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March 23, 2007

Will Apple Divide and Conquer?

Apple's bid to control your TV has been released. Apple TV is a box you connect to your television. You transfer photos, videos (including high definition) and music to it from your computer. You can then watch it, or listen to it, on your television. It is basically an extension of iTunes and the iPod to your TV. Will people pay the $299 to let Apple take over their living room?

Continue reading "Will Apple Divide and Conquer?"

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:03 PM | 10 Comments

March 15, 2007

Buyer, I Hardly Know Her

When this bit of news crossed my transom -- Cisco buying WebEx -- my jaw dropped... and I wasn't sure why.

In recent weeks, Cisco has acquired NeoPath, Five Across -- and therefore, Tribe.net, an also-ran social networking service with untold promise -- and Reactivity. Each deal is important, sure, but the aggregate, the whole is even moreseo.

My jaw had dropped, so I was at a bit of a loss. To make sense, I messaged my Twitter network -- a Dodgeball-like groupmind accessible via Web, IM, and SMS -- the following missive:

Why do I think this is important?

Continue reading "Buyer, I Hardly Know Her"

Posted by Heath Row at 9:37 PM | 3 Comments

October 25, 2006

Crocs Feast on New Acquisitions

Shoe manufacturer Crocs Inc. continues to gobble up manufacturing companies in a worldwide acquisition spree. The Colorado-based clog and boot producer recently purchased EXO Italia S.r.I. based in Padova, Italy, and plans to acquire another Boulder, Colorado based company, Jibbitz, LLC. in December.

Crocs’ acquisition of EXO Italia and Jibbitz makes sense—both companies produce Crocs-related items. EXO Italia produces EVA products made from a glossy polymer used in shoe soles and sports padding. Jibbitz, more interestingly, produces Croc decorations. Sort of a cross between mini-buttons and snap beads, Jibbitz plug into the holes found on the tops of Crocs shoes. Featuring designs from American Flags to skull and crossbones, Jibbitz are colorful kid-friendly additions for the lightweight footwear.

Crocs will pay $10 million for Jibbitz, and walk away with a truly wonderful addition to the Crocs family. Imagine the practicality of this acquisition: Not only will Crocs sell shoes with holes in them, they’ll soon sell the decorative plugs to stop them up. Soon Nike will be jumping on the bandwagon with disclaimered tennis shoes: Sole sold separately.

But the holes in Crocs (and the cute little stoppers) raise an interesting question. Crocs are strictly a summer shoe, designed for letting air, water, sand and dirt flow freely. Fashion companies that don’t provide consumers with options for seasonal transition often find the winter to be an especially frigid time of year. Furthermore, how much of Crocs popularity is just a passing fad?

Crocs started in 1999 in Niwot, Colorado as Western Brands, LLC. They went public as Crocs Inc. in February of this year, and in nine months have already experienced stock highs and lows ranging from $20.32 to $39.25. Crocs recent acquisitions seem to suggest that the shoes have potential to become a classic footwear staple like Birkenstocks. But fashion trends are anything but dependable.

Twenty million pairs of Crocs are expected to be sold this year, raising sales from $108.6 million to $300 million. The company also produces T-shirts, socks, and kayak seats.

What do you think? Do Crocs have what it takes to stand the test of time and passing fashion fads? Or are the recent acquisitions going to leave Crocs hungry?

Posted by Kathryn Tuggle at 4:09 PM | 5 Comments

October 11, 2006

PepsiCo's Healthy Project in the 'hood

Here's an interesting story of a company taking a grassroots approach to market a new product.

The product: PepsiCo's Baked Doritos and Baked Lay's potato chips -- an attempt at an image overhaul as the company is often criticized for being one of the top sellers of sugary beverages and high-calorie snacks, therefore contributing to obesity.

The marketing plan: Print campaign featuring Meredith Vieira, co-host of Today Show and a TV campaign featuring a white woman who receives cheers for purchasing Baked Lay's from an office vending machine. The marketing efforts targeted upper-income, suburban mothers.

The problem: The campaigns weren't reaching people of color and store owners and managers in the inner city were refusing the product. PepsiCo Chariman, Steve Reinemund, says the company wants to be responsible and promote health and wellness. African-Americans and Latinos comprise a large share of PepsiCo revenue, but are also more likely to opt for less healthy snacks -- such as Cola and Cheetos.

The solution: PepsiCo's sales force is directly marketing its health snacks to retailers in Chicago -- either one on one or in larger meetings. The company also plans to build playgrounds, hold seminars on nutrition and exercise, and organize walks outside grocery stores. The test program began in January and will continue through next year. Pepsi has not reported sales performance based on this strategy.

Sources: Diversityinc and The Wall Street Journal

PepsiCo's public interest efforts are commendable, considering it will take a lot of time and money to convert consumers, yet critics still wonder if it's simply a ploy to increase its bottom line. What do you think?

Posted by Lynne d Johnson at 2:37 PM | 1 Comment

August 29, 2006

Music for Free

After many years of going head-to-head with peer-to-peer networks from Napster to BitTorrent, the music industry has finally decided to give in. Vivendi's Universal Music Group--the world's largest music group--has joined forces with SpiralFrog, a new advertising-supported music download service, to make its catalog available for free legal downloading in the United States and Canada.

The company's business model is based on sharing income from advertising with content partners like Universal, while deterring music aficianados from pirating music. Its intended audience, the 13 - 34 demographic, has traditionally been anti-advertising but is used to the formula from watching videos on sites like MTV.com and and Yahoo! Music.

SpiralFrog is pitting itself directly in competition with the Apple iTunes Music store, as well as upcoming services from both Microsoft and MTV. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

Posted by Lynne d Johnson at 12:52 PM

July 24, 2006

Chappelle's Show: The Repo'ed Episodes

Last night marked the last of three “Lost Episodes” of Chappelle’s Show material filmed before Dave Chappelle’s abrupt departure during production of the show in 2005. And airing the footage may prove to be a big mistake for Comedy Central.

Let’s recap: The third season of Chappelle’s Show was highly anticipated, and probably would have been a huge success for CC and Chappelle regardless of the quality of the material, had it been completed. DVD sales and critical acclaim from the second season led the channel to fork over a highly publicized $50 million check for another helping. Then their star walked out, leaving the channel suddenly without a scheduling cornerstone. More than a year later the channel got its revenge...

Continue reading "Chappelle's Show: The Repo'ed Episodes"

Posted by Joseph Manez at 5:41 PM | 8 Comments

The Organizing Principle Of The 21st Century

Interesting article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times on the spread of open-source ideals, to religion, terrorism, and other far-flung realms. (Registration may be required.) The piece dwells too much on the basics--Linux, Wikipedia--but it raises some good questions. How far can open-source principles be applied? What are its limitations?

Have you participated in an open-source project or started one at work? How did it go? Let's talk about it.

Posted by David Lidsky at 3:45 PM | 2 Comments

January 4, 2006

Beluga Business

I'm not usually interested in caviar, but today's New York Times story (as always, free registration required) caught my attention. The exporting of caviar fished through non-sustainable means was ordered to stop by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which acted in the hopes of revitalizing the wild sturgeon population.

Continue reading "Beluga Business"

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:45 PM

October 26, 2005

Break It Up!

Cendant Corporation will become four companies this summer. As the article states on the bottom, this is part of a recent trend of large corporations splitting up into smaller parts. With a possible AOL Time Warner break up to come, the trend is only getting started.

I believe this trend points to companies' need to truly perform and reach consumers, something that seems only possible when a company is focused on a specific product line or market. It seems as this trend continues synergistic and diversification strategies will be forced to the fringes. Of course, some would say many of the fragmenting companies shouldn't have come together in the first place--AOL Time Warner never succeeded like common sense dictated, Time Warner's content reaching AOL's huge membership.

In our reality of information at our finger tips and an infinite number of products and services vying for our attention online, a company's output really has to truly shine and connect with the public. Perhaps that which is the product of small teams in specialized companies will be the only ones do succeed in doing that. Then again, Google keeps expanding.

Which do you think is better: diversification or specialization?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 3:05 PM | 15 Comments

August 31, 2005

DIY Not?

In response to our August 2004 article on phishing, reader Robin Grimes pointed me to PhishFighting.com, which deceives the scammers. There's something to be said about fighting the internet's ills yourself.

This notion of do-it-yourself can be extended to more areas. For instance, franchise owners create new practices to help their business, such as mounting more effective displays. And workers develop routines to increase their productivity, like using a computer program a certain way or documenting a process efficiently.

All these DIY activities could be adopted by appropriate businesses. These best practices that few use can be shared with everyone. Not only could such a move potentially help countless people, it could be a source of business for established companies. Any holes in services or product capabilities can be filled this way.

What DIY or consumer-created innovations would you like to see become an established business?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:48 PM

August 26, 2005

Past Imperfect

This news, about GM and Chrysler cooperating to create their own Hybrid Cars, is an interesting development. Both companies announced their SUVs would be using the Hybrid engine in 2007. Why only mention the SUVs and not other kinds of automobiles?

True, the SUV is a gas-guzzler that could use hybridization. But, really, I think they singled it out because of the slump in SUV sales. With gas prices so high, consumers aren't buying cars with low fuel-efficiency. So now, auto-makers are moving to put SUVs back on top. But a hybrid sedan would still be more fuel-efficient than a hybrid SUV.

Companies should not worry about reestablishing the glory of former top-sellers. They should look to the present and what's hitting big now. If a company's strategies are formed by the past, their bolder competitors will pass them by as they head toward the future.

Is it a risk to recapture past success, rather than moving forward?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:52 AM | 10 Comments

August 19, 2005

And the Driver Is… Bill Gates!

It's an interesting technology: a phantom car displayed on your windshield that you "follow" to a destination. But I'm curious about it coming from Microsoft. Are they expanding into vehicular technologies? There seems to be a movement in the computer world to keep expanding to new frontiers. Google adds more services and rumors of further diversification persist. Apple's adding more media to their iPod. And Microsoft seems to always be spreading its tendrils.

A smart move? If a company wants to invade a new market, they should do so. The company should break-in to that new industry and shake things up. Maybe their ideas are true innovations. Maybe their arrival will stir up the field's past leaders. Of course, care must be taken. They shouldn't overextend. But, then again, sometimes caution will slow your hand, missing you an opportunity.

Should companies aggressively branch out to new industries? Should they do it cautiously? Or should they not do it at all?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 5:04 PM | 5 Comments

August 9, 2005

How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience: Part 2

This may sound like the beginning of a bad joke: What do you get when you combine:

• A nuclear engineer
• A rap artist
• An FBI agent
• An AOL / Time Warner executive
• A professional stand-up comedian

How about a church leadership team? As an experience architect, I've been exploring ways that innovative leadership is imprinted on customer experience. New Life Christian Church is a great case study. It's one of those unique places where the customer experience definitely reflects the drive and innovation of its leaders... and there's something to be learned for all.

Continue reading "How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience: Part 2"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 7:39 PM

Differentiation That Works?

Mark Northern asked in his previous post about differentiators that work. Here's .02 cents from someone in the trenches with folks engineering new products and messages every day.

The differentiators that work are the differentiators that matter most. The differentiators that matter most depend on the individual. Individuals in today's marketplace don't always know what they want, and are conditioned to be more fickle, discontent and less patient.

Delivering differentiation messaging effectively is unquestionably more complex today than it ever has been. This isn't just because our customers are now more educated than ever. We're also dealing with online and offline channel proliferation, a lack of data standards, systems integration, and a shortage of seasoned quantitative analytics staff who can make sense out of mounting customer information...

But that's a topic for another day... Here's the good news: In this era of tight competition and commoditization, the differentiator that matters most may have less to do with your product than you think.

Continue reading "Differentiation That Works?"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 2:46 PM

August 8, 2005

Sorry, My Mom and Dad Won't Let Me Program

In May, a prestigious Microsoft-sponsored honors course in game programming at the University of Derby attracted 106 male candidates -- but no females. In the gaming field in general, only 17% of the workforce is female, and just 2% are in tech or programming positions. What gives? Well, the brains behind the Women in Games 2005 Conference at Abertay University (Dundee, Scotland) have some theories.

According to today's Guardian article, 'Sleaze' Puts Women Off Computer Games Careers (I kid you not), conference organizer Dr. Inga Paterson says that many parents will not encourage a child, "especially a daughter," to go into the industry, given its "salacious aspects." Darn you, Grand Theft Auto!

Continue reading "Sorry, My Mom and Dad Won't Let Me Program"

Posted by Jennifer Warwick at 5:43 PM | 5 Comments

Innovative Leadership - A Definition and Roll Call

Thanks for inviting me to BlogJam, heath. As I geared up for the main topic: innovative leadership, I began to think about the nature of leadership and innovation. I thought thought it'd be interesting to start a collaborative roll call of innovative leaders. We've all got our own definitions, so to start on a level field, I started my exploration by looking up two definitions on Dictionary.com (shortened and reformatted for display purposes):

Innovate (Word Net definition: n 1: to create (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation [syn: invention] 2: to create something in the mind [syn: invention, excogitation, conception, design] 3: the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new...

Lead: 1: To show the way to by going in advance; 2: To guide or direct in a course [syn: guide]; 3: a) To serve as a route for; b) To be a channel or conduit for; 4: To guide the behavior or opinion of; to induce; 5: a) To direct the performance or activities of; b) To inspire the conduct of; 6: To play a principal or guiding role in; 7: a) To go or be at the head of...

By definition Innovation is a creative act that has implicit leadership characteristics. Leadership itself does not necessarily require innovation.

Continue reading "Innovative Leadership - A Definition and Roll Call"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 4:19 PM | 4 Comments

Good Decision-Making is a Science

In Harvard Management Update, Harvard Business School professor emeritus Michael C. Jensen explains that there are four steps to ensure that the right people make the right decisions.

How a company distributed decision-making authority can have great repercussions on its business. In fact, "allocating decision rights in ways that maximize organizational performance is an extraordinarily difficult and controversial management task," says Jensen.

To overcome the hurdles of finding the spot in the organization where decision costs are minimal and trust the personal motivation of those imbued with decision authority aligns with the goals of the organization, he suggests these four steps:

Continue reading "Good Decision-Making is a Science"

Posted by Valeria Maltoni at 1:39 PM

Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder

I've been spending a lot of time with disappointed executives who mistakenly assumed that integrating the marketing department would revolutionize marketing and dramatically improve customer acquisition and relationship management.

More than a few of these executives (especially the ones on the hook for the technology ROI) are now fighting to keep their jobs.

Were they wrong about their investment in CRM tools? No, but that may not help much.

These executives are now steeped in the knowledge that truly integrated marketing can only be driven out of a truly integrated organization. Creating such an organization spans beyond the marketer's area of influence and control and stands in the way of improved experience and customer-centricity. A lack of organizational integration also impedes effective collaboration and frustrates the sales and marketing process.

Continue reading "Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 12:50 PM

July 25, 2005

Praising the Partnership

The Times article about Sony and Samsung sparked my interest immediately. Strategic alliances between two rivals are often the smartest move either can make. Rather than diverting budget to out-market your rival, and lowering your profits, you can spend your funds and attention on innovation.

The Samsung and Sony partnership seems doubly wise considering the field of technology. With both a format war and a game console war on the horizon, Sony needs allies. They need to concentrate on the big battles and not the everyday struggles. The same could be said for most companies. Partnerships on resources may result in both companies increasing their profit margin, turning the worst of rivalries into great friendship. It could turn a company's fortunes around overnight.

Which alliances have succeeded in your opinion? Which have failed?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:19 PM

July 20, 2005

Strategic Reads

This week's "cover story" on the Web focuses on Cirque du Soleil's strategic approach to business. In a sidebar to that piece, Renee Mauborgne details guidelines from the book Blue Ocean Strategy.

If you'd welcome more ideas along those lines, check out Gabor George Burt's blog Creating Blue Oceans. Since February, Burt has expanded on the ideas in the book, offering case studies and tools for strategic leaders. The one-minute summaries are especially thought provoking.

[Thanks, Westley!]

Posted by Heath Row at 5:58 PM | 1 Comment

Needing the New

It is a strange piece of news, the creation of a new periodic table of elements. It is something so mundane, something we all know from our school days. Various message boards are already aflame with those who hate the new table. Others have shot back criticizing those who dislike it because they are not used to it, that people usually prefer things they grew up with.

Continue reading "Needing the New"

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:59 PM | 2 Comments

June 9, 2005

Another Messed Up Industry Makes Things Worse

A few days ago, I wrote about terrestial radio's forays to generate the kind of excitement and buzz that it needs to fend off the iPod and satellite radio. Now today comes this story in the New York Times (registration required) about the major airlines and their continued diminshment of services in the wake of their continued massive losses.

The topline is that established airlines such as Northwest, American and United are cutting out such frills as mini-bags of pretzels, they're charging for curbside bag service, and they're putting ads on tray tables and cocktail napkins in an effort to find every nickel hiding under every seat cushion (if anyone ever needed a floatation device right now, it's the airlines) to save themselves from ruin.

At this point, it's difficult to imagine things getting worse, but clearly they're trying. A trip to Chicago on United a few weeks ago made me think that the widely-held description of air travel resembling bus travel no longer cuts it. Ship steerage might be the better analogy.

Continue reading "Another Messed Up Industry Makes Things Worse"

Posted by David Lidsky at 3:58 PM | 12 Comments

June 6, 2005

You Don't Know "Jack"

On Friday afternoon, WCBS-FM in New York, home of legendary DJ Cousin Brucie, fired all of its on-air talent and dumped the "oldies" format in favor of the latest flavor in radio programming, known as "Jack" radio (I've also seen and heard it around the country called Ben radio and Dave radio--whatever radio consultant cooked up the naming idea deserves a special place in hell).

The idea is to replicate your iPod on shuffle. The station expands the playlist from about 400-500 songs to 1,200, goes from one format to having elements of about 10 formats, cuts down the chatter--the new Jack-FM has no DJs--and hopes to fend off you turning off your car radio in favor of whatever podcast you just downloaded.

It's an interesting strategy, obviously meant to compete not only with iPod but also with satellite radio.

Continue reading "You Don't Know "Jack""

Posted by David Lidsky at 4:04 PM | 75 Comments

May 23, 2005

Tax your Perception

All that is certain in this world is death and taxes, or so the saying goes. But what if taxes became a complete and certain disaster? The senate is meeting to address the alternative minimum tax created in 1969 to insure those who made more than $200,000 in a year couldn't be completely exempted by loopholes. But the AMT has never been adjusted for inflation. And $200k is not what it was 35 years ago. Millions of Americans will have to pay more taxes than they probably should.

Why does our government move so slowly? They could have fixed this a decade ago. The flaw is that our government is not flexible. Organizations need to be observant of problems on the horizon and quickly address them before they become colossal catastrophes. History is littered with the wreckage of those who failed to do this. Speak to co-workers and employees. Stretch your perception. Become aware of the blip on the radar. And then do something about it. Don't wait, don't hesitate, simply act.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:58 PM | 5 Comments

April 15, 2005

Get the Goal

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you try to find any way to get it? Yesterday in the mail I got a rare book I ordered from the web, the author's preferred edition of Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods.' It was the $50 paperback, a good alternative to the amazing, but expensive $200 deluxe hardcover.

It seems to me that this is a good technique for a business. Name a task you want to achieve, even if it seems unobtainable. Then figure out how to accomplish something that approximates said goal. You want to expand to a new market, like Asia? It may be massive and cost prohibitive. So, start with one or two small countries and see how that goes.

There is always an alternative to pursue. You may think your goals or dreams are unreachable, but that is because you are aiming too high. Go for the lower target, and then maybe from there you can work your way up to the loftier one.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 11:20 AM | 3 Comments

March 10, 2005

Modify the Message

Last night I went and saw the Broadway play Spam-a-lot, a birthday gift, as I mentioned earlier. As a fan of the original Monty Python and the Holy Grail film, I enjoyed it immensely. What was intriguing were the scenes they took out, compared to the scenes they kept in. And then there is the matter of the new material to make the plot fit Broadway, with relevant scenes and ballads. It all came together to be a wonderful show.

Considering Spam-a-lot, one can reach the artistic dictum, the message should fit the medium. This concept should be applied to business strategy, not just art. As a company experiences growth and expands into new regions they must tailor themselves to fit. You can't expect the same old strategy to work everywhere. Change your message for your market. You may find yourself a resounding hit.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:15 AM

March 2, 2005

Heartburn

If you want an edifying look at how the drug business in this country works, you'd do well to read the article in today's New York Times (registration req'd) about the shortage of Prilosec OTC, the heartburn medication made by Astra Zeneca.

Seems that the popular heartburn medication, the sole over the counter offering for this ailment, is in short supply. And so sufferers are turning to Nexium, another Astra Zeneca drug, which is prescription only. Nexium costs about $4 a pill. Prilosec OTC costs 70 cents a pill. Lo and behold, wouldn't you know it, they're the same drug! "Over-the-counter Prilosec works as well. It's an utter travesty for the American consumer," says Michael Krensavage, a drug industry analyst at Raymond James. Well, how about that. as Mel Allen used to say.

The story only gets more deliriously maddening as you follow the twists and turns of who's to blame for the Prilosec shortage, how Merck fits into this, the boondoggle that's let Astra Zeneca have a monopoly on the over-the-counter heartburn market after its patent expired, the cost to our health care system, and more. It's enough to give you heartburn.

Posted by David Lidsky at 9:57 AM | 7 Comments

February 3, 2005

eBay's Biggest Strategic Blunder

So says CEO Meg Whitman was its failure to move into Japan as quickly as it should. Sounds like a first mover advantage issue yet again. Speaking at the University of Toronto's Business Design conference last Friday, Whitman explained that eBay's late entrance to Japan allowed Yahoo to get an insurmountable lead. "We were very late to Japan--by six months. It was the fourth or fifth market we got to outside the U.S."

Instead, eBay jumped first into Australia, Germany, and the U.K. in 1999 and then tackled Japan the following year along with Canada, France, and Austria. "In retrospect," Whitman told the audience at the Rotman School of Business, "I would have gotten to Japan as our second market after the U.S."

The result: eBay ceded the Japanese market to Yahoo in 2002. Whitman said 98% of Internet users in Japan use Yahoo, more than four times all the other portals combined. Yahoo does more than $5 billion of transactions annually in the country.

Posted by Editor in Chief at 3:46 PM | 1 Comment

November 15, 2004

Congee for the Competitive Soul

Here's a great job title of the future: Vice President of Cultural Competence, the position Virginia Tong holds at the Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. In her New York Times column yesterday, Anemona Hartocollis recounts how Tong has helped the hospital raise its cultural awareness. She alerted management to the Chinese superstition that "4" is an unlucky number, much like "13" in the U.S., prompting them to replace some of the "4s" in hospital room numbers with "8s," a number that's seen as bringing good fortune. The hospital now serves hot water and tea instead of cold water to Chinese patients -- cold drinks are considered unsuitable for illness -- and offers beef soup with bones to patients whose blood has been taken, as drawing blood is thought to make the body unbalanced.

Lutheran's efforts are more than just a nod at cultural sensitivity; they're an effort to truly compete with surrounding hospitals to court Chinese patients. All employees -- right down to the IT types -- have to undergo training in cultural sensitivity. In addition to Tong, the hospital has hired a medical anthropologist and a Chinese cook, Yan Kam Cheung, who shops at Chinese markets and serves congee, a rice porridge, to patients six days a week (but not on Sundays, which is reserved for dumplings). The cultural sensitivity efforts may be helping Lutheran to increase its share of Chinese customers, but it's also having an unintended benefit that could increase another portion of their market share. Pregnant women at the hospital -- whether on the Chinese ward or not -- crave Mr. Cheung's cooking. Who knows, maybe cultural sensitivity will make the hospital a destination for new moms, too.

Posted by Jena McGregor at 11:57 AM

October 27, 2004

Tap Group Smarts

One interpretation of Google's great market success is that it has found a way to tap into and commoditize the collective intelligence of the Internet. Through its use of a page-ranking algorithm, Google has leveraged the total knowledge and expertise of the countless individuals using the Internet. In fact, this magazine has even taken a look at how Google, well, googles itself.

Academics have already demonstrated the power of group intelligence; how groups tend to be right more often than individuals. A classic example of this phenomenon is when Jack Treynor, a former professor of finance, asked a group of students to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar. The group average was 2 percent off the true number, far closer than most of the students.

If groups reach better answers more often be than individuals, does that mean the collective should be consulted in business strategy formulation? Do all members of an organization deserve a say in key decisions? Perhaps "all" is an unrealistic number, but trying to be as inclusive as possible would seem to be a better strategy for success than going it alone. Just ask Michael Eisner about that.

Posted by Michael Taylor at 1:24 PM | 4 Comments

July 13, 2004

Way Beyond Fly Fishing at Abercrombie & Fitch

There is an article in today's New York Times about the relatively dangerous actions taken by the chief of retail chain Abercrombie & Fitch.

Michael S. Jeffries, who has seen the company's sales dip over the past few years, has decided to ignore - and even directly oppose - analyst warnings about the brand. It's too expensive, it caters to the wrong market, it's offensive, they say.

So what? is Jeffries' response. He decided to raise the price of their jeans and continue production on rude (albeit humorous) t-shirts. The only thing he IS changing is the catalog, which has been pulled from shelves in the past because for a clothing catalog it showed very little clothing.

Is it all about the image with Abercrombie? Sure, it has a preppy-turned-sort-of-wild attitude. But for $148 per pair of pants, how many preppy teens and twenty-somethings can afford an Abercrombie wardrobe anymore? It seems to me that Jeffries is sacrificing practicality just to keep the buzz going around a company that has seen better days. Who knows if his crazy plan will work? But for now, his store is back in the headlines and in the minds of consumers.

How have you defied expert advice to try to succeed? Has it worked?

Posted by Melissa Korn at 9:42 AM | 2 Comments

June 17, 2004

The Soundtrack of Success II

Response to my previous Soundtrack of Success entry has been quite impressive and active. Beyond the comments people have made, I've received almost 50 email submissions.

To repeat: In conjunction with Fast Company's July cover story about Howard Schultz's brand extension activities with Starbucks (accessible now by subscribers and newsstand readers), Fast Company would like to compile a best-of playlist for the soundtrack of success.

What songs, music, and musicians do you listen to while in the thick of a project? While crunching on deadline? To celebrate the close of a project? To position yourself and your business? Let us know.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:22 AM

June 15, 2004

The Soundtrack of Success

In conjunction with Fast Company's July cover story about Howard Schultz's brand extension activities with Starbucks (accessible now by subscribers and newsstand readers), we're working on a side project -- and we'd like your help!

Fast Company would like to compile a best-of playlist for the soundtrack of success. What songs, music, and musicians do you listen to while in the thick of a project? While crunching on deadline? To celebrate the close of a project? To position yourself and your business?

Submit your soundtrack of success. We'll consider all of the submissions and offer a final playlist online in the future.

Posted by Heath Row at 2:56 PM | 5 Comments

June 14, 2004

The Two Things

Thanks to xBlog for steering me to Glen Whitman's The Two Things.

For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.

Several of the collected examples really resonate, including, "The Two Things about Innovation: 1. Innovation is inversely proportional to organizational strength. 2. Organizational strength increases with time."

What are the two things for what you do? For the industry in which you work?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:41 PM

March 4, 2004

Strategic Planning, Plainly Speaking

Mercer Management Consulting recently released a white paper entitled "Strategic Planning Redux" that recommends that instead of relegating strategic planning to a sterile annual exercise, leaders tie it tightly to funding and execution.

The 12-page PDF suggests that strategists avoid blue-sky planning and spreadsheet jockeying and instead concentrate on how the business is actually run. Mercer's talking points:

• Start with the customer.
• Connect strategy with capital allocation and execution.
• Embrace debate.
• Keep the process evergreen.

Drawing on a Ford Motor Co. case study, the white paper also address which quant data needs to be taken into account -- and how.

Posted by Heath Row at 3:41 PM | 1 Comment

January 14, 2004

You Down with GDP?

How'd I miss this the first time around? Several years ago, the king of Bhutan decreed that the country would no longer measure its economic wellbeing using the traditional Gross National Product. Instead, it would measure Gross National Happiness. A recent travel article in the Guardian indicates how this approach translates to economic development: To help support universal health care, the country's health minister went on a sponsored walk across the country, soliciting donations from citizens and global leaders alike.

Posted by Heath Row at 1:07 PM | 1 Comment

October 29, 2003

The Limits of Synergy? II

Alison, I'm sooooo glad you posted that piece about Fox Entertainment and Fox News. Who knew synergy had such a dark side? Anyhow, the disputed material in question is just too good not to pull out and highlight. Here it is:

"The episode of the Simpsons in question showed a rolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read: 'Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer... Dow down 5,000 points... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple...'"

Posted by Ryan Underwood at 5:31 PM