BLOG OF ADAM HARTUNG
White Space is to make money – GE Homeland Protection
Everybody should have White Space projects. More than one. Because you never know if which project will work out, and which might not. Nobody has a crystal ball. To create growth you have to not only open White Space, but you have to know...
Like Sun Micro, the NYT inflicted fatal wounds in the 1990s
Yesterday I discussed how Sun Microsystems nailed its coffin shut in the mid-1990s when it committed itself to hardware instead of following the market into software. Even though Sun was the then leader in Unix operating systems (Solaris) and internet...
Why Sun Failed – unwillingness to adapt
"With Oracle, Sun avoids becoming another Yahoo," headlines Marketwatch.com today. As talks broke down because IBM was unwilling to up its price for Sun Microsystems, Oracle Systems swept in and made a counter-offer that looks sure to acquire the...
Spend on what pays off – not what your used to spending on – movie studios
How do you pick a movie to see - whether at the theatre or at home? The movie studios think you pick movies by what you see on TV ads, according to the Los Angeles Times "Studios struggle to rein in marketing costs." I remember the old days...
PepsiCo update – doing more of the right stuff
"PepsiCo bids to buy its bottlers for $6billion," is the Marketwatch headline today. Another big Disruption, this time at the industry level, orchestrated by PepsiCo's Chairperson/CEO Indra Nooyi. Now that changes are being made with the...
Don’t innovate, don’t grow, don’t increase value – KRAFT
All of America may have learned the jingle "America spells cheese K*R*A*F*T", but that doesn't mean Kraft is a good investment. When the recession first began, investors were excited about buying companies that had well...
A blog and book to consider
I was delighted recently to find a weekly blog named www.IsSurvivor.com. Bob Lewis writes in a clear and frank tone about what he often sees as not working correctly - especially in the world of information management. I would recommend this blog to...
Introducing Innovation Right – Amazon’s Kindle
Last week I blogged about how Segway and GM were taking all the wrong steps in launching the PUMA. Today let me explain why Amazon is the mirror image - doing the launch of Kindle correctly. Kindle is the new "electronic book" from...
The One thing Sun Micro Did Wrong – and why it can’t survive
$193billion dollars. An amount that seems only viable for governments to discuss. But that is how much the value of Sun Microsystems declined in less than one decade (see chart here). At the height of its dominance as a supplier to telecom...
Puma is NOT “an iPod on wheels” – GM, Segway
"GM, Segway unveil Puma urban vehicle" headlines Marketwatch.com. The Puma is an enlarged Segway that can hold 2 people in a sitting position. Both companies are hoping this promotion will create excitement for the not-yet-released product,...
Loving new White Space – GE and Intel
Since before writing Create Marketplace Disruption I've been a fan of GE. The company is the only company to be on the Dow Jones Industrial Average since started 100 years ago. While so many other companies have soared and failed, GE has continued to...
So many good die young – SGI, Sun Micro, DEC, Wang, Univac, etc.
How many of these company names do you remember -- Sperry Rand? Burroughs? Univac? NCR? Control Data? Wang? Lanier? DataPoint? Data General? Digital Equipment/DEC? Gateway? Cray? Novell? Banyan? Netscape? I'm only 50, yet most of these...
Now is the time for transformation says HBS prof – GM, newspapers, pharma
Readers of this blog know I've been very pessimistic about the future of GM for well over 2 years. And I've long extolled the need to change top management. I'm passing along some quotes from Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter at the Harvard...
It Takes White Space to Transition – Tribune Corporation and HuffingtonPost.com
"This is the future of media. Whether in print, over the air or online -- the delivery mechanism isn't as important as the unique, rich nature of the content provided." That's what the Tribune Corporation's COO, Randy...
Be Adaptive or go the way of Mr. Wagoner at GM
"Management is not a science, like physics, with immutable laws and testable theories. Instead, management, at its best, is an intelligent response to outside forces, often disruptive ones." So says Steve Lohr in " How Crisis shapes the...
Newspaper weaknesses – Quotes for NYT, Washington Post, LATimes, Chicago Tribune
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." --- Mark Twain "All I know is what I read in the newspaper. That makes me the most ignorant man alive." ...
When you gotta go -:) P&G toilet database
If you can read this blog and not grin (or maybe even laugh) you're more grisly than me. MediaPost.com posted "P&G Backs Public Toilet Database Site, App." Proctor & Gamble, supporting Charmin branding, has agreed to financially...
Shifting Banking Market Requires New Strategy – JPMC, BofA, Citi, etc.
Clayton Christensen is a Harvard Business School professor who first described in detail how "disruptive" innovations shift markets, allowing upstart competitors to overtake existing companies that appear invulnerable. I just found a 4 minute video...
Obsess about the Fringe – Tata Nano, GM
Forbes Magazine reviewed the new car from Tata Motors in "Nano Lives Up To The Hype." Although we've known Tata Motors was designing and preparing this low-end car for a couple of years, most people were ignoring it. But now it's here,...
Subsidies – Newspapers, automobiles, banks need new Success Formulas
"Senator proposes nonprofit status for newspapers" was the headline at Marketwatch.com today. Senator Benjami Cardin, a democrate from Maryland, has proposed allowing newspapers to convert to 501(c)(3) status so their subscription and advertising...
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