Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a company that specialized in the large-scale cranes used to load containers onto ships, burst on the heavy machinery landscape in 1992. At that time, the global market for large-scale container cranes was growing fast as ports were having to handle more and more super-sized container vessels. The industry was […]
Read More… from A Lesson from China: Growth Is Not Eternal So Be Prepared
Companies want shareholders who share their long-term investment horizon, according to a survey of 138 North American investor relations professionals. More than 90% of the companies surveyed describe their ideal shareholder as one with a long-term perspective. The reason: by giving companies the freedom to make strategic decisions and long-term investments, long term-focused shareholders help […]
Read More… from The Impact of Ideal Vs Problematic Shareholders
Traditionally, industry-leading companies used to be large conglomerates that gained their dominant competitive advantage through an accumulation of assets and positions, which gave them unbeatable economies of scale. Thanks to the diversity of their portfolios, these conglomerates had a wide reach, allowing them to pursue short-term profitability and growth wherever they could find it. Today, […]
Read More… from What Your Company Can Learn from Supercompetitors
It is not easy to motivate subsidiaries of multinational companies to create competence that can be useful to other subsidiaries, and for good reason. Developing competence, including know-how and technological expertise for example, takes time and money. Subsidiaries are responsible for maintaining their own bottom lines, so why should they worry about other subsidiaries? Parent […]
Read More… from How to Motivate Subsidiaries to Share Useful Know-How with Others in the Group
Professionals in an organization — technical experts in a service organization, for example — will acquire best practices, solutions, resources, ideas and other knowledge as they develop responses to the needs of their clients. In organizations where professionals work in a single location, the professionals will gather regularly to discuss what they have learned about […]
Read More… from Launch Intentional Communities of Practice in Global Companies
Traditional closed business models still dominate in today’s business world, but more and more companies are looking at the opportunities created through open collaboration and exchange with business model partners. Pioneering companies such as SAP put themselves at the centre of a vibrant ecosystem of active partners. The question for corporate executives is when to […]
Read More… from Is There an Open Business Model Right for Your Company?
What is the basis for a company’s competitive advantage? Traditionally, this question elicits one of two answers: 1) Industry structure. Finding the product-market space within a particular industry that is optimal for your company: in this space you can establish a monopolistic or at the least an oligopolistic position through various barriers to entry. 2) […]
Read More… from Why Companies from Emerging Markets Are Putting the Heat on Multinationals
The most basic business is product-based, involving the manufacturing, assembling and/or delivery of a product. A different type of business, once rare but becoming more and more common, is platform-based, involving creating the context for two or more third parties to interact. EBay and Match.com, for example, were created as platform-based businesses: using technological innovations, […]
Read More… from How to Turn a Product-Focused Company into a Platform Business
Supply chain management has become increasingly sophisticated over recent decades with improved financial performance as a result. Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing; sole-source suppliers; outsourcing to low-cost locations; common parts; and centralized inventories – these among other measures have helped leaders run supply chains more efficiently and guard against recurring risks such as changes in demand, supply […]
Read More… from Is Your Supply Chain Prepared for the Unexpected?
The decisions of C-suites and boards are influenced by the previous experiences of their members. In uncertain situations, organizations gain legitimacy — and reduce the costs of experimentation — by copying others. These common-sense principles are borne out in a large body of research that points to the importance of ‘interlocks’ — i.e. previous or current ties to […]
