Read any business magazine and you’ll discover a multitude of examples of companies that secured profitable, growing market positions because their visionary leaders challenged the conventional rules of how an industry works. The leaders’ fresh perspectives resulted in winning business model innovations in industry after industry. Netflix ousts Blockbuster. Starbucks creates a rapidly growing revenue [...]

I am spending two weeks, mostly in Austria, exploring the Eastern Alps and biking along the Donau (Danube) River, before seeing Wein (Vienna) and Prague in The Czech Republic.  Austria is exquisite. The majestic views here make Wisconsin’s landscapes look like a table model for the real thing. (And I love Wisconsin’s land.) In Saltzburg, [...]

I spoke with Robert Finfrock this week. His company, Finfrock Enterprises, is featured in the introduction to my book, Beyond Price, for how it escaped the ruthless construction industry competition. Bob transformed what had become a commoditized business into a one-of-a-kind business selling its services at a premium. The financial and enjoyment returns have been [...]

The best products and businesses solve problems otherwise left unaddressed. Customers and owners win as a result. Vidalias onions provide this week’s example of a business model innovation with the potential to solve an important problem. Any mother can speak eloquently about the challenges of getting her child to eat healthy foods, with vegetables the [...]

For decades, corporate social responsibility has been managed by most CEOs as a Pubic Relations activity, financed through philanthropy and Marketing Department budgets, rather than as a core principle guiding decision-making. What a loss to companies, consumers, the environment and communities. Those few companies who were early adopters of sustainability as a business practice versus [...]

I’d never have bet that the US Security and Exchange Commission, the team fooled needlessly by Ponzi-scheme artist Madoff and others, would become the brave kid in the crowd to scream, “The Emperor is naked!” In accusing Dell and its CEO of negligence-based fraud, the reality of Dell’s broken business model becomes clear to all. [...]

Borders Group, the struggling bookseller, has a new Chairman of the Board, Bennett LeBow. LeBow’s a member of Vector Group Ltd., the investor group that recently acquired 15% of Borders (35% if warrants are exercised). According to interim Borders CEO Mike Edwards, LeBow “will play an extremely important role in helping us redefine the Borders [...]

Media provides a great case study of creative destruction, to coin Joseph Schumpeter’s term for capitalism’s ability to destroy while creating anew. Yet even massive creative destruction will not reverse the basic economic principal that customers buy based on highest perceived value, where value is perceived benefits less the perceived costs to acquire those benefits. [...]

I spoke a number of months ago to an audience composed largely of machining companies. (Machining companies transform metal and other hard materials into parts used in transportation equipment, packaging machinery and other manufactured goods.) Like many CEOs in mature manufacturing markets, the leaders felt their companies’ offerings had become commoditized. Quality and service, once [...]

Blockbuster, the largest retail chain for renting and buying videos, is scrambling. Watching movies at home has become as natural as watching TV shows, and internet speed is steadily increasing. The two forces have created new opportunities for connecting viewers with the videos they want to see. New industry entrants grabbed these opportunities as new [...]