| Making Innovation Strategy Succeed by Amy Bernstein Booz Allen Hamilton Vice President Barry Jaruzelski discusses the process and findings of the annual Global Innovation 1000 study. |
| Growing a New Niche in Retail Banking by Alan Gemes, Fabienne Konik, and Caroline Moss How some top performers are adapting to target the lucrative mass affluent market. |
| Signals for the Coming Year by Art Kleiner Change may be certain, but for a business decision maker, some changes have more impact than others. Here are eight trends that will make the greatest difference in 2008. |
| A Challenge for India by Sheridan Prasso N.R. Narayana Murthy, chief mentor and cofounder of Infosys Technologies, sees a bright future for developing countries — if they can use their success to address the problems of poverty. |
| Travel 2.0 by Volkmar Koch, Jürgen Ringbeck, and Stefan Stroh Winning over the travelers of the future will require technologies that, like human travel agents, can segment customers accurately and give them what they want. |
| Freeing Ideas from Their Silos by Steven Mains and Laura W. Geller How the U.S. Army has transformed its approach to sharing knowledge, and what businesses can learn from it. |
| Reining In the Overpaid (and Underperforming) Chief Executive by William J. Holstein Corporate governance expert Nell Minow explains the relationship between outlandish severance packages and the risky financial instruments linked to subprime mortgages. |
| The Intelligent Highway: A Smart Idea? by Joyce Wenger, Jack Opiola, and Tony Ioannidis Roadways that give drivers safety updates and ease congestion may finally become part of U.S. transportation infrastructure. |
| Speaking of Jargon by Gwen Moran If we hate it so much, why do we all use it? |
| We Are All Pirates by Edward Baker Author Matt Mason takes a hard look at how established companies should face the growing threat of copyright piracy. |
| China’s Shifting Competitive Equation by Christoph Alexander Bliss, Ronald Haddock, and Kaj Grichnik Multinational companies must respond to China’s rising costs by bringing their own global best practices to its shores. |
| Anyone Around Here Nervous? by Art Kleiner Public relations guru Robert Dilenschneider on getting ahead when everyone else is concerned about falling behind. |
| Competing on the Eco Front by Jürgen Ringbeck and Stephan Gross Environmentally friendly countries have a leg up in the competition for international travelers, but sustaining that advantage takes work. |
| Business Success from the Bottom Up by Laura W. Geller Management consultant Ralph Sink believes that people, when given ownership and held accountable, will shine. |
| The Truth about Exports by William J. Holstein The numbers may be rosy, but the U.S. export initiative is still hobbled. |
| A Clear Look at Biofuels by Bill Jackson, Eric Spiegel, and Leslie Moeller Myths abound regarding the pros and cons of biofuels. Here is a scorecard to separate truth from fiction. |
| Winning the PR Wars by William J. Holstein CEOs must learn to manage the media if they want to influence how their stories are told. |
| The Next Empire by Edward Baker What can the U.S. do to maintain its competitive position against the E.U. and China? Foreign policy scholar Parag Khanna believes the answer lies right under our noses. |
| Taking a Chance on Oil by Georges Chehade and Eduard Gracia Geopolitical and financial uncertainty contribute more than an imbalance between supply and demand to sky-high oil prices. |
| Lessons of Silence by Bruno Kahne What the deaf can teach us about listening — and making ourselves heard. |
| Six Keys to a Winning Manufacturing Strategy by William J. Holstein How John Deere bucked industrial trends to become an international growth star. |
| Friendlier Skies by Jürgen Ringbeck and Stephan Gross Consolidation in the increasingly competitive European airline industry has been long delayed, but the wait is coming to an end. |
| It’s Not about the Money by John Frehse To improve employee morale and productivity, increasing compensation may be precisely the wrong tack. |
| The Sum of the Parts by Michael Cooke, Richard Turner, and Stephen Chen Effective product innovation depends on fast access to critical design and engineering data. At Whirlpool, the challenge turns out to be as much human as it is technological. |
| Indian Outsourcers Go Global by William Holstein Facing mounting competitive pressure, India’s biggest firms are reshaping themselves as multinationals. |
| Building the Perfect Workforce by Gwen Moran Community college partnerships are training workers with made-to-order skills. |
| The New Chinese Environment by Brendan Vaughan To do business in China, companies can no longer ignore their effect on the country’s water and air. |
| The Evolution of Online Media by Melissa Master Cavanaugh Author of Always On and Booz & Company Partner Christopher Vollmer on how the media environment is changing and what it means for advertisers and marketers. |
| Sidestepping Disaster by William J. Holstein Extending supply chains to low-cost nations may make economic sense, but disruptions from natural catastrophes can drown the gains. |
| The Decline of the Expat Executive by William J. Holstein Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants, discusses the new effort by multinationals to hire local executives in foreign locales. |
| Survival-of-the-Fittest Innovation by Edward Baker Booz & Company Partner Alexander Kandybin on why consumer products companies should look to the power of natural selection to break out of the incremental innovation trap. |
| RFID Redux by Jeffrey Rothfeder No longer the tech darling, RFID is slowly reemerging as a valuable way to monitor small pieces of big supply chains. |
| Hearts and Minds by Edward H. Baker Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter on why urgency in the face of change matters — right now. |
| A Growth Strategy for the Long Term by Rabih Abouchakra, Mazen Ramsay Najjar, and Richard Shediac Economies that depend primarily on a single resource are exposed to ongoing shocks, but an export-based diversification strategy can alleviate the tremors. |
| What’s So Smart about the Smart Grid? by Rolf Adam and Walter Wintersteller Changes in the ways consumers use electricity have spurred the need for a more intelligent way to distribute energy. |
| Why Corporate Buyers Are Dominating M&A by Edward H. Baker Amid the tightest credit conditions in decades, the market for corporate control is favoring low-leverage, growth-oriented transactions. |
| A Breakaway Opportunity for “Inferior” Products by Leslie Moeller, James Ryan, and Juan Carlos Webster As the difficult economy causes consumers to trade down in their purchases, companies need to adjust their offerings to their customers’ new behavior. |
| Peanut Butter on the Chin by James O’Toole What The Lucifer Effect, Philip Zimbardo’s landmark book on a prison experiment at Stanford University, tells us about the dangers of corporate conformity. |
| Change Management: Who’s in Charge? by Richard Rawlinson, Ashley Harshak, and David Suarez A new survey finds that transformations succeed when top executives pay attention. |
| The Coming Boom in Hybrid Cars by Christopher Giliberti Evidence from innovation theory and auto-industry history suggests that the market share for hybrids is about to accelerate sharply. |
| Knowledge-based Sourcing in China by Ronald Haddock, Michael Pfitzmann, and Reid Wilk Structural shifts in the Asian giant’s economy are forcing companies to adopt deeper and more personal strategies for supplier relationships. |
| Is Backshoring the New Offshoring? by Vinay Couto, Ashok Divakaran, and Mahadeva Mani The business press is touting a return of offshored jobs to the U.S. — but we’re not buying it. |
| The Collaboration Game by Simon Harper, Amit Kapoor, and Marco Kesteloo Although an elusive goal, cooperative relationships between retailers and suppliers can be wildly profitable. |
| Pitting Latin Multinationals against Established Giants by Paolo Pigorini, Arthur Ramos, and Ivan de Souza To succeed globally, “multilatinas” — and all aspiring international companies from developing nations — must make rapid strides in governance, transparency, and executive appointments. |
| Don’t Be Afraid of the Bear by Steffen Leistner, Tanvir Hanif, and Thorsten Liebert Foreign banks can find opportunity in Russia if they are willing to navigate the risks. |
| China’s Long Road to Innovation by William J. Holstein Beijing is mandating an increase in home-grown R&D, but Chinese companies face long odds in meeting international standards of innovation. |
| Transforming an Adversarial Relationship by Frank Smeekes and Reid Wilk A survey of automakers and their suppliers unearths the management prerequisites for working together profitably. |
| Taiwan Is Open for Business
by Sheridan Prasso A heightened level of access to Taiwan from mainland China means new opportunities for foreign investors. |
| Follow the Customer, Follow the Car
by Yoshiyuki Kishimoto, Hiroyuki Sawada, and Chieko Matsuda Global companies today can learn from the Japanese enterprises that thrived during the country’s “lost decade.” |