Every company can compare its brand value to that of its competitors based on a readily available scale: Facebook “likes,” adjusted for company revenue.

The Ecology of Technology

Emulating the methods used to transform production quality could clean up the Internet — and might even pay for itself.

As the ability to gather sophisticated data grows, here’s a four-step process for making segmentation drive improved performance.

Both incentives and training are needed to spur innovation.

Booz & Company’s annual study shows that spending more on R&D won’t drive results. The most crucial factors are strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation.

Branded mobile applications can spark interest in new product categories.

The use of external partnerships grows increasingly productive over time.

Three leadership principles turn inherent conflicts into long-term growth.

How positive impressions get bolstered by bits of negativity.

A review of Staying Power, by Michael A. Cusumano.

Rapid advances in manufacturing technology point the way toward a decentralized, more customer-centric “maker” culture. Here are the changes to consider before this innovation takes hold.

The outlook for manufacturers and suppliers may be bullish, but a new survey shows that industry executives see big challenges ahead.

Targeting the 9 million “unbanked” households in the United States.

Employees balk at requests for information out of distrust — or worse.

A conversation with Aetna Executive Vice President Meg McCarthy.

How Apple’s CEO used narrative and dramatic techniques to manage his message.

Three factors — favorability, originality, and clarity — determine a product’s identity.

When the pipeline of technological breakthroughs has stalled, especially in industries like pharmaceuticals, midlevel managers may hold the key to R&D productivity.

Combining agile up-front processes with a lean approach to the back end can help companies outperform the competition.

Fred J. Palensky, chief technology officer at one of the world’s most innovative companies, explains how to foster the ongoing cross-pollination of ideas.

The next wave of online business models must focus narrowly, rather than blindly pursuing scale.

Retail banks can use Facebook, YouTube, and other new platforms to better reach their “Generation C” customers.

To escape the commodity trap — and to compete effectively in a knowledge-based economy — business leaders of all kinds need to reinvent themselves as innovators in services.

To build your capabilities and cast a wider net for ideas, you must figure out which of the three types of innovation strategies you already have — and design your R&D approach accordingly.

Historian Elin Whitney-Smith looks at previous periods of disruption to understand what companies (and people) are going through today.

As simulation technologies transform the apparel shopping experience, retailers must decide how rapidly to embrace innovation. The Fits.me story demonstrates how challenging — and rewarding — an Internet marketing strategy can be.

Council on Foreign Relations fellow Adam Segal decodes the rise of innovation in China and India — and what it really means for the United States.

Wider access to databases pushes decisions down the org chart. E-mail, Wi-Fi, and smartphones tend to push them up.

The secret to profitability on the Internet has finally arrived in an innovative blend of social media, Web mobility, and creative e-commerce applications.

How one of the world’s most innovative companies discovered the value of focusing its R&D attention on its own business practices.

As smartphones change shopping, merchants face a stark choice: Fall in behind their newly enabled consumers or fall behind altogether.

The former chairman of the board of France Télécom says telecommunications companies must outpace — or be inundated by — the coming explosion in data traffic.

How to prepare for the Connected Generation’s transformation of the consumer and business landscape.

His inventions from 50 years ago enabled cell phones, laptops, and flat-screen TVs. Now, at age 88, he’s aiming to make solar power cheaper than coal.

A review of The Shallows, by Nicholas G. Carr.

U.S. multinationals are looking to small companies and startups for the next big ideas.

People may be paying too much for broadband, and innovation could be a victim.

Management professor Vijay Govindarajan explains why companies have trouble implementing new ideas — and what they should do about it.

Jim Champy, coauthor, with Harry Greenspun, of Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery, introduces a lesson on the pitfalls of measurement from Faster, Cheaper, Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done, by Michael Hammer and Lisa W. Hershman.