As we discuss in our recent blog post on HBR Blog Network, the death of over 800 people in the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building with garment factories in Bangladesh, spurred widespread outrage over working conditions in offshore factories. In the search for blame, many commentators point to the absence of building codes, lack of workplace safety rules, and the greed of US corporations.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2013/05/a-business-model-for-bangladesh/
On July 16, 1969 at 9:32 a.m. EST, five F-1 engines lifted the 6.2 million-pound Saturn V rocket into space. (As a reference point, that’s the equivalent of tossing about 400 full-grown elephants into the air at once.) Jeff Bezos, who was 5 years old at the time, was watching—intently.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2013/04/amazons-jeff-bezos-and-apollo-11-hes-still-innovating/
As we discussed in our recent blog post on HBR Blogging Network, it finally seems that the uproar overMarissa Meyer’s diktat banning flexible work policies at Yahoo is dying down. While good arguments were made on both sides of the issue, what got lost in the charged debate was the potential for evolving traditional business models through changing the employee-employer relationship.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2013/03/liberate-your-employees-and-recharge-your-business-model/
In our recent blog post on HBR blogging network we discussed the Tesla Model S, which is arguably the most promising all-electric contender for a slice of the luxury sedan market, but was panned recently by New York Times reporter John Broder, who finished his test-drive on the back of a flatbed truck.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2013/02/teslas-model-s-technology-outruns-the-business-model/
In a recent post on Harvard Business Review bloggers network, we discuss the extreme focus business model of Germany’s famed Mittlestand:
Quick test: name one company that does one thing and does it very well. The companies that occupy the limelight are typically diversified giants that achieve growth through constant expansion into new markets and the introduction of additional product lines (just think P&G, GE, and Microsoft).… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2013/02/extreme-focus-and-the-success-of-germanys-mittelstand/
In a recent blog post on the Harvard Business Review bloggers network, we discuss the sustainability of the advantage that come from innovating the business model.
With the Winter holiday shopping season, fashion apparel retailer Zara has been the focus of media attention — the New York Times recently profiled the innovative fast fashion business model pioneered by Zara, while Elizabeth Cline’s book on the costs of fast fashion has climbed up the sales charts.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2012/12/business-model-innovation-the-gift-that-keeps-giving/
In a recent blog post on Harvard Business Review we discuss one of these frequent situations in which business model innovation is necessary to bring technological innovation to life. In case you missed it, the2012 World Food Prize went to Daniel Hillel, an Israeli scientist who, in his own words, “…helped to develop the principle of shifting from low-frequency, high-volume irrigation to high-frequency, low-volume irrigation”, the system known as drip irrigation.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2012/11/when-business-models-trump-technology/
Apple gets a lot of stick about manufacturing in China, and the issue came up again recently with the release of the iPhone 5. A recent article on the “Cult of Mac”contrasts Apple to Timbuk2, a US producer of traveler and messenger bags, that proudly locates most of its of its manufacturing in San Francisco, one of the most expensive places on earth.… Read more
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.insead.edu/2012/10/why-apple-has-to-manufacture-in-china/
