Vijay Govindarajan - Fusion Strategy

Research Explores The Effects Of Trade And Economic Disruption

Economic disruption has been a big part of the political conversation. Free trade might be a net benefit to the U.S., but there are large areas of the country that bear the brunt of negative effects. Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 10/14/2016 at 11:01 am

Two Ways to Break into India’s Consumer Market

While India is the fastest growing major economy in the world today, some foreign companies are still struggling to enter the market there. However, recent developments have opened new doors for consumer product companies to expand their presence and sales in India, at much lower risks. Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 10/11/2016 at 07:29 am

What’s Next after Pokémon GO?

If you don’t know what a Squirtle, a Psyduck, or a Jigglypuff is, you may be among the few who haven’t been captivated yet by Pokémon GO, a sort of virtual scavenger hunt. Briefly, the game layers computer-generated creatures over real-time maps on a player’s iOS or Android smartphone. The technology, called augmented reality (AR), is a far cry from the falling puzzle tiles of Tetris, which...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 08/09/2016 at 08:02 am

How Amazon Adapted Its Business Model to India

When Amazon decided to enter the Indian e-commerce market, it was clear from the outset that something would have to give. That something was the very business model that had made Amazon an internet powerhouse in the U.S. Amazon.com debuted as an online bookstore in 1994. Founder Jeff Bezos’s initial business model was fairly simple: Source a single product type from wholesalers and publishers and sell it...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 07/20/2016 at 10:54 am

What Innovative Companies Can Learn from Keurig’s Highs and Lows

Leading an organization can sometimes feel like plate spinning: racing from pole to pole, trying to keep each plate aloft and whirling. To lead (and to spin), you have to achieve and maintain balance. Within an enterprise, this means balancing the demands of current operations while laying the groundwork for future opportunities, as well as reviewing past activities and policies that may be holding back your...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 06/20/2016 at 12:18 pm

Stop Saying Big Companies Can’t Innovate

Some business pundits today believe innovation ignites better in startups than in large, established corporations. They believe big companies are weighed down by their own success, too invested in the past to create and execute new ideas. They say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I disagree. Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 06/06/2016 at 09:00 am

How Disney Found Its Way Back to Creative Success

Since every industry changes in time, the key to success is adapting to those changes – hence, strategy is innovation. In this, Disney and Warner Brothers provide an instructive study in contrasts. When Robert Iger, Disney chair and CEO, purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion ten years ago, some in the industry thought he was crazy. The Disney empire was rooted in animation, and its classic...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 06/03/2016 at 08:56 am

To Win the Civil War, Lincoln Had to Change His Leadership

In our work with leaders, we see that great ones grow themselves and their organizations by deliberately working on three areas: They wisely manage the present, anchoring in purpose and values. They selectively forget the past, letting go of old values, beliefs, and behaviors that no longer serve them or their organizations. They purposefully create the future by adopting new...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 06/01/2016 at 06:49 am

From Accountant to Yogi: Making a Radical Career Change

At some point, almost all of us will experience a period of radical professional change. Some of us will seek it out; for others it will feel like an unwelcome intrusion into otherwise stable careers. Either way, we have choices about how we respond to it when it comes. Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 05/26/2016 at 08:12 am

To Grow as a Person, Selectively Forget the Past

For 35 years, I have used the Three Box Solution framework in my work with corporations. This is practical approachintegrates (Box 1) current business performance with (Box 2) selective forgetting of the past and (Box 3) creating the future. But it’s not only business issues that can be solved with the three box approach — some executives with whom I’ve used...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 05/12/2016 at 10:47 am

What FDR Knew About Managing Fear in Times of Change

In our work with leaders we’ve found that managing successful transformational change has a lot to do with managing fear. This includes fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of change, or even fear of fear itself. This is especially true when making bold changes — the kind of change that could take an organization to a whole new level of performance, or, out of a paralyzing tailspin. The bolder the...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 05/04/2016 at 11:05 am

How Companies Escape the Traps of the Past

A staggering 88% of companies listed in the 1955 Fortune 500 are nowhere to be found in the same list today. They have gone bankrupt, merged, or simply shrunk off the list. Half a century ago, the life expectancy of a firm in the Fortune 500 was around 75 years. Now it’s less than 15 years. Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 04/26/2016 at 11:07 am

Why Unicorns Are Struggling

When financial services company Square priced its IPO at $9 a share last November, well under the $15+ price that private investors paid the year before, it was a cold shower of reality for the 6-year-old company. The share price did rise during the IPO, but at the end of the day the firm’s value leveled off to around $4 billion, just two-thirds of the $6 billion Square supposedly had been worth....

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 04/21/2016 at 07:38 am

Eight Dollars and a Dream

My friend Raj Gupta, former CEO of Rohm and Haas, has written his personal story, Eight Dollars and a Dream—My American Journey. I highly recommend you get the book. There are many teaching-learning moments in Raj’s life story. With complete candor, Raj Gupta has captured his life—from his boyhood in India, to coming to the states to study, work, and raise a family with Kamla, his career at...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 04/20/2016 at 01:16 pm

Let Go of What Made Your Company Great

How can an organization both exploit and explore? Managers, consultants, and academics around the world have long wrestled with this question. Some have responded by developing a concept known as “ambidexterity,” an organizational capability of fulfilling both managerial imperatives at once. But simultaneously managing today’s business while creating tomorrow’s goes beyond being...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 04/13/2016 at 06:13 am

Great Innovators Create the Future, Manage the Present, and Selectively Forget the Past

For a long time, I have been troubled to see how often organizations fail to invest wisely in their futures while instead placing dominant emphasis on the present. To be sure, the present is vitally important. Your current business is the performance engine. It both funds day-to-day operations and generates profits for the future. Where problems arise is when the present crowds out other strategic priorities—for...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 03/31/2016 at 09:58 am

THREE BOX SOLUTION

After 35 years of research and consulting, I have written my most important book yet: The Three Box Solution: A Strategy For Leading Innovation. You’ll learn how to meet the performance requirements of the current business—one that is still thriving—while dramatically reinventing it (two fundamentally different management challenges that are hard to do simultaneously). You can get more details on the...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 03/09/2016 at 12:52 pm

What Ruthless Innovators Can Learn from the New England Patriots

For 35 years, I have used the Three Box Solution framework in my work with corporations. This integration of current performance (Box 1) with selective forgetting of the past (Box 2) while creating the future (Box 3) is the foundation of my thinking and teaching about innovation and strategy. Most organizations focus almost completely on keeping their current business healthy (Box 1) rather than discarding...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 03/09/2016 at 09:12 am

Happy Holidays!

Hello: Happy Holidays! You might want to think of placing an order for Superbosses an important book from my friend and Tuck Colleague Syd Finkelstein. Let me tell you why this is a must read. Larry Ellison. Lorne Michaels. Ralph Lauren. Tommy Frist. Bill Walsh. And a dozen others. Innovative business leaders with tremendous track records who all have something else in common: they helped develop the best talent in...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 12/15/2015 at 09:49 am

What Engineering a Reverse Innovation Looks Like

When a company investigates a new product opportunity, it is important to define the problem, and the requirements that will dictate a viable solution, independently from the company’s existing lines of similar products or preconceived ideas of what a solution should entail. This is especially true when businesses are considering entering emerging markets or aim to realize opportunities to create...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 11/04/2015 at 10:32 am

Understanding the Rise of Manufacturing in India

When many executives think about manufacturing, China is the first country that comes to mind. But there are other players grabbing a bit of that spotlight — like India. Despite the conventional wisdom that says India’s place in the global economy revolves around digital bits and services rather than material atoms, the country is starting to attract more attention for its manufacturing potential for a number...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 09/18/2015 at 06:18 am

Business Can Help End Child Labor

I have always been fascinated by the question: How can for-profit corporations innovate to solve the world’s toughest challenges? My passion for this topic was formed at a very early age. Growing up in India, I realized that the country has too few resources to confront its many challenges; the only way India can hope to solve its problems is through innovation. I therefore committed my professional career to...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 04/10/2015 at 11:36 am

Which U.S. Companies Are Doing the Most R&D in China and India?

Over 200 publicly listed American companies have R&D budgets that exceed $100 million annually. Which companies allocate the highest proportion of that budget to engineering in China and India, specifically? And what drives their success with these global engineering initiatives? Read the entire post at Harvard Business Review>>

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 03/31/2015 at 01:10 pm

3 Ways Businesses Are Addressing Inequality in Emerging Markets

Last year, the World Bank added a new mission to its original goal of reducing poverty: boosting shared prosperity. The change reflects the state of today’s world: the fraction of the global population in extreme poverty, defined as those earning less than $1.25 per day, has dropped to 12% from 36% in 1990. Yet income inequality is more pronounced than ever. According to a report released by Oxfam International on...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 01/30/2015 at 05:31 am

How the U.S. and India Can Strengthen Their Business Ties

Barack Obama is the first American President to visit India twice while still in office. When he leaves New Delhi on January 26, the bilateral benefits of the time invested might flow for a decade or longer—but it will depend on how well both sides manage some of the barriers that have kept the two giant countries from working together well in the past. As executives with deep experience in both countries, we see...

Posted by: Vijay Govindarajan - 01/22/2015 at 05:14 am

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