The Londoner

by Jim Biolos hen CEO John Pepper recently announced that Procter & Gamble would simplify its product lines and that new product development efforts would focus on "big" opportunities, he reminded us—as if we needed reminding—of the importance of genuine innovation as a key driver of long-term corporate growth. But truly new products or services, as opposed to your routine line extension, face many an obstacle as they make their way from idea to market acceptance—internal resistance, high financial hurdle rates, debates over strategic implications, resource constraints, and the always present "unknowables" of any new effort. If you’re in charge of this kind of initiative, how can you maximize your chances for success against such odds? Our review of the latest literature on innovations and conversation with its authors turned up some surprising findings. Contrary to what most think, your role as new-product champion is not that of solitary hero or firebrand wit...

by David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee Copyright 2007 David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee Summarized by permission of Harvard Business School Press 228 pages Everyone’s keen to know the secrets of successful, fast-growing companies . In response, David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee look at new ways to bring buyers and sellers together. Companies that act as catalysts combine opportunism, customer service and savvy pricing to create a profitable, flexible business model by assembling audiences, cutting costs or connecting other companies. The authors offer plenty of concrete examples of these strategic combinations – from Diners Club and American Express to Microsoft and Google . Perhaps the one weak point in their theory is that the borders between catalysts and non catalysts are a bit fuzzy. (A supermarket isn’t a catalyst, but a mall is.) getAbstract recommends this interesting, strategic analysis to managers seeking a thought-provoking look at how to ...

By Sikander Hayat Climate change has become a major issue of the 21st century and there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that although we are too late to reverse the impact it already has on the environment but with careful planning we can at least make the future impact less severe. A study sanctioned by UN in which scientist from all over the globe took part has testified to this fact. Challenge for the energy suppliers in Europe is to confront the problem head on and seek new and clean ways of producing energy before being pushed too hard by the political pressure. Although there is an emerging consensus about the global warming and its causes but still there are differing opinions on how to tackle this issue. Another factor in today’s energy market is the security of supply and lately it has been a major issue in the European press as increasingly it is the case that countries where oil and gas are most abundantly available in the form of natural reserves are situated in ...

By Sikander Hayat This is the most pressing issue at the moment for the EU and reasons for this are plenty. Where we are at the moment in terms of this policy and where we want to be in near future. What are the negative points for not having this policy What are the advantages for having this policy EU Green paper (Recommendations): The EU needs to complete the internal gas and electricity markets. Action could include the following measures: § The development of a European Grid, including through a European grid code. § A European regulator and a European Centre for Energy Networks should also be considered. § Improved interconnections. § Creating the framework to stimulate new investment. § More effective unbundling. § Boosting competitiveness, including through better coordination between regulators, competition authorities and the Commission. § These must be addressed as a priority; the Commission will reach final conclusion...

Introduction The Ansoff Growth matrix is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy. Ansoff’s product/market growth matrix suggests that a business’ attempts to grow depend on whether it markets new or existing products in new or existing markets. The output from the Ansoff product/market matrix is a series of suggested growth strategies that set the direction for the business strategy. These are described below: Market penetration Market penetration is the name given to a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing products into existing markets. Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: • Maintain or increase the market share of current products – this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling • Secure dominance of growth markets • Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require...