Skip navigation

INNOVATORS' INSIGHTS

Strategy & Innovation

Our free, biweekly e-newsletter presents analysis of the latest business trends and developments, including real-time, real-life examples of disruption. Starting in September 2008, our newsletter will expand as we begin biweekly digital publishing of Strategy & Innovation. Innovators' Insights will become part of the new publication.

  • When is Nonconsumption an Opportunity?
    The new Peek handheld illustrates the necessity —and the pitfalls — of targeting nonconsumers
  • In Need of an Innovation Fill-Up
    Conventional wisdom is that gas stations are a low-margin, unprofitable business. But we find it hard to believe that there is little room for profitable innovation in a retail business that hundreds of millions consumers have to visit on a regular basis. When the finance people come knocking, looking to sell downtrodden assets and invest the proceeds in high-flying businesses, lock the doors for a bit. The business may indeed have few prospects.
  • Assessing Tribune’s TV Strategy
    Like all media companies, Tribune Co. faces immense industry challenges. Sam Zell, who purchased the conglomerate in late 2007, isn’t standing still. The company is selling off assets, cutting costs in its newspaper operations, and investing in new growth offerings, such as an attempt to revitalize local television news. Tribune deserves credit for trying, but needs to continue to broaden its thinking to drive true transformation.
  • The Power of Starting Questions
    The question that starts the innovation process is incredibly powerful. Recent developments in online search and communications services show how different starting questions can expand or contract the opportunity space for innovation.
  • GE's Potentially Disruptive Acquisition
    Large acquisitions generally capture the public’s attention. Sometimes, though, small acquisitions can be great ways to spur disruptive growth. General Electric’s less-than-$70-million acquisition of a company that manufactures engines for twin-engine turboprop airplanes could drive disruption—if GE manages the acquisition in the right way.
  • Don't Disrupt Your Customers
    The forces of disruption are powerful. Managed carefully, they help companies grow and best their competitors. However, with the new Polaroid-on-the-Go printer, Polaroid runs the risk of disrupting its own customers, a strategy that may not lead to success.
  • Are Dell and Sony Back?
    Even innovative companies such as Dell and Sony can lose their ability to innovate if they lose control of their core business. Recent moves by both companies to re-gain control of their core are necessary steps to return both companies to prominence.
  • Industry Consolidation as the Canary in the Coalmine
    Whether the current wave of consolidation in the airline and wireless communications industries is good or bad depends on the reasons for the trend—and what those reasons reveal about how growth can occur in these industries.
  • Is the Online Advertising Game Over?
    Microsoft’s efforts to make online advertising simpler, more affordable, and more measurable will offer a serious challenge to Google’s online-advertising dominance—as long as Microsoft’s offerings increase the chances that customers can get the real job done that they need online advertising to do.
  • Too Big to Grow?
    Large companies often set large growth targets for their innovation efforts. Yet seeking large targets right out of the gate can make innovation exceedingly difficult.
  • A Circumstance-Based View of Best Practices
    When innovation is involved, automatically following “best practices” might be completely inappropriate, while a circumstance-based approach is more likely to lead to success.
  • Why Skybus Didn't Take Off
    Despite a seemingly sound strategy that borrowed from Southwest Airlines and RyanAir, Skybus' bid to be the newest airline disruptor was grounded this week. What went wrong?
  • CVS Caremark, Walgreen Attempt to Connect the Dots
    CVS Caremark and Walgreen are each seeking growth in new ways—CVS through its acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, and Walgreen through a string of acquisitions aimed at deepening customer interactions at its brick-and-mortar stores. How successful might they be?
  • Has Hulu Forgotten Enough to Succeed?
    Hulu—the new online video offering that's a joint venture between NBC Universal and Fox—looks like something that would come from a startup, not something that would come from slow-moving incumbents. Hulu has so far managed this by selectively borrowing from the TV model, and just as selectively "forgetting" the parts of that model that would not succeed.
  • The Incumbent Strikes Back
    Almost 10 yeas ago, Zipcar pioneered a new “car-sharing” model where customers have the ability to access a car for an hour or two at a time. Major car-rental companies are beginning to eye the $100 million market Zipcar has created. Should the upstart be worried?
  • Unsolicited Advice for Yum Brands
    Yum Brands—which runs KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut fast food chains—announced disappointing U.S. results in early February. To restart growth, the company plans to aggressively introduce new products and attempt to refresh existing brands. Its best chance of success will come if it stages experiments, considers introducing new brands, and also considers business model innovations.
  • The Up-Market March
    At first blush, it seems rational for incumbent companies to ignore disruptive developments. After all, initial incarnations of disruptive innovations are not good enough for mainstream customers. Recent developments in the outsourcing industry show how incumbents that ignore the "up-market march" of a disruptor do so at their peril.
  • Who Will Emerge From the VOD Squad?
    A number of competitors are angling for a piece of the emerging video-on-demand (VOD) market. The field remains open because no one has combined an easy-to-use way to access vast libraries of content with a differentiated business model. Maybe Netflix or Cisco Systems will emerge as VOD powerhouses.
  • Handicapping Google's New Growth Efforts
    In order to continue its torrid growth, Google needs to come up with growth beyond its core search advertising offering. We discuss whether three recent offerings—user-contributed information site Knol, mobile software application Android, or productivity software Google Docs—have the potential to drive disruptive growth.