Books
Predictable Surprises by Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins
Seeing What’s Next by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth
The Keystone Advantage by Marco Iansiti and Roy Levien
Confidence by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Innovation and Its Discontents by Josh Lerner and Adam B. Jaffe
Predictable Surprises
by Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins (Harvard Business School Press)
Professor Bazerman and his coauthor show that many disasters are preceded by clear warning signals that leaders either miss — or purposely ignore. They explain the cognitive, organizational, and political biases that make predictable what otherwise so commonly emerge as surprises in business and society. They outline six danger signals that suggest when a predictable surprise may be imminent and provide a systematic framework that leaders can use to recognize and prioritize brewing disasters and mobilize their organizations to prevent them.
Seeing What’s Next
by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth (Harvard Business School Press)
Professor Christensen and his coauthors (both MBA ’01) present a framework for predicting outcomes in the evolution of any industry. Based on theories outlined in Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution, Seeing What’s Next offers a practical model that helps decision-makers spot the signals of industry change, determine the outcome of competitive battles, and assess whether a firm’s actions will ensure or threaten future success.
The Keystone Advantage
by Marco Iansiti and Roy Levien (Harvard Business School Press)
Professor Iansiti and his coauthor argue that business ecosystems work in much the same way as biological ecosystems — one company’s success depends on the success of its partners. The Keystone Advantage outlines a framework that goes beyond maximizing internal competencies to leveraging the collective competencies of one’s entire network for competitive advantage.
Confidence
by Rosabeth Moss Kanter (Crown Business)
Taking on the elusive quality of confidence, Professor Kanter develops a new idea about why some individuals, teams, businesses, and even countries are consistently successful while others can’t seem to get out of a downward spiral once it begins. Kanter shows that confidence is the key factor in perpetuating success and building a strong platform for future achievement.
Innovation and Its Discontents
by Josh Lerner and Adam B. Jaffe (Princeton University Press)
Innovation and Its Discontents tells the story of how recent changes in patenting — an institutional process that was created to nurture innovation — have wreaked havoc on innovators, businesses, and economic productivity. Professor Lerner and his coauthor show how legal changes initiated in the 1980s converted the system from a stimulator of innovation to a creator of litigation and uncertainty that threatens the innovation process itself.
