Foreign companies can be at a disadvantage when competing against domestic companies strengthened by informal networks developed over years and even lifetimes. In Korea, for example, two types of informal networks play a major role in the success of Korean companies. The first of these networks is the more personal Yongo, which is built on […]
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An ongoing collaborative research project, led by Bayes Business School professor Charles Baden-Fuller and involving scholars from around the world, has developed a fundamental typology of business models based on customer interactions. These interactions can be either dyadic—involving interactions with one customer group—or triadic, involving interactions with two customer groups who are each interacting with […]
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While businesspeople have a sense of what strategic thinking entails, defining this familiar concept in specific terms is a challenge. We know that strategic thinking and operational thinking are different, but what are the capabilities and mindsets that are required of strategic thinking? A wide variety of conceptualizations and definitions of strategic thinking emerge from […]
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Terms such as ‘volatility’ and ‘disruption’ are often used to describe a world in which competitive advantage is increasingly difficult to maintain. The extent of such volatility and disruption is quantified in a Boston Consulting Group study that examined the performance record, relative to their competitors, of 20,000 companies over a period of 40 years. […]
Corporate venturing, a collaboration between an established firm and an innovative start-up, has been gaining ground as a strategic path to innovation. There is a wide range of mechanisms for corporate venturing, of which the following is a sample: Scouting missions. Looking for innovations aligned with the company’s goals, representatives of the corporation meet with […]
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According to the World Trade Organization, the products and services purchased by the government account for 15-20% of developing countries’ GDP. Putting aside the relative handful of defence contractors with their multi-billion contracts, how can companies break into the B2G sector? The surprising answer from one academic researcher is a firm’s corporate social responsibility activities. […]
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In the language of psychology, individuals who are more afraid of missing opportunities than taking risks are considered promotion-focused. Their counterparts are individuals who are more afraid of taking risks than missing opportunities; these are prevention-focused individuals. A study of U.S CEOs and CFOs (the latter considered the second most influential executive in strategic decisions) […]
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Business-to-business (B2B) companies differ from business-to-consumer (B2C) companies in many ways. B2B company products are often more complex and require greater lead times to produce, there are fewer customers, and because of the complexity of the products, the relationship between customers and suppliers are closer and more personal. For many in B2B industries, these differences […]
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Ambidexterity involves two goals that are often at odds: exploitation – successfully competing in the present with quality products and services, superior execution, and successful marketing; and exploration – preparing to win the future through investments in R&D and innovation and acquiring the knowledge to anticipate changes in the business environment. How can companies navigate […]
Read More… from Staying Competitive Today While Preparing Full-On for Future Success
Growth is a top imperative for marketers, according to the latest CMO biannual survey conducted by Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in collaboration with Deloitte LLP and the American Marketing Association. Nearly 40% of the 323 CMO respondents to the survey put growth as their number one imperative, and another 30% of respondents put it […]
Read More… from Existing Customers and Home Markets Drive Growth
