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In their impatience to maximize profits, many companies underrate certain assets which, properly administered, could add value or save resources. This is often the case with obsolete or used products, or excess inventory. According to the book Logística inversa, reviewed in this month's edition, some companies are learning to exploit these undervalued assets to generate competitive advantage, giving rise to a thriving new industry.
Challenging the "throw-away culture" to which we have become accustomed in recent decades, we are now witnessing the emergence of a new trend that asserts the value of a more ethical style of management consistent with sustainable development of the planet and of society. IESE has set up a research centre to address this new demand for corporate social responsibility. In this edition of Insight we have included some studies developed under the auspices of this centre, along with others that likewise invite us to reflect on ethical aspects of business problems.
IESE Insight will be back in September with new ideas. Until then, the Insight team wishes you a happy summer.
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Service and Operations Management |
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Used Products, A Source of Value for Companies |
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| Ana Pérez, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Frederic Sabrià |
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Did you know that IBM saves more than 200 million dollars a year by recycling 35% of its products? And that's just one example of what inverse logistics can do for companies, quite apart from contributing to sustainable development of our planet's limited resources. The book's authors show how inverse logistics can also enable companies to extract value from returned or obsolete products and excess or seasonal inventories. In a word, they explain how products can continue to generate profit even after they have reached the end of their useful life. 
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Organizations and People |
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Early Retirement? OK, but Easy Does It |
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| Sandalio Gómez |
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| In recent years early retirement has ceased to be an exceptional measure and has become widespread among large Spanish companies. On the face of it one might think that all parties involved stand to gain. However, a study carried out by IESE Professor Sandalio Gómez, holder of the SEAT Chair of Labour Relations, reveals that early retirement may have damaging consequences for employees, for companies and for society at large.
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Business Ethics |
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Create Social Capital by Humanizing the Workplace |
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| Domènec Melé |
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| Every company has an organizational culture: "a certain way of doing things." Yet, some organizational cultures are more "humanizing" than others in that they help employees fulfill themselves as human beings. This paper proposes the concept of Organizational Humanizing Cultures (OHCs), which generate trust and associability, two key ingredients for creating social capital, as a sort of asset that, as any other type of capital, promotes profits.
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Finance |
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What Is Financial Outsourcing? |
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| Javier Santomá, Carmen Marcé |
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| Nowadays, almost all corporations and organizations are facing the decision whether to keep the treasury function in-house or partially outsource it. Treasury outsourcing is expected to experience significant growth over the next few years. So, how does financial outsourcing work? What are its strategic benefits and what risks does it involve? What tasks are suitable for outsourcing? To whom? And how can the company retain overall control? In this technical note, Research Assistant Carmen Marcé and Professor Javier Santomà of IESE answer these questions.
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Marketing |
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Relationship Marketing: One Size Doesn't Fit All |
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| Lluís Renart |
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| Gradually dethroning classic "transactional marketing", "relationship marketing" has become a very fashionable and attractive concept. When it comes to applying it, however, many companies face difficulties, sometimes even failure. Is relationship marketing recommendable for any type of business or should it be used only in particular cases? In "Marketing relacional: ¿café para todos?", Profesor Lluis G. Renart of IESE answers this question. An adapted version of the article was published in Harvard Deusto Business Review.
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Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
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When Industry Meets University |
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| Bruno Cassiman, Reinhilde Veugelers |
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| Research and Development may involve taking two uncertain steps forward and one step back to further rationalise production processes or develop new products. Since taking no steps at all would most certainly signify losing ground to competitors, one would expect a constant search for innovation among companies. But not every opportunity seems to be fully exploited. In this working paper, Bruno Cassiman, professor at IESE, and Reinhilde Veugelers of the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) argue that to benefit optimally from the results of external research, companies must undertake internal reorganization.
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(c) IESE 2003 | Please click here to unsubscribe from IESE Insight Newsletter
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