Shop - 《HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW》EXPERIMENTATION WORKS : The Surprising Power of Business Experiments

The book guides readers through best practices in business experimentation, illustrates how these practices work at leading companies, and answers some fundamental questions. The book also explains how experimentation provides significant competitive advantage and how managers can create this capability at their own companies
 
That’s what Harvard Business School professor Stefan Thomke shows in this rigorously researched and eye-opening book. It guides you through best practices in business experimentation, illustrates how these practices work at leading companies, and answers some fundamental questions:
1. What makes a good experiment?
2. How do you test in online and brick-and-mortar businesses? In B2B and B2C?
3. How do you build an experimentation culture?
4. Also, best practice means running many experiments.
 
Indeed, some hugely successful companies, such as Amazon, Booking.com, and Microsoft, run tens of thousands of controlled experiments annually, engaging millions of users. Thomke shows us how these and many other organizations prove that experimentation provides significant competitive advantage.
 
How can managers create this capability at their own companies? Essential is developing an experimentation organization that prizes the science of testing and puts the discipline of experimentation at the center of its innovation process. While it once took companies years to develop the tools for such large-scale experiments, advances in technology have put these tools at the fingertips of almost any business professional. By combining the power of software and the rigor of controlled experiments, today’s managers can make better decisions, create magical customer experiences, and generate big financial returns.
 
Thomke discusses real-world examples of companies that have successfully incorporated experimentation into their practices and how it has led to breakthroughs and advancements. He also delves into the science of experimentation, explaining how it can help businesses gain insights, test hypotheses, and make data-driven decisions.
 
The book highlights the importance of a culture that encourages experimentation, fosters learning from failures, and uses data and evidence to drive decision-making. It can be of interest to business professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to understand how experimentation can drive success in the modern business landscape. Experimentation Works is your guidebook to a truly new way of thinking and innovating.
 
While the book touches upon the math and statistics of experiments, it’s not the main purpose. The book is structured around several companies and high-level executives who have transformed their organizations to embrace experimentation. As such it looks at the big picture of experimentation rather than its technical details
 
Stefan H. Thomke, a professor at Harvard Business School, is an expert in the field of innovation and experimentation, and his book “Experimentation Works” draws on his research and experience to provide valuable insights for businesses seeking to thrive in an increasingly competitive and data-driven world.
 
Overall you will find this book to be a great guideline – a must-read for any business/organization thinking about implementing experimentation. The author takes us through countless examples of companies and organizations who have embraced an experimentation culture. Throughout those examples, he exposes readers to the hurdles and the benefits of becoming an experimentation organization. His vast experience in this area shines throughout the book.
 
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About the Author:
 
Stefan H. Thomke, a leading authority on the management of innovation, is the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is the author of Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation (Harvard Business Review Press, 2003), as well as over one hundred articles, cases, and notes published in books and journals such as Harvard Business Review, Management Science, and MIT Sloan Management Review. Thomke has chaired numerous executive education programs, both at Harvard Business School and in companies around the world. He is a frequent conference speaker and adviser to global business leaders.