The Cobra effect is a kind of perverse incentive where loopholes or weaknesses are exploited in an offer intended to influence behavior to solve issues, making the problems worse.  Recipients of these incentives that could be well-meant but with unintended consequences, include external customers or internal executives. A classic example of the cobra effect, was first observed in India when […]

Wearing masks and keeping social distance are already optional in many places outside the Philippines. Even some airlines no longer require wearing masks in flight.  When my wife Chiqui and I decided to once again to attend an innovation festival we have been frequenting in New York since 2016, the feeling of movement and some normalcy was definitely liberating!   While […]

I get the most number of new ideas by attending learning events organized by reputable organizers with track records of delivering quality content. By simply listening to different perspectives of speakers or panelists who have been-there, done-that, I get inspired with their possibility thinking.  I build on their ideas, connect a missing piece of a puzzle, or get triggered with […]

Unicorn is a term introduced by US venture capitalist Aileen Lee in her 2013 article “Welcome to the Unicorn Club: Learning From Billion-Dollar Startups.” In her article, she shared her firm’s study of US-based private tech startup companies with valuation of US$1 billion or more. In the footnote of her article, she noted that “the term ‘unicorn’ is not perfect […]

There have been broad and dynamic marketing and industry shifts that have continuously defined or redesigned business landscapes.  It is incumbent upon all marketers to keep adding new lenses, in my case, growing from sales and marketing, to blue ocean strategy and innovation, to entrepreneurship and business model.  Being open to constant change and being aware of obsolescence if one […]

There are fundamental concepts in marketing that remain relevant despite technology and changing consumer behaviors.  This is important since what we know (knowledge) strongly influences what we do (actions). Marketers (and entrepreneurs) need not wait for the consequences of a wrong action to influence new knowledge.  Here is a list of five concepts marketers should look into to check if […]

The Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) is the premier franchising association in the Philippines. In this interview, some of the PFA officers share their thoughts about franchising issues post pandemic. They are:  Chris Lim, CEO of La Z Boy, Sherill Quintana, CEO of Oryspa, Richard Sanz, CEO of Bibingkinitan, Joseph Tanbuntiong, President for Philippines of Jollibee, Glenn Yu, Chairman of Seaoil, Joey Garcia, CEO of Wendy’s, Alice […]

Once again, it is time for businesses’ midyear evaluations and planning sessions.  Have you explored the four critical directions for review to assess your strategy choices? From these questions, some lessons can already by deduced, explicitly and implicitly. Our own experience on how we, in Mansmith and Fielders Inc. changed  the rules to be different is shared below.  These strategic steps […]

Dr. Prof. Geoffrey Chua is a tenured associate professor of operations management at the Nanyang Business School (NBS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research and specialization spans  the areas of supply chain management, service operations, decision science and operations-marketing interface. He has published in leading journals and was awarded the Research Excellence Award by NBS in 2015 and 2011. He […]

Josiah Go features the movers and shakers of the business world and writes about marketing, strategy, innovation, execution and entrepreneurship

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