In past posts we have addressed proximity in business: identifying a customer and delivering the product closer to the point of demand. However, we see that proximity extends to other divisions as well.
Shortening Proximity in Warfare
Have You Addressed Your Hidden Competitor?
If you’ve spent time developing your organization’s strategy, chances are you’re familiar with your competition. You know your competitors’ offerings, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you can deliver where they don’t. But when it comes to preparing for the future, there is one alternative competitor, less obvious but omnipresent, that may not have crossed your mind: nonconsumption. Keep reading to find out why nonconsumption may be a threat to your organization and how to address it.
Mastercard Masters Proximity
Is a difference in seconds truly significant? In swimming and racing, seconds make all of the difference for who comes out on top. In technology, we see this same idea carried across in relation to proximity: the product moves closer to the demand. Companies that prioritize proximity are most successful, and one of these companies is Mastercard.
Five Steps to Capture the Value You Deserve
Is it fair that teachers earn less than bankers or that nurses earn less than CEOs? The value you get to take home may have no correlation with the value you create in the world. What if you could capture what you really deserve? What if you could turn your unique capabilities, assets, and passion into more profit or income, while still doing what you love? If you understand just a few strategic principles, you can. Here is how.
Enel as a Competitor in Renewable Energy
How did a 58-year-old company that began with hydroelectric power in Italy come to be one of the largest, most dynamic, and valuable energy companies driving humanity toward a sustainable energy future? The answer, as you will see, can be summed up as “proximity”: the creation of energy will move ever closer to the point of demand.
Renewable Energy for the Future
As I skim through the morning stock market brief, renewable energy seems to ceaselessly reappear as a prominent figure in comparison to fossil fuels. Noting on these trends, I ask myself if renewable energy could outplay fossil fuels, like automobiles outplayed horses?
Going Public in a Pandemic: Airbnb & Inflection Points
2020 has demanded that companies pivot like no other time in recent history. Organizations with the flexibility to adapt their business models to changing customer preferences find themselves better equipped to face current challenges and to move past them in a post-Covid world. One example of a company that has encountered this year’s inflection point and adjusted successfully is Airbnb.
OhmConnect and the Future of Energy Production
In the midst of a climate crisis, innovators have recognized a need to shorten the proximity between energy production and energy use. Amongst these innovators are Elon Musk (Tesla), First Solar, Motech, and CropEnergies.
The Pope, Big Business, and the Future of ESG
The Ultimate Strategy
Is “be good” a part of your 2021 strategy? If not, you should reconsider.
When I was in business school, we learned that companies exist to do one thing: maximize shareholder value. At Outthinker, we’ve been talking for years about how this belief has become defunct. Companies are realizing that focusing solely on shareholder value creates resistance to growth that ultimately diminishes value to those shareholders.
What microbreweries, “micro-factories”, and the late Tony Hsieh can teach us about creating our 2021 strategy
Tony Hsieh’s Strategic Pattern
As many of you know, we recently said goodbye to an amazing leader, former CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh. We learned many lessons from Tony, the most important one being that the key question in strategy is to ask, “What business are we really in?” On Zappos’ success, he told us, “We were doing pretty well as a shoe company, but our growth really took off when we realized we’re a customer service company that happens to sell shoes.”
Keep reading to discover three free resources to help you answer this essential question and set your 2021 strategy.