Describes how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's baseball team, employs statistical methodologies to select who is undervalued in the marketplace. Examines why few teams have imitated his organization's successful strategy. Explores threats to Oakland's competitive advantage.

When we make decisions, we're not always in charge. One moment we hotheadedly let our emotions get the better of us; the next, we're paralyzed by uncertainty. Then we'll pull a brilliant decision out of thin air--and wonder how we did it. Though we may have no idea how decision making happens, neuroscientists peering deep into our brains are beginning to get the picture. What they're finding may not be what you want to hear, but it's worth listen...

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In search of lessons to apply in our own careers, we often try to emulate what effective leaders do. Roger Martin says this focus is misplaced, because moves that work in one context may make little sense in another. A more productive, though more difficult, approa...

Since its foundation in 1902, Bocconi has been a teaching institution with a dominant domestic presence. The case examines the currently unfolding attempt at transforming Bocconi University into a research powerhouse with the ambition to build a strong position among Europe's leading business schools. The case offers a detailed analysis of Bocconi's transformational journey, and illustrates the challenges of changing the mindset of a large portio...

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite qualitative and differs from the typical price negotiation with which students are familiar. However, at stake was $500 million in Flaxil sales and the safety of millions of patients. The (B)...

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite qualitative and differs from the typical price negotiation with which students are familiar. However, at stake was $500 million in Flaxil sales and the safety of millions of patients. The (A)...

Teaching Note for [909001]. [909002], and [909003].

The successful iconoclast learns to see things clearly for what they are and is not influenced by others opinions; he keeps fear in check and does not let it rule his decision making; and he expertly navigates the complicated waters of social networking so that others come to see things the way he does. Some drugs may have a limited role in augmenting certain iconoclastic brain functions while diminishing other mental processes that seem to get i...

Whether naturally born or made, iconoclasts pride themselves on their nonconformity and ability to see things differently than other people. Some, however, go beyond mere iconoclasm, making the transition-through either luck or hard work-to icon. Although it is not a strict requirement for success, this transformation from an outsider with crazy ideas to an object of worship is a lesson in how to get ideas that are initially strange to most peopl...

Humans possess a stress response system that evolved in very different circumstances than exist today. In fact, the stress system is so important and active that it can override every other system in the brain. It reacts when provoked, and this reaction is powerful enough to derail many of the most innovative people out there. How does an iconoclast squelch the fear of the unknown, the fear of physical harm, and the fear of social isolation that ...