Harvard Business Review

JULY 29, 2024

In any other election cycle, the predictable increase and decrease in uncertainty offers shrewd managers unique opportunities for operating, investment, and financing decisions. This year, however, is different.

First-mover Advantage 25

First-mover Advantage Company Uncertainty Finance 25

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 8, 2013

When I ask business executives about their company's strategy — or about an apparent lack thereof — they often respond that they can't or won't do strategy because their operating environment is changing so much. There isn't enough certainty, they argue, to be able to do strategy effectively. In truth every company has a strategy.

Uncertainty 14

Uncertainty Strategy First-mover Advantage Fashion 14

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

This creates an environment in which successful companies must have operating models that are dramatically more dynamic and able to shift more readily to capitalize on growth opportunities (or to cost-effectively weather periods of decline). Innovation focused on first-mover advantage, not price point.

First-mover Advantage 13

First-mover Advantage Supply Chain Price Cost 13

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 27, 2018

They operate as lean organizations, using cloud and internet-based infrastructure, and launch and distribute products more quickly than did firms that competed with factories, warehouses, inventories, and suppliers. Emerging digital firms compete with knowledge, strategy, and expert human capital, attacking even the largest established firms.

IPO 14

IPO Company First-mover Advantage Intangible Assets 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 5, 2012

Before long, despite all the first mover advantages of Viagra, the competitors reduced Viagra's market share from over 90% to around 50%. Business model innovations are often embedded in the firm's DNA, they define its core operating logic and for the competition to change and adapt its business model is much harder.

Business Model 12

Business Model Innovation First-mover Advantage Apparel 12

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 28, 2017

And AI success stories are becoming more numerous and diverse, from Amazon reaping operational efficiencies using its AI-powered Kiva warehouse robots, to GE keeping its industrial equipment running by leveraging AI for predictive maintenance. Investment in AI is growing and is increasingly coming from organizations outside the tech space.

Survey 15

Survey Execution First-mover Advantage Technology 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 4, 2016

The Justice Department even tried to break it up in the late 1990s because it thought, and many agreed, that this was the only way to create competition in the operating systems market. The message is simple: beware of the siren song of network effects, winner-takes-all, and first mover advantages.

First-mover Advantage 8

First-mover Advantage Advertising Marketing Disruptive Innovation 8