Steve Farber

OCTOBER 25, 2016

And that’s a good thing to keep in mind if you want to help build an innovative culture. And we know his latest venture, men’s sports apparel startup, Qor (pronounced “core”), is already achieving over 30% yearly growth in part because it’s replicating the Athleta culture of caring. It’s alchemy.”

Apparel 40

Apparel Energy Workshop Sports 40

Harvard Business Review

JULY 1, 2011

These are innovation tools. This new orientation, combined with previously unavailable data, creates the ideal conditions for a new wave of innovation. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition offers a glimpse of one such effort. The reward: the business-to-business innovation opportunity that comes with getting this whole system view.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Apparel Management Retail 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2013

Not innovation, risk management, technology, debt, or the regulatory environment. Corporate directors identified talent management as their single greatest strategic challenge. We know that organizations commit enormous resources and effort to talent management, so why aren''t they doing a better job? Not rising costs.

Talent Management 8

Talent Management Company Telecommunications Management 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 17, 2014

How much does your company need to invest in innovation? A couple of years ago, for instance, when an apparel company mapped out what it thought was its new growth efforts, it found to its chagrin that a number of projects existed on paper, but that they were zero staffed – that is, no one was actually working on them.

Innovation 9

Innovation Company Venture Capitalist Business Model 9

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 3, 2015

Intriguingly, some start-ups are coming up with characteristically innovative ways to tackle the problem. Today, still under the marvelous management of Tony Hsieh, Zappos sales are well over $2 billion. The size of the apparel market only in the U.S. is around $225 billion.

Apparel 8

Apparel Strategy Insourcing Efficiency 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 4, 2017

Meanwhile, Subaru extends well-matched offerings at the right time in the consumer life cycle, from prepurchase targeting to end-of-lease management and loyalty incentives to repurchase. Retailer relationships can impose varying levels of constraint in D2C selling — less for apparel, perhaps, and more for CPG.

Retail 8

Retail Brand Apparel Discount 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Until recently, determining who works when involved store managers manually slotting each employee into shifts on paper. At a factory in Southern China, for example, executives thought that watching workers would help managers increase productivity and lower costs. A lot of flexibility isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Software 9

Software Management Retail How To 9

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 25, 2017

Innovation abounds (especially in technology) and new value is being created hand over fist — yet the resulting wealth gains go to the few, while the many wind up financially worse off. This vexing global challenge causes me to wonder, “What if the world’s innovators turned their sights on solving this problem?

Drucker 9

Drucker Apparel Chemicals Globalization 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 5, 2011

So retailers manage their supply chains and overhead costs with a tight fist. It's decision to view environmental and social actions not as altruism but as smart expense management. The maverick retailer has also launched a new website for owners of Patagonia apparel to sell their used clothes to other consumers.

Retail 15

Retail Apparel Supply Chain Agility 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 1, 2016

Inevitably, not all of the final pitches were winners but, to Facebook, the potential for uncovering groundbreaking innovations is worth pulling a couple hundred engineers away from their everyday tasks. The most skilled innovators put resources behind their strongest pitches and hone them further after the hackathon ends.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Banking Brainstorming Participative 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

If you walk into a department store today, you are probably talking to a guy who is untrained; he was selling vacuum cleaners yesterday, and now he is in the apparel section. Cost isn’t an exogenous variable to be managed—it is the investment in doing the most important things well. It just does not work.”

Execution 16

Execution Strategy How To Budgeting 16

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 17, 2016

Consider the sports apparel company Under Armour. In everything it does, the company pays as much attention to its growth engine — its ability to manage innovation and launch consistently valuable products — as in any particular garment or device it sells. How do we add value in ways that others do not?

Company 8

Company Engineering Apparel Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

Bonobos was one of the first vertically integrated online apparel companies — specializing in men's pants. Online apparel companies like Bonobos, Warby Parker, Quincy, and more have been offering showroom space for years (though mostly near their headquarters in New York). a Bonobos convert for life.

Retail 9

Retail Apparel Christensen Discount 9

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 2, 2013

Others gain new responsibilities in strategy, M&A integration, or innovation. Whatever approach you choose, you need to create appropriate levels of digital technology synergy, brand integration, investment coordination, skill development, vendor management, and innovation over the long term.

CIO 8

CIO Technology Apparel Information Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 21, 2013

The true solution, we think, lies in understanding the changed nature of modern supply chains and identifying new business models better suited for managing them. Corporate social responsibility Global business Innovation' Over the last years, labor intensive production keeps moving to ever-cheaper countries.

Business Model 9

Business Model Supply Chain Compliance Disaggregation 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Here, Try Some Nixon and Kimchi: How the Garment Industry Came to Bangladesh Planet Money I admit it: The reference to Nixon and kimchi in the headline got me to read it, but this piece on how Bangladesh came to be a world center for apparel manufacturing held my interest. Then, with the introduction of the iPhone, they didn''t.

CTO 8

CTO Apparel Ryan Proposal 8

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 18, 2015

This can mean expanding product lines, entering new markets and geographies, line extending brands, acquiring new businesses, creating projects, and adding layers of management to manage the self-created complexity. With 60% of annual sales coming from innovative new products, it is clear that LEGO has not been idle.

Apparel 100

Apparel Brand Franchising Competitive Advantage 100

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 8, 2015

As the projector bulb warmed up for the ritualized theater of yet another senior management meeting, Gerstner walked to the front of the room, turned off the machine and said, as politely as he could: “Let’s just talk about your business.” The workshop did not include a single PowerPoint slide or digital simulation.

Team 8

Team Supply Chain Workshop Drucker 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

I talked with Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School, who together with Ian MacMillan, of the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, developed this classic methodology for planning innovation. In short, too many firms used conventional planning to manage their new ventures. What Is Discovery Driven-Planning?

Planning 9

Planning Benchmarking Project Competitive Advantage 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

For every Apple, there is an Atari, for every Fuji a Polaroid, and for every Zara an American Apparel. ” Only few firms manage to be ambidextrous—most struggle to maintain a healthy balance between exploration and exploitation. Some firms manage to maintain this dual discipline as they grow. points p.a.,

Company 8

Company Succession Maturity Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 12, 2014

Customer tracking data is typically sent to the location analytics vendor where it is analyzed and accessed via online dashboards that provide actionable data tailored to the needs of specific employees — from the store manager to the executive C-suite. Already, the scale of data collected by early adopters of this technology is staggering.

Retail 9

Retail Customer Intimacy Apparel Wireless 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 8, 2012

And this charge will, in theory, move managers to make greener choices. And more recently, athletic apparel company Puma (working with my colleagues at PwC and the UK's TruCost) produced an " environmental P&L " which measured the "real" cost of carbon and other environmental inputs like water. He's absolutely right.

Price 15

Price P&L White Paper Energy 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

My evidence is a series of separate surveys conducted by different organizations, including the MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation. Another indication that near-shoring is accelerating is the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). In contrast, it will be easier for footwear and apparel companies to move to lower-cost locations.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Survey Price Apparel 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 19, 2015

The Goldminer strategy will typically involve vertically integrated players (large institutions like insurers, hospitals, and physicians’ groups) creating medical value by better managing the health of the heaviest users of healthcare: the 30% of patients with complex conditions that comprise 75% to 80% of all medical spending.

Technology 8

Technology Retail Apparel Customer Loyalty 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 23, 2015

Sectors calling for action included banking (Bank of America, Citi, Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo), the apparel industry (including Levi, Gap, Adidas, VF), and the World Economic Forum, which brought 79 CEOs together to urge action. the congress passed tax credits for solar and wind at the last minute this year.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Apparel Energy Price 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 28, 2014

In a pattern that would become familiar to today’s innovation thinkers, Worthy reports, “the then managements of Sears and Wards alike failed to grasp the significance of these new developments.”. But then “Sears found the answer first,” Worthy reports, in 1924. We felt defeated and powerless.”.

Retail 9

Retail Quinn Real Estate Apparel 9

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2014

As more people begin to see income inequality as a negative “externality” — an unintended but damaging consequence of decisions that businesses make to boost profits — how should managers respond? We have argued previously in HBR that companies can choose among three levels of embracing externalities. They can …. Take Ownership.

Golden Parachute 11

Golden Parachute Apparel Trends Short-term 11

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Meanwhile, business was free to focus on generating growth, productivity, innovation, and, ultimately, societal wealth. Such ecosystems even the playing field for individuals and small firms to participate in technological progress, catalyzing both employment and innovation. Essential background.

Globalization 8

Globalization Supply Chain Human Capital Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 14, 2015

Consumers evidently felt their needs were met sufficiently well enough that they didn’t need a cola, vodka, or bridal apparel from Virgin, among many other products and services which Virgin has introduced and subsequently withdrawn. Think of the equity of a brand in terms of a bank account.

Brand 8

Brand Banking Apparel Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2016

I’ve found that managers who fully embrace a superconsumer strategy learn more from their consumers through increased empathy. These managers are more persuasive at getting buy-in from the leaders in their organization, make better strategic decisions, and achieve more stable, more predictable, and longer-term growth.

Airlines 8

Airlines Energy Self-aware Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 30, 2018

It turns out that the word “innovation” is not a Harry Potter-esque magical incantation that, once spoken, renders companies more inventive, creative, and entrepreneurial. It can be emblazoned on the door to a new innovation center in Silicon Valley. Yes, even Toys R Us had a head of innovation.).

Innovation 15

Innovation Company Budgeting Survey 15

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2011

The best analysis of the resource scarcity mega-trend came from asset manager Jeremy Grantham. On the use side of the water issue, companies with products that depend on water in production (beverages) or in use (shampoo, apparel) are also seeing the writing on the wall and getting creative. trillion market for clothes and shoes.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Apparel P&L Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

If I asked you to picture the consumer luxury market, you might imagine jewels, sports cars, watches, premium drinks, high-end shoes and apparel, and so on. But according to a new report, 2016 Predictions for the Luxury Industry: Sustainability and Innovation , that sustainability gap is closing fast.

Brand 8

Brand Supply Chain Apparel Tourism 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Walmart's success doesn't just stem from impressive logistics, aggressive vendor management and its position as a low-cost retailer. And it innovates constantly within its chosen constraints: e.g., tailoring product assortments to local trends. Let's take a closer look.

Succession 15

Succession Retail Merchandising Supply Chain 15

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 18, 2017

With over 500 million dedicated fans, it also happens to be one of the most innovative franchises when it comes to fan engagement. This has enabled us to grow our number of fan profiles by about 400 percent in the past two years—it’s now in the millions,” says Begoña Sanz, Commercial General Manager, Real Madrid C.F.

Sports 8

Sports Brand Content Industry 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 20, 2014

This popular triumph of the “ heuristics and biases ” literature pioneered by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky has made us aware of flaws that economics long glossed over, and led to interesting innovations in retirement planning and government policy. What’s the problem with the way that turkey approached risk management?

Uncertainty 10

Uncertainty Kahneman Banking System 10

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

We're delighted to announce the winners of the Long-Term Capitalism Challenge , the third leg of the HBR/McKinsey M-Prize for Management Innovation. The athletic apparel giant has also engaged a broad base of partners (and competitors) in innovation toward that goal. It's not enough to change one company.

Organization 15

Organization Cooper McKinsey Long-term 15