Rita Gunther Mcgrath | Blog http://ritamcgrath.com/blog/index/ Author. Speaker. Consultant. en rita@ritamcgrath.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-31T01:32:22+00:00 Complementary webinar tomorrow (January 31) “How the Growth Outliers Do It” http://ritamcgrath.com/site/complementary-webinar-tomorrow-january-31-how-the-growth-outliers-do-it/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/complementary-webinar-tomorrow-january-31-how-the-growth-outliers-do-it/#When:01:32:22Z Just back from Davos!  Tomorrow, Columbia Executive Education will be hosting a complementary webinar on an article that is in this months' Harvard Business Review on growth outliers.  The webinar will explore the seemingly contradictory practices that these firms use to create an enviable ten-year track record of success.  To sign up, click here.

]]> 2012-01-31T01:32:22+00:00 Davos 2012 http://ritamcgrath.com/site/davos-2012/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/davos-2012/#When:17:28:25Z I am in Davos at the World Economic Forum where I facilitated a session on Entrepreneurship and Intelligent Failure.    View my impressions here on YouTube.

]]> 2012-01-29T17:28:25+00:00 Controlling complex systems - insights from Albert-Laszlo Barabasi http://ritamcgrath.com/site/controlling-complex-systems-insights-from-albert-laszlo-barabasi/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/controlling-complex-systems-insights-from-albert-laszlo-barabasi/#When:17:20:20Z In another fascinating session at the World Economic forum, Barabasi who is a distinguished Professor of Physics at Northeastern, presented some of his work on how one can 'control' a complex system.  We all know that our traditional command and control approaches fail utterly when a system's complexity increases.  Instead, if we want to drive a system from an intial state to some other final state, we do better by influencing critical nodes.  He used the analogy of driving a car - once you have the brake, steering wheel and acceleration system sorted out you can drive it without having to know all the complexity that lies underneath. 

You can find links to his work at this link.

 

]]> 2012-01-25T17:20:20+00:00 Davos: Using complexity to fight cyber-criminals http://ritamcgrath.com/site/davos-using-complexity-to-fight-cyber-criminals/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/davos-using-complexity-to-fight-cyber-criminals/#When:17:13:42Z This morning, I moderated a panel on "Managing Complexity with the Santa Fe Institute at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.  One of the featured thought leaders was Stephanie Forrest, a computer scientist who is among the world's leading thinkers on the topic of cyber crime and how to fight it.  She makes a fascinating suggestion - that by fostering consistency and homogeneity in our systems, they are hugely more vulnerable to single attacks.  Instead, she's working on developing systems in which the interfaces and functionality of various systems is the same, but within the system unique programming makes it difficult for a single virus to propogate across multiple systems, mimicking in some ways the way the immune system works in biological systems. 

She explained what were undoubtedly incredibly complex ideas in a  most accessible way.  You can read more about Professor Forrest and her work at this link.

]]> Insights and ideas 2012-01-25T17:13:42+00:00 What are we to use to replace industry analysis in strategy? http://ritamcgrath.com/site/what-are-we-to-use-to-replace-industry-analysis-in-strategy/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/what-are-we-to-use-to-replace-industry-analysis-in-strategy/#When:00:40:31Z In my blog over at the Harvard business review web site, I noted that industry boundaries are blurring and that this can lead to serious strategy miscalculations.  Several people wrote in to say that they thought the 'jobs to be done' perspective offered a better vantage point.  Couldn't agree more!

]]> Business Strategy, Strategy Dynamics 2012-01-20T00:40:31+00:00 Lessons from the Growth Outliers - HBR Article available for download http://ritamcgrath.com/site/lessons-from-the-growth-outliers-hbr-article-available-for-download/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/lessons-from-the-growth-outliers-hbr-article-available-for-download/#When:14:14:31Z This is an article about an exceptional group of companies - publicly traded, with market cap as of 2009 of over $1 Billion USD - who were able to grow their net incomes by at least 5% a year for a total ten-year period.  In it, I find that they combine remarkable stability with remarkable change.  The first 500 readers to click on the link below will be able to access a free .pdf file of the final published article.

 

Click here to receive the download.

 

If you missed it, email me and I'll have a hard copy sent to you. 

Happy New Year!

]]> Profitable Organic Growth, Business Strategy, Growth Options / Real Options 2012-01-05T14:14:31+00:00 Very glamorous evening at the Thinkers event! http://ritamcgrath.com/site/very-glamorous-evening-at-the-thinkers-event/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/very-glamorous-evening-at-the-thinkers-event/#When:13:15:47Z A number of guests and Rita at the Thinkers award event. 

]]> 2011-11-16T13:15:47+00:00 Rita Gunther McGrath one of the world’s top 20 business thinkers http://ritamcgrath.com/site/rita-gunther-mcgrath-one-of-the-worlds-top-20-business-thinkers/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/rita-gunther-mcgrath-one-of-the-worlds-top-20-business-thinkers/#When:12:13:08Z The global management list of leading thinkers has just been released, and I'm happy to share that I am one of the top 20 on the list.

 

You can see the list, images of the swanky awards dinner and other images at this link.

]]> In The News, Strategy Dynamics 2011-11-15T12:13:08+00:00 Looking forward to Thinkers50 event in London November 14 http://ritamcgrath.com/site/looking-forward-to-thinkers50-event-in-london-november-14/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/looking-forward-to-thinkers50-event-in-london-november-14/#When:18:15:13Z There will be a fair number of leading management thinkers at the forthcoming Thinkers50 event, coming up soon.  I'm really looking forward to being there. 

]]> 2011-10-19T18:15:13+00:00 Still not liking Groupon’s business model a whole lot… http://ritamcgrath.com/site/still-not-liking-groupons-business-model-a-whole-lot/ http://ritamcgrath.com/site/still-not-liking-groupons-business-model-a-whole-lot/#When:18:19:13Z In a post over at the HBR site, I note that Groupon's business model continues to be problematic.  In response, I received some updated news from Sander Daniels, who runs a site called Thumbtack that acts as kind of a clearinghouse for daily deals.  Here's what they found:

 

We reviewed 10 daily deals offered by Groupon and Livingsocial, and the "regular" prices quoted by Groupon and Livingsocial were higher in 8 of the 10 cases than the prices quoted by the same merchants when we called them.

 This seems like deceptive marketing to consumers, no matter whether it's the small businesses, the daily deal sites, or some combination of the two that is causing this price inflation.

 To read the full report, follow this link:

http://www.thumbtack.com/blog/case-study-are-daily-deal-discounts-inflated/

]]> Strategy Dynamics 2011-10-13T18:19:13+00:00