Executing Innovation

So why is innovation execution so hard? Simply put, organizations are not built for it. Quite to the contrary, they are built for ongoing operations. They are built to be Performance Engines. A well-run Performance Engine is the master of many challenges. It excels at serving today’s customers and fighting today’s rivals. It is terrific … Read more

Coke’s Small Sizing

For its relaunch to succeed, Coca-Cola first has to reposition itself so that people stop feeling guilty when they drink it, or, ideally, come to see a Coke as a treat. That’s why Douglas is so intent on pushing Coca-Cola away from the supersize drinks and back to the older, smaller sizes. A few years … Read more

Disneyization Defined

In a sense, Disneyization takes up where McDonaldization leaves off. McDonaldization is frequently accused of creating a world of homogeneity and sameness. One of the main foundations for Disneyization is that of increasing the appeal of goods and services and the settings in which they are purveyed in the increasingly homogenized environments that are the … Read more

Critique of the Case Study Method

Decision of some sort—and the quality that we value as instructors is a kind of “decisiveness” born of a willingness to ignore the complex­ity of the situation at hand. Understandably, this approach makes a lot of us nervous about the real messages that we are sending to stu­dents in case method classrooms. Yet, the potential … Read more