Prism articles
Issue 2, 2009
Ten management priorities for today and tomorrow
Andreas Gissler, Christoph Kreymborg and Gregory Venters
Now that the dust of the global financial crisis has begun to settle, many business leaders are wondering what their next steps should be in the lingering atmosphere of uncertainty. With the heavy ...
Putting patients at the center of a new biopharma business model
Edouard Croufer, Françoise Simon, François Meurgey and Alexandre Meire
The pharmaceutical industry is suffering. Expiring patents, increasing demands from regulators and decreasing healthcare budgets are putting companies under pressure, and the industry has to walk a ...
A rose in the bud? Anticipating opportunities in industrial biotechnology
Peter J. Nieuwenhuizen, David Lyon, Julia Laukkonen and Murray Hartley
Bioplastics and chemicals derived from biological raw materials are being hailed as the next big thing for the chemical industry, a development that could have a huge impact on both that industry and ...
The impact of future travelers’ preferences on the tourism industry
Ralf Baron, Michael Zintel and Lars Schäfer
Tourism is a highly sensitive reflector of the general state of the economy, falling rapidly in response to a downturn but then bouncing back to growth more quickly than most. This time, however, ...
The coming transformation of the automotive industry
Marc Winterhoff, Carsten Kahner, Simon Schnurrer and Christopher Ulrich
The automotive industry is going through a crisis unprecedented in its century-long history. Optimistic commentators predict that strong demand from the BRIC countries and growing market penetration ...
Grooming CEO talent at the truly global firm of the future
Herman Vantrappen and Petter Kilefors
One of the main effects of globalization is that firms today are sourcing around the world to get the best value for money. Despite this, in many companies top management talent is still sourced from ...
“The future is about cooperative competition”
Interview with Rahul Bajaj, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
Mr Bajaj, in the long term some people foresee the business world evolving into a bipolar one: the “West” versus the “Emerging Markets.” Would you concur with that view?
Issue 1, 2009
Beyond the downturn: Waking up in a new world
Michael Wagemans, Herman Vantrappen and Luc Dossche
In a survey conducted in March 2009 Arthur D. Little spoke to senior executives around the globe about the economic downturn. The survey focuses on what the crisis means to business and how ...
How the robust and audacious thrive through business cycle swings
Jan Beckeman, Daniel Gustafsson and Daniel Winther
Among many companies, the knee-jerk reaction to a downturn is to pull back. Capital spending is cut, acquisitions are scaled down and marketing expenditure is slashed in a desperate effort to survive ...
Restructure and reinvest in innovation
Daniel Roos, Anders Johansson and Volker Kirchgeorg
Innovation is traditionally one of the first casualties of a downturn. When companies are casting around for capital just to survive, spending on developments that may or may not pay off some time in ...
Making money from green consumerism in the downturn
Emanuele Cacciatore, David Lyon, Philip Balbirnie and Massimo Armenise
In the last few years, many leading companies have been vigorously marketing the green attributes of their products and services to cash in on perceived demand among consumers. But the coming of the ...
Effective procurement negotiations in the downturn
Gregor Berz, Andy Dvorocsik, Daniel Deneffe and Ralf Gampfer
The squeeze is on for subassembly manufacturers. Sharp declines in demand for the products of their customers has left them under heavy pressure to reduce their prices, and the only way they can do ...
Releasing working capital across the supply chain
Roswitha Tertea, Stephen Abseck, Florian Bergener and Boris Herzog
In a credit crisis, one common way of finding cash is by reducing working capital. However, successfully reducing working capital within one company can damage other businesses in the supply chain, ...
"In a connected world we must work together"
Interview with Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO of BASF
On April 3rd, Arthur D. Little interviewed Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO of the world’s most respected chemical company. Through its myriad business relations, BASF has unparalleled insights into the ...