BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Articles in Harvard Business Review are meant to inspire leaders to adopt new ideas that can transform their companies. And from this pool of "million-dollar ideas," a panel of judges picks the very best article of the year and gives it the HBR McKinsey Award. This year's winner: “Engineering Reverse Innovations” by Amos Winter and Vijay Govindarajan published in HBR’s July-August 2015 issue.
Based on a three-year study, the article outlines how companies can successfully create products for emerging markets that can then be adapted into disruptive offerings for developed countries – a concept known as reverse innovation. As part of their research, Winter and Govindarajan followed the experiences of a team that created a wheelchair for the developing world, a modified version of which is now taking Western markets by storm.
“This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how to apply the principles of reverse innovation and design thinking,” said Adi Ignatius, editor in chief of Harvard Business Review.
Amos Winter is the Ratan N. Tata Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he directs the Global Engineering and Research Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Vijay Govindarajan is the Coxe Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation (HBR Press, April 2016).
The annual HBR McKinsey Awards, judged by an independent panel of business and academic leaders with input from members of HBR’s Advisory Board, commend outstanding articles published each year in Harvard Business Review. This year’s announcement appears in the April issue of the magazine, which is available online today and hits newsstands March 29.
This year’s HBR McKinsey Awards also recognizes three finalists:
- “Corporate Governance 2.0” by Guhan Subramanian of Harvard Business School
- “Managing Your Mission-Critical Knowledge” by Martin Ihrig and Ian MacMillan of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
- “Customer Data: Designing for Transparency and Trust” by Timothy Morey and Allison Schoop of frog and Theo Forbath of Cognizant
The 2015 HBR McKinsey judges were: Scott Anthony, Managing Partner, Innosight; Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman and Managing Principal, Deloitte LLP; Robin Ely, Professor, Harvard Business School; Vijay Govindarajan*, Professor, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth; Kurt Kuehn, Chief Financial Officer (retired), UPS; Rita Gunther McGrath, Professor, Columbia Business School; Robert E. Moritz, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Kevin Sharer, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School; and Robert J. Thomas, Managing Director for Research; Accenture Institute for High Performance.
*Note: Judges recuse themselves from voting on articles they authored.
About the HBR McKinsey Awards
Since 1959, the HBR McKinsey Awards have recognized practical and groundbreaking management thinking by determining the best articles published each year in Harvard Business Review. Past winners include Peter Drucker, Clayton M. Christensen, Daniel Goleman, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, George Stalk, Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, and John Kotter.
About Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, 13 international licensed editions, books from Harvard Business Review Press, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review provides professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact.
