The Missing Discipline Behind Failure to Scale
MIT Sloan Management Review|Summer 2023
Companies make significant investments in developing and incubating new business initiatives, but too few follow a rigorous path to scaling their ventures
Andy Binns and Christine Griffin
The Missing Discipline Behind Failure to Scale

IN 2018, BEST BUY ANNOUNCED that it would enter the health market. It was an unexpected move for a consumer electronics retailer, but it was consistent with then-CEO Hubert Joly's passionate advocacy for making Best Buy a company with a deep sense of purpose. Starting with a focus on helping the elderly to age safely at home, the company broadened the strategy to make Best Buy Health a provider that "enables care at home for everyone." It was also a lucrative opportunity: Home health is forecast to be a $265 billion market by 2025.

Over the next few years, Best Buy Health tested its key assumptions about the opportunity, seeking out the sweet spot that would allow it to build a new business to sit alongside the company's existing retail franchise. By 2022, it was a $525 million business, projected to grow at a 35% to 45% compound annual growth rate through 2027. The initiative created a new growth vector for its parent company and gave it a measure of resilience in the turbulent consumer retail sector.

Best Buy succeeded where many companies fail. It moved through the three innovation disciplines required to build new businesses: ideation, incubation, and scaling. It came up with a new idea for solving the customer problem of aging safely at home, incubated it by running in-market experiments to test value propositions, and then scaled it to a revenuegenerating business unit. This is a relatively rare accomplishment. Our research finds that while 80% of companies claim to ideate and incubate new ventures, only 16% of companies successfully scale them.

この記事は MIT Sloan Management Review の Summer 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は MIT Sloan Management Review の Summer 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEWのその他の記事すべて表示
Avoiding Harm in Technology Innovation
MIT Sloan Management Review

Avoiding Harm in Technology Innovation

To capitalize on emerging technologies while mitigating unanticipated consequences, innovation managers need to establish a systematic review process.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make a Stronger Business Case for Sustainability

When greener products and processes add costs, managers can shift other levers to maintain profitability.

time-read
9 分  |
Fall 2024
How to Turn Professional Services Into Products
MIT Sloan Management Review

How to Turn Professional Services Into Products

Product-based business models can help services firms achieve greater scale and profitability. But the transformation can be challenging.

time-read
10 分  |
Fall 2024
Do You Really Need a Chief AI Officer?
MIT Sloan Management Review

Do You Really Need a Chief AI Officer?

The right answer depends on the strategic importance and maturity of AI in your company.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
Where To Next? Opportunity on the Edge
MIT Sloan Management Review

Where To Next? Opportunity on the Edge

Doing business in regions considered less stable or developed can pay off for companies. But they must invest in working with local communities.

time-read
10 分  |
Fall 2024
Make Smarter Investments in Resilient Supply Chains
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make Smarter Investments in Resilient Supply Chains

Many companies invest in resilience only after a disruption. Applying the concept of real options can help decision makers fortify supply chain capabilities no matter the crisis.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention
MIT Sloan Management Review

The Three Traps That Stymie Reinvention

Organizational identity, architecture, and collaboration can be either assets or liabilities to pursuing growth in new sectors.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
What Makes Companies Do the Right Thing?
MIT Sloan Management Review

What Makes Companies Do the Right Thing?

Vaccine makers varied widely in their engagement with global public health efforts to broaden access to COVID-19 immunizations. Ethically motivated leadership was a dominant factor.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
Build the Right C-Suite Team for Your Strategy
MIT Sloan Management Review

Build the Right C-Suite Team for Your Strategy

CEOs can foster a more effective leadership team by understanding when to tap senior executives' competitive instincts and when to encourage collaboration.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024
A Better Way to Unlock Innovation and Drive Change
MIT Sloan Management Review

A Better Way to Unlock Innovation and Drive Change

A strengths-based approach to building teams can win employee commitment to change and foster an inclusive, agile culture.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall 2024