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This case study is developed using secondary sources, including newspapers, periodicals and academic references.

This case study examines the challenges of a market leader in a changing industry and how that leader might respond. Growth was becoming exceedingly difficult for Netflix due to various external forces. For a company that relied on radical innovation to reinvent the video market industry and gain market dominance, Netflix appeared to be focusing on protecting its market position through strategies designed to reinforce its existing strengths and assets. Could Netflix maintain its leadership position and reignite growth by pursuing a reinforcement strategy, or was it time for another reinvention?

This case was written for strategic management classes at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The case was classroom tested with undergraduate business students in a strategic management course and masters-level organizational leadership students in a strategic innovation and change management course.

Faced with the growing need to find new viable water supply models for urban areas, this article studies and maps the strategies and identifies the key criteria of sustainable development present in pioneering water supply systems in the medieval period. The main aim is to determine which of its innovative principles could be applied in present-day cities.

From a methodological perspective, two types of cases were established, such as water supply models for human consumption and pre-industrial hydraulic systems, all of which are located in Italy. For the first group, the cases of Venice and Siena were analysed, while for the second, in the context of the cities along the Aemilian Way, the case of Bologna was selected.

Five key criteria resulted from the analysis of the cases: exploitation, self-sufficiency, maintenance, rationalisation and reuse. The said concepts were defined and contextualised within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Middle Ages were a historic moment in technological reinvention, before the development of modern systems of sanitation. With very limited resources, these traditional systems focused on rational use and deep cultural and geographical knowledge. This is why its recognition is of great importance today, in a time full of instabilities, with a view to the work that needs to be done for the development of more sustainable communities.

In this chapter, the author proceeds to explore the second ‘C’ in the 3C Model of Taoism: conversation, with an emphasis on ecological sustainability. The discussion delves into the connections between Taoism and deep ecology, eco-effectiveness and eco-efficiency, and the Diderot effect and sustainable consumption. Taoism underscores the value of maintaining balance with nature and regards the natural world as a wellspring of wisdom and inspiration. Taoism and deep ecology share many philosophical similarities. Both perspectives highlight the importance of cherishing all living beings, coexisting peacefully with nature, and acknowledging that humans are a small component of a larger ecosystem. Taoism strongly accentuates the interconnectivity of all things and the critical need for balance between nature and human life. Along with promoting harmony and respect for the environment, deep ecology also advocates for social and political reform to protect the ecosystem. These two approaches emphasize the need to understand our position in the world and how our actions affect the environment and all living organisms. The wisdom of Taoism perceives sustainability as encompassing the entire ecosystem, an intricate network of life with its abundant and diverse range of species. This view aligns with the principles of deep ecology, which sees the ecosystem as a living entity in which humanity is merely one component.

Honeycombs enjoy wide use in various engineering applications. The emergence of additive manufacturing (AM) as a method of customisable of parts has enabled the reinvention of the honeycomb structure. However, research on in-plane compressive performance of both classical and new types of honeycombs fabricated via AM is still ongoing. Several important findings have emerged over the past years, with significance for the AM community and a review is considered necessary and timely. This paper aims to review the in-plane compressive performance of AM honeycomb structures.

This paper provides a state-of-the-art review focussing on the in-plane compressive performance of AM honeycomb structures, covering both polymers and metals. Recently published studies, over the past six years, have been reviewed under the specific theme of in-plane compression properties.

The key factors influencing the AM honeycombs' in-plane compressive performance are identified, namely the geometrical features, such as topology shape, cell wall thickness, cell size and manufacturing parameters. Moreover, the techniques and configurations commonly used for geometry optimisation toward improving mechanical performance are discussed in detail. Current AM limitations applicable to AM honeycomb structures are identified and potential future directions are also discussed in this paper.

This work evaluates critically the primary results and findings from the published research literature associated with the in-plane compressive mechanical performance of AM honeycombs.

This article empirically tests the impact of risk appetite of the executive team on the re-innovation strategy after technological innovation failure using a panel regression model from the perspective of regional financial development level of enterprises.

By means of time series global principal component analysis and panel regression model method, the study validated and analyzed the impact of risk appetite of the executive team on the re-innovation strategy after enterprise technological innovation failure.

The research found that the higher the risk appetite of executive team, the more inclined the enterprise is to choose the “focusing on quantity, ignoring quality” re-innovation strategy after technological innovation failure. The better the financial development level of the region where the enterprise is located, the better it can effectively reduce the re-innovation strategy of “focusing on quantity, ignoring quality” of the enterprise due to the high risk appetite of the executive team.

The findings of this study are helpful in improving the financial development level of the region where the enterprise is located. It can help the executive team of the enterprise to more objectively choose the innovation strategy after technological innovation failure, and reduce the phenomenon that the executive team of the enterprise only pays attention to the quantity of re-innovation and underestimates the quality of re-innovation after technological innovation failure due to its high risk appetite.

Despite the existing gaps in the use of technology in East Africa, the region is among the fastest-growing mobile data users on the continent. This progress is partially attributed to local initiatives to develop and adapt homegrown technologies to local contexts to increase their accessibility and use even in the remotest areas. In this chapter we identify a few of these innovations in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda and examine how they have been indigenised to fit local contexts as well as the processes of their diffusion, adoption, affordability and accessibility among users and their everyday gratifications from the innovations. The socio-technological assemblage theory, which illuminates the influences of, and the connections between various types of actors and their roles, visions, ideas, concepts and the technological products, informs our inquiry. Other related concepts including ‘innovation’, ‘indigenisation’ and ‘diffusion’ are discussed to understand the homegrown technology innovations and their adaptability. Discussions with both innovators and users/beneficiaries reveal rigorous proactiveness and responsiveness of innovation creators and users in the three countries – reflected in numerous attestations of life transformation. Nevertheless, there is a paradigm shift in the diffusion of innovations amongst users – contrary to the discourse around its early precepts.

McKinsey partners, Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field are championing the premise that the need for a fundamental rethink of the role of middle management in today’s organizations is now more urgent than ever.

So what should the new blueprint be for middle management as the crucial link between the executive level and the front line S&L interviewer Prof Brian Leavy asks the authors of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work.

Companies with top quartile management practices can have more than three times the return to shareholders than other companies.

Because of middle managers’ proximity to the front line, they have a helpful, realistic perspective on how new tools like generative AI should be adopted throughout the organization.

The authors found that middle managers deliver the most value to the organization when they can serve as coaches, connectors, talent managers and strategists. For senior leaders to truly put middle managers at the forefront, they must give managers space to grow and the license to manage in a way that works for them and their team.