| | | | | | | | | | December 18, 2009 | The latest posts from HBR.org | | |  | | | | Copenhagen: 8 Reasons You Should Cut Carbon (Aside From Climate Change) | | | Andrew Winston — December 11, 2009 | 8:42 AM ET — The big global meeting going on in Copenhagen (called COP15) is all about reducing carbon emissions in order to combat climate change. But is climate change the only reason your business should reduce energy use and carbon emissions? Hardly. But first, let's get out of the way the "scandal" about hacked emails from climate scientists, a story which threatens to overshadow the conference in the media. I'll be clear and say that many of the... CONTINUE READING | | |  | | | Cadbury: More Than an Iconic Brand | | | Gill Corkindale — December 16, 2009 | 8:29 AM ET — Since September I have been watching uneasily as Kraft has upped the stakes in its takeover bid for Cadbury, Britain's favourite confectioner. After repeated rebuffals, Cadbury this week dismissed the US food conglomerate's $16bn offer as "derisory" and set out higher profit targets in an effort to persuade investors that the company would be better off remaining independent. Cadbury's CEO and members of its founding family have been holding their ground against a seemingly inexorable... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | MySpace's Disruption, Disrupted | | | Scott Anthony — December 16, 2009 | 9:21 AM ET — In 2005, Rupert Murdoch was the toast of the media world. News Corp's septuagenarian CEO had swooped in and picked up social networking darling MySpace for a price ($580 million) that seemed steep but not outrageous. Months later, MySpace signed a massive deal with Google, justifying Murdoch's optimism. Growth surged. Seemingly overnight, Murdoch went from crusty old corporate titan to hip new media king. Four short years later, however, MySpace's shine has dulled. Upstart Facebook... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Copenhagen: What's the Story, President Obama? | | | Larry Prusak — December 16, 2009 | 9:51 AM ET — I've been spending some time lately in two very different countries — Denmark and Brazil. The contrasts between the serious, careful, and ever-prompt Danes and the, well, very different Brazilians is a delight to me and gives my working life much color. It also throws into sharp relief the distinctly American attitude toward climate change and environment generally, which of course are top of mind with the Copenhagen conference under way. For one thing, the... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | MySpace's Disruption, Disrupted | | | Scott Anthony — December 16, 2009 | 9:57 AM ET — In 2005, Rupert Murdoch was the toast of the media world. News Corp's septuagenarian CEO had swooped in and picked up social networking darling MySpace for a price ($580 million) that seemed steep but not outrageous. Months later, MySpace signed a massive deal with Google, justifying Murdoch's optimism. Growth surged. Seemingly overnight, Murdoch went from crusty old corporate titan to hip new media king. Four short years later, however, MySpace's shine has dulled. Upstart Facebook... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | 20 Seconds to a Better Bonus | | | Peter Bregman — December 16, 2009 | 10:17 AM ET — Larry was a mid- to senior-level employee at Overlook, a technology company. (Names have been changed.) I began to work with him while he was running a project to bring Overlook's newest technology tool to the marketplace. Despite a number of obstacles, some of which came from inside Overlook, Larry delivered the product on time and pretty much on budget. He received a solid bonus that year. Which is why I was surprised when he... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | 20 Seconds to Giving a Better Bonus | | | Peter Bregman — December 16, 2009 | 10:17 AM ET — Larry was a mid- to senior-level employee at Overlook, a technology company. (Names have been changed.) I began to work with him while he was running a project to bring Overlook's newest technology tool to the marketplace. Despite a number of obstacles, some of which came from inside Overlook, Larry delivered the product on time and pretty much on budget. He received a solid bonus that year. Which is why I was surprised when he... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Put your P&L to the Test | | | Anthony K. Tjan — December 16, 2009 | 10:34 AM ET — My job is to fund companies with high growth prospects. When we evaluate prospective investments, one of the things we hear from time to time is, "My company could be profitable if we wanted it to be, but we're just investing for growth." Really? To test this assertion, do this simple litmus test. Take out all the expense assumptions that are directly related to "investing for growth" and have a look at the reset profit... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Put Your P&L to the Test | | | Anthony K. Tjan — December 16, 2009 | 10:34 AM ET — My job is to fund companies with high growth prospects. When we evaluate prospective investments, one of the things we hear from time to time is, "My company could be profitable if we wanted it to be, but we're just investing for growth." Really? To test this assertion, do this simple litmus test. Take out all the expense assumptions that are directly related to "investing for growth" and have a look at the reset profit... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Copenhagen: Rally People Around Climate Change with Fruit, Not Medicine | | | Nicholas Eisenberger — December 16, 2009 | 11:00 AM ET — The mood outside the formal negotiations in Copenhagen — among the tens of thousands of business leaders, entrepreneurs, NGO representatives, and clean tech curiosity-seekers in town — has been overwhelmingly optimistic, celebratory even. But the moment talk turns to the latest news emanating from the Bella Center (where the actual negotiations are taking place), the festival mood considerably darkens. The gap between developed and developing nations seems as wide as ever. The "cost" of funding... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | The New Harvard Business Review Site | | | Eric Hellweg — December 17, 2009 | 7:05 AM ET — Welcome to the new HBR.org! Deputy Editor Katherine Bell and I are incredibly excited to show you around some of the new features and guide you to some of the places you already know and love. As I detailed in a post on December 10, the main goal of this redesign is to bring together the two sites we've been operating at Harvard Business Publishing into one site under the Harvard Business Review brand. On... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | The New Harvard Business Review Online | | | Eric Hellweg — December 17, 2009 | 7:05 AM ET — Welcome to the new HBR.org! Deputy Editor Katherine Bell and I are incredibly excited to show you around some of the new features and guide you to some of the places you already know and love. As I detailed in a post on December 10, the main goal of this redesign is to bring together the two sites we've been operating at Harvard Business Publishing into one site under the Harvard Business Review brand. On... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Patently Alarmist — What's Really Hobbling U.S. Innovation | | | Mike Drummond — December 17, 2009 | 10:53 AM ET — U.S. patent filings likely will decline this year for the first time since 1996, according to a government report, fueling more handwringing about the fate of American innovation. David Kappos, the former IBMer now in charge of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, discussed this and a raft of other issues with me last month, shortly before the agency released its 2009 Performance and Accountability Report. He noted that patents are linked to innovation and... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Copenhagen: Adapting to a Warming World | | | Andrew Winston — December 17, 2009 | 2:49 PM ET — No matter what happens in Copenhagen, or in the follow up meetings in Mexico and elsewhere, the world is warming. It's happening today, and even the majority of skeptics seem to agree on that point (often the debate is whether humans are behind it and how much money we should invest in "fixing" the problem). But the very real changes we're already seeing are prompting many in the climate-watching world to talk about not just... CONTINUE READING | | | | | | Craft a Narrative to Instill Optimism | | | John Baldoni — December 17, 2009 | 3:31 PM ET — "We do have a conscious say in selecting the narrative we will use to make sense of the world," writes New York Times columnist David Brooks. "Individual responsibility is contained in the act of selecting and constantly revising the master narrative we tell about ourselves." Brooks' explanation about choice of narrative can apply to leaders seeking ways to navigate our recession. The relentless tide of bad news may tempt those in charge to adopt a... 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