strategy and business

Why are we so fascinated with the billion-dollar startups known as unicorns? Surely, part of it is the immense wealth they generate, but I think it’s also the name — evoking the image of fantastical horned animals gamboling down the alleyways of Palo

There’s a big mistake that a lot of companies make. It’s one that until a few years ago was common in my own organization, and it stems from the worthy goal of boosting innovation. The mistake is adopting what I call the “science fair” mentality: enc

The maverick needs a rebrand. The term, usually defined as someone who is independent or unorthodox, can carry negative connotations that imply complication, contrariness, and chaos. In a society in which echo chambers create siloed workforces, where

Air conditioning, a necessity of modern life, is unique because it perpetuates the very problem it solves. As the planet warms and as it prospers, more people demand air conditioning. Traditional systems consume a lot of energy, which requires burnin

Siemens has been in the industrial technology business since it was founded as a telegraph company in Berlin in 1847. Its U.S. businesses began soon afterward, and evolved over years of cross-Atlantic collaboration into a US$90 billion industrial con

Imagine someone invented a new kind of fabric that never gets dirty and lasts forever. It’s so durable that you have to cut it with a blowtorch and so stain-resistant that you can’t even dye it. Would that represent a giant leap forward for humankind

In 21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges, Charles Handy, 87, is talking to his four grandchildren. His goal is to help them as they are “contemplating life’s rich choices.” In a life that he acknowledges has seen technology transform lives in unpredi

Competition for brand recognition has never been more fierce. Digital-native newcomers are using tech-savvy, direct-to-consumer approaches to enjoy unprecedented ease of entry. They’re weaving compelling, socially conscious brand stories on social me

To understand the future of manufacturing, you have to look at the past. Until the early 20th century, most factories were powered by steam. Enormous central steam engines drove massive shafts, which in turn sent power to individual cutting and shapi

JAMES ZHU KNEW the time had come to join Fanli as fulltime chief operating officer in 2010, when the Shanghai-based startup first began to raise money. At the time, Fanli was an online shopping rebates service cofounded by an acquaintance, Gary Ge Yo

For the vast global television sector, this is the best of times and the worst of times. This is a golden age of television. Cinema-quality programs such as Game of Thrones draw massive audiences. Events such as the 2018 FIFA World Cup, broadcast in

IN 2013, when Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, coined the term unicorn to refer to technology startups with valuations over US$1 billion, there were 39 unicorns in the United States. India had none. Its fledgling startup scene faced significan

William Knoedelseder, Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit (HarperBusiness, 2018) A TOP SHELF PICK Lawrence D. Burns, Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car —and How It Will Reshape Our World (with Chr

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How to Fix It) (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019) A TOP SHELF PICK Amy C. Edmondson, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learnin

Raghuram Rajan, The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind (Penguin Press, 2019) Victoria Bateman, The Sex Factor: How Women Made the West Rich (Polity, 2019) Binyamin Appelbaum, The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free

Gary P. Pisano, Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation (PublicAffairs, 2019) Rita McGrath, Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) A TOP SHELF PICK Nicolaj

Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019) A TOP SHELF PICK Stephen Martin and Joseph Marks, Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don’t, and Why (P

Safi Bahcall, Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries (St. Martin’s Press, 2019) Kartik Hosanagar, A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can S

Thales S. Teixeira, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption (with Greg Piechota; Currency, 2019) A TOP SHELF PICK P.V. Kannan, The Age of Intent: Using Artificial Intelligence to Deliver a Superior Customer Exper

Two years ago, Yale University psychologist Laurie Santos began to wonder why students seemed so detached from their classmates. Like a good academic, she connected her observations to data — and found it troubling. The National College Health Assess