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Growth is the top priority on the CEO agenda, but the question they confront is “What factors constrain growth?” And, “How do successful companies drive growth?”

IBM Institute for Business Value conducted a global study that focused on three questions: Who are the successful growers and what patterns are associated with them? What do successful growers do differently? How can other companies apply what they do?

The major finding were: that limits to growth are often self‐imposed and, as such, can be overcome; firms with the will to be successful growers can break free of perceived constraints related to size, industry boundaries and geographic neighborhood; and despite the widely held belief that mergers and acquisitions inherently destroy value for the acquirer, companies that learn to become successful growers use M&A strategies effectively.

Looking at 1,238 Global S&P 1200 companies, the IBM team analyzed the patterns of revenue growth and shareholder value creation over the decade, segmenting results by four component geographies and 18 industry groups. It selected three industries (consumer products, telecom services and electronics) for detailed assessment, developing cases studies for about 20 companies in each industry, picked to represent a range of successful and unsuccessful results.

Winning the growth game requires companies to excel in three vital areas: course, capability and conviction. Successful growers set the right growth direction – the course – by forming a clear point of view on the future, evolving the product‐market portfolio without being limited by history, building a competitive model to win and pursuing reinforcing initiatives to sustain growth. They truly understand their capabilities – based on realistic assessments of their strengths and limitations – and evolve their operational model to support the growth strategy. Finally, while many companies develop excellent plans, truly successful growers build organization‐wide conviction that translates intent into action for everyone from top leaders to front line managers.

The message is clear: neighborhood is not destiny. Executives have more room to be ambitious than they tend to believe. Winning companies set ambitious growth plans regardless of industry or geographic “limits.” They aim for targets above and beyond what they and their peers typically expect.

This study of the growth history and practices of 1,238 companies over a decade by the IBM Institute for Business Value found that top growth companies excel in three vital areas: course, capability and conviction. IBM calls this the “3Cs model.”

The IBM research team developed a database of growth and shareholder return performance for companies included in the S&P Global 1200. Starting with the 2003 list, the team added the firms that “fell off” the listing over the preceding decade. The study worked with a final list of 1,238 companies with complete data over the decade. Collectively, this group recorded median annual revenue growth of 8.5 percent and median TSR growth of 8.8 percent.

The most successful growers: have a clear point of view on their industry, addressing both where it is headed and how they will create value in its new form or environment; are iconoclasts who evolve their product‐market portfolio on an ongoing basis; sustain the growth quest by developing multiple growth initiatives that are backed by ongoing cost and asset management to create funding; foster a culture that responds to the necessity of change, and a cadre of leaders with the passion and follow through to make the change stick

The article provides a sound intellectual background for researchers who want to compile in‐depth case studies.

The article advises corporate leaders to: assess their company's status against your growth ambitions and the 3C model winners follow; develop a point of view on the future and its opportunities; evolve your product market portfolio and initiatives; develop a competitive model; get to know your capabilities and align them with opportunities.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, firms with the will to be successful growers can break free of perceived constraints related to size, industry boundaries and geographic neighborhood.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

This study aims to conduct a literature review on factors that influence the implementation and design of performance measurement systems in nonprofit organizations.

The research strategy is conceived through a literature review focused on the analysis of authorship, supported by bibliometric techniques such as citation, co-citation and co-authorship social networks.

Models and theories proposed for measuring performance in non-profit organizations are being researched, starting to form an intellectual structure related to performance measurement systems and nonprofits. Three main research topics have been given more attention: strategic performance and public service performance, health-care performance and nonprofit operations strategy and performance measurement.

The study is limited to scientific journal papers and could benefit from the addition of new sources of information such as conference papers, books and standards. The body of knowledge of this topic could also benefit from an in-depth investigation through a comprehensive review of models and theories, as a proposal for a future research agenda.

As practical applications are identified, groups of researchers in different countries and subjects that can generate research agendas, scientific communities used to investigate issues related to performance in nonprofit activities.

Performance measurement in nonprofit organizations is a topic of study that has been receiving considerable attention in recent years, to the point that the literature is revealing specific models for measuring performance in this type of organizations. Particular models and theories are being conceived, specializing existing models and theories related to performance measurement and management.

With the ubiquitous spread of the Selfie as a central feature of millennial digital practices, this article examines the impact of digital media on the traditional uses of the snapshot as a record of private life, particularly in terms of the family and circles of friends. It argues that the affordances of digital photography and social media lead to a transformation of the snapshot into the Selfie. The Selfie as a kind of performance impacts the social practices of family photography in a variety of ways. Some positive, in that the affordances of digital photography put the opportunity for the public circulation of self-selected Kodak “moments” which show the individual in the best possible light; and some negative since the new emphasis on the body as a vehicle of self-expression sustains a tournament based on appearances. The resultant shift from notions of the gift economy implicit in practices of family photography leads to the personal snapshot becoming a proto-commodity form in which the competitive logic of Celebrity culture pervades the social exchange of the photograph. The chapter closes with consideration of the importance of the Selfie across the life course and the logic of self-impression management as a digital performance.

This chapter discusses the application of fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) modelling to construction management (CM) challenges and problems. It focuses on the critical issue of managing the complexity and uncertainty inherent in CM by providing a new intelligent layer that enhances classical approaches to construction modelling and management. It investigates how the myriad types of internal and external factors affecting the feasibility and performance of construction projects can be modelled using a fuzzy hybrid method that explores the complex relationships among many contributing factors and assesses and evaluates their impacts on past and future projects. This chapter proposes a hybrid modelling approach in the traditional context of cost, schedule and risk management and describes how augmenting and enhancing existing state-of-the-art tools and processes in CM can assist construction managers. This chapter provides a background on the theory of FCMs, presents foundational and current research, and explains how to apply this approach in the CM domain. This chapter also provides a detailed description of how to develop, modify and employ interactive models to specific CM challenges and problems. It includes a customisable, interactive base model and demonstrates how the model has been applied to specific CM events and issues. Examples are presented that highlight the interplay between project-specific goals and characteristics and the way these impact the interrelated and often opposing triad of cost, schedule and risk. The presented examples and practical applications make this state-of-the-art approach useful to both academic and industry practitioners.