In 2006, I was invited to conduct a masterclass for a group of Nokia high potential managers on the topic of driving growth through innovation. At the time, the company was enjoying double digit growth. The were rated the eighth most innovative company in the world by BusinessWeek magazine. And they were winning market share on every continent. What could possibly…
1. Make Value Your Driving Force In the digital age, one thing is clear: the power of the customer will continue to increase. To win and keep customers in the face of fast-changing customer requirements, companies must continue to adapt their value propositions (the combination of your quality, service, and price). Excellent service is no longer enough to guarantee loyalty,…
In my travels this year, the one comment I’m hearing is “we just didn’t see it coming.” The grocery industry didn’t see it coming when Amazon suddenly jumped into their industry and 25 billion in market cap got erased overnight. An insurance company in California didn’t see it coming when the effects of climate change fueled a raging wildfire that…
Kraft Heinz’ stock is down 50 percent over the past 12 months, turnover in the executive ranks has increased, and the company’s inability to keep pace with changing consumer tastes is largely to blame. In an earnings call with investors, Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio observed that “we’ve been too focused on the present, and literally on firefighting. We need…
I used to think summer vacations should be a time to not think. Turn off the brain, tune out and drop off the map was the idea. Read a mystery novel or biography. Take a dip in a different pool. And above all, don’t follow the news cycle or get tethered to the goings on back at the office. Some…
In 2009, after a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Summit (Russia’s Davos), I wandered into a panel discussion on the topic of trade wars, led by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. My thought was: “why this topic?” Trade wars were not on most people’s radar, certainly not mine. But the question is: should they have been? I’ve been ruminating of late about this…
