BLOG OF ADAM HARTUNG
Social Media @ your company: What do you plan to do? – Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in
Hi Readers, I'm delighted today to send you a guest blog from a colleague of mine, Tom LaPlante. His contact info is below. I hope you enjoy his insights as much as I did!Recently I attended the Austin Tech Fair, which was hosted and planned by Matt Genovee's...
False paradox – using the old to justify not doing the new – Microsoft, iPad
(Note: See more about my globally syndicated radio X Zone Radio interview with Rod McConnell in postscript below)Today the Harvard Business Review blog got to the topic of my early May Forbes article (Microsoft's Dismal Future) with "Microsoft and the...
Know when to change course – BP, Dell, Microsoft
"Stay the Course" is a popular phrase. It sounds all macho, and committed to a destiny, to proclaim you must "stay the course." However, as bnet.com pointed out there are times when "Stay the Course is a Recipe for...
Attacking Culture to Address Problems – British Petroleum
I weighed in late on the Gulf Coast disaster - and my impressions of British Petroleum. I wanted to be thoughtful, as the ramifications of this will be with us for decades. Compared to the hurricane that wrecked New Orleans this situation is far...
Defend & Extend Disaster – British Petroleum (BP)
Leadership BP's Only Hope For Its FutureIt must throw out its formula for success."Beyond Petroleum?" BP looks anything but that now. How could a company that spent so much money trying to make us think it was something else remain so tied to, and now so...
It’s the One You Don’t See That’ll Kill You – BP, Tribune Corp., GM, Lehman Brothers, Sun, SGI
How widely do you plan for a different future? Do you think British Petroleaum's (BP's) engineers and managers knew there was a chance of a major problem coming from deep water drilling? It seems illogical to think they didn't know the chance...
Moving Beyond Your Success Formula – beyond Customers and Partners – Dell, Microsoft, Google
According to Reuters news service "Dell in Talks with Google over Chrome O/S." I would like to think this is a big deal for Dell, and positive, but I'm doubtful.Eight months ago I wrote (10/20/09 - Keep an Eye on Dell - Good Things Happening) that...
Journalism in 2020 – YouTube, Google
Will YouTube be the USAToday or Wall Street Journal or New York Times of 2015 or 2020? According to Mediapost.com "YouTubes Secret Citizen Journalism Plot Exposed." Referring to a SFWeekly article by Eve Batey "YouTube Explains Top Secret...
Don’t Depend on Past Success – Microsoft, Apple and Google
"Google Bans Use of Microsoft Company-Wide" is the headline on HuffingtonPost.com. The reason given is that Microsoft had too many security issues. This could be easily dismissed as a competitive trick. Except for a couple of facts:...
Looking for votes, or looking for jobs – Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison
There's always controversy around a politician. Some like the person, some hate the person. And that is true for Mayor Richard M. Daley in Chicago. Crain's Chicago Business decided to do an analysis of the mayor's last 20 years in...
Top 6 Reasons Projects Fail – 8 Steps to Avoid the Failures!
I was struck by a recent Baseline.com article that described the top 6 reasons IT projects fail in "What Dooms IT Projects." Primarily because the reasons have nothing to do inherently with information technology, and thus are identical to why all...
It’s not about “execution” its about Results – Tribune Corp., LATimes, Chicago Tribune, Sara Lee, General Motors
If your boss told you that he enjoyed your hard work, but he wanted to cut your pay 50% I bet you would feel - well - violated. Your hard work is just that; hard work. If you received $100,000 (or $50,000 or $250,000) for that work last year it would be...
Why educators can’t educate – College Lock-in
I so enjoyed the feedback from my article on Chicago and Illinois politicians I decided to take on another sacred cow - so let's talk about education.According to Inside Higher Education's article "In Search of Innovators" there is a distinct lack of...
Hey politicians – growth is what matters – Chicago, Illinois
I was born in 1957. That year, a 3 bedroom track home in Wichita, KS sold for the same price as that very same track home in Palo Alto, CA - about $10,000. Of course, things have changed hugely since then. Agriculture value had declined markedly,...
Plan for Transitions – NetFlix and Walgreens
According to Crain's Chicago Business, "Walgreen's Same Store Sales Nearly Flat." Walgreen's has been Locked-in for 3 decades. Build more stores. Simple. Just like WalMart did for many years. Demand seemed...
Always follow growth markets, and don’t fear Disruption – Baker & McKenzie
How should you select a new CEO? Loyalty? Historical management of an existing business? Understanding of company or industry heritage? Most of those criteria are rear view focused, even if dominant. Wouldn't the most important...
Of goats and heroes – Sara Lee’s Barnes and Apple’s Jobs
Rumors are flying around Chicago about the health of Sara Lee CEO Brenda Barnes. Will she stay or leave? Some investors are wondering as well. While I join the chorus of voices that wish Ms. Barnes good health, her departure would not be a bad...
The cost of Defend & Extend – Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP
In theory, Sustaining Innovations that help a company Defend & Extend its products are supposed to be cheap. The breakthrough is done, and the investments on variations, derivatives and enhancements are "engineering" as opposed to...
Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic – Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Nintendo
The leadership of Microsoft's entertainment division are leaving, as reported at TechFlash.com "Bach, Allard leaving Microsoft in Big Shift for Consumer Businesses." Whether by their own choice or by request, the issue is simply that Microsoft has...
Cry or Take Action – Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post
Do you lament "the way things used to be?" I remember my parents using that phrase. Now I often hear my peers. And it really worries me. Success requires constant growth, and when I hear business leaders talking about "the...
Trackbacks/Pingbacks