This interview is part of the Inside the Mind of the CxO series, which explores a wide range of critical decisions faced by chief executives around the world. In May 2025, two of the most talked-about ...

The last few years have brought real change. Balance sheets today have significantly more nontangible assets—intellectual property and digital capability, for example—than ever before. And a series of ...

S+B: What’s the biggest misconception business leaders have about the metaverse? BALL: Oh, there are many. But let’s start with the big one: that the metaverse is or was overhyped. A lot of the issue ...

Digitally enabled ecosystems are a vital part of the modern business landscape. They open the door to new customers and markets, and broaden and enhance a firm’s value proposition through the seamless ...

Three years ago, the senior managers of a company in an extractive industry decided to commission an audit of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics included in its annual report.

It has become a habit of mine to kick off my presentations by inviting people to write down a question. I ask people to follow two rules: the question must be relevant to the context—typically, ...

A version of this article appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of strategy+business. In the blink of an eye, COVID-19 disrupted the business environment and illuminated a profound, sometimes overlooked ...

A version of this article appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of strategy+business. Kristian Ebbesen Fjelde and his team knew that the executive committee meeting scheduled in mid-2019 to discuss the ...

These questions are fundamental to the business. Some may be existential. How do companies keep everyone safe as they shift to remote working overnight? How do leaders provide medical, emotional, and ...

A version of this article appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of strategy+business. In 1945, a U.S. defense contractor employee was working on the magnetron, a microwave-emitting tube used in radar ...

A version of this article appeared in the Autumn 2020 issue of strategy+business. Senior executives, accustomed to annual performance reviews and 360-degree assessments, can be quick to acknowledge ...

This moment in history provides an opportunity, and a spur, for all organizations to ground themselves in their purpose — that is, to focus intensely on the core questions: Why do we exist? Why are we ...