Chris Bingham is associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at UNC Kenan-Flagler . He is also professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. Below, read his Insight into Innovation, the fourth in a five-part servies. Previous posts touched on innovation versus entrepreneurship, the importance of failing fast and often and detailed why organizations must innovate. Why do so many organizations find innovation so hard? I think there are a number of reasons that innovation is challenging and difficult in organizations. The first one is pretty simple – most new ideas are bad. If you look at stats about product failure, you’re going to see studies citing between 60 to 95 percent of new products failing. For the very simple reason that most new Read More
Category Archives: Management
The Big Data Talent Gap
The following is an excerpt from a white paper from UNC Executive Development. By Stan Ahalt, director of the Renaissance Computing Institue (RENCI) and Kip Kelly, director of UNC Executive Development Big data—the massive amounts of information companies collect through web crawlers, social media feeds, server logs, customer service databases, and other sources—is quickly becoming big business in today’s competitive marketplace, and if business leaders haven’t added big data to their strategic agendas yet, they will be compelled to in the near future. Few organizations, however, have the talent with the expertise needed to collect, organize, and analyze the data and to provide meaningful insights. Even fewer organizations have business leaders with the knowledge and experience needed to create value from Read More
Got Game? The Use of Gaming in Learning and Development
Below is an excerpt of a white paper by Kip Kelly, director of marketing and business development at UNC Executive Develoopment. Video games—and the people who play them—have changed dramatically since 1948, the year the first video game was patented. Generations of gamers have grown up and entered the workplace, and video games have made the same transition, extending their influence into companies around the globe. Many organizations are increasingly using gaming technology in their learning and development (L&D) programs to help build the next generation of business leaders. As video games grow in popularity and sophistication, more organizations and government agencies are embracing them to support L&D efforts. A recent ESA study found that 70 percent of major U.S. Read More
3 Things to Consider Before Expanding Supply Chain To Emerging Markets
Thanks to globalization, multi-national supply chains that span across emerging economies are fast becoming the norm. While it’s easy to focus on the impressive growth and profit statistics that have accompanied this development, managing a supply chain in an emerging economy also comes with a unique set of challenges. Jayashankar Swaminathan, UNC Kenan-Flagler faculty director of the UNC Center for International Business Education and Research, has outlined three factors companies should consider before expanding their supply chains to India, Turkey or any other emerging economy. 1. Infrastructure Challenges When operating a supply chain in an emerging market, many of the things taken for granted in developed countries are often unavailable. Infrastructure challenges can manifest themselves in many different ways, from Read More
Insights into Innovation: Fail Fast and Often
Arvind Malhotra is UNC Kenan-Flagler’s T. W. Lewis Scholar and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Below, read his insight into innovation, the second in a five-part series with UNC Kenan-Flagler professors. Why is it important for an organization to master innovation? In many ways that’s what kept most organizations going into pattern differentiation. Innovation is a good buzz word, but to me it’s also about saying, “How can you sustainably differentiate yourself in the marketplace?” with sustainably meaning over time having an edge over your competition and being seen as superior to your competition. It’s really critical because it’s not a one shot game. It’s over and over and over and over again trumping your competition. That is the only way to Read More
Insight Into India
As part of the “Best Practices in Global Business Education” webinar series hosted by UNC’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), Professor Nicholas Didow and Dr. Jay Swaminathan, faculty director for CIBER, presented a country briefing on India along with five UNC Kenan-Flagler undergraduate students. The hour-long webinar featured an overview of India’s history, politics, culture and markets, and provided suggestions for successful entry into India’s business landscape aimed at those who have little to no market experience in the country. Home to one of the oldest civilizations, India’s history has been shaped by Britain’s colonial rule and its ongoing conflict with Pakistan, which has resulted in three wars since India gained its independence in 1947. Although one Read More
Fours ways to bolster your onboarding program
“Just be yourself” may sound cliché, but for managers looking to train more effective employees, it’s a piece of advice worth incorporating into the orientation process. UNC Kenan-Flagler assistant professor Bradley Staats studies the onboarding process, the period of orientation and socialization that occurs during a new hire’s first few days on the job. During this time companies typically focus on skills training and building pride in the organization. However, Staats’ latest research has revealed that emphasizing self-expression and personal, rather than organizational, identities may create more beneficial outcomes for firms. Orientation programs with a more individualized approach result in lower turnover rates, greater job satisfaction and improved operational performance down the road. “By following these four principles of personal Read More
Insights Into Innovation: Why Organizations Must Innovate
Sridhar Balasubramanian – also known as “Dr. B.” – is associate dean of the MBA Program, the Roy & Alice H. Richards Bicentennial Distinguished Scholar and professor of marketing at UNC Kenan-Flagler. He is a widely published and cited researcher. Below, read his insight into innovation, the first in a five-part series with UNC Kenan-Flagler professors. Why is it important for an organization to master innovation? There are multiple reasons why it is important for organizations to master innovation. First of all, the world is becoming increasingly competitive. Fifty years back you only talked about competition from your local region. Today, you produce a product, you try to patent it, but within about six months somebody … some company in Read More
How leaders can succeed in an increasingly volatile, complex landscape
The below is an excerpt of a white paper by Kirk Lawrence, program director at UNC Executive Development. In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman notes that the rate of change today is much different than in the past. “Whenever civilization has gone through one of these disruptive, dislocating technical revolutions—like Gutenberg’s introduction of the printing press—the whole world has changed in profound ways,” he writes. “But there is something different about the flattening of the world that is going to be qualitatively different from other such profound changes: the speed and breadth with which it is taking hold….This flattening process is happening at warp speed and directly or indirectly touching a lot more people on the planet at once. The Read More
7 Ways to Bring Learning Technology Into Your Business
The following is an excerpt from a UNC Executive Development white paper written by Program Director Donna Rhode. Mark Dollins, a partner at the research firm Future Workplace, forecasts that the 2020 workplace will be multigenerational, increasingly global and highly interconnected with social media. These trends will profoundly affect how learning and development (L&D) is delivered in organizations. To remain competitive, employers must think strategically, anticipate their organizations’ future talent needs, and design and deliver L&D opportunities in ways that will satisfy their employees’ desire for flexibility while still delivering quality programs cost effectively. New technologies like computer-supported collaborative learning, mobile learning and informal learning through social media will be incorporated into organizations’ L&D platforms and strategies. Business leaders should plan Read More