Business

OSS for wealthy nations and societies

One of the key issues why open source software has not taken roots in Singapore is the mismatch in messaging and perception in what open source offers. Though innovation is the key message as the benefit of open source software, the more dominant message that persists in the country regarding OSS is cost saving. In a society and nation like Singapore, where there is an abundance of economic wealth and that is more interested in banking on the big brands, why should they care about saving costs and working with smaller companies? » Read more

6 CommentsPosted 22 Mar 2011 by sachindabir

The hole in the soul of business

I’m a big fan of New Yorker cartoons. There’s usually at least one in every issue that provokes a wry smile or a wince of self-recognition. While I’ve never actually participated in the magazine’s weekly caption competition, I occasionally gin up a prospective entry. Last week, the contest featured a drawing of a couple sitting in a living room. The husband (perhaps?) was perusing a newspaper on the sofa while his wife lounged in a nearby armchair. She was a mermaid—naked from the waist up, her large flipper resting demurely on the floor. With her head angled towards her companion and her mouth open in mid-sentence, I imagined her to be saying: “After ten years, I think you could have learned to scuba dive,” or “Hiking in the Alps again? I thought we could take a beach holiday this year.”

» Read more
2 CommentsPosted 21 Mar 2011 by Gary Hamel

B Corps: new advancements in a community advancing our communities

B Lab, the organization behind the growing community of B Corporations (companies using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems) or B Corps for short, recently released its 2011 annual report.

The report highlights some interesting progress over the last year, including a 75% increase in the number of certified B Corps, with larger businesses also joining the growing movement.
» Read more

2 CommentsPosted 21 Mar 2011 by Chris Grams

A better way to win: Profiting from purpose

"I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." —Oliver Wendell Holmes

When it comes to managing their costs, most companies operate with a simple model. They start by trying to maximize their gross margins so that they have a high cushion for spending in areas where they feel they need to spend heavily in order to compete, such as advertising and promotions. But a growing number of high-performing companies are showing that there is a better way to manage spending and improve performance. These companies live and operate on the other side of complexity.

» Read more
0 CommentsPosted 18 Mar 2011 by Raj Sisodia

ON DEMAND: Open Leadership webcast with Charlene Li

Listen to our discussion with Charlene Li, author of New York Times best seller Open Leadership, for the latest in our Open Your World webcast series. » Read more

attachments: 
application/ogg iconCharleneLi_OYWF_webcast_031711
0 CommentsPosted 17 Mar 2011 by ChrisMorse (Red Hat)

Becoming an open leader

Two years ago I posted a short post that picked up from an HBR article on leadership flaws. I posed the question if Enterprise 2.0 initiatives can thrive in environments where toxic leadership reigns. My first reaction was no, and then I thought about ways to get to yes.

One of the flaws of flawed leadership is the lack of » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 16 Mar 2011 by Gil Yehuda

Is crowdsourcing the enemy of innovation?

Is crowdsourcing the enemy of innovation? Four panelists shared their experiences in a SXSW panel this morning.

"Crowdsourcing is a blunt instrument," said Robson Grieve, moderator and president of Creature, which recently redesigned the Seattle's Best logo, resulting in quite a bit of customer reaction, similar to many recent logo changes from The Gap to Tropicana to Starbucks. Crowdsourcing encompasses a lot of ideas and practices that have a little bit in common.

Do we work for the crowd now? » Read more

1 CommentPosted 15 Mar 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Nike improving the environment and communities the open source way

This morning at SXSW, Andrew Zolli, curator of PopTech, talked to Hannah Jones, the VP of Sustainable Business at Nike about innovation, design, and sustainability through open data and collaboration.

The age of singularities
» Read more

0 CommentsPosted 14 Mar 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

My prototype beat up your business plan

The business plan is dead. Or at least that's the opinion of a panel Sunday morning at SXSW who posited that prototyping is now the way to go.

Business has shifted in the last few years. "It used to be about clearly articulating every step of the process you intended to take, embodied in a business plan," said moderator Kendra Shimmell, designer at Adaptive Path and board member for the Interaction Design Association. That was how you would explain to potential investors what you planned to do.

Is the business plan dead? » Read more

5 CommentsPosted 13 Mar 2011 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

True collaboration embraces conflict

Effective collaboration is essential for creating value. Indeed, it's one of the reasons we create corporations, because organizations are more effective than individuals at allocating resources. But knowing and doing are two different things. As organizations grow, collaboration can suffer—particularly across silos, as people learn to work for the benefit of their own group rather than the whole. This lost potential in collaboration is a huge, untapped source of competitive advantage, one that executives appear to be aware of. » Read more

2 CommentsPosted 11 Mar 2011 by Leigh Weiss