The "kill zone" refers to the space near a tech giant’s core business where start-ups risk being copied or crushed simply for getting too close. But what if survival were possible?In this episode, Associate Professor of Strategy Michaël Bikard walks us through a case that begins with a promising partnership between Airbnb and Sofar Sounds, but ends with the two companies going head to head.London-based start-up Sofar Sounds built its brand on intimate secret gigs in living rooms and other low-key spaces around the world. “It's all about human offline connections through music, bringing together people in a very intimate setting,” said Bikard. “There is some fairy dust there.” A partnership with Airbnb seemed like a perfect match. Airbnb would gain some of Sofar Sounds’ cool factor. Sofar Sounds could scale through Airbnb’s global reach. But the alliance didn’t last.A few months later, Airbnb came up with their own version of Sofar Sounds, Airbnb Concerts. It looked like the classic tech “kill zone” scenario. “At the time… it felt like they [Sofar Sounds] were gonna be eaten alive, frankly,” said Bikard. “And the interesting thing is that exactly the opposite happened.”
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24:59
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24:59
Impactful Communication for Leaders
In this podcast, Andy Yap, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, discusses how leaders can inspire and empower others through communicatiion that appeals to both the head and the heart. It starts with listening. In today’s globalised workplace, leaders must communicate effectively with diverse groups. Doing this well starts with understanding the context and culture of your audience, which has as much to do with listening, observing and reading the room as speaking.He gives his take on a authenticity and discusses anticipatory stress. To get better at communicating, we need self-awareness, the space to make mistakes and honest feedback. Communication, as a skill, is well worth honing, he stressed, for it can be your sharpest edge.
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19:22
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19:22
How Nature Nudges Us to Eat Better
“People who eat healthily don’t have that much more willpower. They have just engineered their environment to avoid having to resist temptation.”Pierre Chandon, Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, challenges the idea that healthy eating is a matter of self-control. On the INSEAD Knowledge podcast, he explains how our surroundings – what we see, where we are and how food is framed – play a far greater role in shaping what we eat.Chandon explains that there are four ways food products claim to be healthy. Some brands say it’s because they have improved the nutritional properties of the food. They use labels like “enriched” if they have added “good” vitamins and minerals or “diet” if they have removed “bad” sugar and fat. These are the traditional, nutrition-based ways to be healthy.Other food products claim to be healthy “by nature”. These brands claim they have preserved the food's natural characteristics by either not adding anything “bad” (these includes claims such as “clean” or “free from” additives or hormones) or by not removing anything “good” (these includes claims such as “whole” or “organic”).“Consumers are less and less interested in the nutritional approach,” says Chandon. Rather, they now favour foods that are healthy by nature.In a series of studies with his co-author Maria Langlois, he found that nature itself can nudge people towards better choices. When participants walked in a park rather than through city streets, they picked fruit over unhealthy snacks. Even just looking at pictures of green landscapes had a similar effect. “A natural view makes people more willing to trade off taste and diet for natural healthy food,” he says.He also points to a disconnect between how brands talk about health and what consumers actually want. For instance, his research with Romain Cadario shows that in France, labels on cereal packages align with local preferences. However, in the United States, companies miss key signals. “It’s not enough to say I’m healthy,” he says. “You have to be healthy in the right way.”
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27:39
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27:39
Tailoring Strategy to Local Needs
Companies looking to succeed in emerging markets must listen to local needs and tailor their proposition accordingly.That’s the message from Affiliate Professor of Strategy Lite Nartey and digital financial services expert Bruno Akpaka in this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, which examines how mobile payments system Mobile Money was successfully introduced in Ghana.Akpaka, who oversaw the launch of Mobile Money in 2009 as mobile telecom firm MTN’s general manager for Western Central Africa, explains how the company took the time to speak to all stakeholders involved. Alongside banks and regulators, the MTN sent representatives out to speak directly with market traders and their customers, many of whom had never previously had access to financial services.This led MTN to eschew the traditional banking route in favour of a distribution model that brought the service to unbanked consumers through a network of agents. This allowed the company to customise their proposition and develop a product that met the needs of local consumers, offering them convenience, security and simplicity.What started out as a project with financial inclusion goals, has since evolved into a comprehensive financial system. By the end of 2024, Mobile Money had more than 17.2 million users in Ghana – approximately half the total population.While such a tailored approach might seem obvious, Professor Nartey highlights how many global firms still try to apply strategies from developed markets without fully understanding local contexts. As the Mobile Money case shows, each market has its own challenges – and requires its own tailored solution.
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34:09
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34:09
Why Business Scandals Keep Happening
What’s common across the Boeing 737 MAX debacle, the 1MDB financial scandal and America’s opioid crisis? They are all illustrations of how business leaders, in pursuit of performance, neglected and undermined progress – specifically fairness, well-being and sustainability.With each such scandal, trust in business frays. While one may blame specific firms and leaders, too much is amiss in modern business to solely blame the actors, says INSEAD Professor of Strategy and Management Subi Rangan in this podcast. Business theory and business education also warrant careful scrutiny and correction.
Faculty thought leaders from INSEAD, The Business School for the World speak frankly about the most pressing challenges facing today's firms and managers.
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