Issue 80, Autumn 2015

In this issue
Cover story
- Strategy & LeadershipThe only sustainable way to capture new opportunities is to remain true to what your company does best.
- Strategy & LeadershipInteractive
20 Questions for Business Leaders
The entire history of management ideas can be seen as a series of answers to a few pragmatic queries. - Consumer Products
How Adidas Found Its Second Wind
The sportswear giant’s embrace of its heritage shows how reconnecting with the past can inspire a company’s future. See also “The History Behind Adidas’s Success – In Pictures.” - Strategy & Leadership
The future of management is teal
Organizations are moving forward along an evolutionary spectrum, toward self-management, wholeness, and a deeper sense of purpose. - Thought Leaders
How Tech Clusters Form
Rutgers professor Brett Gilbert describes the development of entrepreneurial communities, from Silicon Valley to Johannesburg. See also "The A to Z of Tech Clusters." - Thought Leaders
Lotte Bailyn is redefining the rules of work and family
Debates over paid leave, wage increases, and flexible work arrangements, says the MIT professor, all stem from a larger assumption that personal and business needs are in conflict.
Features
- Capable DealmakerStrategy & Leadership
Deals that win
Twelve years of data shows that mergers and acquisitions that apply or enhance capabilities produce superior returns. - Energy
A Strategist’s Guide to Power Industry Transformation
The way we create, use, and manage electricity is finally changing, and the implications go far beyond the utility sector. - Organizations & People
Beyond Bias
Neuroscience research shows how new organizational practices can shift ingrained thinking.
Leading Ideas
- Finance
Mobile Payments: The Delay of Instant Gratification
Platforms like Apple Pay and Google Wallet will need to ensure a seamless and secure experience for merchants and consumers. - Finance
The New Geography of M&A
Before industrial companies sell assets, they must understand the motivations of the full array of potential buyers, especially those emerging in the East. - s+b BlogsStrategy & Leadership
Vertical integration 2.0: An old strategy makes a comeback
More companies are seeking greater control of their value chain — but they should do so with caution. - Global Perspective
The Next Innovation Opportunity in China
Multinationals are shifting their R&D focus from cost savings to knowledge-based research. - Strategy & Leadership
s+b Trend Watch: 20 Years of strategy+business
Two decades of management coverage, charted by topic.
Essays
- Organizations & People
20/20 Foresight
Many business leaders need to improve their perceptual acuity. Here’s how you can develop the ability to look around corners — and become a catalyst for change. - Healthcare
Staking Your Claim in the Healthcare Gold Rush
Revolutionary changes in the delivery, financing, and management of healthcare present a choice: Do you want to be a gold miner or a bartender?
Books in Brief
The Race Goes to the Bold
Thriving amid rapid change, authors Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler argue, requires a fearlessness that borders on hubris.- s+b Blogs
The Wright Stuff
In a new biography of the brothers who invented the airplane, David McCullough describes the frustrations and triumphs involved in getting aviation off the ground. The Prescriptions of Dr. Sachs
The eminent — and controversial — economist offers a set of cures for the ills of global poverty. It’s not clear the medicine works.It’s Getting Hot in Here
Addressing climate change with a sense of urgency isn’t a matter of morality, two economists argue. It’s about managing risk.
Recent Research
- s+b Blogs
What Makes a Company More Likely to Protect LGBT Rights?
Attracting new employees and doing right by its current workforce aren’t the only factors that lead a company to adopt LGBT-friendly HR policies.