Common sense suggests that organisations should learn from their successesand failures. Surely a project that turns out to be a great organisational successshould provide useful information that increases the chances of future successes.Similarly it might be imagined that a venture that turns...

It is all very well exhorting UK business to be more innovative, more competitive andto close the productivity gap with economic rivals such as the US. The problem is,approximately 40 per cent of companies in the private sector are owned by non-UKbased companies. In these cases the parent...

There is no hiding from the economic rise of the developing economies, and inparticular that of China and India. Leading global investment bank Goldman Sachsestimates that China will overtake the USA as the world’s largest economy by 2039.No doubt India will be close behind.Understandably many...

Since the 1960s business schools have prospered in the UK. Now, however, there aresigns that the success story is coming to an end. The future of UK business schoolsis under threat from a number of directions. Their purpose is questioned – they areaccused of focusing on theoretical research at...

This briefing examines how public sector organisations can use performancedata more effectively to support decision-making and produce improvements inorganisational performance. In particular it looks at the challenge of convertingperformance data into insights and then acting on those...

Our research shows that while best practice is an essential component of competitivesuccess for organisations, it is not enough to confer long term sustainable advantage.It is merely the ticket to the game.Instead, other processes which are idiosyncratic and unique to individual organisationsare...

The biotechnology industry is likely to play a vital role in the future economicprosperity of the United Kingdom, and, as a result, is an important target of UKnational, regional and local government economic policy. This briefing examinesthe characteristics of the sector by looking at 165...

Collaboration between different organisational partners is a process critical tothe success of many organisations. It is also frequently a complex process.There are many reasons to collaborate. Often partners have specific objectivesin mind. Partners may collaborate on the design of a car...

Design – the purposive application of creativity to all the activities necessary to bringideas into use either as product (service) or process innovations1 – could and shouldmake and important contribution to the performance of every firm. The designprocess is inextricably linked with...

Every now and then a disruptive event happens, such as the invention of the internet,that changes markets, industries, even societies. Successful well-managed companiesthrive in mature markets by focusing on doing what they do, just a little bit better.Consequently, when a disruptive event, such...