Chapter 1

1. Thomas D. Sisk and James Battin, “Habitat Edges and Avian Ecology: Geographic Patterns and Insights for Western Landscapes,” Studies in Avian Biology 25 (2002): 30–48.

2. Eugene P. Odum and Gary W. Barrett, Fundamentals of Ecology (Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005), 386.

3. Ibid.

4. “Blue Planet: Coasts,” World Wildlife Federation, accessed September 29, 2014.

5. “Canada Facts,” National Geographic Atlas of the World, 8th ed., September 2004.

6. “Table 363. U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico Border Lengths,” US Census Bureau: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2012.

7. Karl Polanyi, “Ports of Trade in Early Societies,” Journal of Economic History 23, no. 1 (March 1963): 30–45.

8. Terrel Gallaway, “Life on the Edge: A Look at Ports of Trade and Other Ecotones,” Journal of Economic Issues 39, no. 3 (September 2005): 716.

9. Irna Qureshi, “The Grand Trunk Road: A Journey Along India’s Life Line,” Sabotage Times, June 27, 2013.

10. Ella Davies, “Lords of the Twilight Zone,” BBC News, October 28, 2010.

11. “Blue Planet: Coasts,” World Wildlife Federation.

12. Davies, “Lords of the Twilight Zone.”

13. Every indexed company was meticulously screened for edge strategies using publicly available resources, including but not limited to company websites, SEC filings, and press releases. Each identified edge strategy was accounted for and characterized based on the definitions provided in this book. Companies demonstrating unique and exemplary utilization of edge strategies were deemed “edge achievers.”

14. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

Chapter 2

1. “Apple Retail Stores Welcome Over 7700 People in First Two Days,” Apple press release, May 21, 2001; and “Apple Presents iPod,” Apple press release, October 23, 2001.

2. “Apple Presents iPod.”

3. Ralph Graves, “iPod Generations Chart,” Crutchfield New Media, http://www.crutchfield.com/S-3F2TdVQB9Rp/learn/learningcenter/MP3/iPodgenchart.html, accessed January 5, 2015.

4. This device, once connected to your iPod, would generate an FM signal broadcasting your music from the player like a tiny radio station. This would allow you to tune your car radio to this signal and play your iPod through your car. Bluetooth has largely replaced this function today.

5. “Apple Developer Program,” Apple.com, accessed July 22, 2015; and “Car & Travel,” Apple.com, accessed January 5, 2015.

6. “Make Sure Your Charger Is the Real Deal,” GriffinTechnology.com, accessed January 5, 2015; and “Car & Travel,” Apple.com.

7. iTunes was launched about nine months before the iPod and was actually the result of an acquisition of another product, SoundJam MP, in 2000. Michael Simon, “The Complete iTunes History—SoundJam MP to iTunes 9,” MacLife.com, September 11, 2009.

8. According to Apple, in 2014 there were 800 million iTunes accounts (Juli Clover, “iTunes by the Numbers: 800M Accounts, $5.2B in Billings, 70B App Downloads,” MacRumors.com, April 23, 2014) and net sales of $10.2 billion (Lance Whitney “Apple Reveals Drop in Sales of iTunes Music,” CNET, October 28, 2014), including app downloads.

9. Neil Hughes, “Apple’s App Store Revenue on Track to Surpass iTunes Store by End of This Year,” AppleInsider, May 28, 2014.

10. Nick Wingfield, “iPhone Calls on Software Developers—Apple’s App Store Will Create a Marketplace for Anyone to Sell Downloadable Games, Tools,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2008.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. “Clash of Clans,” Think Gaming, accessed January 5, 2015; and Bernhard Warner, “Finland’s Supercell: Mobile Games with Megaprofits,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 2, 2013.

14. Warner, “Finland’s Supercell.”

15. Ibid., and “Clash of Clans.”

16. Stephanie L. Kimbro, “Law a la Carte: The Case for Unbundling Legal Services,” GP Solo (American Bar Association) 29, no. 5 (September/October 2012): 30–34; and “Software Becomes a Product,” Computer History Museum, accessed January 5, 2015.

17. Adrian Covert, “A decade of iTunes singles killed the music industry,” CNN Money, April 25, 2013.

Chapter 3

1. Historical financial data from Yahoo! Finance, accessed January 6, 2015.

2. Colfax Corporation, 2014 Annual Report, 10-K filing for the period ending December 31, 2014.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. “ESAB University,” ESABNA.com, accessed January 8, 2015; “Training Programs,” EsabNA.com, accessed January 8, 2015; and “Value Added Engineering,” ESABNA.com, accessed January 8, 2015.

6. “Value Added Engineering,” ESABNA.com.

7. “Whole Foods Market History,” WholeFoodsMarket.com, accessed January 8, 2015.

8. Walter Robb, Whole Foods Market, quarterly earnings call, July 28, 2005.

9. Whole Foods Market, quarterly earnings call, February 8, 2006.

10. Walter Robb, Whole Foods Market, quarterly earnings call, November 19, 2002; and James Sud, Whole Foods Market, quarterly earnings call, July 30, 2003.

11. Whole Foods Market, 2014 Annual Report.

12. “Gross Profit Margin Data from NBJ’s Natural Foods Merchandiser Survey: NBJ Data Chart 124,” Nutrition Business Journal, August 2008; and Whole Foods Market, 2014 Annual Report.

13. Whole Foods Market, quarterly earnings call, July 28, 2005.

14. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014.

15. Ibid.

16. Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited, “Global Offering,” Share offering prospectus, June 17, 2014.

17. Ibid.

18. Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited, “2014 Interim Result Presentation,” investor presentation, August 18, 2014.

19. Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited, “Global Offering.”

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited, 2014 Annual Report, August 14, 2014.

23. Colour Life Services Group Co., Limited, “China’s Largest Residential Community Service Operator: Annual Report FSY 2014,” investor presentation, March 2015.

Chapter 4

1. “Farming the Wind: Wind Power and Agriculture,” Union of Concerned Scientists, accessed October 20, 2014.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Jeremy Weber, Jason Brown, and John Pender, “Rural Wealth Creation and Emerging Energy Industries: Lease and Royalty Payments to Farm Households and Businesses,” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Research working paper, June 2013, citing Penn State University, “Natural Gas Exploration: A Landowners Guide to Financial Management,” 2009; and Dwight Aakre and Ron Haugen, “Wind Turbine Lease Considerations for Landowners,” North Dakota State University Extension Service, February 2010.

5. Frank Wardynski, “Feeding Corn Stalks on Dairy Farms: Lactating Cows,” Michigan State University, October 23, 2012.

6. “How Refining Works” and “Chemical Products,” BP.com, accessed July 22, 2015.

7. UnitedHealth Group, 2014 Annual Report.

8. Ibid.; and “Core U.S. Data Assets,” Product Sheet, Optum, 2014.

9. “Independent Expert Physician Advisory Board Formed to Advance Ingenix Efforts to Modernize the Health Care Delivery System,” UnitedHealth Group press release, October 26, 2010.

10. “UnitedHealth Group,” PaineWebber, March 19, 1999.

11. “Claims Data: Unparalleled Assets to Support Decision Making,” Optum.com, accessed July 31, 2015.

12. “Core U.S. Data Assets,” Product Sheet, Optum, 2014; “Retrospective Database Analysis,” Optum, 2013; “Retrospective Databases,” Optum.com, accessed September 16, 2014; and “Clinformatics for Market Intelligence,” Optum.com, accessed September 16, 2014.

13. “Clinformatics Data Mart,” Optum.com, accessed January 5, 2015.

14. UnitedHealth Group, 2014 Annual Report; and UnitedHealth Group, 2008 Annual Report.

15. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, June 2015; growth rates calculated from historical company financial reports, 2006–2014.

16. UnitedHealth Group, 2014 Annual Report.

17. Adrienne So, “Your Local Beer Isn’t as Local as You Think,” Slate.com, August 13, 2013; “Advantages to Using a Toll Food Manufacturing Company,” PacMoore.com, accessed January 6, 2015; and “Outsourcing Partner for Chemical Services,” ProChem-gmbh.de, accessed January 6, 2015.

18. “Offering You Meeting Room Rentals,” University of Phoenix, accessed January 6, 2015.

19. Chuck Salter, “MLB Advanced Media’s Bob Bowman is Playing Digital Hardball. And He’s Winning,” Fast Company, March 19, 2012; and Ted Berg, “The Incredibly Simple Way to Stop MLB’s Increasing Length of Games,” USA Today Sports, July 18, 2014.

20. Anita Elberse, “Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America’s Pastime Goes Digital,” Case 510-092 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2011).

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid.

24. Salter, “MLB Advanced Media’s Bob Bowman Is Playing Digital Hardball.”

25. Elberse, “Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America’s Pastime Goes Digital.”

26. Brad Stone, “Major League Baseball to Stream ESPN Events,” New York Times, March 8, 2010.

27. Elberse, “Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America’s Pastime Goes Digital.”

28. Ira Broudway, “How Major League Baseball Helps ESPN Stream World Cup Soccer,” Bloomberg Businessweek, June 5, 2014.

29. Ibid.; and “Guns N’ Roses Announce ‘Chinese Democracy’ North American Tour and Strategic Relationship with Major League Baseball Advanced Media,” PR Newswire, September 29, 2006.

30. Salter, “MLB Advanced Media’s Bob Bowman Is Playing Digital Hardball.”

31. Elberse, “Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America’s Pastime Goes Digital”; and Broudway, “How Major League Baseball Helps ESPN Stream World Cup Soccer.”

32. Robert Huckman, “Amazon Web Services,” Case 609-048 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2012).

33. Ibid.

34. Greg Bensinger, “Boss Talk: Meet the Man Who Really Runs the Internet,” Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2013.

35. Quentin Hardy, “Active in Cloud, Amazon Reshapes Computing,” New York Times, August 27, 2012.

36. Huckman, “Amazon Web Services.”

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Barb Darrow, “Amazon Web Services Is a $5 Billion Business—and Growing Fast,” Fortune.com, April 23, 2015.

41. Huckman, “Amazon Web Services”; and Larry Dingan, “Amazon Posts Its First Net Profit,” CNET News, January 22, 2002.

42. Hardy, “Active in Cloud, Amazon Reshapes Computing.”

43. Huckman, “Amazon Web Services.”

44. Bensinger, “Boss Talk: Meet the Man Who Really Runs the Internet.”

Chapter 5

1. Andrew Rees, “Take a Stand Against Margin Pressure,” L.E.K. Consulting Executive Insights VII, no. 1 (2005): 1–6.

2. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014.

3. Historical annual reports for Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, 1996–2014; and “Financial Breakdown of Typical Cruiser,” Cruise Market Watch, accessed August 20, 2014.

4. John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez, “Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.: Safety, Environment, and Health,” Case 514-069 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2014), 1; and Jennifer Eblin, “Royal Caribbean Cruises History,” USA Today, accessed August 25, 2014.

5. “About Royal Caribbean,” Royal Caribbean International, accessed August 25, 2014; Allan E. Jordan, “The Transnationals,” Cruise Travel, February 2009; and “Case Studies—Cruise Ship: Royal Caribbean International,” WaveLoch.com, accessed January 7, 2015.

6. Lynda M. Applegate, Robert J. Kwortnik, and Gabriele Piccoli, “Carnival Cruise Lines,” Case 806-015 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2006), 3; and “About Royal Caribbean,” Royal Caribbean International.

7. “Allure of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean International, accessed December 18, 2014; and Michael Taylor and Ken Mark, “Oasis of the Seas: The Largest Cruise Liner in the World” (London, Ontario: Richard Ivey School of Business, 2011), 3.

8. Quelch and Rodriguez, “Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.: Safety, Environment, and Health,” 16; and “Allure of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean International.

9. “Allure of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean International.

10. “RCL Ticket Prices,” Royal Caribbean International, accessed December 18, 2014.

11. “Large Stateroom,” Royal Caribbean International, accessed December 18, 2014.

12. “Beverage Packages,” Royal Caribbean International, accessed December 18, 2014.

13. “Allure of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean International.

14. Park West Gallery, “Art Auctions,” accessed July 31, 2015.

15. “Allure of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean International.

16. Hertz, press release, July 27, 2015.

17. Mark Clothier, “Hertz Seen Taking $200 Million Writedown on Aging Fleet,” Bloomberg News, September 10, 2014; and Auto Rental News “2014 U.S. Car Rental Market: Fleet, Locations and Revenue,” Fact Book 2015

18. Enterprise Holdings, press release, May 23, 2014; and Charisse Jones, “Rental Cars: Is It Worth It to Prepay for Gas?” USA Today, May 21, 2013.

19. “Fuel Purchase Option,” Hertz.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

20. Southwest Airlines, 2014 Annual Report; and JetBlue, 2014 Annual Report.

21. Elliott N. Weiss and Marlene Friesen, “The JetBlue Story” (Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 2005).

22. Charisse Jones, “JetBlue Launches Premium Brand called Mint,” USA Today, September 30, 2013.

23. JetBlue earnings conference call, January 30, 2007.

24. “Even More Legroom Announced by JetBlue Airways,” Airline Industry Information, March 20, 2008.

25. Mary Schlangenstein, “JetBlue Removing Seats to Cut Costs,” Desert News, December 15, 2006.

26. “Even More Legroom Announced by JetBlue Airways,” Airline Industry Information.

27. JetBlue, press release, March 19, 2008.

28. JetBlue, 2011 Annual Report.

29. “Optional Services and Fees,” JetBlue.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

30. Jack Nicas, “JetBlue to Add Bag Fees, Cut Legroom,” Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2014.

31. Anita Taff, “FCC May Be Referee in Caller ID Dispute,” Network Journal 7, no. 7 (September 10, 1990): 13–14; and Daniel J. Wakin, “New Jersey Bell Wins Approval for Controversial Call Identification Feature,” Associated Press, September 18, 1987.

32. “‘Caller ID’ Stirs Debate on Phone Privacy,” New York Times, February 11, 1990.

33. David Jacobson, “Call ID Service Makes Science Fiction a Reality,” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1990.

34. Wayne King, “Our Towns: Number, Please: Adieu Anonymity on the Telephone,” New York Times, April 14, 1989.

35. Duane Stoltzfus, “Caller ID on the Line: Lifesaver, or Invasion of Privacy?” The Record (New Jersey), August 17, 1992.

36. Ted Duncombe, “‘Caller ID’ Draws Static from Consumer, Rights Advocates,” Associated Press, March 10, 1989.

37. Kathleen O’Brien, “No More Mystery Phone Calls,” The Record (New Jersey), October 13, 1988.

38. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence.”

39. Jim Henry, “Ding-and-Dent Products Gain from Leasing, Bundling,” Automotive News, June 11, 2014.

40. Asbury Automotive Group, 2014 Annual Report.

41. “Dealer Insights,” Eisner Amper, July/August 2014.

42. NADA DATA: State of the Industry Report, 2014.

43. Jim Leman, “The Critical Role of Today’s F&I Department,” Dealer Marketing, accessed September 8, 2014.

44. Mac Gordon, “Auto Dealers Rely on F&I,” First Innovations, 2011.

45. Asbury Automotive Group, 2014 Annual Report.

46. Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin, “Cirque du Soleil—The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships,” Case 709-411 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2010).

47. “LOVE: Insider Access VIP Tickets,” Showtickets.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

48. Ann Shields, “Unitard Not Required: Go Backstage at Cirque du Soleil,” Travel and Leisure, March 24, 2011.

49. “LOVE: Insider Access VIP Tickets,” Showtickets.com.

50. Casadesus-Masanell and Aucoin, “Cirque du Soleil.”

51. Ibid.; and Mark MacKinnon, “Inside the Kremlin Walls, Canada’s Circus Spectacular Finds a Blueprint for Growth,” Globe and Mail, March 24, 2012.

52. “Apple Retail Store—Workshops,” Apple.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

53. “Apple Retail Store—One to One,” Apple.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

54. “Careers,” Nielsen.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

55. “Retail Measurement,” Nielsen.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

56. “Solutions,” Nielsen.com, accessed December 22, 2014.

57. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence.”

Chapter 6

1. W.W. Grainger, 2014 Annual Report.

2. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014.

3. Ibid.

4. Fred L. Smith and Braden Cox, “Airline Deregulation,” Library of Economics and Liberty, accessed December 23, 2014.

5. Alan Lewis and Dan McKone, “How the U.S. Airline Industry Found Its Edge,” Harvard Business Review, September 26, 2013.

6. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence”; and Morningstar historical market capitalizations for Southwest Airlines, United Continental, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines.

7. “The Runway to the Final Four,” CNN Money, accessed September 3, 2014.

8. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence.”

9. “Crude Oil (Petroleum); Dated Brent Daily Price,” IndexMundi, accessed September 3, 2014.

10. United Airlines historical financials for the period 2006–2009 from UAL Corporation, 2008 Annual Report and 2009 Annual Report.

11. Ibid.

12. “UAL 2013 Investor Day Presentation,” United Airlines, November 19, 2013; and United Airlines historical financials for the period 2006–2009 from UAL Corporation, 2008 Annual Report and 2009 Annual Report.

13. “Crude Oil (Petroleum); Dated Brent Daily Price,” IndexMundi; and “United Airlines Announces New Checked Bag Policy,” Dow Jones News Service, February 4, 2008.

14. Joe Sharkey, “United Adds a Checked-Bag Fee,” New York Times, February 5, 2008.

15. Chris Kahn, “US Airways Cuts Free Baggage Allowance to 1 Checked-in Suitcase,” AP Newswires, February 26, 2008; “Delta Also to Charge $25 for Second Checked Bag,” Times Union, March 25, 2008; “American Air May Charge $25 to Check a Second Bag,” Reuters News, March 27, 2008; “Northwest to Charge $25 for 2nd Checked Bag,” AP Newswires, March 28, 2008; and “Continental Airlines to Charge Some Passengers $25 to Check Second Bag,” AP Newswires, April 4, 2008.

16. Will Burns, “Delta ‘Innovation Class’ Reframes Airline,” Forbes, May 12, 2014.

17. J.D. Power, “2014 North America Airline Satisfaction Study,” press release, May 14, 2014; J.D. Power, “JetBlue and Continental Continue to Rank Highest in Airline Customer Satisfaction,” press release, June 19, 2007; and J.D. Power, “Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways Rank Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airlines in Their Respective Segments,” press release, June 30, 2009.

18. “2014 Airline Financial Data,” Bureau of Transportation Statistics, May 4, 2015.

19. “Airline Ancillary Revenue Projected to Be $49.9 Billion Worldwide in 2014,” IdeaWorks, November 3, 2014; and “Europe’s Top 4 Low Cost Carriers Generated 470 Million Euros (US$593 Million) from Non-Ticket Sources in 2005,” IdeaWorks, October 10, 2006.

20. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence.”

21. Sarah Hamaker, “Self-Serve Evolution,” National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), October 2011.

22. “2014 Retail Fuels Report,” National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), 2014.

23. “Modern Self-Serve Fueling Turns 50,” National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), 2014.

24. Ibid.

25. Hamaker, “Self-Serve Evolution.”

26. Ibid.

27. “Modern Self-Serve Fueling’s 1964 Roots,” NACS Online, accessed July 22, 2015; Clark Neily, “No Such Thing: Litigating under the Rational Basis Test,” NYU Journal of Law & Liberty 1, no. 2, (2005): 897–913; Paul Mulshine, “The Real Reason Self-Service Gas Was Banned in NJ: Corruption,” Star Ledger, February 24, 2014; and “This Column’s a Real Gas,” Sequoyah County Times, November 30, 2012.

28. “Timeline: A Brief History of Why You Can’t Pump Your Own Gas in New Jersey,” NJ.com, February 22, 2014.

29. “Modern Self-serve Fueling Turns 50,” National Association of Convenience Stores.

30. Hamaker, “Self-Serve Evolution.”

31. Michael L. Ross, “How the 1973 Oil Embargo Saved the Planet,” Foreign Affairs, October 15, 2013.

32. “Amazing Pictures of the Oil Crisis of 1973,” Business Insider, August 2011.

33. Hamaker, “Self-Serve Evolution.”

34. Ibid.

35. “Modern Self-Serve Fueling Turns 50,” National Association of Convenience Stores.

36. Jaimy Lee, “Devicemaker Sales Reps Being Replaced in the OR,” Modern Healthcare, August 16, 2014.

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.; and Walter Eisner, “Smith & Nephew Goes Rep-Less with Some Hips and Knees,” Orthopedics This Week, August 6, 2014.

40. Lee, “Devicemaker Sales Reps Being Replaced in the OR.”

41. Ibid.; and Andrew Vahradian, “Smith & Nephew Unveils New Discounted, Hospital-Focused Sales Model,” Healthpoint Capital, August 14, 2014.

42. Lee, “Devicemaker Sales Reps Being Replaced in the OR.”

43. Ibid.

44. Stephanie Simon, “Public Schools Charge Kids for Basics, Frills,” Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2011.

45. Andy Staples, “The Impact of an Ohio School District’s Decision to Cut Sports,” Sports Illustrated, September 17, 2009.

46. Simon, “Public Schools Charge Kids for Basics, Frills.”

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid.

Chapter 7

1. Chase Murdock, “What Is the Difference between Made to Measure and Bespoke?” Forbes.com, January 16, 2013.

2. “Asset-Light or Asset-Right,” The Economist, November 11, 2010; and Patrick Mayock, “Hilton’s Capital-Light Strategy Driving Growth,” Hotel News Now, February 27, 2014.

3. “Direct Bookings Overtake OTAs with Perks and Clever Incentives,” HotelLogix.com, March 27, 2014.

4. Craig Karmin and Dana Mattioli, “InterContinental to Buy Kimpton Hotels,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2014; and Susan Stellin, “Hotel as Lifestyle,” New York Times, May 15, 2007.

5. Air Products, 2014 Annual Report.

6. “Carrier Gas: Silicon Semiconductors,” AirProducts.com, accessed January 7, 2015; “Air Separation Technology—Ion Transport Membrane,” Air Products, accessed January 7, 2015; and Yu Zhu, Xinggao Liu, and Zhiyong Zhou, “Optimization of Cryogenic Air Separation Distillation Columns,” Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, June 2006.

7. “Air Plant Separation Support,” AirProducts.com, accessed December 30, 2014.

8. Glen Abel, “Voicemail Gets Trial, Cash Pacts,” Communications Week, May 22, 1989; and Diane Crowley, “And Now, Some Messages from Fans of Call Waiting,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 9, 1990.

9. “Market for Caller ID Is Expanding, Northern Telecom Study Says,” Common Carrier Week, January 13, 1992; Leonard Sloane, “Making Sense of Telephone Services,” New York Times, May 11, 1991; and Karen Kaplan, “Can I Put You on Hold? Profits Are Calling,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1997.

10. Sloane, “Making Sense of Telephone Services.”

11. Kaplan, “Can I Put You on Hold? Profits Are Calling.”

12. Beatrice Garcia, “MCI Offers Joint Service Long-Distance, Local Combined,” Miami Herald, April 16, 2002.

13. Andrew Backover, “Bundled Phone Services Can Hang Up Users: Figuring Out Which Deal Works for You Can Confuse,” USA Today, March 22, 2001; “Verizon Begins Offering Competitive, Innovative Long-Distance Plans in Maine,” PR Newswire, July 1, 2002; and Robert Luke, “‘Bundling’ Is the New Mantra in Telecom,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 9, 2003.

14. “Verizon Begins Offering Competitive, Innovative Long-Distance Plans in Maine,” PR Newswire.

15. Garcia, “MCI Offers Joint Service Long-Distance, Local Combined”; Michael Bazeley, “SBC Offers Flat-Rate Plan; Unlimited Calls for Customers,” Mercury News, April 4, 2003; Luke, “‘Bundling’ Is the New Mantra in Telecom”; Andrew Backover, “IDT to Offer $40 All-You-Can-Call Plan; Upstart Pressures Rivals,” USA Today, September 24, 2003; Shawn Young, “Phone Service Bundles Could Backfire as Customers Switch,” Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2003.

16. Dave Paresh, “Wireless Carriers Locked in Price War; for the First Time in Years, Customers Have Strong Options. Firms Warn of Lower Profits,” Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2014.

17. Robert A. Weigand, “Which S&P 500 Sectors Have the Highest Margins?” Financial Market Commentary, December 20, 2011.

Chapter 8

1. “Home—MasterCard Advisors,” MastercardAdvisors.com, accessed December 23, 2014; “Visa PerformSource,” Visa.com, accessed December 23, 2014; and “Merchant Services & Credit Card Processing,” AmericanExpress.com, accessed December 23, 2014.

2. “Workforce Data,” CareerBuilderForEmployers.com, accessed December 23, 2014.

3. “The Digital Universe of Opportunities: Rich Data and the Increasing Value of the Internet of Things,” EMC Digital Universe, April 2014.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. “Toyota to Launch New ‘Big Data Traffic Information Service’ in Japan,” Green Car Congress, May 29, 2013.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. “Cargill AgHorizons (United States),” Cargill, accessed September 15, 2014.

10. Jacob Bunge, “Cargill Releases Data-Analysis Service for Farmers,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2014.

11. Ibid.

12. “Cat Connect Solutions Combines Construction Technology and Services to Help Our Customers Succeed,” ENP Newswire, November 18, 2013; Becky Schultz, “Caterpillar Highlights Technology, Next-Generation Hybrid and More at CONEXPO-CON/AGG,” Asphalt Contractor, March 1, 2014; and “Equipment Management for Constructions,” Caterpillar (brochure), accessed October 22, 2014.

13. Ibid.

14. Barbara Thau, “Changing of the Guard: The Millennials,” Chain Store Age, December 2, 2013.

15. Ilya Pozin, “200 Million Users? LinkedIn Is Just Getting Started,” Forbes, April 18, 2013.

16. Adriana Lee, “LinkedIn Reveals the Top 25 Job Skills of the Year,” Read Write, December 19, 2014; and “About Us,” LinkedIn, accessed July 21, 2015.

17. “LinkedIn Free and Upgraded Premium Accounts,” LinkedIn, accessed December 24, 2014.

18. Julianne Pepitone, “LinkedIn Stock More Than Doubles in IPO,” CNN Money, May 19, 2011; and “LinkedIn Corporation (LNKD),” Yahoo Finance, accessed July 21, 2015.

19. LinkedIn, 2014 Annual Report.

20. “LinkedIn Premium,” Premium.LinkedIn.com, accessed January 19, 2015.

21. LinkedIn, Q3 2014 Quarterly Results Conference Call, October 30, 2014.

Chapter 9

1. “Imperial Chemical Industries PLC History,” Funding Universe, accessed December 24, 2014.

2. Historical from S&P Capital IQ; Terence Wilkinson, “ICI Underlines Changes with Outsider for Top Job,” The Independent, June 23, 1994; and “ICI—Acquisition of the Specialty Chemicals Businesses of Unilever,” Factiva Press Release Service, May 16, 1997.

3. Ibid; and “$11b Unilever, ICI Deal Makes British Corporate History,” Hamilton Spectator, May 8, 1997.

4. Robert Frank, “ICI Chief’s Former Ties to Unilever Smoothed the Way for $8 Billion Deal,” Wall Street Journal, May 8, 1997; Yasmin Hassany and Rebecca Patterson, “ICI Moves Toward Speedy Refinancing of Debt Following Asset-Disposal Plan,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 1997; Will Beacham, “From ICI to Akzo Nobel Division: What Went Wrong?” ICIS Chemical Business, February 18, 2008; Philip Aldrick, “ICI Finally Consigned to History,” The Telegraph, January 2, 2008; Nigel Cope, “ICI’s Cash Call Could Be the First of Many,” The Independent, February 5, 2002; “Shades of Trouble as ICI Profit Warning Wipes 630M Off Market Value,” The Scotsman, March 29, 2003; and Salamander Davoudi, “McAdam ‘Has Brought Cohesiveness,’” Financial Times, December 8, 2006.

5. “$11b Unilever, ICI Deal Makes British Corporate History,” Hamilton Spectator.

6. Cope, “ICI’s Cash Call Could Be the First of Many”; and Lauren Mills, “ICI Paints a Sorry Picture,” The Telegraph, March 30, 2003.

7. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014; financial data obtained from Capital IQ.

8. “ICI’s Quest for Realignment,” ICIS Chemical Business, November 27, 2006.

9. “Akzo Nobel ICI Merger Completed,” BBC News, January 2, 2008.

10. Securities Data Company (SDC); and Thomson Financial.

11. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence.”

12. “Starwood Acquires Bliss from LVMH,” Business Wire, January 21, 2004.

13. “DuPont Grabs ICI Units,” CNN Money, July 14, 1997; and “Imperial Chemical Industries PLC History,” Funding Universe.

14. “P&G Agrees to Buy Gillette in a $54 Billion Stock Deal,” Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2005.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. “Venus & Olay Razor,” GilletteVenus.com, accessed January 6, 2015; “Gillette Venus Partners with Skincare Leader Olay to Launch New Gold Standard in Shaving: Venus & Olay Razor,” Business Wire, February 8, 2012; and Antoinette Alexander, “Gillette Venus, Olay Partner to Launch New Razor,” Drug Store News, February 8, 2012.

18. “P&G Agrees to Buy Gillette in a $54 Billion Stock Deal,” Wall Street Journal.

19. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “Mergers That Stick,” Harvard Business Review, October 2009.

20. “Riverside Proves Ethics Is Good for Business,” Riverside Company press release, November 21, 2014.

21. Ibid.

22. Erik Siemers, “EthicsPoint Changes Name to NAVEX Global, Makes Acquisition,” Portland Business Journal, June 21, 2012.

23. Mike Rogoway, “NAVEX Global Emerges,” Oregon Live, July 27, 2012.

24. “ELT, EthicsPoint and Global Compliance to Merge,” Riverside Company press release, February 1, 2012.

25. Siemers, “EthicsPoint Changes Name to NAVEX Global, Makes Acquisition”; and Rogoway, “NAVEX Global Emerges.”

26. Amy Or and Gillian Tan, “Vista to Buy Riverside-Backed Compliance Services Business,” Dow Jones LBO Wire, October 14, 2014.

27. “eBay Calling Skype: Is It a Good Connection?” Knowledge @ Wharton, November 21, 2005.

28. eBay conference call transcript, September 12, 2005.

29. Ibid.

30. Ibid.

31. Jeff Bertolucci, “Skype, eBay Divorce: What Went Wrong,” PC World, September 1, 2009.

32. Olga Kharif, “eBay’s Skype Bubble Bursts,” Bloomberg Businessweek, October 2, 2007; and Bertolucci, “Skype, eBay Divorce: What Went Wrong.”

33. “Prescription Drug Expenditures in 2000,” National Institute for Healthcare Management Research and Education Foundation, May 2001.

34. Pfizer, 2001 Annual Report; and GSK, 2000 Annual Review.

35. Andrew Ross Sorkin and Duff Wilson, “Pfizer Agrees to Pay $68 Billion for Rival Drug Maker Wyeth,” New York Times, January 26, 2009.

36. Ransdell Pierson, “Big Pharma Stands to Profit by Cleaning Out Its Medicine Chests,” Reuters, May 4, 2014.

37. “History of Gilead Sciences, Inc.,” Funding Universe, accessed December 29, 2014; and “Gilead Sciences,” MenloVentures.com, accessed December 29, 2014.

38. “Gilead Sciences, Inc.,” Yahoo! Finance, accessed January 16, 2015.

39. Biotechs employ biological processes, involving microorganisms and genetically modified living cells to produce therapies, whereas pharmaceutical companies typically employ chemistry-based synthesis techniques.

40. “Biotech Industry Overview—History of Industry,” IRS.gov, April 15, 2015, accessed July 22, 2015.

41. “History of Gilead Sciences, Inc.,” Funding Universe.

42. “Gilead Sciences to Acquire Triangle Pharmaceuticals for $464 Million,” Business Wire, December 4, 2002.

43. Ibid.

44. “Gilead Announces Generic Licensing Agreements to Increase Access to Hepatitis C Treatments in Developing Countries,” Business Wire, September 15, 2014; and “Scaling Up Antiretroviral Treatment Sustainably,” Gilead Sciences, October 2014.

45. Meg Tirrell, “Gilead to Buy Pharmasset for $11 Billion to Gain Hepatitis Drugs,” Bloomberg, November 21, 2011.

46. “About Us,” GeekSquad.com, accessed December 29, 2014.

47. Bill Taylor, “A Geek’s Guide to Great Service,” HBR Blog Network, August 7, 2008.

48. John R. Wells and Travis Haglock, “Best Buy Co., Inc.: Competing on the Edge,” Case 706-417 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2007).

49. Ibid.

50. Best Buy, earnings call transcript, September 13, 2005.

51. John R. Wells and Galen Danskin, “Best Buy in Crisis,” Case 713-403 (Boston: Harvard Business School, 2014).

52. Jackie Crosby, “Geek Squad’s Stephens Is Best Buy’s Chief Geek,” Minnesota Star Tribune, March 24, 2010.

53. Best Buy, earnings call transcript, June 13, 2006.

54. Chris Burritt, “Best Buy’s Geek Squad Expands to eBay Seeking Customers,” Bloomberg, October 8, 2012.

55. Thomas Lee, “Top Geek Squad Executive to Leave Best Buy,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 13, 2013; Best Buy, 2014 Annual Report; and Best Buy, earnings call transcript, January 6, 2005.

56. James B. Stewart, “Underdog Against Amazon, Best Buy Charges Ahead,” New York Times, December 13, 2013.

57. Geoff Colvin and Jessica Shambora, “J&J: Secrets of Success,” Fortune, April 22, 2009.

Chapter 10

1. L.E.K. Consulting, “Analysis of Edge Strategy Prevalence,” unpublished study, November 2014.