Is your business ready for a world without PCs? How should you redefine your strategies to compete in this evolving landscape? What impact will the “post-PC era” have on your employees, consumers, competitors and partners in the value chain?

As Sandra Sieber, who teaches IESE’s Advanced Digital Media Strategies program, explains in the above video, sales of “post-PC” mobile computing devices (i.e. smartphones and tablets) are now surpassing traditional PC sales, as these devices become more closely integrated into our work and personal lives. This is due to both technology and social factors.

Thanks to widespread WiFi availability and to technological advances such as “flash memory,” for instance, users are able to turn on their mobile devices and connect instantaneously to the Web. It’s now a lot easier for people to surf online, access applications, play games and use their devices for various purposes, whether at home, at work, or on-the-go.  Meanwhile, on a social level, people are building online networks and starting to “connect” to their friends all the time. We’re also getting used to having more than one connected device. This means that the traditional IT industry, with players such as Microsoft, is poised to lose its dominant position. Market dominance is no longer focused on operating systems on a PC—it’s now about operating systems for all of the devices in the whole “connected” ecosystem, with companies such as Samsung, Apple, Google and Facebook all gunning for a major role. Indeed, in the coming years, we’ll not only be seeing an important reshuffling of “who’s who” in the affected industries, we’ll also be seeing business models overhauled, as companies position themselves to meet the evolving market’s new challenges and opportunities.

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Will you create the next Facebook or foursquare, or will your digital idea die without finding any customers? Learn more. 

Advanced Digital Media Strategies: Profiting From the Digital Value Chain

Woman Power Plus “Linsanity” at IESE’s Media AMP

MPG Global CEO Maria Luisa Francoli, Nielsen Vice Chair Susan Whiting, and New York Times SVP of Marketing and Circulation Yasmin Namini are among the top women executives to be featured at the Leadership Forums of the second module of IESE Business School’s Advanced Management Program in Media and Entertainment (Media AMP). The Media AMP is an intensive global executive education program that prepares CEOs, Managing Directors, Presidents and other C-suite executives for the media and entertainment business challenges of the future. Module 2 of the program takes place in New York City this week (March 12-17, 2012) with participants across 10 different nationalities.

Media AMP Module 2: Leadership Forum Speakers

Maria Luisa Francoli, MPG

Susan Whiting, Nielsen

Yasmin Namini, New York Times

The Leadership Forums complement what participants receive in the Media AMP’s comprehensive general management curriculum, which addresses an extensive range of key management topics that include corporate strategy, financial accounting, operations, IT strategy and digital value chain.The Media AMP, a first and only program of its kind, consists of four weeklong modules conducted over a six-month period. Three modules take place in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The program has a unique feature called the Leadership Forums, where participants get exclusive and intimate access to industry leaders who are changing the face of the business.

The second module also includes a discussion on marketing strategy and building strong media brands – a recent example of which is New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin, whose meteoric rise in the NBA, a global media/sports brand, has sparked a worldwide phenomenon known as “Linsanity.” To close off Module 2, the group will watch a live Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan to see Jeremy Lin in action and experience the “Linsanity” firsthand, reinforcing the week’s discussion on how great media brands connect with their customers.

The third module of the program (or the Hollywood module) is scheduled for May 7-12, 2012 in Los Angeles. Participants will meet with another group of industry leaders for the week’s Leadership Forums which will complement the module’s focus on Creating Value and Managing Creativity.

The Media AMP is now accepting applications for the 2013 edition. For more information, visit the program website at www.iese.edu/media-amp.

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Module 1: Jan 28-Feb 2, 2013 (New York) | Module 2: Mar 11-16, 2013 (New York)
Module 3: May 6-11, 2013 (Los Angeles) | Module 4: Jun 10-15, 2013 (New York)

Should users be criminally punished for sharing copyrighted content, even if they don’t make a penny out of it? Should cloud platforms themselves be held responsible for whatever content users upload and share on their site? Can punishment in either case really make a difference in peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing of copyrighted material? If not, how else should copyright owners “protect” their investment?

In a recent video interview, IESE Professor of Information Systems Josep Valor shares his point-of-view on the recent FBI shutdown of popular file-sharing site MegaUpload.  The MegaUpload shutdown, followed by the arrest of its owner Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz and Schmitz’s other associates, has raised questions like these, and reignited a fury of reactions across the globe.

Prof. Valor says there are two things we must consider here: First, regardless of monetary gain, P2P sharing of copyrighted content diminishes the potential income of rightful owners, so some type of regulation is necessary. The second is that the industry should look at alternative ways of monetizing content, beyond just charging for intellectual property. He points out that music executives, for instance, are now realizing that recordings are a lot better used as “marketing tools,” than as “money-generating tools,” and that film and television companies could likewise find alternative ways to monetize their content.

Prof. Valor also notes that this would be a good time to re-examine the existing laws of copyright and content distribution. “Things change, society changes, and technology allows things that are very hard to enforce at this point,” he says. He urged lawmakers and politicians to closely reconsider what legislation to apply, to meet the reality and the demands of our fast-evolving digital age.

Participants of the 2012 edition of the Paley-IESE Advanced Management Program in Media and Entertainment (Media AMP) will get exclusive access to major industry “movers and shakers” during the first module of the program in New York City this week (January 30 – February 4, 2012). The roster includes the CEO of Hearst Corporation, the President of NBC News, and the Head of McKinsey & Company’s Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice.

These executives and other top executives at major media and entertainment companies will be appearing throughout the Media AMP during the program’s hallmark Leadership Forums, a unique feature of the program that lets participants interact with world-class media and entertainment leaders in a private and intimate setting. Through personal stories and one-on-one Q and A sessions, Media AMP participants learn straight from these executives about the management challenges that they face on a daily basis, and how they have addressed those challenges to advance their companies as well as their careers.

This week’s Leadership Forum speakers include the following:

Frank A. Bennack, Jr.	Frank A. Bennack, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Hearst Corporation, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates and owner of well-known brands that include Good Housekeeping; Cosmopolitan; Country Living; O, The Oprah Magazine; Esquire; Marie Claire; Seventeen and SmartMoney. He is also presently vice chairman of the Hearst Board of Directors and chairman of the Corporation’s Executive Committee.
Katherine Oliver	Katherine Oliver is the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which consists of the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting; NYC Media; and NYC Digital. MOME aims to develop the City’s diverse media functions, encourage local economic activity in the entertainment industry as well as spur the development of new media.
Geoffrey Sands	Geoffrey Sands is the Chair of the PBS Board of Directors and in this capacity holds an ex officio, voting seat on the PBS Foundation Board. He is a Director of McKinsey & Company and heads its Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice. He has 20 years of experience working with many of the leading marketing, media and entertainment companies.
Steve Capus	Steve Capus was named President, NBC News in November 2005. He is the No. 1 News Division executive and is responsible for all aspects of America’s highest-rated and most-watched network News division, as well as MSNBC and NBC News Channel.  He sits on the Board of MSNBC.com, The Weather Channel, The Freedom Forum and Newseum. Capus reports to Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal.
Alexandra Wallace	Alexandra Wallace was named senior vice president of “NBC News” in December 2008. In what is an expanded version of the role that she held from January 2006 until March 2007, Wallace’s responsibilities include overseeing “Nightly News,” news production and staffing. She assists in the oversight of newsgathering, and serves as Capus’ chief deputy within the news division.
Alan Patricof	Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft LLC. A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $35 billion under management.

“Each Leadership Forum is designed to give participants the feeling of sitting in the living room of a major media star. Participants are able to listen to them tell their personal stories about how they got to where they are today, their business challenges and views of their businesses’ futures,” said Media AMP Program Director Rich Sabreen. “These interactions not only take participants into the minds and hearts of these influential media leaders, they also pave the way for unparalleled networking opportunities with these executives who are changing the face of the business.”

This year’s edition of the Media AMP includes a select group of world-class executives representing nationalities from Colombia, France, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Their titles include CEO, COO, President, Senior Vice President, Managing Director, Director General and General Manager. They represent media and entertainment companies from all over the world.

The first program of its kind in the industry, the Media AMP is an intensive executive education program aimed at preparing top-level, highly experienced executives to lead their media and entertainment companies into the future. In addition to its innovative curriculum and global focus, the program features Leadership Forums with in-person appearances from renowned industry leaders and innovators. The Media AMP consists of four weeklong modules conducted over a six-month period. Three modules take place in New York City and one in Los Angeles.

Applications to the 2013 edition are now being accepted! To learn more about this program, you can visit the Media AMP website at iese.edu/Media-AMP.

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Now Accepting Applications for Media AMP 2013

2013 Advanced Management Program in Media and Entertainment (Media AMP)

Module 1: Jan 28-Feb 2, 2013 (New York) | Module 2: Mar 11-16, 2013 (New York)

Module 3: May 6-11, 2013 (Los Angeles) | Module 4: Jun 10-15, 2013 (New York)

Apply to Media AMP Download Media AMP Brochure

Watch Media AMP Video

What impact will e-books have on your media business – whether you’re in publishing or not? What’s Google up to? 

Google’s Strategic Partner Development Manager Andrew Littell will share his insights on this key issue as a featured subject matter expert at IESE Business School’s Advanced Digital Media Strategies: Profiting From the Digital Value Chain program.  The next edition will take place on November 15-17, 2011 at IESE’s state-of-the-art New York Center in midtown Manhattan.  This intensive program – which has been highly rated by executives from companies like Time Warner, NBC Universal, Viacom, Procter & Gamble, and many others – provides participants with  analytic tools to help them leverage disruption to their advantage, and extract maximum value from media products and services.

Littell currently oversees the Google Books Partner Program, which now has over 40,000 publisher partners worldwide, representing over 3 million full-text books discoverable from the Google index in more than 70 international domains.  Prior to Google, he spent more than 12 years in the publishing industry with Barnes and Noble, McGraw-Hill, and most recently Random House, where he was in digital business development.  He holds a Bilingual MBA degree from IESE Business School, and an undergraduate degree in Spanish and English Literature from Colby College in Waterville, ME.

Learn more about IESE’s Advanced Digital Media Strategies program:

Advanced Digital Media Strategies:
Profiting From the Digital Value Chain
New York City – Nov. 15-17, 2011

Find the right opportunities in digital media. Maximize return-on-investment. Build profitable media products, services and businesses.

Coming up on December 5-7, 2011: IESE’s Global Business: Making the Matrix Work – New York City — Learn More.

Despite the hundreds of books with the word “globalization” in the title published during the past year, there is still much confusion over what it actually means. Even less clear is how best to develop leadership in an integrated, “globalized” world.

Most companies appear to be feeling their way forward. Should they develop leadership centrally or try to source talent locally? What are the best ways of building and managing a diverse workforce? And what role can business schools play in nurturing the next generation of leaders?

There may be no clear-cut answers to these questions, but the business school deans, academics, CEOs and members of IESE’s International Advisory Board who gathered for a conference at IESE’s Barcelona campus this past April broadly agreed on a number of key issues. The article Five Leadership Lessons for a Globalized World summarizes these key issues, demonstrating that cultural differences, generational gaps, technological disruptions as well as an ongoing “major shift” in the organizational structures of companies mean that what worked in the past, may not work in the future. The “rules of the game” are changing fast, especially as emerging economies take a bigger slice of the global market.

This scenario calls for new thinking that extends internationally and evolves within a complex and multi-cultural environment. It is in this complex environment, where many global companies are organized into a matrix by product, function and geography, that today’s leaders are expected to grow their business. Managing a matrix organization is difficult and complex, which is why any company that succeeds at doing it has a tremendous competitive advantage.

In Global Business: Making the Matrix Work, you will learn more about how to gain the necessary global leadership skills and cultural intelligence to be successful in a matrix organization. Learn more in this video interview with IESE Prof. Mike Rosenberg.

Google has bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. It’s a surprising move—not only is the operating margin for handset makers quite low overall, but Motorola has been the worst performer of the lot, having had the most losses per unit sold in recent years.

Click here to view the embedded video.

One: Google simply wants to take ownership of Motorola’s manufacturing operations, which is unlikely, as it has no experience in making hardware and cannot realistically do a better job than Motorola in managing the division.

Two: Google wants to undercut the prices of Motorola devices and make them really Android-savvy. This, says Prof. Valor, is also unlikely, as it will put Google in direct competition, and therefore at odds, with its other Android manufacturers.

Three: Google wants to acquire Motorola’s huge arsenal of patents, which may possibly include technologies that are worth a lot of money and that could be leveraged in a variety of gadgets in the future. While this scenario is most likely, these technologies are still “hidden” and have yet to be developed.

What’s clear is that “Google is mostly interested in having Android be the dominating operating system instead of a private operating system like iOS from Apple,” says Prof. Valor. In short, Google wants Android to be the Windows of mobility.” Whether it will succeed—and whether Motorola will play a part in making it happen—only time will tell.

Advanced Digital Media Strategies:
Profiting From the Digital Value Chain
New York City – Nov. 15-17, 2011

Find the right opportunities in digital media. Maximize return-on-investment. Build profitable media products, services and businesses.

Business managers, take note: Globalization is not yet “all it’s cracked up to be.” 

In a June 2011 article, TIME Magazine Assistant Managing Editor Rana Foroohar looks into why, despite pundits’ expectations, the free movement of goods, people and money between countries hasn’t made the world “smaller” and more integrated.  On the contrary, it has so far resulted in “greater economic and political fragmentation.”

The reason?  For one, says Foroohar, there’s still a provincial mindset among rich countries, especially the U.S., which becomes more pronounced in times of economic difficulty.  Second, cultural, administrative, geographic and economic differences come into play.  How companies and consumers operate and make decisions will inevitably differ across borders.  Third, as developing nations grapple for a bigger slice of the global market, they are often “at odds” not only with rich countries, but also with other developing nations vying for the same jobs and opportunities.

Quoting compelling statistics from “World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It” by award-winning economist and IESE Business School’s Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy Pankaj Ghemawat, Foroohar underscores the importance of the local scene.  She also acknowledges that, ironically, “more globalization”—freer markets, lower trade barriers and unfettered immigration—could in fact help alleviate cross-border tensions by driving collective economic growth.  The question is, how do we get to that point?  Where are we headed next?  How should global leaders strategize and manage the differences and similarities within and across regions, to lead their organizations to success?

Coming up on December 5-7, 2011: IESE’s Global Business: Making the Matrix Work — New York — Learn more.

Businesses can now do more than just advertise and engage with customers on Facebook — they can also sell products, manage inventory and process payments on the site, using e-commerce applications like Amazon Webstore, Usablenet, Payvment and others.

Some companies, including JCPenney, Procter & Gamble and 1-800-Flowers, have already enabled one-stop-shopping on their Facebook Pages. Meanwhile, other companies, like Walmart, still direct buyers to their own Web sites, but have begun showcasing merchandise and offering “group-buying” discounts on Facebook — if enough users click “like” on a deal, for instance, the deal is a go.

Why is this important?  For one, Facebook definitely has the clout to drive up online sales:  It now has more than  500 million users and has ousted Google as the most-visited Web site in 2010.  Secondly, Facebook has the analytic tools to help businesses make smarter product recommendations based on users’ “likes” and interests, which can again lead to stronger sales.

Whether or not Facebook becomes the next online shopping destination, however, one thing is clear:  Investing in social media is not just about building brand equity anymore, but also about monetizing content.  Successful marketers will need to consider both when planning their social media strategies.

Will social network marketing render traditional advertising obsolete?  Some say we are witnessing a revolution that will change the way we do marketing; that social network marketing has made traditional advertising obsolete.  But before we get too carried away by the hype, we need to examine the evidence.

Faced with shrinking marketing budgets, many now consider having an active presence in “free” social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as a viable alternative to traditional advertising.  This, however, is a mistake, say ESE Professor Guillermo Armelini and IESE Head of the Marketing Department Julián Villanueva.  Here’s why:

The fact that most social media platforms are “free” doesn’t mean the company’s communication strategy will be free.  In fact, generating online “word of mouth” (WOM) requires a sustained commitment of time and staff.

What’s more, social network marketing and conventional advertising function differently in terms of reach, credibility, control, interactivity, intrusiveness, cost, sales, context, building brand value and results measurement.  The two strategies are therefore complementary, rather than substitutive.

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This article was published at IESE Insight Review. Subscribe now to get more in-depth articles, interviews and other insights.