At $4.3 B in annual revenue, Belgium-based UCB S.A. would place about 14th among Fortune 500 US pharmaceutical companies.  But unlike its larger peers, whose industry-consolidating mergers have massive layoffs, all for the sake of cost-cutting earnings growth, UCB focused its business model innovations on unique advantage. As a result, UCB is delighting  patients and [...]

In using “Great to Good” in my title, I am quoting from new product development consultant Monica Wingate, of Fountainhead Brand Consulting, whose recent Evolve NPD Blog post summarizes key insights that she gained from the 2010 Market Research Summit held at University of Wisconsin, Madison’s A.C. Neilson Center for Marketing Research. I advise reading [...]

It seems natural to judge a political candidate by her previous work performance, which is precisely why my eyes are on the California Senate race. Former HP CEO Carley Fiorina is challenging the incumbent democrat, US Senator Barbara Boxer, to represent the financially strapped state. While the two women trade public policy barbs, HP shareholders [...]

IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative is more than smart branding. The initiative reflects smart evolution in IBM’s business model. Over the past decade, the Fortune 500 company exited commodity IT hardware (e.g., personal computers) to make investments in high-end IT, such as data analytics. As IBM’s income from hardware fell from $2.7b to $1.4b, income from [...]