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Articles by Karel Cool
Can AI Align Sustainability and Profits?
In 2020, Spacemaker, a Norwegian start-up applying machine learning to architecture, was acquired by Autodesk for US$240 million. Despite exciting developments in AI and machine learning, few companies were focusing on AI applications for construction and real estate. Spacemaker was an exception. According to McKinsey, construction was by far the weakest sector as measured by productivity growth since 1995.
The Economics Of Sustainability
Lowering costs Sustainability is often associated with higher product costs. If sustainable products do not create more demand (no rightward shift of the demand curve), profits will suffer, which naturally dampens business interest in this pursuit. However, if more sustainable versions of existing products can be produced at lower costs, a triple win is within reach.
The Economics of Sustainability
Is it really possible for a profit-driven organisation to be sustainable? This existential question may well be keeping leaders awake at night amid pressure from consumers, regulators and investors – and potentially their own conscience. Today’s challenging economic climate is certainly making this question more acute than ever. Yet, as calls for companies to reduce their negative environmental and social impact grow, many leaders fail to realise the opportunities they bring.
INSEAD Explains Sustainability: Sustainability as a Business Strategy
Using examples of firms in sectors ranging from salmon farming to tyre manufacturing, the BP Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness highlights how companies that can develop innovative solutions that meet the demands of society and customers can gain competitive advantage while doing good. Cool highlights the fact that it’s no longer a question of persuading firms to pursue sustainable opportunities but helping guide them in choosing which opportunities to pursue.
How to Turn Sustainability Enthusiasm into Action
The biggest sustainability challenge today is not a lack of enthusiasm. We observe many more business leaders every day who are eager to engage in sustainability efforts, driven by factors such as government regulations, societal expectations, stakeholder demands or their own aspirations. The real challenge lies in effectively harnessing this enthusiasm to create meaningful impact.
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability - Tribune Content Agency
Karel Cool is a professor of strategy and the BP Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness at Insead. Atalay Atasu is a professor of technology and operations management and the Bianca and James Pitt Chair in Environmental Sustainability at Insead, and academic director of the Insead Sustainable Business Initiative. Nathan Furr is a professor of strategy at Insead.
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability When greener products and processes add costs, managers can shift other levers to maintain profitability. Leaders can’t escape the global imperative to reduce the contributions businesses make to environmental degradation, but deep down, many harbor doubts: Can a profit-driven organization also be sustainable? Pressure to grow revenue and control costs is constant.
MARKETPLACE LENDING: Retrospect and Prospect - Interview with Renaud Laplanche, Founder of LendingClub and CEO of Upgrade
MARKETPLACE LENDING: Retrospect and Prospect – Interview with Renaud Laplanche, Founder of LendingClub and CEO of Upgrade February 14, 2019 • FINANCE & BANKING, Banking Innovation By Karel Cool and Olivier Daviron French-born Renaud Laplanche founded LendingClub, the marketplace lender that connects borrowers and investors through its online platform, in 2007.
Disrupting the Car Insurance Industry
Ready or not, change is coming Disruptive ventures arise from mobile device ubiquity, data-powered AI, and digital platforms that connect buyers and suppliers in new ways. They are reshaping industries such as transportation (e.g., Uber, Lyft, and Didi Chuxing), hospitality (e.g., Airbnb and FlipKey), payment services (e.g., PayPal and TransferWise), and many more. Conservative by nature, the insurance industry has been slow to embrace new digital business models and take on disrupters.
Insurtech Is Hitting Critical Mass
Figure 2: Competitive and collaborative insurtech models. Source: Roland Berger. Taking the car insurance supply chain as an example, Suppliers include car body shops and towing services. Administration & Claims Management handle the back-office policies and claims tasks.
Achieve Market Success by Leveraging Customer Turnover
By Karel Cool & Petros Paranikas Customer turnover – the extent to which new customers enter a market and existing customers leave the market – can give thrust to market entrants and destabilize seemingly unbeatable competitors. Markets with a high turnover are gateways to entry for new entrants. By accelerating low turnover markets, entrants can pry open markets and create opportunity.
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