Alex and Mike Sherman have a book of market research lessons. This is a nice little book of sensible ideas. I liked it and will highlight a few of the points that stood out for me. Aims Of The Research Should Impact What You Study This seems obvious, and it is really. Still, it is…
The Failure Of Science
Stuart Ritchie in Science Fictions looks at the failure of science. To be fair it is hard to argue with a lot of his points. Ritchie rightly points out that there is fraud but probably more common and alarming is bad practice. Scientists don’t mean to do anything too bad but lots of skimming here…
In Praise Of Redundant Capacity
I think evolutionary thinking has a lot to offer strategic discussions. We shouldn’t be too simple and expect perfect matchings from biology. Still, good ideas can carry over neatly to give things to consider. Here I examine a piece in the Harvard Business Review that looks at firm strategy in unpredictable times. I want to…
A Roadmap For Marketing Metrics
Paul Magill and Christine Moorman shared a roadmap for marketing metrics in April’s Harvard Business Review. Their overarching aim is to elevate the way marketers look at metrics. The authors don’t want marketing assessed only at the campaign level — “did this ad campaign work?” Better to focus at higher levels, “what is marketing delivering…
Managing For Stakeholders
My second post on Paul Polman’s (former Unilever CEO) and Andrew Winston’s great book, Net Positive, covers a random bunch of advice and ideas that they give on managing for stakeholders. How best to manage a firm with more than just the shareholders in mind? Better Business Practice Can Lead To Better Opportunities Many in…
Net Positive Business
In the world of sustainable business Paul Polman seems to be the nearest thing to a superstar. Hence his book with Andrew Winston, Net Positive, will get a big audience which is a very good thing. It seeks to give Polman’s view of business which was central to his tenure as Unilever CEO, a net…
Planning For Sustainability
Bill Gates has a really useful book about what we might call planning for sustainability. It is a practical approach on what we can hope to achieve. The book has a lot of critical information conveyed in a relatively easy-to-understand form. I’d certainly recommend it. Before we start it is worth noting that some people…
What’s With The Alexander Stuff?
There is a cottage industry of people writing about business using the lessons of Alexander the Great. I have only one question: What’s with the Alexander Stuff? The Macedonian king was a terrible bloke, and there are plenty of easier, and much more novel, ways to illustrate business situations. Business As War: Not Really Business…
Signaling And Education
Why do people pursue academic courses that in no way set them up with the skills needed for their future careers? One obvious answer might be because they enjoy the topic they study. Education is a good thing in itself. I’m all for that. Yet, that seems to be far from a complete explanation. Maybe…
Solving Problems Upstream
Dan Heath has a book on solving problems upstream. The central idea is that it is better to solve a problem nearer its source than try and solve the problem once it has fully manifested. Heath’s hard-to-disagree with advice is that it is better to stop the horror movie monster being conjured rather than having…
