I’m here in Japan in a program that Columbia runs in partnership with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). One of the topics we’re working on has to do with managing your boss –… Read more »
Thought Sparks
Competing with your customers as you grow
A conversation taking place among colleagues over at the Kellogg innovation blog/web forum (http://marketdrivengrowth.blogspot.com) has to do with how you can move into spaces that are occupied to some extent by your customers,with the goal… Read more »
GPS Technology to end car crashes
Wired magazine features an innovative use of new GPS technology that I thought could be the harbinger of all kinds of opportunities. The system is called “StarChase Pursuit Management System” and it works like this: … Read more »
How fleeting an advantage can be in financial services –
Yesterday, I was teaching in Columbia’s flagship Columbia Senior Executive Program (which we call CSEP for short). We were discussing how difficult it can be to prevent competitive imitation of innovations in financial services, and… Read more »
Venture Capitalists may not be so good at stopping failing projects after all
My colleague, Isin Guler, has just published a fascinating study in one of our more erudite management journals. In an exhaustive look at investments made by venture capital companies, she finds that as funding rounds… Read more »
Corporate Venturing – Stop being so fickle!
Enthusiasm for corporate venturing (efforts by firms to create new businesses from within) come and go over time. Firms set up venture groups, get disillusioned with them, fold them back into the core business only… Read more »
How one industry was nearly undermind by its own success – Cycling
Imagine, if you will, that your industry received global attention for many years, had a popular and charismatic heroic character for people to look up to, and sparked waves of interest and enthusiasm among all… Read more »
Observations on educational institutions
Two books which challenge the current way educational institutions organize themselves are now out, and they are both a fascinating read. Rakesh Khurana’s book From Higher Aims to Hired Hands traces the evolution and development… Read more »
Master Class by Rita McGrath featured in Recruiter Magazine in the UK
October 4, 2007 Recently, I gave a talk at the CIPD Annual Conference, which is the UK’s leading association for Human Resource Professionals. The talk involved how HR can become a leading force in helping… Read more »
Of curtains and cup holders
Today I was teaching in Columbia Business School’s “Emerging Leader Development Program,” which as the name suggests is an executive education program focused on developing the leadership skills of younger, high-potential managers. We were chatting… Read more »
Opportunity Idea: A financial product that would help those crippled by credit card debt
People that owe a lot of money on credit card balances would just love to have a lower-interest loan that would help them get that monkey off their backs. WIth some people getting hit by… Read more »
Do you think banks process transactions first-come-first served? Think again. Opportunity!
In yesterday’s USA Today a columnist noted that banks have taken to the practice of clearing transactions from the highest to the lowest dollar amount, rather than in the order they arrive for processing (USA… Read more »