TOP 10 HBR ARTICLES

Management personality development

 HBR ARTICLE #1
THE COUNTRIES THAT WOULD PROFIT MOST FROM A
CASHLESS WORLD
Overview : The Countries That Would Profit Most from a
Cashless World
Why countries should go cashless?
Economic uncertainty around the globe has raised concerns that consumers could take cash out of banks –
especially in negative interest rate environments — and hoard it. Eliminating cash is one way to reduce that risk.

Countries considering to go complete cashless:

• Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
• While the European Central Bank is considering getting rid of large-denomination bills.
Facts:
• Cash, according to a recent MasterCard study, accounts for nearly 85% of global consumer transactions
• In 2009, over two-thirds of all ecommerce payments in China were cash on delivery. Today mobile wallets among the BAT
– Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent account for over 70% of all e-commerce transactions in China.

Key Questions:
• Which countries have the greatest to gain from the migration to a cashless society?
• Which countries are most prepared in terms of their digital readiness?
Learnings : The Countries That Would Profit Most from a
Cashless World
Process:
Analysis across 154 countries:
1. Prioritize countries where the consumer costs of cash are
1. Assess the costs to banks of maintaining ATMs
high, since consumers will be the prime adopters of digital
2. Create a score for the cost of cash to consumers done
alternatives.
considering the actual costs of getting cash (including
2. Focus on those countries that are more digitally ready for
transport to get cash and ATM fees)
a migration to a cashless alternative.
3. Compute the “tax gap” — Tax uncollected due to
unreported and under-reported cash transactions

Analysis results: Countries have the greatest potential for

unlocking value by policy and innovation led migration to a
The costs do not correlate with levels of economic or political cashless society: U.S., Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France,
development. Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, China and Brazil
 HBR ARTICLE #2
WHAT’S THE VALUE OF A LIKE?
Overview: What’s the Value of a Like?
Facebook is the preferred platform: 80% of Fortune 500 companies have active Facebook pages.

Large chunk of investments are done by marketers if promoting FB pages, just for getting likes.

It is justified by arguing that attracting social media followers and increasing their exposure to a brand will
ultimately increase sales.

Merely liking a brand on Facebook doesn’t change behavior or increase purchasing.

Author did research where he test 4 interactive ways in which Facebook might affect customers’ behavior.

Research concluded that Social media doesn’t work the way many marketers think it does.

The mere act of endorsing a brand does not affect a customer’s behavior or lead to increased purchasing, nor
does it spur purchasing by friends. Supporting endorsements with branded content, however, can have
significant result
Another study suggested that liking a brand on Facebook had no enhancing effect on the purchasing habits of
friends
Learnings: What’s the Value of a Like?
Trend of “Push Marketing” is about to end and rise of “Pull Marketing” can be observed

How to make likes work for you?

• Monitor the social media channels for eloquent endorsements and integrate those endorsements into the
marketing messages.
• More brands could adopt the increasingly common practice of “seeding” social endorsements by paying influencers
to try the brand and send endorsements to their followers.
• Weak endorsements: Research shows that many endorsements doesn’t carry the same weight as a real-world
recommendation

Use “pull” marketing to find your best customers:

• People who go to the trouble of finding a brand on social media will be its most devoted, and thus most valuable,
customers.
• These customers will enthusiastically provide feedback to improve product development, management, and
delivery; defend the brand against unjustified complaints; and be early adopters of and evangelists for new
offerings.

Conclusion: The research helps explain why marketers are frustrated by social media—they are using it the
wrong way. Amplifying efforts with advertising can provide higher returns on investment while creating an
opportunity to connect with the most-loyal customers.
 HBR ARTICLE #3
THE MOST CREATIVE TEAMS HAVE A SPECIFIC TYPE OF
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Overview: The most creative teams have a specific type of
cultural diversity
 Culturally diverse teams, research shows, can help deliver better outcomes in today's organizations.

 These teams often suffer from conflicting norms and differing assumptions between members, which can keep
them from reaching their full creative potential.

 Cultural brokerage is a key factor that allows multicultural teams to capitalize on the benefits of diversity while
mitigating the pitfalls.

 In two studies - an archival study of over 2,000 multicultural teams and an experiment involving 83 multicultural
teams with different cultural compositions – It was found that teams were significantly more creative when they
had one or more members who acted as a cultural broker.

 Who are these cultural brokers? They're team members who have relatively more multicultural experience than
others and who act as a bridge between their monocultural teammates.
Overview: The most creative teams have a specific type of
cultural diversity
• In a team with mostly Indian and American team members, a cultural broker could be someone with experience in
both Indian and American cultures.

• The second type of cultural broker is someone with experience in two or more cultures not represented in the team
- say, Australian and Korean.

• In the experimental study, cultural insiders used their dual knowledge of the other cultures on their team to
integrate information and ideas from those cultures.

• Cultural outsiders drew on their position as a neutral third party to elicit information and ideas from the other
cultures represented in the team.

• For teams to unleash their full creative potential, it is critical to have at least one multicultural insider or outsider in
the group.

• In fact cultural outsiders are just as effective as cultural insiders in enhancing team creativity.

• Collaboration in multicultural teams is a complex and multifaceted endeavour.

 HBR ARTICLE #4
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR TEAM IS TOO BUSY TO TAKE ON NEW WORK
Overview: The most creative teams have a specific type of
cultural diversity
• Most of the time during yearly budget managers always propose a higher budget.

• Thus author questions “Why can’t we do more with our existing budget?” wherein the same answer pops out that
my team is telling me that they are already busy with existing workload.

• So author assumes how can the project workload be checked and managed. For that he proposes three things
• The key activities each person performs as their primary job responsibilities
• The amount of time in a given week each person spends on these key activities
• The types of activities that are above and beyond core job functions or special projects

• There are three major things which author found out during his research
• Elimination of work – author was able to invest 20% of the teams’ time in projects that were aligned with new
strategy by eliminating redundant lower value internal projects.
• Reduce workload – He changed the disapproval of the campaign into passive process. Thus reducing the
tedious task and reducing campaign launch time by 48 hours on average.
• Improving productivity – this was done by author by keeping in their daily routine as an example and providing
them the task of automating the process which in turn reduced the time which was utilized for further
productivity.
Overview: The most creative teams have a specific type of
cultural diversity

Why is important?
• It is one of the most commonly seen issues in any project.

• Time and resource management requires more care and regular updating according to the scenario.

• This may be one of the major issue we may face joining any organization.

• It also points out the major issue that always happens that is redundant work or outdated work.

• It also depicts the importance of automation in reduction of workload and increase in productivity.

• It was easy to relate to my work experience and I feel most of the experienced persons will feel the same.
 HBR ARTICLE #5
MANAGEMENT TIME: WHO’S GOT THE MONKEY?
Overview: Management time: who’s got the monkey?

• Published by William Oncken Jr, and Donald Wass.

• Talks about disparity in time management levels between the manager and his subordinates.
• The authors have classified the available time of a manager into 4 heads: Boss Imposed Time, System
Imposed Time, Self Imposed Time, and Subordinate imposed Time as a part of Self imposed time.
• When subordinates meet the manager with a problem: enough information has been passed on to
the manager so that he becomes involved in the project but at the same time, the quanta of
information is inadequate to take a quick decision
• A plausible way for the manager to pull himself out of this murky situation, could be to assign the
problems
• The author beautifully describes five levels of “Anatomy of Managerial Initiative”:
• Wait until told (lowest imitative)
• Ask what to do
• Recommend and then take resulting action.
• Act but advise at once.
• Act on own and routinely report.
Overview: Management time: who’s got the monkey?
Why is it Valuable?

• One of the most valuable among the Harvard Business Review articles and is
the publication’s one of the two best-selling reprints ever.

• It talks about a very practical problem that managers face in the organizational
structure, getting burdened by problems of others and suggests ways to recover
from this slumber.

• The management advise thus given, is invaluable for any aspiring manager,
willing to set foot in the corporate world.

• Relevant even after so many years after so many years, thus makes it one of the
most valuables Harvard Business Review articles ever.
 HBR ARTICLE #6
WHY CEOS DEVOTE SO MUCH TIME TO THEIR HOBBIES
Overview: Management time: who’s got the monkey?

HBR identified dozens of S&P 500 CEOs who have what is called “Serious Leisure” interests

Performance of CEOs with strong hobbies show mixed results.

A few common themes stood out about how their passion helps them:

1. It provides detachment like nothing else can

Research points to passionate, active leisure pursuits as the only ones that can offer full recovery from Excessive
stress, strategic thinking and increase ability to engage in positive leadership behaviors.

2. It means constantly striving for your “best self.

While competitiveness certainly comes up as a motivation, for most of top CEOs it is truly about reaching one’s
highest potential, a lesson they’ve transferred to leading.
Overview: Management time: who’s got the monkey?
3. It can provide a welcome humility lesson
Evidence shows that humility at the top can translate into greater engagement all the way to the bottom of
the organization and into improved overall performance.

4. It offers a “full control” experience

While feeling in control of one’s work is a basic psychological need , which most of the CEO’s obtain by
Leisure activities.

5. It creates different, deeper connections with your followers

Going for a run with employees or joining a company sports team is a great way to get in touch with people
outside of one’s typical circle.

6. It strengthens your authentic leadership.

For the vast majority of the S&P 500 CEOs we studied, their passionate interests originated in college or
even earlier and are fully integrated into their life stories, because they provide not only a powerful
expression of their values but also their strong identities
 HBR ARTICLE #7
YOUR STRATEGY NEEDS A STRATEGY
Overview: Your Strategy needs a Strategy
Companies operating in dissimilar competitive environments should be planning, developing, and deploying their
strategies in markedly different ways. But all too often, our research shows, they are not.
competitive advantage comes from reading and responding to signals faster than your rivals do, adapting , or
capitalizing on technological leadership to influence how demand and competition evolve. All these involve Strategy
planning

There we present a simple framework that divides strategy planning into four styles

Finding the Right Strategic Style

I. Classical
A company sets a goal, targeting the most favorable market position it can attain by capitalizing on its particular
capabilities and resources, and then tries to build and fortify that position through orderly, successive rounds of
planning.
II. Adaptive
Companies in this situation need a more adaptive approach, whereby they can constantly refine goals and
tactics and shift, acquire, or divest resources smoothly and promptly.
Overview: Your Strategy needs a Strategy
III. Shaping
It would do better to employ a strategy in which the goal is to shape the unpredictable environment to its own
advantage before someone else does.
IV. Visionary
A visionary future enables company to grow steadily

Avoiding the Traps

I. Misplaced confidence.
Over estimating the strategic style and to over accurately judge the environment is signs of misplaced confidence.
II. Unexamined habits.
Few leaders develop strategic plans on an annual basis, regardless of the actual pace of change in their business
environments or even what they perceive it to be which might not align with current trend.
III. Culture mismatches.
Classical strategies aimed at achieving economies of scale and scope often create company cultures that prize efficiency
and the elimination of variation. These can of course undermine the opportunity to experiment and learn, which is
essential for an adaptive strategy.
Operating in Many modes.
Once you have correctly analyzed your environment, not only for the business as a whole but for each of your functions,
divisions, and geographic markets, and you have identified which strategic styles should be used.
 HBR ARTICLE #8
HOW AGILE TEAMS CAN HELP TURNAROUNDS SUCCEED
Overview: How Agile Teams Can Help Turnarounds
Succeed
Agile - the management approach that relies on small, entrepreneurial, close-to-the-customer teams -
has a reputation that reflects its rapid adoption in software development.

For these reasons, modern crisis teams are turning from command-and-
controlsystems to more adaptive, agile approaches.

Senior leaders helped clear away obstacles and tracked the teams' results.

The teams attacked the cost base from multiple angles.

Risk Involved in Employing agile

Agile teams usually aim to provide their members with sustainable lifestyles andhave them work at a
pace that they can maintain indefinitely.
In a turnaround, teams may work unsustainable hours for several months at a time.
In ordinary circumstances, agile teams usually create a working increment every one to four weeks.
Overview: How Agile Teams Can Help Turnarounds
Succeed

• To mitigate such risks, agile turnaround leaders typically take five actions:
• They communicate — even over-communicate — the strategic ambition to a broader range of people. Since leaders
know they will be delegating far more decisions, they ensure that people making those decisions are fully aligned on
what to do and why to do it.
• They serve as coaches, not commanders. In a turnaround, people are afraid to make mistakes, so they bring decisions
to their boss.
• They strengthen lines of communication among the teams. To avoid becoming a bottleneck, they develop tools that
help everyone see what all the teams are doing at any time.
• They accelerate learning loops, emphasizing progress over perfection. They embrace unpredictability and don’t get
slowed by excessive precision. Adequate approximations will do.
• They shift measurement and reward systems to larger teams. One of the biggest problems in a crisis is that people
focus on doing what is best for the individuals they know and trust — which often means people in their own silos.
 HBR ARTICLE #9
WHICH DATA SKILLS DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED? THIS 2×2 MATRIX WILL
TELL YOU.
Overview: Which Data Skills Do You Actually Need? This
2×2 Matrix Will Tell You.
• Data skills — the skills to turn data into insight and action — are the driver of modern economies

• Why transitioning to a more data-skewed skillset ?

To maximize the part we play in data driven economic growth
Or to simply ensure that our team will remain relevant and employed

• But which skills should you focus on?

We applied a time-utility analysis to the field of data skills. “Time” is time to learn.
“Utility” is how much you’re likely to need the skill.
Overview: Which Data Skills Do You Actually Need? This
2×2 Matrix Will Tell You.
Combine time and utility, and you get a simple 2×2 matrix
with four quadrants:
• Learn; This is low hanging fruit that will add value for you and
your team quickly.
• Plan: while this is valuable, acquiring this skill will mean
prioritizing it ahead of other learning and activities. You need to
be sure that it’s worth the investment.
• Browse: You don’t need this now, but it’s easy to acquire so stay
aware in case its utility increases.
• Ignore: You don’t have the time for this.

• We did this for techniques, rather than for specific

technologies: so for business intelligence rather than Microsoft
Excel, etc.
• Constructing this matrix helped us to make hard decisions about
where to focus
 HBR ARTICLE #10
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR TEAM IS TOO BUSY TO TAKE ON NEW
WORK
Overview: What to Do If Your Team Is Too Busy to Take On
New Work

• Most of the time during yearly budget managers always propose a higher budget.
• Thus author questions “Why can’t we do more with our existing budget?” wherein the same answer pops out that my
team is telling me that they are already busy with existing workload.
• So author assumes how can the project workload be checked and managed. For that he proposes three things
• The key activities each person performs as their primary job responsibilities
• The amount of time in a given week each person spends on these key activities
• The types of activities that are above and beyond core job functions or special projects
• There are three major things which author found out during his research
• Elimination of work – author was able to invest 20% of the teams’ time in projects that were aligned with new
strategy by eliminating redundant lower value internal projects.
• Reduce workload – He changed the disapproval of the campaign into passive process. Thus reducing the tedious
task and reducing campaign launch time by 48 hours on average.
• Improving productivity – this was done by author by keeping in their daily routine as an example and providing
them the task of automating the process which in turn reduced the time which was utilized for further
productivity.
Overview: What to Do If Your Team Is Too Busy to Take On
New Work

Why is it Important?

• It is one of the most commonly seen issues in any project.

• Time and resource management requires more care and regular updating according to the
scenario.
• This may be one of the major issue we may face joining any organization.
• It also points out the major issue that always happens that is redundant work or outdated work.
• It also depicts the importance of automation in reduction of workload and increase in productivity.
• It was easy to relate to my work experience and I feel most of the experienced persons will feel the
same.
THANK YOU