HBR Articles List - 2007 - Part 5

Sales

Managing Global Accounts George S. Yip and Audrey J.M. Bink

Global account management may not be right for everyone - but when it fits, it increases both profits and customer satisfaction. Here's a guide for choosing when to offer GAM and to whom. SEPTEMBER




Self-Management


Cognitive Fitness Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kilts

To be as sharp at 60 as you were at 25, you'll need to do some mental pushups. Here's how you can strengthen your brain's neural networks and cognitive abilities. NOVEMBER Reprint R0711B; HBR Article Collection "Get in Shape to Lead" 2613

Crisis at the Summit George D. Parsons and Richard T. Pascale

Some superstars thrive on the adrenaline rush of mastering a challenge. Once they're at the top of their game, however, the rush disappears, and a dangerous affliction can set in. If they don't recognize the early warning signs, these talented performers may derail what should be a brilliant career. MARCH Reprint R0703E

Find the Gold in Toxic Feedback Fernando Bartolomé and John Weeks

Even rude or irrelevant feedback can be useful, but only a rare few can put ego aside and extract the hidden value. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704F

How Leaders Create and Use Networks Herminia Ibarra and Mark Hunter

One test of leadership capability is whether you can leverage social contacts into business results. You may do a lot of networking, but is it the right kind? JANUARY Reprint R0701C; OnPoint 1727

The Making of an Expert K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely

To become an expert, you must discard the myth that genius is born, not made. Scientific research overwhelmingly shows that elite performance comes primarily from years of practice, dedicated coaching, and relentless effort to understand and correct mistakes. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707J

Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy

Want to accomplish dramatically more and do it better? The answer is not working longer hours but increasing your capacity for work through systematic rituals that recharge your four key sources of energy. OCTOBER Reprint R0710B

My Extreme MBA: A Conversation with Rory Stewart Lew McCreary

Negotiating leadership challenges in hostile territory takes a balance of principled commitment and canny pragmatism. OCTOBER Reprint R0710H

Realizing What You're Made Of Glenn E. Mangurian

If you hit rock bottom, would you recover? Here's the story of an executive who did - and learned volumes about resilience and leadership in the process. MARCH Reprint R0703J

Surviving Your New CEO Kevin P. Coyne and Edward J. Coyne, Sr.

Your company just hired a new CEO, and you figure that a reorganization - maybe even a few terminations - could be on the way. You're not worried, though: Your solid record and excellent reputation as a senior executive mean you're safe. Right? Wrong. MAY Reprint R0705C; HBR Article Collection "Managing Up, 2nd Edition" 2099

What to Ask the Person in the Mirror Robert S. Kaplan

No matter how talented and successful you are, you will make mistakes. But the higher up the ladder you go, the fewer people there are to tell you when you've faltered. To assess your performance, you should periodically ask yourself a series of pointed questions. JANUARY Reprint R0701H; OnPoint 1730; HBR Article Collection "Habits of Highly Effective Managers, 2nd Edition" 1728








Strategy and Competition


The Battle for China's Good-Enough Market Orit Gadiesh, Philip Leung, and Till Vestring

From China's fast-growing middle market for reliable-enough products at low-enough prices will emerge the world's leading companies. Ignore it at your peril. SEPTEMBER Reprint R0709E; HBR Article Collection "Doing Business in China" 2487

Competitive Advantage on a Warming Planet Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington

Whatever business you're in, your company will increasingly feel the effects of climate change. Firms that manage and mitigate their exposure to the associated risks while seeking new opportunities for profit will gain a competitive advantage over rivals in a carbon-constrained future. MARCH Reprint R0703F

Finding Your Next Core Business Chris Zook

It may be hidden right under your nose. Here's how to evaluate your current core and where to look for a new one. APRIL Reprint R0704D; HBR Article Collection "Growth Strategies That Work - Again and Again, 2nd Edition" 1904

The Four Principles of Enduring Success Christian Stadler

When a company is doing well, how would anyone know if it could improve? A landmark benchmarking study - comparing prosperous companies with firms that have done even better - points the way. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707D

How Managers' Everyday Decisions Create - or Destroy - Your Company's Strategy Joseph L. Bower and Clark G. Gilbert

Every time a manager allocates resources, that decision moves the company either into or out of alignment with its announced strategy. This powerful insight will change how you think about driving strategy in your business. FEBRUARY Reprint R0702C; OnPoint 1831

If You Love Your Information, Set It Free David Weinberger

Organizations that fear sharing their data with aggregators might be surprised to learn they can benefit from letting other firms disseminate their information online. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706A

Managing Differences: The Central Challenge of Global Strategy Pankaj Ghemawat

To build competitive advantage, executives need to manage the differences that arise at the borders of markets. Three types of strategy are at their disposal: adaptation, aggregation, and arbitrage. The trick is figuring out when to use which ones. MARCH Reprint R0703C; HBR Article Collection "Choosing the Right Global Strategy" 1866

Managing Our Way to Economic Decline Robert H. Hayes and William J. Abernathy

Unlike European and Japanese managers, American managers have sometimes avoided the hard, make-or-break decisions concerning technological competitiveness. Examining how this shortsighted neglect contributed to U.S. economic decline several decades ago offers useful lessons for today's companies. JULY-AUGUST Originally published in 1980 Reprint R0707L

Mapping Your Competitive Position Richard A. D'Aveni

A price-benefit positioning map can quickly show how your product or brand stacks up against your competitors' - not as you hope it does, but as your customers actually see it. NOVEMBER Reprint R0711G

Outdoor-Apparel Start-Up CEO Chris Van Dyke on New Ways to Feed Customers' Passions Andrew O'Connell

Chris Van Dyke, the CEO of the outdoor apparel start-up Nau, offers some intriguing ideas about how to engage a generation of customers who are comfortable shopping online and eager to enter into a dialogue with the companies they buy from. FORETHOUGHT, SEPTEMBER Reprint F0709F

Private Equity's Long View Walter Kiechel III

When getting a company ready to sell in the short term, it turns out, PE firms employ many of the best strategy practices - use debt aggressively, focus on cash flow, reduce costs, concentrate on the dominant part of the business and sell the rest - that make for success in the long term. They just do it in months, not years. FORETHOUGHT, JULY-AUGUST Reprint F0707A

A Road Map for Natural Capitalism Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken

Some farsighted companies have shown that it's possible to offer better products and more-innovative services at a significantly lower cost by being up to 100 times more efficient in the use of natural resources. Can you compete if you don't follow suit? JULY-AUGUST Originally published in 1999 Reprint R0707P; HBR Article Collection "Going Green, Profitably" 2280

Set Up to Fail: A Conversation with Paul Ormerod Gardiner Morse

Most organizations bend over backward to avoid failure. They shouldn't, says economist Paul Ormerod. History shows that failure and success are inherently random, so firms should innovate and adapt. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706G

Six Rules for Effective Forecasting Paul Saffo

The wise consumer of a forecast is not a trusting bystander but a participant and, above all, a critic. Here are six commonsense rules for distinguishing good forecasts from bad - and for developing your own. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707K

A Staged Solution to the Catch-22 Andrei Hagiu and Thomas Eisenmann

Companies looking to launch a two-sided platform - between, for example, credit card users and merchants, or search engine users and advertisers - must overcome the reluctance of one side to sign on until it's confident the other side will be well populated. It's a common business quandary, but Google and Charles Schwab both found a way around it. FORETHOUGHT, NOVEMBER Reprint F0711B

Strategic Insight in Three Circles Joel E. Urbany and James H. Davis

Executives can delineate their corporate strategy with three simple circles: one for what customers value and why, one for how customers perceive the company's offerings, and one for how customers perceive competitors' offerings. The overlap (or lack thereof) will provide valuable insights. FORETHOUGHT, NOVEMBER Reprint F0711E

Strategies to Crack Well-Guarded Markets David J. Bryce and Jeffrey H. Dyer

Despite barriers to entry, companies trying to break into highly profitable industries can defy half a century of economic logic and actually make money. MAY Reprint R0705E

Strategy Lessons from Left Field José Santos

Rough schooling helps multinationals from small or developing countries become formidable global competitors. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704A

Take Your Third Move First Jeff Cares and Jim Miskel

Through the co-evolutionary war game, strategists can better understand the forces that influence complex competitions. FORETHOUGHT, MARCH Reprint F0703A

To Succeed in the Long Term, Focus on the Middle Term Geoffrey A. Moore

Why do so many companies fail to thrive past their first generation of offerings? It's not because their R&D groups aren't hatching new ideas. It's because mature organizations have a disconcerting tendency to eat their young. JULY-AUGUST Reprint R0707F

The Upside of Falling Flat Stefan Michel

The failed McDonald's hotel project is a good example of a "real option" - a set investment for an uncertain but potentially high return - and shows that the company is willing to nurture innovation. FORETHOUGHT, APRIL Reprint F0704B

The Wealth of African Nations Vijay Mahajan

Despite Africa's regional poverty, the continent's gross national income per capita is greater than India's. That represents a huge potential market for enterprises worldwide. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706C

Which Levers Boost ROI? Margeaux Cvar and John A. Quelch

CEOs looking for ways to improve ROI should examine the practices of similar companies in other industries. FORETHOUGHT, JUNE Reprint F0706B





Teams

CEOs Misperceive Top Teams' Performance Richard M. Rosen and Fred Adair

CEOs tend to have a rosier view of senior management's performance than other top team members do, according to new research - and it looks like the former need a reality check. The authors offer three simple questions that can provide one. FORETHOUGHT, SEPTEMBER Reprint F0709H

The New Deal at the Top Yves L. Doz and Mikko Kosonen

Consumers today want integrated solutions and services - so companies need integrated strategies. These won't fly, however, as long as business units are run like fiefdoms. It's time for interdependence and collaboration at the top. JUNE Reprint R0706G