HBR Articles List 2007 - Part 3

Innovation and Creativity

Breakthrough Thinking from Inside the Box Kevin P. Coyne, Patricia Gorman Clifford, and Renée Dye

Ask people to think outside the box, and many of them simply freeze up. You'll generate far more - and far more useful - ideas if you construct new boxes for people to think within. DECEMBER Reprint R0712E; HBR Article Collection "Cooking Up the Next Big Thing" 2655

A Buyer's Guide to the Innovation Bazaar Satish Nambisan and Mohanbir Sawhney

Too many choices in the marketplace of ideas can be overwhelming. With this conceptual guide, companies can determine what kinds of outside innovations they should acquire - and who can help them do so. JUNE Reprint R0706H; HBR Article Collection "Innovating from the Outside In, 2nd Edition" 2130

Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams Lynda Gratton and Tamara J. Erickson

Businesses need large, diverse teams to pull off major initiatives - yet the size and complexity of such groups make it hard to get anything done. These practices will help firms ensure strong, effective collaboration, even when teams span the globe. NOVEMBER Reprint R0711F

Innovate Faster by Melding Design and Strategy Ravi Chhatpar

If designers are brought into the innovation process at the very beginning, they can test prototypes and share users' responses even as the business case is being developed, enabling companies to nimbly adjust to changes in market opportunities. FORETHOUGHT, SEPTEMBER Reprint F0709J

The Innovation Value Chain Morten T. Hansen and Julian Birkinshaw

Subscribing to the latest innovation advice won't help your business if you don't understand your firm's unique strengths and flaws. Here's a framework for assessing your company's innovation processes and determining which best practices will help you address weak spots. JUNE Reprint R0706J

Is It Real? Can We Win? Is It Worth Doing? George S. Day

Overly cautious companies can strangle their own growth by avoiding risky projects. Better to screen them systematically for maximum balance and profit. DECEMBER Reprint R0712J

Meet the Innovation Capitalist Satish Nambisan and Mohanbir Sawhney

Large firms puzzling over whether to pay for developed technology or take a risk on bleeding-edge concepts now have a third choice - a new kind of "innomediary" that identifies and refines innovations, reducing market risk in return for a share in the potential rewards. FORETHOUGHT, MARCH Reprint F0703D

$152,000 for Your Thoughts Gary Carini and Bill Townsend

Making employees prove the worth of their ideas results in better concepts and more-motivated workers. Executives must give people the tools to stand behind their ideas and must follow up with strong rewards. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704D

Preparing for the Perfect Product Launch James P. Hackett

How come some projects fail while others succeed? This is the story of a CEO who refused to accept failures as inevitable and set up a system to prevent them. APRIL Reprint R0704B

Saving the Internet Jonathan Zittrain

The very openness and user adaptability that make the Internet a creative wellspring also allow for the propagation of assorted evils - spam, porn, predation, fraud, privacy violations - that threaten the integrity of the Internet itself. JUNE Reprint R0706B

The Value Captor's Process: Getting the Most out of Your New Business Ventures Rita Gunther McGrath and Thomas Keil

It's a mistake to assume that a venture is successful only if it proceeds directly to go and produces payback within two years. Value captors have learned how to systematically mine all the possible benefits of their initiatives - including the failures. MAY Reprint R0705J



Knowledge Management

The Knowledge-Creating Company Ikujiro Nonaka

Japanese companies, masters of manufacturing, have also been leaders in the creation, management, and use of knowledge - especially the tacit and often subjective insights, intuitions, and ideas of employees. JULY-AUGUST Originally published in 1991 Reprint R0707N



Leadership

Becoming the Boss Linda A. Hill

The experience of becoming a boss for the first time leaves an indelible mark - some might call it a scar - on the psyche. But the transition to new manager doesn't have to be quite so painful. JANUARY Reprint R0701D; OnPoint 1723

The Best Advice I Ever Got Hans-Paul Bürkner. Interviewed by Daisy Wademan

By watching a colleague assemble diverse, high-performing teams, the CEO of the Boston Consulting Group learned the art of nurturing team members' strengths and steering them away from tasks that would expose their weaknesses. FORETHOUGHT, DECEMBER Reprint F0712F

The Best Advice I Ever Got Fred Carl, Jr. Interviewed by Daisy Wademan

The founder and CEO of Viking Range recalls the eventful words of an early adviser: "You should run this from day one like it's a public company. Treat it like it's going to be big." He did, and it was. FORETHOUGHT, NOVEMBER Reprint F0711C

Building a Leadership Brand Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood

A reputation for producing good leaders time and again is part of a strong company brand. To build that kind of enduring capability, firms must do more than focus on the traits of individual leaders. They need to follow five key strategies. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707G; HBR Article Collection "Building Your Leadership Bench" 2281

The CEO's Second Act David A. Nadler

A new CEO's brilliance can fade quickly once he or she has solved the company's immediate problems and the next set of challenges comes along. A chief executive's Act II requires a lot less swashbuckling and a lot more humility. JANUARY Reprint R0701F

The Chief Strategy Officer R. Timothy S. Breene, Paul F. Nunes, and Walter E. Shill

Overwhelmed CEOs are increasingly hiring CSOs. Their job: to keep strategy front and center, drive real execution, and direct and sustain change in complex organizations. OCTOBER Reprint R0710D

Courage as a Skill Kathleen K. Reardon

Courage in business is rarely impulsive; rather, it results from careful deliberation and preparation. The "courage calculation," consisting of six decision-making processes that can be refined over time, helps managers make bold moves that will lead to success while averting career suicide. JANUARY Reprint R0701E; OnPoint 1726

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer

How do you become an authentic leader? A new study shows that you do not have to be born one. You can learn to be authentic by understanding your life story and by developing self-awareness. FEBRUARY Reprint R0702H

The Ethical Mind A Conversation with Psychologist Howard Gardner Bronwyn Fryer

Leaders have earned their reputation as ethical miscreants - a huge cost to public trust and organizational health. It's time to take a look in the mirror and step up to the ethical plate. MARCH Reprint R0703B

Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld and Andrew J. Ward

Stunning recovery is possible from even the most catastrophic of setbacks. Michael Milken, Martha Stewart, Home Depot's Bernie Marcus, Bank One's Jamie Dimon, and others came back from the depths by following the path of the universal hero. JANUARY Reprint R0701G

A Formula for the Future A Conversation with Craigie Zildjian Gardiner Morse

The oldest family-run business in the U.S., the Zildjian Company has been making cymbals, first in Turkey and then in America, since 1623. As a 14th-generation leader of the company, Craigie Zildjian sees innovation in collaboration with customers as her best path to continued success. FORETHOUGHT, JULY-AUGUST Reprint F0707F

The Four Truths of the Storyteller Peter Guber

Leaders can use well-crafted stories to captivate and inspire people whose help they need. A top movie producer and entertainment industry executive shares the secrets he's learned. DECEMBER Reprint R0712C

THE HBR INTERVIEW: The Institutional Yes Jeff Bezos. Interviewed by Julia Kirby and Thomas A. Stewart

Amazon.com is known for its bold and sometimes counterintuitive strategic moves. Its founder and CEO reveals that the company's strategy derives from a distinctive and deeply held cultural point of view. OCTOBER Reprint R0710C

THE HBR INTERVIEW: Lessons from Toyota's Long Drive Katsuaki Watanabe. Interviewed by Thomas A. Stewart and Anand P. Raman

Toyota's president explains why the automaker must combine radical change and continuous improvement if it wants to remain one of the world's leading companies. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707E

The Hidden Good News About CEO Dismissals Chuck Lucier and Jan Dyer

Four times more CEOs are being fired today than in 1995, a Booz Allen Hamilton study finds. That's good news. It's not that CEOs are being pressured to think more in the short term; it's that boards are finally clearing away the deadwood. FORETHOUGHT, JULY-AUGUST Reprint F0707C

How Successful Leaders Think Roger Martin

Great leaders refuse to choose between A and B. Through holistic thinking, they forge an innovative third way. JUNE Reprint R0706C

In Praise of the Incomplete Leader Deborah Ancona, Thomas W. Malone, Wanda J. Orlikowski, and Peter M. Senge

It's time to end the myth of the complete leader: the flawless person at the top who's got it all figured out. The sooner leaders stop trying to be all things to all people, the better off their organizations will be. Only when leaders accept themselves as incomplete - as having both strengths and weaknesses - will they be able to make up for their missing skills by relying on others. FEBRUARY Reprint R0702E

A Leader's Framework for Decision Making David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone

Leadership approaches that work well in one set of circumstances can fall far short in others. With the proper decision-making framework, you can sort issues into their appropriate contexts and tailor your management style to fit each one. NOVEMBER Reprint R0711C

The Leadership Team: Complementary Strengths or Conflicting Agendas? Stephen A. Miles and Michael D. Watkins

When members of a leadership team play complementary roles, the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts - but such relationships may also result in confusion, especially when members move on. Organizations can learn to enjoy the advantages and minimize the risks of complementarity without sowing the seeds of disaster during succession. APRIL Reprint R0704F

Leading Clever People Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones

It's not quite as bad as herding cats, but attracting and retaining the smart, creative people on whom your organization depends can be a challenge - especially because they don't like to be led. Approaching them as a benevolent guardian rather than as a traditional leader will improve your odds of success. MARCH Reprint R0703D; HBR Article Collection "Leading Creative People" 1867

Making Judgment Calls Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis

A leader's judgment call may seem like a momentous event. The best calls, however, are part of a larger process that begins with preparation and ends with execution. Instead of trying to slam-dunk their decisions, good leaders attend to the entire judgment process and take advantage of "redo loops" at every stage. OCTOBER Reprint R0710E

Moments of Truth: Global Executives Talk About the Challenges That Shaped Them as Leaders When did you realize you had the right stuff to lead? HBR's editors ask a wide range of business leaders that question and get some surprising answers. JANUARY Reprint R0701A

Picking Winners A Conversation with MacArthur Fellows Program Director Daniel J. Socolow Diane Coutu

What can business leaders learn from the organization that confers the storied "genius grants"? For one thing, that exceptional creativity is very hard to find. If you're looking for a way to pack your staff with outstanding talent, you're probably on the wrong track. MAY Reprint R0705H

Raising Haier Zhang Ruimin

The CEO of Haier explains how he has grown with the challenges he has tackled in transforming a struggling appliance company into a world-class global enterprise. FEBRUARY Reprint R0702J

Stay on the Q&A Offensive A Conversation with Michael Sheehan Julia Kirby

The Q&A should be more than just an afterthought, says communications consultant Michael Sheehan. It may be the only part of your speech people actually listen to. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704G

The Tests of a Prince Ivan Lansberg

Corporate heirs have a particular challenge when it comes to turning stakeholders into followers. To prove they have what it takes, they must manage a four-part iterative testing process. SEPTEMBER Reprint R0709F

What Every Leader Needs to Know About Followers Barbara Kellerman

Your subordinates are not an amorphous bunch. A new typology that classifies them according to their level of engagement can help you better understand their relationships with superiors and manage them more effectively. DECEMBER Reprint R0712F

What Your Leader Expects of You Larry Bossidy

A longtime CEO reveals the behaviors that leaders should look for in their subordinates - behaviors that drive individual as well as corporate performance and growth - and what those subordinates should expect in return. APRIL Reprint R0704C

When a New Manager Takes Charge John J. Gabarro

Fourteen managers accepted new assignments. At the end of three years, ten had succeeded and four had been fired. What made the difference? Experience, the situation's urgency, managerial style, the quality of the managers' working relationships, and the level of support from superiors were critical factors. JANUARY Originally published in 1985 Reprint R0701K




Management Development

Employees Get an Earful Anders Gronstedt

Portable media players are helping employees make productive use of their downtime, as businesses learn how to train people via podcast. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706E

HBR CASE STUDY: The Very Model of a Modern Senior Manager Mike Morrison. With commentary by George Manderlink, Reuben Mark, Rebecca Ray, and Dave Ulrich

A leadership crisis at Barker Foods has the executive committee wondering whether the company should create a competency model for senior managers. Is such a framework just what Barker needs, or is it an exercise in oversimplification? JANUARY Reprint R0701B, Reprint Case only R0701X, Reprint Commentary only R0701Z

Help Newly Hired Executives Adapt Quickly Michael D. Watkins

Often executives who are hired from outside a firm fail because they can't fit in with its culture. Here's how to help them avoid missteps. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706F

Make Your Company a Talent Factory Douglas A. Ready and Jay A. Conger

Are you making the most of your high-potential talent? To compete on the global stage, you need to put the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time - and fast. JUNE Reprint R0706D

Solve the Succession Crisis by Growing Inside-Outside Leaders Joseph L. Bower

There's no better way to reverse the long-term destruction of shareholder value than for companies to commit to growing internal CEO candidates who can lead through good times and bad. Simple? No. The right thing to do? Absolutely. NOVEMBER Reprint R0711E; HBR Article Collection "So You Want to Be CEO" 2616



Managing People

HBR CASE STUDY: Off-Ramp - or Dead End? Sharman Esarey and Arno Haslberger. With commentary by Robert J. Maricich, Rebecca Matthias, Monica McGrath, and Evelyne Sevin

Cheryl Jamis is an ambitious marketing director in line for a promotion. She's also the dedicated mother of a young daughter. When increasing demands on her time threaten to spiral out of control, Cheryl faces a tough choice: Should she stay with her company or chuck it all? FEBRUARY Reprint R0702B, Reprint Case only R0702X, Reprint Commentary only R0702Z




Managing Technology

HBR CASE STUDY: Too Far Ahead of the IT Curve? John P. Glaser. With commentary by Monte Ford, George C. Halvorson, Randy Heffner, and John A. Kastor

Peachtree Healthcare, a network of 11 medical institutions, is on the verge of a systems breakdown. What's the right fix for its patchwork IT infrastructure? JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707A, Reprint Case only R0707X, Reprint Commentary only R0707Z




Marketing

Charge What Your Products Are Worth Venkatesh Bala and Jason Green

For customers, value has two components: benefits received and price paid. After gauging their customers' perceptions of value, managers can plot a simple chart that reveals any misalignment and use it to balance the benefit-price equation. FORETHOUGHT, SEPTEMBER Reprint F0709D

Companies and the Customers Who Hate Them Gail McGovern and Youngme Moon

If your company is on a slippery slope - extracting more and more value from customers through inscrutable contracts, hidden fees, and complicated offerings - expect punishment. Here's how to recognize and purge those adversarial practices and gain an advantage by offering a customer-friendly alternative. JUNE Reprint R0706E

Even Commodities Have Customers François M. Jacques

Who would have thought there'd be so much differentiation opportunity in cement? Someone clever enough to apply marketing's most basic tools, it turns out. If it works for cement, it could work for your commodity business, too. MAY Reprint R0705G

Getting Attention for Unrecognized Brands
Daniel G. Goldstein People prefer a brand they know over one they don't - even when the familiar one is dangerous. But there are ways for unknown brands to compensate. FORETHOUGHT, MARCH Reprint F0703E

HBR CASE STUDY: Mad About Plaid Julia Kirby. With commentary by Gill Corkindale, Niall Ferguson, Dov Seidman, and Dana Thomas

Castlebridge & Company, the maker of an iconic British product, is poised to shift the last of its manufacturing operations outside the UK. Is it jeopardizing the "Britishness" of its brand? NOVEMBER Reprint R0711A, Reprint Case only R0711X, Reprint Commentary only R0711Z

Hidden Wealth in B2B Brands James R. Gregory and Donald E. Sexton

Managers consistently skimp on B2B brand building. That's an expensive mistake. FORETHOUGHT, MARCH Reprint F0703C

If Brands Are Built over Years, Why Are They Managed over Quarters? Leonard M. Lodish and Carl F. Mela

Your product may fly off the shelves during a price promotion, but those discounts could ultimately damage your brand. Don't be blinded by short-term sales data. Instead, watch a dashboard of long-term measures to protect your brand and your profit margins. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707H; HBR Article Collection "Building A+ Brands" 2282

Quality Is in the Eye of the Beholder Debanjan Mitra and Peter N. Golder

Consumers are slow to notice positive or negative changes in a product's quality, and that could have important implications for your company's marketing plan. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704H

Sports Sponsorship to Rally the Home Team Francis J. Farrelly and Stephen A. Greyser

Companies are beginning to use their brand-enhancing sponsorship of teams and events internally, to motivate employees or facilitate major structural change. Sports-related communications and incentives can create cohesion and foster pride in the company. FORETHOUGHT, SEPTEMBER Reprint F0709E

Viral Marketing for the Real World Duncan J. Watts and Jonah Peretti

By combining viral-marketing tools with mass marketing, you can extend your reach at minimal cost. FORETHOUGHT, MAY Reprint F0705A





Mergers and Acquisitions

Deals Without Delusions Dan Lovallo, Patrick Viguerie, Robert Uhlaner, and John Horn

Executives who pursue mergers and acquisitions often allow psychological biases to interfere with good deal making. Here's how to keep flawed notions from impeding the M&A process. DECEMBER Reprint R0712G; HBR Article Collection "Making Smart Acquisitions" 2654

Human Due Diligence David Harding and Ted Rouse

Most companies do a thorough job of financial due diligence when they acquire other firms. But the success of most deals hinges on people, not dollars. Here's how to diagnose potential people problems before a deal is completed. APRIL Reprint R0704J

Rules to Acquire By Bruce Nolop

Study after study finds that acquisitions tend to destroy value - yet most high-performing companies rely on them to grow. That makes sense only if, like Pitney Bowes, you can learn how to do them well. SEPTEMBER Reprint R0709J









Negotiation

Investigative Negotiation Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman

Too many people try to win negotiations like a sales person - through persuasion. The best way to get what you want, however, is to think like a detective: Dig for information that will help you understand the other side. SEPTEMBER Reprint R0709D; HBR Article Collection "Nuts and Bolts Negotiation" 2486