A Merger Is Not an Idea
Why the Omnicom - Interpublic deal reveals a deeper failure of imagination in advertising
Strategy and Innovation Articles
0 matches found
Inside Chennai’s Enduring Enterprises
A field report on family ownership, continuity, and the craft of building for the long term
The Quiet Work of Branding
Five shifts shaping how organisations build clarity, continuity and trust in 2025
When Stories Move Faster Than Systems
Why AI-accelerated narratives are exposing leadership and capability gaps across organisations
When A Leader Stumbles
How an airline’s crisis became an industry’s test. The concluding part of a two part special series
The Paradox of Excellence
How IndiGo’s greatest strengths created the conditions for the December 2025 crisis — and what it reveals about the limits of high-performance systems. Part One of a two part special series
The New Perimeter of National Security
Why India’s corporate leaders can no longer separate digital risk from strategic resilience
Toxic Greed: How a $12.5 Billion Crisis Exposed a Global Corporate Failure
When innovation icons turn into liability machines, it’s not chemistry that fails—it’s governance, incentives, and courage
India’s Labour Codes: The Shift from Protecting Jobs to Formalising Work
The Codes rewrite the architecture of wages, flexibility, digital compliance, gig work and industrial relations. But the real transformation depends on how states implement them—and how leaders rebuild trust, dignity and fairness inside workplaces
Why Emotions Are First Principles in Product Strategy
Products succeed when they answer what people feel, not just what they need
The $100K H-1B Shock & India’s Innovation Moment
The visa fee has sent shockwaves through the global talent ecosystem. What does this mean for U.S. startups, Indian engineers, and the future of innovation?
John Kay on Purpose, Profit—and the Perils of Thinking Like a Hare
In conversation with D Shivakumar, the acclaimed economist revisits the soul of business—from Boeing’s fall to Apple's hollow shell—and what real strategy should look like
WPP’s Existential Dilemma: Falling Prey to the AI Narrative
In chasing tech transformation, WPP’s board may have overlooked the nuances of its own business. And that could put the company in play
Just Do It, Again
Iconic brands have a strong core. Any attempt to transform the core, driven by big consumer and lifestyle changes, can be particularly tricky, as global sportswear brand Nike discovered recently
How to reinvent your career
Insights from Herminia Ibarra’s book, ‘working Identity’
Hybrids in an EV era
Propelled by the Toyota and Suzuki partnership, the resurgence of hybrids is a signal that the electric mobility revolution in India may take a lot longer than was assumed
Reliability wins customers
An extract from Harit Nagpal’s new book ‘Adapt: To Thrive, Not Just Survive’ on how the new CEO of an AC company that ranked fourth in a market of six big players, found a sustainable differentiator: making the company “easy to deal with”
The Indian economy is in danger of suffering a heatstroke
As it rolls out the world’s biggest-ever election, there’s a bigger challenge confronting India’s governance systems: Heat
Behind Crotonville’s demise
It is tempting to dismiss corporate universities as a relic of a bygone era. The reality may well be a bit more nuanced
Tales of transitions
Many competent leaders from different domains aspire to join public life. But the transition is never an easy one
Paytm: Emperor’s new clothes
At the heart of the fintech major’s precarious slide lies the abject failure of its Super App strategy. But that’s just one part of the story.
Creative marketing in the digital age: How far is too far?
Marketing lessons from the Poonam Pandey episode
Thompson ad mortem. Who cares?
Why did WPP decide to snuff out the identities of three of its most storied agencies—Thompson, Y&R and Wunderman—to create a new entity VML, the world’s largest creative company? The clues lie in the stock markets—and the immense pressures acting on its CEO Mark Read
Behind ITC’s hotels demerger
Chairman and MD Sanjiv Puri is trying to kill three birds with one stone
Noel Tata’s brahmastra
His value lifestyle brand Zudio has caught the attention of the entire retail industry. It also signals a coming of age of retail in small town India
Modern Times redux
Is the government’s Make in India programme creating a system where a large section of workers in manufacturing could find themselves trapped in low wage jobs with no future?
12 Deadly Sins That Bedevil Incumbents
Here’s a pattern that I’ve observed throughout my career: incumbents mostly lose; they somehow survive but don’t thrive. An incumbent growing faster than the market over a decade is more an exception, rather than the rule.
A personal brand is a must
It is the intersection of what you say about yourself and what others say about you
How (not) to build your personal brand
FF Life: The power of social media has lulled leaders into believing that a carefully curated digital identity is the sure-fire passport to success. They are entirely off-the-mark
How does a firm develop a business model with sustainability at its core?
Book Review: ‘Sustainable Business Model Design - 45 Patterns’ by Florian Ludeke-Freund, Henning Breuer, and Lorenzo Massa
Adani’s NDTV takeover: The end game
The three-month-long takeover saga is reaching its climax. What happens next? (Updated on December 6, and December 24, 2022)
When India made its first computer
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) had a pivotal role in shaping India’s computer-tech capability, as early as the 1960s. An extract from ‘Against All Odds: The IT Story of India’ by Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu and Krishnan Narayanan
What’s holding up Gautam Adani’s takeover of NDTV?
More than two-and-a-half months have passed since Adani announced its intent. And yet there is no sign of a quick closure, as it was widely anticipated
Capping the moonlighting volcano
There’s simmering tension over moonlighting, hybrid work and a breakdown of old workplace norms. Will this erupt into a full-fledged crisis? Or will better sense eventually prevail?
Moonlighting: An idea whose time has come
In this Founding Fuel Masterclass, Satish Pradhan, TN Hari, Surabhi Sanchita and Kavi Arasu unpack the undercurrents and how leaders are thinking about it
A battle of unequals
As the Adani group pushes through the doors at NDTV, owners Prannoy and Radhika Roy find themselves with their backs to the wall. What are their options?
Gautam Adani’s midnight raid at NDTV—a developing story
The aggressive billionaire’s dramatic attempt to take over one of the country’s best known media firms has set the cat among the pigeons. Will Prannoy and Radhika Roy stand their ground? Here are the possible scenarios. (This is a developing story and we are updating it as things unfold. The latest update was on 31 August, 2022)
Moonlighting or an old-fashioned mindset?
Employment contracts are often unfair—and they thwart the creativity of individuals and firms. Like Swiggy, which is allowing employees to take up side gigs, others need to take a fresh look at what is right
The hare and the tortoise
The R K Swamy Hansa group remains the last man standing, even as almost all the large homegrown advertising-led groups have thrown in the towel. How did the Swamy brothers, Srinivasan and Shekar, pull it off?
Agnipath and a second career for veterans
The raging controversy around the Agnipath scheme has placed the spotlight on an issue that has been pushed under the carpet for too long.
Building Back Better: Lessons from Zoho's founder
Sridhar Vembu and Sharad Sharma talk about creating resilient, uniquely Indian companies; questioning buzzwords and received wisdom; investing in deep tech; and more
Bollywood’s wakeup call
Why the Hindi film industry is struggling to emerge out of its pandemic-induced coma
Plugging the infra gaps
The Gati Shakti Mission has been billed as a major transformational project. But is it merely a delayed attempt at better housekeeping?
Making Sense of the 10-minute delivery phenomenon
Hari Menon, co-founder & CEO, BigBasket, deconstructs e-commerce’s latest obsession with superfast delivery
Tata Neu: Stripping the hype
Is it even a super app? Or a coalition loyalty programme? A loyalty business veteran dissects the challenges and complexities the Tatas—and customers—will have to grapple with
The race for food security
Climate change is undoing the gains India made from the green revolution. In this extract from his book, Race for Tomorrow, Simon Mundy talks about how, in the struggle to respond, companies like Mahyco are experimenting with genetic engineering to create new super-crops
Rushing back to office
There are signs of growing impatience among CEOs to abandon the hybrid work experiment and return to office permanently. What’s driving this sentiment? And could it scupper change?
A case for boosting ecommerce in India
India’s ecommerce sales are only about 2.5% of China’s. There are many compelling reasons for ensuring that ecommerce diffuses fast and widely. A policy push can hasten the pace
Education needs a new direction to meet the emerging needs of the future
As technology becomes ubiquitous in day-to-day living, and its role in the economy grows, the importance of knowledge will increase manifold. This knowledge economy will require far deeper specialization, as disciplines get more complex. And also people with a broad understanding of multiple disciplines. An excerpt from Kiran Karnik’s new book, ‘Decisive Decade’
The Covid lessons India failed to learn from its own history
A conversation with Chinmay Tumbe, author of ‘The Age of Pandemics’, where he talks about lessons from cholera, Spanish influenza and plague; why policy response lags the science; and what this could mean for India’s urbanisation and political leadership
My five summer books of 2021
Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna's work on gene editing; the courage to stand up for what's right; which habits will stay, which will change; adaptive leadership; and giving your career a different direction
The birth of a model scientific institute
Hari Pulakkat tells the story of how Homi Bhabha set up TIFR in this extract from his new book, ‘Space. Life. Matter: The Coming of Age of Indian Science’
Untold stories about how India built its higher ed institutions
Stories of visionary leadership: How Homi Bhabha, Satish Dhawan, Ravi Matthai, PK Kelkar, and Verghese Kurien among others, built world class institutions
Reframing VUCA: What will it take for leaders to thrive in the next decade?
Futurist Bob Johansen talks about key principles from his new book ‘Full Spectrum Thinking’—which is the ability to make sense out of the future, across gradients of possibility, and take actions now to be a part of those possibilities
Why only three companies will dominate global markets
Jagdish Sheth, Rajendra Sisodia and Can Uslay talk about their latest book ‘The Global Rule of Three: Competing with a Conscious Strategy’
The ant and the elephant
Designing for 100 million users is different from designing for 100 users and scaling it up for 100 million, says Shankar Maruwada, co-founder of EkStep Foundation
To learn fast, go to the real place, look at real things, talk to real people
In this excerpt from his new book ‘The Learning Factory: How the Leaders of Tata Became Nation Builders’ Arun Maira talks about what he learned about learning from TELCO’s Sumant Moolgaokar
How to live better into old age
In their book ‘The New Long Life’, Andrew Scott and Lynda Gratton say, as individuals and as a society, we need to reimagine work, career, learning and relationships, among other things. And both the young and the old will need to share the burden and opportunities of longer lives
My five summer business books
A history of GDP; pursuing social value; inside Samsung; how longer life is redefining life, learning and work; the four-day work week
Anticipating inflection points
Insights from Columbia Business School professor Rita McGrath’s book ‘Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen’
Masterclass: Shaping startup culture
‘We are customer-driven’, ‘we are data-driven’. Those are typical refrains from companies. But are they really? It all boils down to culture
Masterclass: India Inc’s New Data Privacy Imperative
A personal data protection law is imminent. How should businesses prepare for the changing landscape? What problems are we likely to face along the road?
Economies of scope: Singapore’s alternative approach to progress
In the relatively short time since it became independent in 1965, Singapore has made giant strides. The country illustrates well the power of local systems solutions, purpose-driven networks, and inducing all parts of the government and all stakeholders to work together
India is an R&D hub for MNCs. Will global protectionism play spoilsport?
Global Capability Centres have played a big role in the development of Indian engineering and innovation capabilities. Protectionist trends like the US-China trade disputes now raise important questions for India
Purpose-Driven Networks: Creating solutions to social problems, at scale
Complex societal issues require diverse set of capabilities—which reside in a variety of business and civil society organisations. When they come together as a self-coordinating network, they can create collective impact
Purpose-Driven Networks: Sustaining large-scale movements of change
Social and political movements of change need to embed “moderators” who can connect and guide the flow of the movement—people who promote a dialogue and help create a consensus on action
Creating Ethical Leaders: Can ethics be taught?
Ethics can be learnt, though it may be considered difficult to teach. What matters is the kind of experiences young managers are exposed to. B-schools and firms play a crucial role in shaping their thinking through such exposures
Creating Ethical Leaders: Will management education rethink its role?
Two factors are causing a rethink on value systems: environmental degradation and shifts in political power that reflect the voice of the disenfranchised. This new thinking will have to come from new coalitions of social thinkers, practitioners, academics, politicians and corporates
The new China is more than just about growth
Today, the country’s focus is on exploiting the benefits of economic modernisation to redefine the goals of society in three critical areas: environmental regulation, technological innovation, and corporate social responsibility. Insights from a week-long immersion
Local Systems Solutions: A way for India to provide universal healthcare
Healthcare in India urgently needs locally appropriate but systemically consistent solutions. There’s much to learn from how other countries and sectors have gone about it
Local Systems Solutions: A framework for solving urban challenges
Challenges such as garbage collection are universal, yet deeply local to each city. And they are the result of many aspects of the city system being broken. A systems approach, adapted to the local context, can help find unique solutions
Zomato Gold: A crisis that was waiting to happen
The Zomato Gold membership programme was a runaway success, but the inherent conflict at the heart of the scheme has sparked off a huge battle between the aggregator and restaurants. For Zomato, shifting the focus of diners from discounts to loyalty may be the best way forward
What leaders need to do to capture value from innovation in the digital era
Innovation is easier in the digital era. Yet, capturing value from innovation is becoming more challenging. This calls for the leader’s role to change to that of chief experimenter
An ethical toolkit for systems transformers
Sustainable progress of humanity requires a new toolkit with three disciplines: systems thinking, ethical reasoning, and collaborative enterprise design
The ROI on goodness
It makes more economic sense for business to be good in the longer run
The BJP’s real Brahmastra
With its thumping win at the hustings last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have proven themselves as master storytellers. The way it executed the integrated communication strategy for the crucial 2019 elections holds important lessons for leaders across India Inc
Riders on the storm
Two of India’s iconic companies—Tata Steel and ITC—find themselves at the cusp of a huge upheaval. And it once again raises serious questions about the role of the board in supervising executive management
How entrepreneurs learn
Large established firms have a tough task in embedding entrepreneurial thinking inside the firm. Because it means rewiring the way leaders think about the future
How will the Mindtree-L&T takeover battle pan out? Nine questions answered
The Mindtree founders want to retain their firm’s unique culture. And have chosen to strongly rebuff L&T’s takeover attempt. But as things stand, the odds seem stacked against the founders as they try to block the $18 billion megacorp from taking control. A prognosis of what could happen next
Hindustan Unilever’s storm in a teacup
Why the Red Label Kumbh Mela ad backfired and the do’s and don’ts for brand custodians when designing their communication
Why UDAN is flying into headwinds
The Modi government’s ambitious scheme was a serious attempt to make air travel accessible to every Indian. But two years later, it is apparent that the challenges may have been somewhat underestimated.
The West in an era of Asian dominance
The West needs to radically rethink its strategic goals for the Asian century, argues Kishore Mahbubani, senior advisor and professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
The new ‘mad men’ in town
The global merger of JWT and Wunderman is a signal of how a new combination of techies and fuzzies might dominate the world of innovation and marketing
Large firms and startups can partner to drive innovation
What are the models of engagement and the challenges of such a partnership in India? A panel discussion with Qualcomm India’s Larry Paulson, Kellogg School of Management’s Prof Mohanbir Sawhney, True North’s Haresh Chawla, Anunta Tech’s Ananda Mukerji, and SPJIMR dean Dr Ranjan Banerjee
Beyond Business: Using platform thinking to drive societal change
How do you drive a very large-scale societal transformation? In this video, EkStep Foundation’s Sanjay Purohit and 1Bridge founder Madan Padaki talk about how Societal Platforms, or open digital co-creation networks, can drive innovation in sectors like education
The return to humanness and collaborative innovation
In this never ending race for greater productivity and measurement, the practice of management appears to have lost touch with real human values. It is time to correct that
How large firms and startups are partnering to drive the innovation agenda
What are the models of engagement and the challenges of such a partnership in India? A panel discussion with Qualcomm India’s Larry Paulson, Kellogg School of Management’s Prof Mohanbir Sawhney, True North’s Haresh Chawla, Anunta Tech’s Ananda Mukerji, and SPJIMR dean Dr Ranjan Banerjee
Transforming the soul of the enterprise
Large organisations can infuse the energy and agility that startups bring. Future Group, Nestle and Star TV are good examples of how a large firm can be constantly innovative. At the same time, there is a new breed of startups like TeamIndus that have an audacious goal and seek exponential growth
Walmart’s Flipkart buy will unleash a battle royal with Amazon and Alibaba
As Walmart muscles into Indian e-commerce, the global war for retail dominance has a new battleground
Smart people don’t work for you
The management thinker Prof. Mohanbir Sawhney on why it is important that large businesses partner with startups. And Dean Ranjan Banerjee of SPJMIR on thought leadership that can emerge when industry and academia engage
Talent drives strategy in the digital era. Is HR ready?
Today business strategy means sensing new opportunities, and people are the key to creating value. So how do you approach human capital in this new era? Corporate guru Ram Charan, McKinsey’s Dominic Barton and Korn Ferry’s Dennis Carey explore in their book ‘Talent Wins’
How gig talent can make HR agile
HR needs to adopt gig talent first and then scale it for the organisation
Air India divestment: Why potential suitors will line up for the Maharaja
There are at least six compelling reasons for rivals to consider making a bid for India’s flag carrier
How to sustain winning streaks
The Indian cricket team’s brilliant run at South Africa holds lessons for how to build the foundation for lasting success
The hotel industry’s big battle with Airbnb
Airbnb may have changed the game with its online home stay listing model. But the hotel industry isn’t waiting in the sidelines. It is fighting back
A mission to solve grand challenges
Grand challenges that bring together government, universities and industry, can solve near future problems using technologies innovatively
The b-school campus placement BS—and how to clean it up
This is the time of year when thousands of young MBAs go through their rites of passage. Yet for a while now, campus placement in India’s busi-ness schools have hopelessly derailed. And it’ll take considerable effort and a bunch of new ideas to get them back on track
Agile start-ups, large firms and a jugalbandi for innovation
When the agility of start-ups is combined with the scale of a corporation, great things can happen. Snapshots from the SJPIMR Business – Academia Conclave 2018, hosted by SPJIMR in partnership with Founding Fuel
How to solve the affordable housing conundrum
Smart entrepreneurs are best placed to solve the affordable housing crisis. But they need the government’s support
How business schools in India have killed off research
New, bold and unconventional approaches are needed to resuscitate the research culture
The alchemy that transforms adversity into opportunity
The very scarcities of resources India faces gives it a natural advantage in taking leadership in frugal engineering and rewriting the playbook on innovation. In a session hosted by CII, Gopichand Katragadda, Navi Radjou, Shantam Shukla, Suneel TS and Vaibhav Chhabra discuss how
How to innovate for India
Entrepreneurial leaders like Medtronic Labs’ Omar Ishrak and Khan Academy’s Salman Khan are showing how low-cost, disruptive, local solutions can open up new opportunities in emerging markets
Bridging the gap between academia and practice
Academic research in management needs to be more useful and relevant. But any intent to influence practice won’t happen, unless researchers learn to step out of their comfort zone and engage with the real world
Celebrate authentic failures
In his new book ‘A Biography of Innovations’ R Gopalakrishnan, former Tata Sons executive director, talks about learning from mistakes and the importance of intellectual curiosity, collective ingenuity and storytelling
The power of eight employee experiences
And take a one question diagnostic on how you fare in delivering them
Decoding the new rules of blended commerce
A new era of shopping is taking shape in India, as retailers—like Kishore Biyani with his Retail 3.0 strategy—look to blur the lines between their physical stores and online shopping. A glimpse into how this will change the way modern retailers operate
Into the mind of the Indian politician
Corruption is a clichéd narrative to woo voters. What alternative narrative can politicians sell to the world’s largest democracy?
Giving birth to a new European steel behemoth
The logic behind the partnership between Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp to give shape to a sustainable steel business in Europe is compelling. But the labour pains involved are likely to be equally challenging
You want an agile company. But is your HR agile?
How a design thinking approach to HR can make things simple and transform organisational culture
Stay learning. Stay in charge
Companies struggle to manage the present and also remain relevant in the future. There’s a way to fix that. And it starts with a new approach to learning
A tryst with insanity, encephalitis and apathy
Much is being reported about an epidemic. Some say it is par for course in a country as large as India. But how would they cope if it drove them into madness? A first-person account
Gorakhpur tragedy: Why we haven’t been able to win the war against mosquitos
The public debate around the recent tragedy has been far too simplistic. The fact is that India hasn’t been able to root out vector-borne diseases for centuries. And simply blaming the government of the day won’t cut ice
The culture that led to Isro’s world class capabilities
Isro’s achievements in earth observation are one outcome of this culture of working without silos
Two questions that led to an innovative device to prevent blindness
Who is my product for? What is my real goal? A relentless focus on these two questions allowed Forus Health to develop a low-cost, sturdy device to detect preventable blindness. This extract from Soum Paul’s book ‘Flight of the Unicorns’ tells the founders’ story
Life is unfair. Deal with it
History repeats itself and biology insists humans reproduce (or innovate). Else, death is inevitable. It is in an entrepreneur’s interest to study both themes closely
Battles in The Age of Engagement
The tech giants are rewriting the rules of how business empires are built. How deeply they can engage the millions on their network is the key to the kingdom. No business, including their own, is invulnerable. The concluding part in a two-part series
Behind the global tech investing tsunami
The gold rush in technology investing changed the way firms are valued and built. Those predicting its premature demise are likely to be proven wrong. If anything, the pace at which these firms will change the landscape around us is set to accelerate
The march of China’s ‘glocalised’ brands
Doreen Wang, global head of BrandZ Millward Brown, on whether China can move beyond its cheap reputation
Why we fail at execution
Lack of alignment can trip up even the most well-intentioned change process. Here’s what you can do to fix it.
How Nokia rewrote its story
In his book ‘Against All Odds’, Nokia’s former CEO Jorma Ollila chronicles how a troubled conglomerate engaged in rubber, cable, forestry, electronics and power generation businesses became a global mobile phone behemoth, but lost out to the iPhone
Clayton Christensen on innovation: Finding the jobs to be done
According to the famed business professor, innovation is about finding the “jobs to be done” in our lives
Two idiots and three pigs
How do generals win a war? By pacing themselves right even as they use idiots and pigs to protect their soldiers
Moderate constraints actually boost creativity. Here's why
The popular belief is creative minds work best in unstructured, open-ended environments. But some research suggests that the opposite might be true
Welcome to Tencent’s Flipkart, Amazon’s new adversary
With its recent deal, Flipkart now has not just a bigger war chest in place, but also a new set of allies that give it the heft to challenge Amazon once again. Make no mistake: it has significant implications for the future of the Indian e-commerce market
Searching for the future: It’s time to upgrade the Baidu business model
After years of reliance on search ad revenue, it’s time for Baidu to reconsider its business model and diversify
Innovation the smart way, an interview with Georg Tacke
Georg Tacke, CEO of Simon-Kucher & Partners, discusses common pitfalls in product innovation and how to avoid them
Stories, not places, inspire us to travel
Storytelling can help tourism. For travellers seek memories not just photographs
Why Carlos Ghosn took ten years to taste success in India
Despite umpteen setbacks, the charismatic global chairman of Renault-Nissan didn’t give up on the opportunity in the Indian auto market. And finally, his team delivered a winner in the Renault Kwid
Building a brand identity to create a high-value company
How should a company increase the value of its products and services through building a brand identity? The third in a five-part series on how companies can stand out in a competitive marketplace
Affordable healthcare: India’s big opportunity
India has a unique opportunity to pioneer a distinct model of affordable healthcare. There are already many outstanding examples of healthcare innovation in the country
Think and design in India. Why make in India?
In this podcast, Kiran Karnik talks about the kind of innovation India needs to leapfrog. He says Make in India is a dated idea. Instead, the focus ought to be on Think in India. The final in a three-part series
Behind the Infosys brouhaha
Clearly, the founders at Infosys have a right to be heard. But they may have raked up needless controversy, in a desperate bid to belittle the board and the CEO.
How to create your product differentiation strategy
How today’s companies can stand out in a competitive marketplace, differentiate their products and build a high-value company. The second article in a five-part series
India can build world-class universities. IISc shows how, with a few caveats
Indian institutions tend to decay over time. The Indian Institute of Science seems to have defied this trend thanks to a strong commitment to certain core principles
Kiran Karnik: Things to read, do, experience, listen to, and ponder over
Karnik shares his favourite sources of inspiration for innovation and entrepreneurship. Part two in a three-part series
Innovating for a 6 billion-strong market
A clutch of global tech companies are demonstrating how designing products specifically for India can help crack the India market—and make innovative products for the world
The ICICI Bank-PhonePe stand-off, UPI and the great unbundling
Traditional banks have embraced UPI and have the added advantage of an existing customer base. So, why are they worried about startups? In one word, unbundling.
The challenges before N Chandra
The leadership transition at the Tata group is being keenly watched by all. But much would depend on how the Tata Sons board decides to set the rules of the game
Design radical breakthroughs through grand challenges
Prize-based public competitions are emerging as a smart way to encourage social innovation and technological development in a way that benefits mankind. An exclusive extract from the book 'Crooked Minds: Creating An Innovative Society' shows us how
What lessons does the Simputer hold for Make in India?
The Simputer showed that India can design an innovative tech product. What holds it back? Its capability in hardware manufacturing and very little experience in marketing a new category of devices.
Kunal Shah: ‘Understanding humans is core to great businesses’
In this video, Kunal Shah, founder and chairman of FreeCharge, talks about the behavioural insights behind FreeCharge and how trust in people gets you the best outcomes
The ground beneath India’s feet
From a distance, India looks pretty. But the ground it stands on is shaky. Policies framed in Lutyens’ Delhi are distanced from Indian realities. Entrepreneurship is the victim
Predictive analytics in the era of demonetisation
It is paradoxical—past data becomes more valuable just when current data diverges dramatically from past trends
Only perfect practice makes perfect
Deliberate practice can make you a natural storyteller
A new learning cheatsheet
By integrating ideas from a host of new approaches like Design Thinking, continuous learning, coaching and facilitation, one can create distinctive and relevant learning opportunities
Agents of change
Literary agents in India can be more than a bridge between authors and publishers. They can add value to both at different stages of book creation.
What is “phygital” and why you should care about it
People move seamlessly between the physical and the digital world. Shouldn’t your consumer experience too? A four-step model shows how to create a better experience
The Tata-Mistry battle royale: No endgame in sight
The ball is in Cyrus Mistry’s court. But does he really have enough ammo to make Ratan Tata blink? If he does, it could force a truce and a possible mediation. Here are some possible scenarios
Unstructured data and the infamous US elections
Tapping into unstructured data yields insights that may not be available otherwise
The way to win market competition now
For companies and individuals alike, a competitive advantage keeps getting harder to win and maintain. This is the first article in a five-part series that explores how today’s companies can stand out in a competitive marketplace, differentiate their products and build a high-value firm
The silence of the lambs
The Tata-Mistry fight isn’t just about washing dirty linen in public. It is a wake-up call for Indian enterprises to start the cleansing process from within
Shanghai Disney’s Chinese track and fighting obesity with taxes
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses some of the recent news: Shanghai Disney’s glocal strategy and its clash with local rival Wanda City, and whether a tax on junk food is enough to fight obesity
What a fable about meerkats tells us about innovation
Discipline and maverick ideas—both are necessary for dealing with rapid change and coming out ahead, say John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber in their book ‘That’s Not How We Do It Here’
Why we might be reading the data wrong
Among other things, the problem might lie with our inadequate understanding of the domain we are trying to map through data
How Design Thinking can help the Swachh Bharat Mission
The mission will succeed—or fail—because of people. And to get people involved, we need to reframe the problem and identify ways for each set of stakeholders to contribute
Will India’s tryst with online courses pay off?
The opportunity to transform higher education is enormous. Yet much will depend on whether faculty in our places of higher learning are able to handle the transition to this brave, new world
Paper Boat: Riding on a wave of nostalgia
In this video, Neeraj Kakkar, co-founder of the Paper Boat brand and Shripad Nadkarni, an investor in the brand, talk about the magic formula that got people hooked and which helped them create a new beverages segment—ethnic drinks
Design and business: Creative clusters
Under what circumstances does a creative cluster strategy work to spur innovation?
Managing change, a story at a time
Using stories to align employees to new strategies
How India’s digital economy can rediscover its mojo
The recent crisis of confidence brought by the unicorn meltdowns isn't for real. India’s digital economy is actually poised for a bright future. Just that we need a new lens to look at the real opportunities
Why leaders need to ask, not tell
Leaders need to learn how to engage everyone, especially young minds, in co-creating the future. The failure to do so can lead to widespread disillusionment and widen the generational gap
Building the data process: Three thumb rules in data design
Rely more on business users and crude prototypes, and less on unidimensional metrics
Design and business: The future of design thinking
Some critics have declared that design thinking is dead. They fail to see the value of the holistic view it propagates
How TVF took the digital jungle by storm
In this video, Arunabh Kumar, founder of The Viral Fever, talks about what helps them stand out. In a word, content
The Uber-Didi deal is more about China than about Uber and Didi
The Chinese have done it again. With the Uber-Didi deal, they have shown the world how to carve out a near monopoly in urban transportation that’s also highly regulated and hugely competitive
Design and business: Practicing design thinking in China
IDEO China’s Charles Hayes on how the globally renowned design and consulting company operates in a Chinese context
Why e-commerce consolidation is no panacea
The euphoria around Flipkart’s recent acquisition of Jabong may be a tad misplaced. After all, there are far bigger competitive issues at stake that could define the next phase of growth of Indian e-commerce
The business elite’s moment of reckoning
Our business elite need to actively engage in a wider conversation about a new India. Instead of merely obsessing about GDP growth, business leaders need to speak out openly about our lopsided economic model
The undiscovered virtues of data storytelling
Rich insights from tables and charts won’t be enough. People connect to stories
Untangling messy people issues
People-related issues are complex and unpredictable. Elicit stories about them to understand patterns and design the right interventions
Sex, work and harassment
India Inc needs to do more to make the workplace fair, equitable and safe for women
Design and business: Jeanne Liedtka on how to think like a designer
Design thinking expert Jeanne Liedtka believes that everyone has the potential to be an innovator. They just need to know how.
Three Little Data hacks that keep your costs minimal
The obvious list of things to try includes prototyping, manual collation and more convenient prioritization
Design and business: The substance of style
No longer seen as window dressing, today design is being seen as a key source of competitive advantage in business—as well as other parts of life
Designing a sharply positioned platform
All digital platforms have similar products or similar content. How is the consumer to distinguish between this glut of providers?
7 lessons from the Daiichi - Ranbaxy deal, and understanding the Donald Trump phenomena
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava draws insights on building an enduring business, the power of persuasion and countering divisive leaders
The Chinese innovation machine
China has evolved into a leading geography for innovation. How has it done that? George Yip and Bruce McKern explore that question in their book ‘China’s Next Strategic Advantage’
Something’s cooking in Apple’s India business
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent learning mission to India may open up new possibilities for the world’s most valuable company. But here’s the nub: it may not quite follow the script drawn up by the Indian government
The fundamental, smart and surprising reasons to be data-genic
Gains range from discovering new revenue opportunities to a sharper customer focus
What we need to do to make design thinking strategic
For design thinking to be truly effective, it must be guided by strategic vision
Creating value with Little Data
Big Data is for big pockets—for others, a bunch of easy-to-adopt data practices can still create significant value
How green is Tesla Model 3? And is Brand Factory's discount strategy enduring?
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses how environment-friendly Tesla’s Model 3 really is and the future of the discount store
Tata Corus: 7 Lessons from a Deal from Hell
Why India Inc’s biggest global acquisition gave the Tatas a bloody nose
The Chinese way
Edward Tse argues in his book 'China's Disruptors' that innovation is happening in China at a pace that will influence the rest of the world sooner than later. Though he doesn’t mention Indian innovation, the comparison is inevitable
Indian e-commerce in 10 charts
A snapshot of what is happening in online retail
Indian e-commerce just hit a new normal
Two days ago, the government quietly ushered in a new policy that will transform the Indian e-commerce landscape forever. While much depends on the final implementation, the implications are nothing short of staggering
Why iPhone SE may lose out in India and why Amazon wants to open bookstores
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses some of the news that dominated headlines in March
Holacracy and its discontents
Is Holacracy and the boss-less company the next big thing?
How to unleash the Virat Kohli phenomenon inside your firm
What business leaders can do to encourage prodigies to flourish
Deciphering the Chinese consumer
As P&G and L’Oreal discovered, the consumers are constantly evolving and arriving at the right mix of low-end and high-end offerings is not easy
The importance of being Team Indus
If Team Indus succeeds in soft landing a spacecraft on the moon and wins the Lunar X Prize, it could set the stage for the company and India to be a big player in space engineering
How collective ingenuity is changing the world
Innovation strategist Navi Radjou discusses how innovation in the engineering space is moving away from big proprietary labs, why India and the emerging markets are the next big thing, and what leaders can do to manage these different themes
The jump to BS-VI and what it means for innovation
The switch to the new emission norms will lead to interesting shifts in the automotive and energy industries
Holacracy, managerless offices and the future of work
Brian Robertson, co-founder of HolacracyOne, gives an overview of his revolutionary new self-management system
The state of cancer research and the future of innovation
In India, a focus on public health initiatives and re-engineering of proven drugs and treatments to reduce costs will achieve better results than looking for new cures
Family comes first at Starbucks China
What can companies whose job roles don’t fit the traditional notions of a good career choice, do to retain staff? Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has a creative solution
Why is Amazon pumping money into India and other stories
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses some of the news that dominated headlines in February 2016: Alphabet vs. Apple, Amazon’s push in India and the entry of godmen in business
Tracking the progress of innovation in India
There is an urgent need to measure and track whether we are harnessing our creative potential to solve the important problems in education, health and agriculture
Intellectual property rights: When it’s broken, fix it!
We need affordable medicines and we need more innovation. It’s time to reinvent the patents regime
The Patanjali phenomenon
How and why a low-key Ayurvedic brand is stealing a march on established FMCG firms
Want to trigger action? Use a story
Stories put facts and data in context. They also engage the listener's emotions, inspiring them to act
Rachel Botsman on the collaborative economy
Rachel Botsman, co-author of ‘What’s Mine Is Yours’, tells us where the collaborative economy is heading and why it requires a fundamental shift in understanding.
The secret to keeping a family business intact across generations
The Pitcairn family offers several lessons on how you can sustain a family business across not one, not two, but several generations.
Can Netflix win over India and other stories
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses some of the recent business news: Netflix’s India strategy, GE’s move to Boston, the bloodbath among food tech firms, and General Motors’ Maven service
Managing knowledge through stories
Stop knowledge from walking out the door
Alibaba’s massive IP protection challenge
Alibaba is tightening the screws on fake goods being sold on its e-commerce platforms, but can it really stay a step ahead of counterfeiters?
Start-ups aren't from Mars
Most large companies struggle to remain entrepreneurial while most small enterprises have a hard time trying to scale. It's time they learn from each other
There’s a time to buy, there’s a time to sell
Mergers and acquisitions are incredibly tough to manage. How do you navigate the ground and yet take the right calls? An entrepreneur shares lessons from the road
Building a story repertoire
Here’s how you can create your own, easy to recall catalogue of stories for every business context
Transformers: The DNA of an innovative company
How do you design and run an innovative company? In his book Deepak Loomba details his experiences in setting up De Core Science and Technologies as a scalable and flexible firm
12 business stories from 2015 and how they will play out in 2016
Business strategist Rajesh Srivastava analyses the secret behind the success of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali, the rise of Kabaddi, Uber's strategy, Maggi Noodles' comeback, Google and Facebook's drive to control last-mile connectivity, and more
Revving up innovation
Nurturing an experimentative culture requires a new set of leadership tools that allow variance and controlled risk-taking to flourish
How embedded education can solve many problems
Embedded education—or using peoples' encounters with non-educational delivery systems for education—can sometimes prove to be more effective than traditional delivery mechanisms.
Speed with stability: How to embed agility in your firm
How to be agile while maintaining long-term direction, just like a flock of birds can dynamically swoop and turn, while staying on course
If not tax breaks to seed innovation, then what?
What the government ought to focus on is, encouraging Indian science to set up businesses and increasing the competitive intensity of the marketplace
The ROI of business storytelling
Storytelling has a 28.06 times return on investment!
The rise of the big spenders of China
The Chinese buy more and travel more, and brands are going out of their way to woo Chinese shoppers, both at home and abroad
Conventional training and classrooms are archaic. How do you then learn?
K Ramkumar, Executive Director of ICICI Bank and D Shivakumar, Chairman and CEO of Pepsi India talk about learning, unlearning and staying relevant in a rapidly changing world
Revisiting innovation at the bottom of the pyramid
How do you come up with the disruptive differentiators that will serve the unique needs of the millions of Indians with limited purchasing power, and who are difficult to access? Co-create and build ground-up
How Alibaba pulled off its Singles Day shopping fest
Alibaba broke all records with sales of $14.3 billion on Singles Day this year. How did it manage this amazing feat?
Is the R&D tax break really an incentive to innovate?
There is opposition to the proposed withdrawal of R&D tax breaks in India. But did the perk really propel companies to research and innovate?
The end of training
The effectiveness of old-style leadership programmes is questionable. One way to reboot the training model is to take a more problem solving approach to learning
The future of manufacturing—and what it means for Make in India
Technological progress is changing the nature of work in ways we don’t realize. For India’s push into manufacturing to be successful, we need to prepare for manufacturing as it will be five years from now
Overcoming entrenched views
If the story is in their heads, it is hard to change
Yum China: Can it become ‘finger lickin’ good’ again?
The owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, once the darling of China's fast food sector, has lost substantial ground due to repeated scandals and plain brand fatigue. Post its split from the parent Yum Brands, can Yum China get its mojo back?
Six people who can help you become a superforecaster
In his new book, 'Superforecasting’, Philip Tetlock looks at those who get it right and how they do it
The Challenge of Silos
In an interesting new book, ‘The Silo Effect’, financial journalist Gillian Tett points out that how you are structured influences how you look at the world and how you approach problems.
Technologies do not disrupt, business models disrupt
McKinsey's Erik Roth says any company can have one-off wins, but the real challenge is how do you do it on a continual basis?
Building consumer empathy
Why are consumers not buying your brand? Understanding end-users and empathy for them is much more effective in problem-solving than relying merely on gut or tonnes of data
The gobbledygook generator
Is your communication also clouded with business jargon?
Haier is disrupting itself - before someone else does
By turning itself into an internet-based platform company, Haier is doing something that has no precedents anywhere in the world. Can it pull off this audacious plan?
Continuing on the 20% sales increase journey
Put your storytelling skills to work to be a super salesperson
Alternatives to the annual performance review
Companies are abandoning the age-old tradition of the annual performance review. What can possibly replace it?
Haier's quest for the perfect egg
White goods maker Haier is trying out ideas from manufacturing and internet technologies to egg production. Result: Efficiency at China's egg farms has improved tremendously
Firing the Annual Performance Review
Why the annual performance review is finally getting the pink slip. The first of a two-part article
Ideas from outside can jumpstart your innovation effort
Every industry thinks it is unique and has little to learn from someone else. Ramon Vullings and Marc Heleven’s book, 'Not Invented Here: Cross-Industry Innovation', shows how you can learn from other industries
Interested in a 20% increase in sales?
Put your storytelling skills to work to be a better salesperson
Improve customer satisfaction at minimal cost: Convert customers into 'employees'
Involve customers and cede control over certain activities by providing them an obstacle-free, easy-to-navigate and secure platform to perform tasks
The Robots Will Take Our Jobs. Then What?
The writing is on the wall: the robots will take our jobs. Martin Ford, author of 'Rise of the Robots', explains the implications for human beings and the market-driven capitalist system.
It's time to destroy your business
Question and overthrow fondly held assumptions if you are to build an enterprise for the future
Zeynep Ton: Pay Employees More, Get More
A Q&A with Zeynep Ton, author of "The Good Jobs Strategy", on how four retailers make more money by paying above-average wages.
A new vision for Make in India: Create a web of small, nimble enterprises
Fears about technology displacing jobs are unrealistic. A network of technology-led enterprises will disrupt old-style massive factories and generate more opportunities for employment
How to Disrupt and Destroy Your Own Business
The best way to keep your business intact is to destroy it with a superior solution, before someone else does
InMobi's Miip May Be More Important to India than Pichai
The emergence of an IP and technology-based leader from India will have a bigger long-term impact than a few Indians heading major global corporations
The Changing Face of Competition that can Knock You Down
New age competition is hydra-headed, indirect and invisible. The best way to tame it: be obsessed about your customers
Would you much rather self disrupt or self destruct?
To those who reckon banks are going to keel over and die in the face of disruption from non-traditional contenders, I have a piece of advice. Hang on. It isn't going to happen so fast
Reputation Management: What to Do When Your Brand Is Hit by a Scandal
As Mattel and Airbnb's Brian Chesky showed, an unconditional apology and self-penalization work
Overturn perceptions that subvert a new strategy
What works and what doesn't when you have Doubting Thomases
Enabling Strategic Agility in Organizations
Strategic agility allows companies to respond quickly to short-term needs while simultaneously keeping long-term good in mind
Lessons on negotiating from the streets
Learning the ancient art from life around us
Business Storytelling is Not About the Hero's Journey
You don't need a complex plot or theatrics. Narrating experiences and anecdotes can make an abstract concept concrete and build its memorability
Conscious Capitalism: How Social and Environmental Initiatives Improve Bottom Line
Unilever, particularly through its Lifebuoy brand, and Apple are reaping the rewards of looking after the interests of all their stakeholders
A Brand Is Not Enough. Create a Cool Brand
A brand merely satisfies customers by delivering on its promise. A cool brand helps us shape our identity, enhance our self-esteem and project ourselves to the rest of the world
Will Nikkei fuel FT's Asian ambitions?
Post the sale, there's every chance that the global business daily will expand its presence in Asia. Its market entry in India could depend on whether its new Japanese owner presses the right diplomatic buttons.
You are only as good as your next big idea
The days of relying on a single sustainable competitive advantage are over; companies must focus on spotting new sources of advantage, exploiting them fast, and quickly moving on
Wooing the multi-channel shopper: How traditional retailers can compete with e-tailers
Selling to the new breed of shoppers who want to shop at a time and on a device convenient to them
Strategic Agility: Making a Flexible Plan for an Uncertain Future
Baba Prasad, president and CEO of Vivékin Group, talks about how to create a long-term plan when you don't know the long term
So You Think You've Got a Strategy
The best approach depends on the problem at hand, says the book—Your Strategy Needs a Strategy by Martin Reeves, Knut Haanaes and Janmejaya Sinha
Smart strategies to get customers to actively seek out your brand communication
Personalized messages that are contextual and location-specific work the best
Everybody Has a Slice of Genius
Linda Hill, author of Collective Genius, believes leaders should create a context in which people are willing and able to innovate.
How to reduce cost and gain competitive advantage
Here's how Starbucks' Howard Schultz did it and lessons from the mistakes Dell made
Make strategies stick - neutralize stories that undermine them
The first step is to acknowledge the anti-story and then put a more powerful story in its place
Why you should treat your employees as well as your customers
Skilled, knowledgeable employees help their companies gain enduring competitive advantage
The real reason why Myntra moved to an app-only strategy
Flipkart and Myntra see mobile phones as a disruptive force in retail
7 Lessons About Agility: How to Succeed in Turbulent Worlds
How organizations and individuals can achieve success through agility
Why questions score over answers
All discovery, invention, innovation are outcomes of curiosity, of asking all manner of questions.
How Zara, Sensodyne and others use behavioural science to unlock value
Why customers behave the way they do and what you can do to influence their behaviour
Case studies are dead. Long live success stories
Make case studies interesting to read, easy to recall and effortless to retell by introducing elements of a good story
Farmville comes to real life - on a plot of land near you
Alibaba's group-buying website Juhuasuan lets urban users contract farmers to grow selected vegetables on spare plots of land and ship them back to them
Why you should sell your brand as an experience
How Starbucks engages all five senses to create a memorable experience and turn customers into brand advocates
Transform your workplace into a fun place
A happy work environment leads to better creativity, productivity and engagement
How KFC battled the eight-legged chicken (and other stories)
Rumours and planted stories can make or mar a brand’s fortunes. Here's how to counter - or not counter - them
Lessons on pitching from 'Shark Tank'
How to make your pitch credible, viable and persuasive enough for someone to believe in you and want to put their money on your idea
Baidu Waimai is finding its way into customers' hearts through their stomachs
Food delivery services like Baidu Waimai have found an opportunity in helping people try out new restaurants and restaurants expand their customer base
Disrupt or destroy your own business to make it stronger
With this strategy, Amazon came up with Kindle and Netflix moved to streaming films and TV shows online
Why you need to have a chief innovation officer
How Tata group's R. Gopalakrishnan, Cognizant's Sukumar Rajagopal, Titan's LR Natarajan and BMC Software's Suhas Kelkar built an ecosystem for innovation
Why Reliance is struggling to launch its 4G service
Reliance's famed project management skills are being severely tested as its strains every sinew to roll out its mammoth broadband wireless network. At its core, questions are being raised about its centralised organisational model for managing its new ventures
What you can learn about high-tech innovation from Polaroid
The ability to frame a problem, a relentless striving for a better solution, and careful patenting are some of the lessons
How giving your business a new twist can unlock growth
Wikipedia and YouTube are two examples of businesses that tweaked their initial strategy and found exponential growth
Why don't strategies stick?
Narratives are much more memorable than bullet points on a PowerPoint slide when trying to make your teams understand your strategy
How to get customers to own your brand
Companies as diverse as Airbnb and PepsiCo India are involving proactive consumers to gain competitive advantage
How Beijing Genomics Institute became the world’s largest gene sequencer
BGI's secret sauce: an endless curiosity, a unique low-cost platform and a willingness to take on ambitious projects
Why we are so bad at behavioural change and how to get better at it
Insights on how to change behaviour from Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter's book Triggers: Sparking positive change and making it last
Team Indus wants to land a robot on the moon
Sheelika Ravishankar, who leads the HR function at Team Indus, talks about the Indus Spirit, and what their people have to do if they are to win the Google Lunar X Prize
Develop a Growth Hacker's mindset
How to attract users without having to shell out money on traditional marketing activities
Either you share or you lose
People are finding ways to share everything. Technology is enabling a new method of consumption that gives people access without ownership. Sooner or later your business will be a target
Get out of the clichés trap
How do you ensure that your company's values are not just abstract concepts? Listen and share stories from employees on how they are living these values
What successful companies do to win customer loyalty
Companies like Amazon, IKEA and Ritz-Carlton are proactive in anticipating customer's needs and nipping problems in the bud
Why Costco's online-first approach in China is a smart strategy
Its virtual store allows it to test the waters without making a big investment and by riding the wave of the country's e-commerce boom
Rajesh Patil is building a different kind of real estate firm - and reaping the rewards
The maverick chairman of leading Pune-based realtor Kolte-Patil Developers is scripting a transformation story that's turned every known precept on its head and made him an outcast in his own industry
Lessons from the House of Tata on Technology and Innovation
There are increasing signs of breakthroughs that could provide disproportionate returns to Tata companies
Are you asking the right question?
Observe, articulate the pain point and ask an audacious question that seeks to convert the problem into a solution
How to turn problems into solutions
Lessons from low-cost carriers and the gin market in India
Who's eating your lunch?
In the new world of digitization, if you don’t disrupt your own business, it could take a start-up with just 50 people backed by venture capital money to blow a huge hole in your business.
The Future of India
Trends in the US could portend the challenges India will face
Secrets of the highly-engaged employee
The solution is simple: Build a culture of trust
Igniting the Spark in Your Employees
Create a fair and transparent workplace that allows for autonomy and is free of fear
Don Tapscott on Digital Disruption
The Digital Economy warrants a fundamentally new social contract, says Don Tapscott, a leading expert on the impact of technology on business and society.
Customize, Don't Copy
Kellogg professor Mohanbir Sawhney in conversation with Founding Fuel on the dynamics of the Indian e-commerce industry, and what it will take to succeed in India
The Power of Design
Design thinking is not about appearance and aesthetics, it is a holistic thinking process that can be applied to solve any problem
How Smart Companies Localize
If you want to democratize decision-making, you have to be dictatorial about data, says Mohanbir Sawhney. You need to centralize your data, and decentralize your execution
Peter Cuneo, Turnaround Superhero
Peter Cuneo, former CEO of Marvel Entertainment and the man behind seven corporate turnarounds, on what really goes into resurrecting a failing company.
Thinking from the customers' point of view creates winners
Successful companies build products that appeal to the customers' self interest rather than their own.
How to Build Your Business 2.0
The seven lessons I learnt on how to foster a culture of innovation and build breakthrough teams
Six Key Trends that are shaking up the Internet Economy
For the next 10 years, it will be an Asian revolution in e-commerce
Why chasing profit may be self defeating
Successful businesses reach for a higher cause - providing a memorable experience that enriches customers' lives
Traditional marketing is dead
Growth hacking is the new way, where companies craft the product in way that encourage users to evangelize the product
What does it take to become a Management Guru?
Management scholars in India could do well to study closely the success of global gurus like Jagdish Sheth
The Rule of 3
These simple rules help build enduring businesses
The Enduring Rules for Business Success
Successful companies across sectors follow these simple rules to create memorable user experiences and to become brands of choice
Adapt or Die
Can large organisations be nimble, disruptive and inspiring places to work? Yes, if they dismantle hierarchical, bureaucratic ways of working, says management guru Gary Hamel.
How to get your sales team to build relationships
It makes better business sense to serve a customer over the lifetime of the relationship rather than merely sell. A simple way to make that happen is by changing how you incentivise your salespersons
The new mantra of consultative selling
Smart companies aren't hiring salespeople anymore. They're investing, with good reason, in a different breed altogether.
How to go global in a jiffy
It often took several years - and sometimes decades - for companies to spread their wings around the world. But now, the old globalisation model is set to change dramatically.
How to create an Indian MBA
The MBA programme, as we know it in India today, is an import from the West with modest efforts at adaptation. The time to change it has come.
How to build a business model
Some pointers to books, articles, websites and hidden links on what it takes to build a great business model
Brand friend for life
Most consumers trust earned media - recommendations from friends and family - above all other forms of advertising
Turning Your Customers into Brand Advocates
There's a smart way to turn customers into your biggest business ambassadors--and that too, without wasting big bucks on advertising.
Sadhguru and Ram Charan on Innovation, Creativity, and Spirituality
Prof Ram Charan decodes Steve Jobs' legacy at Apple
Lessons from Vertex Pharma: Will we be able to develop breakthrough drugs?
Indian firms find it hard to inculcate radical innovation into their DNA. Perhaps they could draw inspiration from the experiences of US based pharmaceutical firm Vertex.
Shaun Rein on How China Will Become an Innovative Economy
China is not known to be an innovative economy, but Shaun Rein, author of The End of Copycat China, believes that will change sooner than we know