Photograph of Kay Plantes

Kay Plantes is an MIT-trained economist, business strategy consultant, columnist and author. Business model innovation, strategic leadership and smart economic policies are her professional passions. A former Madison, WI resident, Kay now resides in San Diego, CA. The views on her blog are not those of her employer, IBM.

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June 13th, 2012

Disney’s forward-looking business model innovation

  Disney’s recent decision to restrict products advertised on its child-focused media properties might not appear to be business model innovation in the classic sense. But it is. With that one decision, Disney is redefining how, where, and why they will do business with other companies, and offering a leading-edge value promise to consumers. In [...]


October 26th, 2011

4 Trends Reshaping Business Models as Everything Computes

“Today everything computes. Intelligence has been infused into things no one would recognize as computers: appliances, cars, roadways, clothes, even rivers and cornfields.” So begins an IBM Smarter Planet ad in the Wall Street Journal arguing that computing must get smarter to manage today’s wealth of data. This data is not your father’s data of [...]


June 23rd, 2011

Business model innovation lessons from century-old IBM

I fondly remember being a guest at a 100th birthday celebration – that of my client Hufcor, the worldwide leader in moveable partitions and walls to create flexible space. But Hufcor wasn’t always the leader. A savvy new owner/CEO, Mike Borden, saved Hufcor from bankruptcy by pursuing an operational effectiveness strategy, process innovation and global [...]


October 14th, 2010

Does Carly Fiorina’s HP legacy foreshadow her Senate leadership?

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 [...]