The Promises, Pitfalls, and Trade-offs of the Circular Economy
Most businesses are built on a linear model: take, make, and discard. But that norm is reaching its limits, and leaders are under pressure to find smarter, more sustainable ways to operate. Weslynne Ashton is a systems scientist and professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In her masterclass at HBR’s 2024 Leaders Who Make a Difference conference, she explains how companies can shift to a circular economic strategy. One that reduces waste, reinvests in communities, and creates long-term value. She shares how businesses around the world are rethinking products, partnerships, and growth itself to build more resilient, regenerative business models. Key episode topics include: environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility, ESG, climate change, business models, strategy, competitive strategy HBR On Strategy curates the best conversations and case studies with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. Learn more about HBR’s 2024 Leaders Who Make a Difference Conference Find more Harvard Business Review live events Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org ]]>
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Sustainability Is Fueling Innovation at Ferrari
When Ferrari, the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, committed to achieving carbon neutrality and to electrifying a large part of its car fleet, investors and employees applauded the new strategy. But among the company’s suppliers, the reaction was mixed. Many were nervous about how this shift would affect their bottom lines. Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna discuss how Ferrari collaborated with suppliers to work toward achieving the company’s goal. They also explore how sustainability can be a catalyst for innovation in the case, “Ferrari: Shifting to Carbon Neutrality.”
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Stress Test Your Strategy Before It Fails
While many teams and organizations engage in scenario planning, most don’t go far enough. Arjan Singh, consultant and adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, says a more disciplined approach, borrowed from the military, can help leaders truly test how their strategies, operations, and tactics hold up against competitors, shifting market dynamics, and unexpected events. He’s helped hundreds of companies identify risks and find new ways to innovate by leading them through corporate war games, and he explains his process and results. Singh is the author of the book "Competitive Success: Building Winning Strategies with Corporate War Games."
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Rethink Your Pricing Strategies Amid Economic Uncertainty
Rafi Mohammed, founder of the consulting firm Culture of Profit, says a crisis or recession is not the time to panic and slash prices. He says leaders should instead reevaluate their pricing strategy—or develop one for the first time—to better respond to customers during the slump and keep them when the economy recovers.
Since this conversation took place in 2020, the crisis you'll hear them referring to is—obviously—the Covid-19 pandemic. But these lessons apply well beyond that moment—to any period of economic instability. Mohammed shares examples of companies across a variety of industries that created effective price strategies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mohammed is the author of "The 1% Windfall: How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow" and the recent HBR article, “Setting a Pricing Strategy Amid Ever-Changing Tariffs."
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AMD’s Lisa Su on Experimenting with AI
In a conversation with HBR editor-at-large Adi Ignatius, Lisa Su, CEO of leading semiconductor company AMD, discusses the company’s evolution toward high-performance and adaptive computing, the future of AI use in different sectors, and the importance of responsible risk-taking. She advocates for fast experimentation and implementation while ensuring safety through initiatives like AMD’s Responsible AI Council, active learning within the organization and among industry peers, and the hiring of diverse talent to drive innovation. Time Magazine recently named Su their "CEO of the Year." Key episode topics include: artificial intelligence, computing, machine learning, technology, decision-making, implementation, experimentation, ChatGPT, OpenAI, strategy HBR On Strategy curates the best conversations and case studies with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. Watch the full YouTube video: How AMD’s Lisa Su is Thinking About AIWatch more videos on HBR’s YouTube channelDiscover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>
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