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Articles by Loizos Heracleous
Juggling paradoxical goals: unpacking persisting dysfunctional dynamics
Paradoxical goals, such as demands in industrial R&D for exploratory learning and short-term business performance, may foster synergistic possibilities, but also surface tensions that can paralyse actors. Defensive responses can trigger vicious cycles, where over-focusing on one goal provides actors with temporary comfort, but intensifies the pull from the neglected goal.
Airlines are facing yet more turbulence – expert assesses what they need to get through it
The war in the Middle East swiftly led to the cancellation of thousands of flights across the Persian Gulf. The crisis in the industry is severe, but aviation is no stranger to existential shocks. Over the last four decades it has faced the COVID pandemic, the 2008 recession, the September 11 attacks, the Gulf war and Sars. This time around, the conflict wiped US$53 billion from the market value of… Read complete article © The Conversation -
Airlines are facing yet more turbulence. An expert assesses what it will take to survive Original
The war in the Middle East swiftly led to the cancellation of thousands of flights across the Persian Gulf. The crisis in the industry is severe, but aviation is no stranger to existential shocks. Over the last four decades it has faced the COVID pandemic, the 2008 recession, the September 11 attacks, the Gulf war and Sars. This time around, the conflict wiped US$53 billion (£40 billion) from the market value of the world’s 20 largest airlines in just its first three weeks.
NASA's planned budget cuts could set back space science, but show how to future-proof the agency
The 2026 NASA budget proposal would slash around US$6 billion (£4.4 billion) in funding. This is a huge reduction, amounting to around 25% of recent NASA budgets. The savings would mainly come from NASA science programs, potentially devastating high-profile missions and international collaborations. However, the budget proposal also represents an intentional redirection of NASA's focus by government through resource allocation.
Nasa’s planned budget cuts could set back space science, but show how to future-proof the agency Original
The 2026 Nasa budget proposal would slash around US$6 billion (£4.4 billion) in funding. This is a huge reduction, amounting to around 25% of recent Nasa budgets. The savings would mainly come from Nasa science programmes, potentially devastating high profile missions and international collaborations. However, the budget proposal also represents an intentional redirection of Nasa’s focus by government through resource allocation.
Nasa’s planned budget cuts could set back space science, but show how to future-proof the agency
By Loizos Heracleous, Professor of Strategy, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick The 2026 Nasa budget proposal would slash around US$6 billion (£4.4 billion) in funding. This is a huge reduction, amounting to around 25% of recent Nasa budgets. The savings would mainly come from Nasa science programmes, potentially devastating high profile missions and international collaborations.
Business leaders are asking the wrong questions on AI
Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Intelligence agents: Leaders should embrace AI as a skilled agent rather than a tool as it rapidly overtakes human capabilities Over the past year I have consulted artificial intelligence models on a multitude of topics.
Three steps for firms to achieve strategic agility
Corporate history is full of examples of companies that failed to change when required. This may be because they ignoring or failing to notice market signals. Alternatively, they may simply be unable to implement transformation. The list of casualties includes former market leaders Xerox, Blackberry, Kodak, and Blockbuster. Once-dominant companies, they no longer exist or are a shadow of their former self.
Boeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Loizos Heracleous is a Professor of Strategy at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. SpaceX has launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft on a “rescue mission” to bring back two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since June.
Boeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires Original
SpaceX has launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft on a “rescue mission” to bring back two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since June. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams travelled to the space station on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was on its first mission with a human crew. But several engines malfunctioned once in space and the vehicle was found to be leaking helium, which is essential for the functioning of its engines.
Boeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires
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Boeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires Original
SpaceX has launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft on a “rescue mission” to bring back two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since June. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams travelled to the space station on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was on its first mission with a human crew. But several engines malfunctioned once in space and the vehicle was found to be leaking helium, which is essential for the functioning of its engines.
Increase the odds of success in digital transformation
It is hard to imagine a company that has not attempted some form of digital transformation. Nine out of 10 senior leaders told consultancy firm McKinsey that their firm has pursued one or more large digital transformation projects since 2020. However, most of these are dismally unsuccessful. Just one in every eight digital transformation initiatives meet their stated objectives. Worse still, some of these failed projects cause extreme cost overruns that can put the entire organisation at risk.
How digitalisation can make healthcare affordable for all
Let's get digital: Narayana Health is driving the cost of healthcare down through digitalisation Only one out of 15 people who need a heart operation in low and middle income countries actually receive one, and researchers found six billion people globally do not have access to reliable health care.
Purpose, Digitalization, and Scale Can Address the Grand Challenge of Universal Healthcare
The healthcare grand challenge Only 1 out of 15 people who need a heart operation in low and middle income countries receive one, and six out of eight billion people globally do not have access to reliable health care.1 Since 2000 Narayana Health (NH), an Indian healthcare organization has been offering life-saving heart and other types of surgeries at a cost that patients at the bottom of the pyramid can afford, at global quality levels.2 Its purpose is to bring high quality healthcare to...
How have open innovation and 'pirates' transformed NASA?
Strategy and Organisational Change In its early decades from the 1960s onwards, NASA’s business model was traditional, insular and hierarchical. There was no dedicated space-venturing expertise available in the commercial sector. The agency worked closely with selected external suppliers who provided hardware to exact specifications and helped to develop the technologies the agency needed.
How does a firm keep its strategy on track?
06 January 2022 By Loizos Heracleous The first step in maintaining strategy is clarifying the type and level of strategy. A strategy will have different goals at corporate, business, and functional level. For multi-business entities the corporate level strategy should be designed to maximise returns from the mix of businesses and create synergies where possible – such as the sharing of technology or distribution networks – to provide an advantage.
'Positive deviants': Why rebellious workers spark great ideas
Organisations tend to see rebels as troublemakers – but suppressing these individuals and their ideas could backfire. In the 1980s, a group of young engineers at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston realised that the 1960s Apollo-era mission control set-up would struggle to handle the more complex challenges of flying the space shuttle. The engineers’ concerns fell on deaf ears; Nasa knew and trusted the Apollo-era systems, which had successfully sent humans to the moon.
Why procrastination can help fuel creativity
Why procrastination can help fuel creativity (Image credit: Alamy) There's strong evidence that creative insights need time to percolate – and that the right amount of distraction may be key to innovation. I If the history of creativity teaches us anything, it is that great ideas often come when we’re least expecting them. Consider Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who described how new melodies would arrive while he was eating in a restaurant, walking after a meal or getting ready for sleep at night.
How leaders should communicate in a crisis
04 March 2021 By Loizos Heracleous 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' is an old adage that many will recall from their childhood. It is commonly offered as comfort to the targets of verbal abuse. It is also patently untrue. Together with Kevin Morrell, of Durham University, Crispian Fuller, of Cardiff University, and Ben Bradford, of UCL, I analysed the state's response to a crisis – the breakdown of law and order during the 2011 Tottenham riots in the UK.
How to build an ambidextrous workforce
22 February 2021 By Loizos Heracleous Organisational life is full of apparently contradictory objectives. How is it possible to both control and empower a workforce, to be local and global, enjoy economies of scale yet retain agility and flexibility, or combine high quality and low costs? These tensions between competing goals are endemic in organisations. Reconciling such corporate conundrums is a potential route to competitive advantage, value creation and success, but it is a tough challenge.
Why the 'paradox mindset' is the key to success
Although paradoxes often trip us up, embracing contradictory ideas may actually be the secret to creativity and leadership. As we head into 2021, Worklife is running our best, most insightful and most essential stories from 2020. Read our full list of the year’s top stories here. Working life often involves the push and pull of various contradictory demands.
Flybe: high costs are forcing airlines into bankruptcy
Reports that UK-based regional airline, Flybe is seeking a fresh rescue deal come in the wake of numerous European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Monarch, Flybmi and holiday firm Thomas Cook. Attracting new finance will be no easy task. The aviation industry is an unattractive industry in terms of performance and returns on investment at the best of times.
Six lessons on open strategy from Wikimedia
01 October 2019 By Loizos Heracleous Even though the first influential academic paper on open strategy was written in 2011, probably the largest open strategy process has been undertaken by Wikimedia, the umbrella organisation home to Wikipedia that was established in 2001 and operated from the start on open principles.
Commentary: The end of another budget airline in Europe
COVENTRY: Yet another airline has collapsed – this time British operation Flybmi, costing almost 400 jobs as hundreds of flights were cancelled at short notice. It is the latest in a string of recent European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Alitalia, Monarch, Primera, Azur and Cobalt. This is despite years of good growth in worldwide air passenger demand, including in Europe. So why are so many airlines going out of business?
Another airline bites the dust: Why aviation has become such a tricky business
Yet another airline has collapsed – this time British operation Flybmi, costing almost 400 jobs as hundreds of flights were cancelled at short notice. It is the latest in a string of recent European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Alitalia, Monarch, Primera, Azur and Cobalt. This is despite years of good growth in worldwide air passenger demand, including in Europe. So why are so many airlines going out of business?
Airlines are going bust in droves, so why do so many people try to launch them?
Yet another airline has collapsed – this time British operation Flybmi, costing almost 400 jobs as hundreds of flights were cancelled at short notice. It is the latest in a string of recent European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Alitalia, Monarch, Primera, Azur and Cobalt. This is despite years of good growth in worldwide air passenger demand, including in Europe. So why are so many airlines going out of business?
Aviation is bad business today, why do so many people still want to get in?
Your chances of launching a successful airline nowadays are far lower than, say, in the 1970s https://mybs.in/2X3nA2r Yet another airline has collapsed – this time British operation Flybmi, costing almost 400 jobs as hundreds of flights were cancelled at short notice. It is the latest in a string of recent European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Alitalia, Monarch, Primera, Azur and Cobalt. This is despite years of good growth in worldwide air passenger demand, including in Europe.
Airlines are going bust in droves, so why do so many people try to launch them?
Yet another airline has collapsed – this time British operation Flybmi, costing almost 400 jobs as hundreds of flights were cancelled at short notice. It is the latest in a string of recent European airline failures, including Air Berlin, Alitalia, Monarch, Primera, Azur and Cobalt. This is despite years of good growth in worldwide air passenger demand, including in Europe. So why are so many airlines going out of business?
Space tourism economics – financing and regulating trips to the final frontier
American engineer and businessman Dennis Tito paid US$20m in 2001 to become the world’s first official space tourist. He travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz capsule and then spent eight days on board, prompting some debate about the appropriateness of using the facility for financial gain. Since Tito, six other commercial passengers have visited the ISS – each on Soyuz spacecraft at US$20m a piece.
Space Tourism Is an Expensive Mess - But It's The Mess We're Stuck With For Now
American engineer and businessman Dennis Tito paid US$20 million in 2001 to become the world's first official space tourist. He travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz capsule and then spent eight days on board, prompting some debate about the appropriateness of using the facility for financial gain. Since Tito, six other commercial passengers have visited the ISS – each on Soyuz spacecraft at US$20 million a piece.
Space tourism: All aboard for the trip to the final frontier?
American engineer and businessman Dennis Tito paid US$20m in 2001 to become the world's first official space tourist. He travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz capsule and then spent eight days on board, prompting some debate about the appropriateness of using the facility for financial gain. Since Tito, six other commercial passengers have visited the ISS – each on Soyuz spacecraft at US$20m a piece.
Space tourism economics - financing and regulating trips to the final frontier
American engineer and businessman Dennis Tito paid US$20m in 2001 to become the world’s first official space tourist. He travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian Soyuz capsule and then spent eight days on board, prompting some debate about the appropriateness of using the facility for financial gain. Since Tito, six other commercial passengers have visited the ISS – each on Soyuz spacecraft at US$20m a piece.
The Reinvention of NASA
Since the Apollo program, NASA has faced funding cuts, competition from other nations for space leadership, and a radical restructuring of its operating environment due to the emergence of commercial space — all of which have forced the organization to change its ways of thinking and operating.
iPhone X: Apple makes a $999 gamble on its aspirational brand
Apple is taking a calculated risk with the pricing of its new phone. The $999 X is a bet on users’ loyalty and wealth and is on the surface consistent with the company’s longstanding strategy of differentiation and exclusivity. The danger lies in how the phone sells in the world’s huge and growing emerging markets; Apple clearly thinks it is a risk worth taking. And it’s not without reason.
Apple makes a $999 gamble on its aspirational brand
Apple is taking a calculated risk with the pricing of its new phone. The US$999 iPhone X is a bet on users’ loyalty and wealth and is on the surface consistent with the company’s longstanding strategy of differentiation and exclusivity. The danger lies in how the phone sells in the world’s huge and growing emerging markets; Apple clearly thinks it is a risk worth taking. And it’s not without reason.
On the Road to Disaster: Strategic Misalignments and Corporate Failure
Prior research has identified the link between strategic misalignment and corporate failure, but little empirical research to date has examined the process leading to misalignment and eventual corporate failure over time. To explore this crucial link, we conducted in-depth case studies of two American conglomerates: WorldCom and Nortel Networks. We find patterns in terms of factors through which misalignments develop, ultimately leading to bankruptcy.
Apple tax woes won't tarnish its success
Apple doomsayers have a new arrow in their quiver. To add to the usual arguments that Apple’s success relies too much on the iPhone and that its growth cannot keep up with its historical levels, they can now also point to Apple’s run in with the EU over its Irish tax affairs. But this does not mean that Apple is doomed. With a market capitalisation of US$580 billion, it is still the most valuable company in the world, and for good reason.
Apple, Google, Facebook: where would you put your money?
I’ve designed a mind experiment: If I had to invest all my savings in a single company, and had to choose either Apple, Google (now Alphabet) or Facebook, which one would it be? I would not be able to move my money for at least 10 years; it would be a long-term investment with high stakes. Portfolio investing or index tracking is out of the question for this experiment. The choice is by no means clear. They are all extremely successful companies that have impacted the way we live.
How business is taking the space race to new frontiers
Jeff Bezos may not have gone where no man has gone before, but in successfully landing its New Shephard rocket back on Earth, his rocket company Blue Origins has pipped ahead of rivals in the race to make space commercially viable. It’s a significant coup in the latest incarnation of the space race. And it may have given pause to Elon Musk, the founder of rival SpaceX.
As Hopelessness Sets In, Grexit May Be Inevitable
When the European Union has finally approved Greece’s €86 billion bailout package, and Greece has used some of the money to repay the European Central Bank, why does uncertainty still dog the country’s future? Why did Alexis Tsipras, who led Greece’s fight against the EU until recently, resign as prime minister, forcing general elections for the third time in 2015? You have to live in Greece or spend time there to understand why.
Practicing Strategy: Text and Cases
McGraw-Hill. An insightful inves tigation of one of the world’s leading airlines, Singapor e Airlines, and a number of strategy fr ameworks, including the ESCO model which we examined in Section 1.4. Papers : F or four enc ompassing sets of theor etical and empirical papers on the str ategy-as-practice perspective y ou can look at the f ollowing special issues: Management Annals , 6(1), 285–336.
Why Greece and Cyprus May Be Better Off Without the Euro
The battles may be over, but the war is just beginning. Although the Eurozone’s 19 finance ministers recently threw Greece a much-needed economic lifeline, and the latter repaid the first of four loan installments that it owes the IMF in March 2015, there’s no long-term relief in sight for the troubled economy. Greece has only managed to wrest the four-month extension of a stability program.
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