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Vertical integration is a risky strategy -- complex, expensive, and hard to reverse. Yet some companies jump into it without an adequate analysis of the risks. The authors have developed a framework to help managers decide when it's useful to vertically integrate and when it's not. They examine four common reasons to integrate and warn managers against a number of other, spurious reasons. Their primary advice: don't vertically integrate unless it is absolutely necessary to create or protect value.

Japanese success with some management practices may depend on cultural factors that are not present in the West. But that is not true as far as continuous improvement programs are concerned; CIPs were developed in the United States long before they were introduced into Japan by U.S. trainers working for the post-WWII occupation authorities. Schroeder and Robinson synthesize the fascinating history of improvement programs, from the early "awards scheme" of a Scottish shipbuilder to the present day. They propose four fundamental principles that can help managers build the competitive advantage no one can steal -- a constantly improving, highly productive, committed workforce.

Managers know that the customer's impression of an organization is important. And sometimes companies attempt to determine just what that impression is. They conduct ad hoc surveys and focus groups. But too often the data is insubstantial, or difficult to analyze, or even inaccurate. Barich and Kotler introduce the concept of "marketing image" and describe a system of image management: designing a study, collecting data, analyzing image problems, modifying the image, and tracking responses to that image. They argue that only a systematic approach will yield useful and accurate information that a company can translate into action.

Let's say you run a U.S. corporation that sells widgets to Germans. The deutsche mark drops against the U.S. dollar. What happens? You can sell the same number of widgets, but when the marks are converted into dollars, you get fewer of them in your pocket. And, if your widgets are produced in the United States, your production costs are higher than for your German competitor. Nothing you can do about it, right? George and Schroth argue that you can do something about it, but it takes systematic planning. In this article, they describe the increasing effects of foreign exchange rates on the global market and ways to plan for them. By making foreign exchange planning a part of overall long-term strategy, organizations can avoid its negative effects and even exploit its positive ones.

The author is one of a group of Japanese management scholars developing a frame of reference strikingly different from that of American scholars writing about business administration. Here Professor Nonaka introduces the concept of compressive management, which recognizes a key role for middle managers in information development. "The essential logic of compressive management is that top management creates a vision or dream, and middle management creates and implements concrete concepts to solve and transcend the contradictions arising from gaps between what exists at the moment and what management hopes to create." The development of the Honda "City" is used to illustrate "middle-up-down" management. In their wish to develop an entirely new car, Honda's top managers gave a group of young designers that task -- with virtually no direction. The designers first attempted to modify an existing model but were eventually forced into questioning and transcending universal assumptions about automobile design.

Companies that upcharge customers for digital features embedded in physical products put those relationships at risk.

New research shows that large language models increase persuasive behaviors when users question their output.

Learn how to successfully apply humanized leadership strategies to guide teams through today’s crises.

How to avoid Goodhart’s Law, or gaming behavior, in organizations, using methods adapted from AI training techniques.

Cultivating inclusive leadership entails challenging assumptions about how to identify the strongest job candidates.