How Vigilant Leaders Thrive in an Era of Digital Turbulence George Day, The Wharton School, and Paul Schoemaker, Senior Fellow, Mack Institute MIT Press, 2019 When turbulence is the new normal, an organization’s survival depends on vigilant leadership that can anticipate threats, spot opportunities, and act quickly when the time…Read More
Marketing is at the interface of the firm and its present and prospective markets, and is the organizational function that absorbs much of the environmental turbulence. …Read More
Our work on vigilant leadership is being extended to the domain of foundations. We have collected data from 97 major foundations operating in the U.S. …Read More
We are exploring the reasons for the infamous “deny, deflect and delay” approach of Facebook leadership, and will argue that some of the damage they incurred might have been avoided had they absorbed four lessons we have drawn from our studies of highly vigilant organizations.…Read More
Most organizational change initiatives that aim to raise the organic growth rate are failures. The problems start with the design of the change initiative, and then deciding which organization levers to pull and in what order. …Read More
Managers have no shortage of advice on how to achieve organic sales growth through innovation. Prescriptions range from emulating the best practices of innovative companies like Amazon, Starbucks, and 3M to adopting popular concepts such as design thinking, lean startup principles, innovation boot camps, and co-creation with customers. …Read More
Why are some firms consistently able to grow faster than their rivals in the same industry? We employ dynamic capabilities theory to show that organic growth leaders excel because they have innovation prowess. …Read More
Today’s marketing organizations face unprecedented turbulence and complexity. To anticipate and adapt to fast changing customer preferences and environments, executives seek to make their internal organizations nimble and agile by constantly developing, integrating, and reconfiguring new capabilities. …Read More
Our Fall Conference 2015 stressed the need to trade places with consumers in order to identify opportunities in a landscape where digital technologies have changed all the rules.…Read More
Mack Institute Co-Director George Day has retired from The Wharton School, but remains as involved as ever with the Mack Institute.…Read More
The risk of failure of an innovation – whether an embryonic concept or an advanced working prototype – can be contained with rigorous screening. This session will introduce proven tools for assessing and improving innovations, and crafting the plan for launching the innovation. Participants will get hands-on experience applying these tools to the case of a medical device start-up, and learn from best-practice applications
The Mack Institute Fall Conference 2014 examined how rapid advances in technology continuously change the way that organizations innovate.…Read More
This conference explored the latest advances in understanding customer needs, developing solutions to these needs from the fast growing menu of technology possibilities. It also discussed connecting these needs to solutions both inside the organization and with external partners and assessing their value.
According to George Day, top businesses have a lot in common with top athletes. His research examines the qualities that separate “growth leaders” from “growth laggards” — in other words, the qualities that separate average or failing companies from those that achieve Olympic-level success.…Read More
With outsourcing growing and core capabilities contracting, is hierarchy becoming a thing of the past? Faculty from the Mack Institute talk corporate hierarchies today versus in the past.…Read More
Finding the path that will allow established companies to take advantage of their strengths while also giving them the flexibility to innovate is one of the most pressing concerns of many executives. This was the theme of the Mack Institute’s Spring Conference, titled “Incubating Innovation in Established Firms.”…Read More
This conference explored ways that successful firms proactively disrupt their own business models, incubating innovation while preserving current revenue streams. Speakers discussed how established companies can foster creativity and agility through HR practices, organizational structure, and culture.
Managers can help cultivate breakthrough innovation by putting the right organizational habits in place.…Read More
If you’re not thinking about your business as part of an ecosystem, you should. Mack Institute Co-director George Day and Research Director Paul Schoemaker identify four substantial benefits of adopting an outside-in mentality.…Read More
This workshop brought together pharmaceutical decision-makers, industry experts and executives from payers and providers, to (1) assess the prospects for meaningful customer solutions, (2) determine the conditions for success, and (3) guide further research and follow-up action steps.
