling to innovate and grow as fast as its competitors. Now they were considering new opportunities that would yield higher growth but lower margins — like shifting away from perpetual licensing to focus on subscription sales. Harvard Business School professor Fritz Foley studied this period of transformative change at Microsoft for a business case study he wrote. In this episode, he shares how Microsoft's leaders analyzed different options and worked to get both investors and employees on board with new ideas about growth. He also explains how the company's risk-averse culture evolved in order to execute such a huge transformation.Key episode topics include: strategy, growth strategy, business models, corporate governance. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Cold Call episode: The Transformation of Microsoft (2018)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

It's a dilemma facing more and more brands: Should your business sell on Amazon?It's the most visited e-commerce platform in the U.S. and the dominant retailer in 28 other countries. But that reach comes at a price. Harvard Business School associate professor Ayelet Israeli says there are downsides for many Amazon sellers, like costs, competition, and the lack of data.In this episode, Israeli offers a scorecard that can help you decide, step by step, whether or not the Amazon marketplace is right for your business. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, leadership, scaling, Jeff Bezos, long-term thinking, customer focus. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Companies Decide to Sell on Amazon—or Not (2022)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Companies of every size across the world are basing more of their work around projects, but research shows that nearly two-thirds of those efforts fail. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez has studied projects and project management for decades. He argues that at least some of the blame for these failures lies with executives who misunderstand the fundamentals of projects and fail to dedicate enough of their time to those they sponsor. In this episode, he explains how to get better outcomes from project-based work and avoid common pitfalls.

Booking.com was founded by a Dutch university student in 1996. It grew slowly for almost a decade. By 2011, the company was generating more than a billion dollars in profits annually — making it the most financially successful digital travel market at the time. The secret to that accelerating growth was the company's use of large-scale testing and experimentation. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Stefan Thomke explains how the company created and sustained a culture of innovation that challenged conventional assumptions about management and process.Key episode topics include: strategy, experimentation, innovation, travel, digital, platform. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Cold Call episode: At Booking.com, Innovation Means Constant Failure (2019)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

So much has been written about how to future-proof a strategy. But Peter Scoblic says that too many companies still rely on short-sighted strategies that don't effectively plan for different potential future scenarios. Scoblic is a co-founder and principal of the consultancy Event Horizon Strategies. In this episode, he explains how thoughtful and ongoing scenario-planning exercises can help organizations decide which investments will allow them to thrive — even in a crisis. He also shares how to balance short-term factors with longer term modeling and why it's so important to ensure that your planning team is truly diverse. As he says, “This is a case where diversity absolutely matters, in all senses of the word, because what you want is to get people to think outside of the box. It's very difficult to do that if you don't recognize the box that you're in.” Key episode topics include: strategy, strategic planning, crisis management, scenario panning, modeling. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Future-Proofing Your Strategy with Scenario Planning (2020)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

As the CEO of one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., Lynn Good is leading Duke Energy's aggressive transition to renewables and net zero emissions. It's a complex undertaking that involves short-term planning and long-term advances in technology as well as managing a wide range of stakeholders. In this episode, HBR editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius sits down with Good to discuss her strategy for Duke's clean energy transition. They discuss how to make incremental adjustments to strategy as new technologies emerge. Good also explains how and how often she tests her assumptions, and why she nurtures collaborations both within the energy industry and beyond it. Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, growth strategy, environmental sustainability, energy and natural resources sector, clean energy, transition, Duke Energy, technology, renewable energy, change management. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Learn more about HBR's “Future of Business” virtual conference (November 2023)· Find more Harvard Business Review live events· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

When it comes to solving complicated problems, the default for many organizational leaders is to take their time to work through the issues at hand. Unfortunately, that often leads to patchwork solutions or problems not truly getting resolved. But Anne Morriss offers a different framework. In this episode, she outlines a five-step process for solving any problem and explains why starting with trust and ending with speed is so important for effective change leadership. As she says, “Let's get into dialogue with the people who are also impacted by the problem before we start running down the path of solving it.” Morriss is an entrepreneur and leadership coach. She's also the coauthor of the book, Move Fast and Fix Things: The Trusted Leader's Guide to Solving Hard Problems. Key episode topics include: strategy, decision making and problem solving, strategy execution, managing people, collaboration and teams, trustworthiness, organizational culture, change leadership, problem solving, leadership. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: How to Solve Tough Problems Better and Faster (2023)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

In today's global economy, what are the factors that go into choosing a production location? In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih draws on his case study about China-based automotive glass maker Fuyao to discuss this core strategic question. The company must decide between two options to fulfill its upcoming contracts: its new Ohio factory or its factory based out of Tianjin, China. Unlike the Ohio factory, the Chinese factory produces below the cost target, but it also incurs extensive shipping costs and requires a far greater amount of inventory holding. Shih explains how to account for product life cycles and the length of your inventory pipelines when selecting a manufacturing location. He also discusses how to assess other possible risks that could cause delays or increase production costs—like customs delays and labor strikes.Key episode topics include: strategy, cross-cultural management, global strategy, operations and supply chain management, China, shipping, production planning, inventory pipeline. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: China-based Fuyao Glass Considers Manufacturing in the U.S. (2020)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

The secret to success for many Silicon Valley tech companies isn't necessarily that they're ultra-nimble startups, or that they're led by tech-savvy geniuses. Andy McAfee says their success often has more to do with a specific type of corporate culture that focuses on finding unconventional solutions to hard business problems. McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and he's the author of The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset That Drives Extraordinary Results. In this episode, he explains why business leaders need to think more like geeks and explains why it's important to center your culture on company norms, rather than organizational structure. He also offers tips for finding that delicate balance between human judgement and data-driven insights. Key episode topics include: strategy, technology, start-ups, innovation, competitive strategy, Silicon Valley. HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. · Watch the original HBR New World of Work episode: How the Geeks Rewrote the Rules of Management (2023)· Find more episodes of the New World of Work series on YouTube· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org ]]>