Additional information
by Feng Zhu (Author), Bonnie Yining Cao (Author)
A fresh, research-based look at how companies can better compete, on their own terms, with tech giants--from a Harvard Business School professor and a former Bloomberg journalist.
Companies are fighting the wrong battle. The consensus has been to learn the best practices from tech giants and then imitate them. But new paths for growth aren't created by imitation; they're forged by radical differentiation.
In Smart Rivals, Harvard Business School professor Feng Zhu and former Bloomberg journalist Bonnie Yining Cao show business leaders how to create competitive advantages by offering product features and benefits that tech giants and other competitors cannot match in the digital/AI age.
Taking readers on a global journey, Zhu and Cao showcase a variety of companies--including Domino's, Nike, and Sephora--and fascinating case studies, such as Belle, the leading women's footwear retailer in China; EbonyLife, Nigeria's top media conglomerate; and Telepass, Italy's popular electronic toll payment service. Through these diverse examples, they illustrate how companies identify their path for growth in the digital age by leveraging their unique capabilities.
Drawing on original research and insights gleaned from leaders in a wide range of industries, Smart Rivals is a blueprint for uncovering your company's hidden strengths. It will help you spark innovative solutions and capabilities--including new products, services, strategies, and advantages--that mere imitation could never provide.
Author Biography
Feng Zhu, MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, is an expert on platform strategy, digital transformation, and innovation. He codirects the Platform Lab at the Digital, Data, and Design Institute at Harvard. Bonnie Cao is a financial journalist-turned-business researcher at HBS's Asia-Pacific Research Center, broadly interested in digital innovation and transformation. Prior to her research career, she was the emerging markets correspondent for Bloomberg based in New York, after earlier establishing the company's real estate and hotel beat in China.
Connect with Feng Zhu on LinkedIn and at Harvard Business School. Connect with Bonnie Cao on LinkedIn.
