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Amy Shuen: How Web 2.0 Can Help Your Business Do More with Less

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Silicon Valley expert and bestselling author Amy Shuen suggests how budget-constrained managers can harness the power of Web 2.0 to multiply the effects of their existing networks and resources faster and more powerfully than ever before. The enterprise of the 21st century is going to look very much like a Web 2.0 community, she says, and executives need to learn how to manage the important social, business and industry transformation that is occurring now. (Video available)

Marco Aldany: Staying a Cut Above the Rest

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How did a small beauty parlor in a working-class area of Madrid become Spain’s leading chain of salons? Marco Aldany decided to grow and multiply at just the right time and avoid being taken over by a bigger company. To do this, the chain opted for an internationalization model based on franchises and hiring staff in their home countries rather than in Spain.

Toehold Artisans Collaborative: Firm Footing for Indian Workers

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the year 2000, when the Nike Corporation was reeling from widespread criticism of sweatshops in Asia, the Toehold Artisans Collaborative was just forming in southern India. In the paper “Toehold Artisans Collaborative: Building Entrepreneurial Capabilities to Tackle Poverty,” writers and researchers Sindhu Shanmugam and Ramakrishna Velamuri present a case study about a community-based business cooperative aimed at improving the quality of life of over 400 artisan families from the southern Indian town of Athani.

Entrepreneurship Today, the Trade of Tomorrow

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Unlike recent years, when companies chose to shelve many new entrepreneurial initiatives, the coming decade promises to be full of new projects and ideas that will change many aspects of our lives. In his book, Emprendiendo hacia el 2020 (Entrepreneurship Toward 2020), IESE Prof. Pedro Nueno offers a practical analysis of the life cycle of a new enterprise, and he discusses the options that may emerge over the next 10 years. (Video available)

The Big Picture of Business Model Design

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a change manager, a well-designed business model is crucial to the success of your firm. Christoph Zott and Raphael Amit suggest that the key to understanding a firm’s business model is to look at its activities in the context of its “ecosystem” of potential partners, customers, competitors and suppliers.

El Bulli: Cooking Up Innovation

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As another successful season at El Bulli came to a close, chef Ferran Adrià wondered what was next. Having sealed his reputation as the best cook on the planet, boasting the No. 1 restaurant in the world, how would El Bulli - and Adrià himself - grow and change over the coming years? The new case study, "El Bulli's Magic Recipe," considers the singular ingredients of a true innovator. An interview with El Bulli proprietor Juli Soler is available in Spanish.

Keys for Advancing a Culture of Innovation

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Creating a culture of innovation is necessary for success, but setting the process in motion and enshrining it across the organization are not so easy. IESE Prof. Joaquim Vilà offers a road map, which he considers the management team's "inescapable responsibility" to put into practice.

The Health Hazards of Managed Care

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The funding of health care has changed, with managed care becoming the norm in an attempt to control expenditure. One possible side effect of managed health care systems is that hospitals will be reluctant to invest in costly new technologies. IESE's Núria Mas and Janice Seinfeld examine the rate of adoption of 13 technologies in U.S. hospitals and find evidence that this is indeed what happens. But in the drive to save money, what cost to the patient?

The Call for Cultural Change

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In 2006, things were not so great for Vodafone Spain. Its technology area was falling behind the rest of the company. Jaime Bustillo (CTO, Vodafone Spain), Pedro Diaz (HR Director, Vodafone Spain) and Luis Huete of IESE detail the immediate and necessary steps that Vodafone Spain's technology area had to take to instate "The Ultimate Cultural Change," which, by the first quarter of 2008, resulted in Vodafone Spain achieving a staggering 1.8 billion euros in total revenue.

CEO: Greater the Risk, Bigger the Payoff

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Few people like to hear that CEO paychecks increased sixfold between 1980 and 2003, but even fewer have a comprehensive perspective regarding how external factors affect these salaries. By focusing on technology companies in North America, IESE Prof. Pascual Berrone outlines a number of key issues that help explain how executives in tech firms can justify their six figures.