Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/100231
porations tend to focus their R&D efforts in one or two locations, usually those in their home countries, but the authors argue that a heavy investment in a few ���physical innovation sites���has stymied rather than promoted innovation.��� Instead, they believe companies need to build a different kind of innovation footprint, one that���s agile, adaptable, and international. For instance, they explain how Rolls-Royce scrapped its cumbersome physical R&D sites for a flexible partnership with university labs around the world. ���This model provides Rolls-Royce with the flexibility to continually find and access the most relevant knowledge in the world for the development of its Don���t Miss In It���s Your Business, entrepreneur and MSNBC host JJ Ramberg offers nearly 100 tips on everything from managing employees to pitching ideas to investors. The quick-read nuggets are drawn from interviews she���s conducted with dozens of entrepreneurs; she occasionally supplements with QR codes that lead readers to more in-depth information. Among the fresh and fun ideas is the advice on how to get a busy executive to open a proposal package. Kristy Engels of Hair Rules packed her products into a crystal bowl from Tiffany���s���and had Tiffany���s make the delivery. That box got opened. (Business Plus, US$26.99) Hoping to communicate a complex new global strategy to your sales force? Trying to win the CEO���s support for a radical proposal? Lead with a Story, says Procter & Gamble���s Paul Smith. Storytelling works because it���s simple and timeless, stories are easy to remember, and they allow listeners to draw their own conclusions. Smith offers brief tales of presentations gone wrong and customer service done right, followed by a discussion of the lessons these anecdotes illustrate. He makes it obvious why many successful organizations have designated ���corporate storytellers������and some business schools have added storytelling to their curricula. (Amacom, US$24.95) Most people think these seven business virtues are always good: balance, collaboration, creativity, excellence, fairness, passion, and preparation. But Jack Breeden of Duke Corporation Education disagrees. In Tipping Sacred Cows, he draws on business and psychological research to show how these virtues can actually hinder performance. For instance, a manager who faithfully relies on collaboration may be incapable of working independently or taking a tough stance; balance is bad when it leads to bland compromises. Breeden���s main point is clear: ���When virtue backfires, it can lower performance, waste time and energy, damage morale and retention, and ruin careers.��� (Jossey-Bass, US$25.95) products,��� they write. Companies that develop complex knowledge drawn from multiple cultures will create products that are difficult to duplicate���and thus ensure themselves a competitive advantage. TH E R E I S AN I I N TEAM AUTHOR: Mark de Rond PUBLISHER: Harvard Business Review Press, US$30 Cambridge professor de Rond questions the conventional wisdom that says harmonious, wellmatched teams function better than disparate groups comprising difficult superstars and their ordinary colleagues. Ultra-talented individuals can be problematic, he admits, but they still give their organizations an edge. Though he supplements his conclusions with psychological and business studies, he draws much of his evidence from the sports world, whether that sport is professional baseball or amateur rowing. For instance, he notes that in the NBA, ���a team with no starting all-star player has less than a 1/100th chance of winning the championships. By comparison, a team with an all-star player raises the odds of winning to 7.1 percent.��� Of course, ���the qualities that make individuals as gifted as they are can make them wearisome as team members.��� He explores the trade-offs between likability and compatibility, the challenges of managing superstar teams, and the dangers of too much harmony. It���s a fresh look at the critical topic of building strong teams. BizEd January/February 2013 69