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Articles by Lowell Bryan
Leading through uncertainty
The future of capitalism is here, and it’s not what any of us expected. With breathtaking speed, in the autumn of 2008 the credit markets ceased functioning normally, governments around the world began nationalizing financial systems and considering bailouts of other troubled industries, and major independent US investment banks disappeared or became bank holding companies.
Managing the strategy journey
Regular strategic dialogue involving a broad group of senior executives can help companies adapt to the unexpected. Here’s one company’s story, and some principles for everyone.
Globalization’s critical imbalances
Future financial crises could accelerate the rebalancing of global economic activity from developed to emerging markets. To some extent, the rebalancing of global economic activity from developed to emerging markets simply reflects economic laws of gravity.
Strengthening sub-Saharan Africa’s health systems: A practical approach
Systemwide barriers impede health care delivery in the region. A comprehensive approach that strengthens key elements of national health systems is required to save lives. In recent decades, global attention to the harrowing state of health in sub-Saharan Africa has increased dramatically. Funding to combat the major health problems there has reached unprecedented levels, and marked improvements have been made. In Zanzibar (Tanzania), for example, malaria deaths have been cut substantially.
Dynamic management: Better decisions in uncertain times
Companies can’t predict the future, but they can build organizations that will survive and flourish under just about any possible future. The economic shock of 2008, and the Great Recession that followed, didn’t just create profound uncertainty over the direction of the global economy. They also shook the confidence of many business leaders in their ability to see the future well enough to take bold action. It’s not as if we don’t know how to make good decisions under uncertainty.
How managers should approach a fragile economy
For the immediate future, business leaders will have to master the disciplines of uncertainty. A powerful tension is at work today in global economic sentiment. The financial markets, pundits, and policy makers think the global economy is out of the woods, but executives aren’t so sure. Our research suggests that the executives are right—and that to thrive, companies must adopt some new approaches to management.
What’s next for US banks
Two different kinds of accounting—fair value and hold to maturity—have created two different kinds of crises. One is almost over. The other is only beginning. With the completion of the US government’s banking “stress tests,” the rebound in first-quarter 2009 bank earnings, and the recent rise in the US stock market, it is fair to ask if we can now see a clear path out of the credit crisis.
A better way to fix the banks
Here’s a plan that could solve the toxic-asset pricing problem voluntarily—without requiring Uncle Sam to nationalize the whole industry—and make (pretty much) everyone a winner. This short essay is a Conversation Starter, one in a series of opinions on topical issues. Read what the authors have to say, then let us know what you think.
Leading through uncertainty
Something extraordinary happened from mid-2007 to mid-2008: net new borrowing by US households and companies plunged 65 percent ($1.4 trillion). This drop abruptly reversed recent trends. During the previous eight years, borrowing had grown by 2.4 percent a year, much faster than it did from 1970 to 2000, when the rate was 0.9 percent.
Harnessing the power of informal employee networks
Formalizing a company’s ad hoc peer groups can spur collaboration and unlock value. In any professional setting, networks flourish spontaneously: human nature, including mutual self-interest, leads people to share ideas and work together even when no one requires them to do so. As they connect around shared interests and knowledge, they may build networks that can range in size from fewer than a dozen colleagues and acquaintances to hundreds.
The new metrics of corporate performance: Profit per employee
Most measurements of performance are geared to the needs of 20th-century manufacturing companies. Times have changed. Metrics must change as well. Let’s get right to the point: companies focus far too much on measuring returns on invested capital (ROIC) rather than on measuring the contributions made by their talented people.
Making a market in talent
A 21st-century company should put as much effort into developing its talented employees as it puts into recruiting them. Savvy companies understand the competitive value of talented people and spend considerable time identifying and recruiting high-caliber individuals wherever they can be found. The trouble is that too many companies pay too little attention to allocating their internal talent resources effectively.
Strategy in an era of global giants
The world's biggest companies are learning to manage complexity. Sharp jumps in the price of oil and gas caused by the US Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005 delivered huge profits to ExxonMobil and other major oil companies, in some cases helping them report record quarterly earnings. But even beyond the oil patch many other companies, in a broad set of industries, also generated massive earnings.
Making a market in knowledge
For companies and their employees alike, knowledge is power—and profit. Just like people, companies in today's economy find that their primary source of competitive advantage increasingly lies in the unique proprietary knowledge they possess. Companies and individuals may have equal talent and access to public knowledge, but the special value that comes with unique understanding provides a real edge.
Just-in-time strategy for a turbulent world
Uncertainty and rising levels of risk make it impossible for companies to determine the future. But a portfolio-of-initiatives approach to strategy can help ensure that companies take full advantage of their best opportunities without taking unnecessary risks. The classic approach to corporate strategy starts with a presumption: that with sufficient analytical rigor and an adequate assessment of the probabilities, strategists can pave a predictable path to the future from the matter of the past.
The global capital market: Supply, demand, pricing, and allocation
This report suggests that a global capital market is forming, one that moves capital efficiently across national borders to meet demand in other parts of the world. Our research indicates potential for a "coincidence of needs" between developed and developing economies that can promote prosperity for both. This report suggests that a global capital market is forming, one that moves capital efficiently across national borders to meet demand in other parts of the world.
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