In this section you will find all of the articles that have appeared in the Babson Insight over the last 18 months. For convenience you can use our search feature to find articles with relevant key words in your categories of interest.

Many companies capture and regularly apply detailed market and operating data in ways to improve their strategies and decisions. But if many companies can do this, any insight your company may gain can eventually be adopted by competitors. Where is the gain? How can you use business analytics to create sustainable competitive advantage? Preliminary research shows that there are five factors that will help you turn your company’s business analytics into powerful advantages that last. February 2008

By Prof. Tom Davenport;

One of the most difficult challenges in business is to innovate from within a large organization, where each department and division competes for resources and attention. These internal forces exert a powerful drag, yet some companies seem able to overcome this and successfully produce and employ new ideas. In this his fourth article in the series, Professor Neal Thornberry shows us how an entrepreneurial manager worked to overcome many obstacles inside giant IBM and successfully built a new business line. December 2007

By Prof. Neal Thornberry;

Global account management (GAM) has been used by many international firms over the last 20 years to better coordinate sales and service. A set of key success factors has become widely recognized for this process, but a recent survey uncovered some new factors to consider when managing your global accounts. This month we review how GAM works at companies like Marriot, IBM, De LaRue and Citibank.

H. David Hennessey;

Summer 2007 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of the Apple II, the first true personal computer. Driven by a belief that everyone should be able to use a computer, its inventor, Steve Wozniak, pioneered an ingenious combination of low-cost design solutions to create a machine that set the standard for all following PC’s and began a business and societal revolution that is still going on today. What did he learn along the way about how to innovate and create great products, how to spot and work with the most inventive engineers and what are his views about the future of computing? Read our interview with this passionate innovator for answers to these questions and much more. October 2007

Professors Allan Cohen, Jay Rao and BI Staff;

Through the work of his Menlo Park Lab Edison proved that research to discover innovative new products could be profitable. Prior to his discoveries leading to recorded sound, lighting systems and electrical generation, companies conducted research only to support existing products. His many successes led others to pursue innovation as a driver of their business strategy and this trend has magnified throughout this century, leading to a continuous flow of new inventions. To start this revolution Edison had to first create the whole business of innovation and all its processes.

James Watkinson & Insight Staff;

We’ve all used data to make business decisions, but a new approach to analytics is dramatically changing company strategies and the science of decision-making. In his new book Prof. Davenport looks at how companies like Netflix, Capital One, Harrah’s Entertainment and even the Boston Red Sox are changing the game through the use of very focused, data-driven insights that create competitive advantage through better decisions and execution. September 2007

Prof. Tom Davenport & Jeanne Harris;

Sometimes products succeed in unexpected ways. Renault’s new Logan auto was aimed at the Eastern Europe market, but has proven to be in demand in other markets where it was not initially targeted. The design and success of this car runs counter to common auto company strategies, and even the way it is made is very different from other low cost producers. July 2005

Prof. Eric Mankin;

Most of us who manage people have had difficult subordinates. Often the greater their ability, the more irritating or disruptive they may be to the work of your organization. But you can’t succeed without them, so how can you influence their behavior? Drawn from the book Influence Without Authority, this article examines the factors that affect your ability to influence subordinates, some practical approaches to consider using in your work situations and reviews two case examples that put these concepts to work. June 2007.

By Professors Allan Cohen & David L. Bradford;

Because of ever increasing responsibilities managers today have little time to focus on the need to step back and look at the processes that make up a company’s value creation chain. Yet without someone providing dedicated attention to process management and elevating the topic to become one of the company’s top priorities how will there ever be process improvements and integration? This month Tom Davenport looks at the problems of gaining attention for process management and what companies are doing right and wrong to make this work.

By Tom Davenport;

America's greatest inventor spawned many businesses. In fact, his work led to the creation of entire industries. Edison was a prodigious worker, challenger of the status quo and identifier of opportunities. What can today's leaders learn from Edison and how does he rate against our modern criteria for leaders?

James Watkinson & Insight Staff;

When you think of fun services you think of the experiences provided by Disneyworld or Southwest Airlines. But most services are so routine that users don’t even remember doing them. Can fun experiences be built into these neutral services to create a market advantage? This month we look at successful funsters like Commerce Bank and Jordan’s Furniture to draw some lessons on how to add fun in even the most routine services.

By Professors Ivor Morgan and Jay Rao;

You've won that new promotion, but with all the change afloat in every organization, do you really know how to succeed? In our first article drawn from her new book, Elaine Eisenman, Ph.D. describes approaches that will help you develop the critical insights, effective tools, and instincts necessary to succeed with that recent or next promotion. Among the important problems discussed this month we cover sizing up your new team, handling a promotion from within the ranks and remembering to say “I don’t know”. May 2007

By Elaine Eisenman, Ph.D., Nancy C. Widmann, and Amy Dorn Kopelan;

Recent surveys have shown that few executives are satisfied with the results of their company’s innovation efforts, but in looking closer at this problem Prof. Tom Davenport finds that many companies have a very narrow view toward innovation that fails to identify and manage it as a portfolio in terms of how they source, fund, monitor, and assign responsibility. What are the possible types of innovation that organizations can and should pursue? Read more. April 2006

Prof. Tom Davenport;

What is window dressing? It is the practice of changing a mutual fund’s holdings just before the end of the reporting period. Why is this done? Who does it? What is the effect of window dressing on the market and on investors? The authors look in depth at the history, cause and effect of this fund management practice. March 2007

Prof. Gang Hu & Jaime Villa;

Professor, author and acclaimed entrepreneurial guru Jeffry Timmons has been working on entrepreneurship and teaching venture capitalism at Tsinghau University, one of China’s most influential universities. We spoke to him about his experience there to understand some important points, such as what entrepreneurial issues are important for China to learn and how teaching entrepreneurship is different in China. March 2007

Dr. Jeffry Timmons & Babson Staff;