Advisor

Rafael Sardá

This Advisor takes a closer look at how wind farm development can impact biodiversity with a focus on marine protected areas in the EU and the Mediterranean Sea.

Executive Update

Margaret O'Gorman

Biodiversity as a corporate concern is in rapid flux. This Amplify Update explores the current landscape and highlights the many new developments at the intersection of business and nature since the two-part Amplify series that introduced the topic.

Article

Matteo Ainardi, Arnaud Siraudin, Guillaume Storck

Matteo Ainardi, Arnaud Siraudin, and Guillaume Storck present a way for businesses to envision future space ecosystems and their associated value chains. A recent study, conducted by the EURO2MOON association (including Arthur D. Little), endeavored to understand demand drivers, value chains, and areas of uncertainty around lunar resource use. Propellant production was used as an illustration — the reaction engines needed to power vehicles on the lunar surface and traveling to/from Earth (and beyond) will need propellants. The study examined both the supply side and the demand side, developed scenarios of a future ecosystem, proposed a likely value chain, outlined use cases, and estimated those use cases’ likely ranges of demand. Beyond giving a peek into lunar opportunities, the article can help businesses considering lunar-economy investment better understand how to account for inherent high levels of uncertainty.

Article

Matteo Ainardi, Guillaume Storck

Although government investment still makes up the bulk of space-related funding, a combination of three main factors has resulted in a foundational evolution of the industry, often referred to as “New Space.” New Space has generated an unprecedented rise in the number of space players, rocket launches, spacecraft in orbit, and volume of space-generated data. This issue of Amplify explores the key challenges that the space industry faces in its journey toward long-term sustainable growth and value creation.

Article

Moriba Jah

Moriba K. Jah points to a growing concern over mankind’s ability to use orbital space for long-term benefit. Orbital space is not infinite; yet several companies are planning large-scale satellite launches in the next few years. When added to operating and abandoned satellites (and other space debris) in geostationary orbit (GEO), and low Earth orbit (LEO) orbits, there’s the potential for “a tragedy of the commons.” Jah proposes a solution guided by the tenets of traditional ecological knowledge, including recognizing space as a dynamic ecosystem in which changes in one part can impact the whole, designing satellites and spacecraft for longevity/reusability, and promoting a greater sense of accountability among spacefaring nations and commercial entities. Shifting from a linear space economy to a circular one, says Jah, would not only prevent orbital ecocide, but it would also preserve the final frontier as a resource and habitat for future generations.

Article

Curt Hall

Curt Hall takes a look at the role 3D printing can have in space exploration. From Earth-based manufacturing of spacecraft parts to tools like wrenches on the International Space Station and metal parts during a Mars mission, space could be 3D printing’s killer app. Hall discusses a large number of technologies in development, including the ability to convert plastic waste from previously printed parts into feedstock that can be used to create new tools and parts. Similarly, there are projects underway to see if the Moon’s regolith can be used to construct the (literal) building blocks for a moon base. Printing food, medicine, and even replacement organs for long-haul space missions is also being explored using bioprinting, a technology that could come full circle to provide tissue-based patches for the outside of damaged hearts here on Earth.

Article

Sylvester Kaczmarek

Sylvester Kaczmarek dives into the cybersecurity issues threatening current and future space exploration. In addition to bad actors who have targeted satellites by jamming, spoofing, and data hijacking, there’s the potential for spacecraft life-support, navigation, and propulsion systems to be hacked. Breaches that threaten communications between ground stations and their space assets are also possible, as is interference with the data streams that flow constantly between satellites and public and private entities. Kaczmarek advises a number of strategies for mitigating space-related cyber threats, including AI models that anticipate and prevent attacks before they occur, encryption methods resistant to quantum attacks, and international cooperation to harmonize regulations across countries.

Article

Ronald Birk, Lori Gordon, Eleanor Mitch

Ronald Birk, Lori W. Gordon, and Eleanor Mitch outline the factors behind the need for a system that dynamically updates space supply chain information. Along with higher demand, there is competition among sectors, such as medical device and auto makers, for certain commodities and many rare-earth elements. The authors propose a distributed ledger technology (DLT) system called “Space supply chain Topology for Assessing Risk (STAR)” that would create a nexus for all stakeholders in the space supply chain community. STAR would include trusted partnerships via information-sharing agreements, information wells that let partners leverage an array of structured and unstructured data, a network of cloud-based platforms that enable secure processing of data among partners across the space enterprise, data integrity via DLT, and assessments of priority items to discover weak areas in space supply chains. The article describes the four key risks STAR would identify and calls for community dialogue about a space enterprise solution that “shines a light on dynamically evolving risks.”

Article

Victor Heaulme

Victor Heaulme takes a look at the space waste problem through a technology lens. He notes that the Kessler Syndrome (i.e., orbit overpopulation leading to object/satellite collisions that greatly affect space access) is becoming increasingly possible. Along with policy making, Heaulme describes technologies for more accurate tracking of space objects of all sizes, monitoring software that automates collision warnings, and technology that remotely removes objects in orbit. These include two systems that cause decaying orbits, one that uses a specialized satellite to push space objects and one that moves objects into a different orbit from Earth.

Advisor

Curt Hall

In this Advisor, Cutter Expert Curt Hall examines how retailers like Walmart, Wayfair, and Savage X Fenty are using GenAI, AR, VR, computer vision, digital twins, and social collaboration to improve the shopping experience.

Advisor

Barbara Carlin

In this Advisor, Barbara A. Carlin delves into sneaky problems commonly faced by leaders. These problems are sneaky because cognitive biases that creep into our decision-making cause us to overlook their ethical implications. The biases detected in the decision-making problems illustrated here include nonmonetary transactions, the framing effect, and ill-conceived goals.

Advisor

Thorsten Kramer

In this Advisor, LEAG CEO Thorsten Kramer introduces GigawattFactory, a unique project that will deliver high-quality green energy on an industrial scale in Germany.

Advisor

Myles Suer

The cloud has revolutionized the way businesses operate, offering unprecedented agility, innovation, and resilience. In this Advisor, Myles Suer stresses that the key to leveraging cloud investments isn't solely in cost-cutting but in enhancing the ROI by accelerating business outcomes and value delivery.

Advisor

Jim Highsmith

Leaders who demonstrate agility may be the cornerstone of our future — be it for a team, a company, or a nonprofit organization. In this Advisor, Cutter Fellow Emeritus Jim Highsmith offers some advice for preparing these agile-adaptive leaders.

Executive Update

Jim Highsmith

Jeff Smith dreamed of making an Agile culture something you could learn, practice, measure, and improve. In this Amplify Update, the second in a series, we follow Smith as he moves from Suncorp to IBM and then World Kinect, defying conventional wisdom to lead these companies on a digital transforming journey. Even as Smith communicated the journey’s purpose simply and clearly, mandated culture change, radically reformed the middle management layer, and modernized delivery, he never forgot the importance of balancing performance with people.

Advisor

Senthil Kumar Sundaramoorthy, Dipti Kamath, Sachin Nimbalkar, Christopher Price, Thomas Wenning, Joe Cresko

The industrial sector represents a significant source of energy-related GHG emissions. For instance, in the US, it accounted for 33% of overall primary energy use in 2020 and was responsible for 30% of the nation’s total energy-related GHG emissions. Reducing a sizeable portion of these emissions will play a key role in achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Advisor

Enrique Castro Leon

As we explore in this Advisor, information technology can be leveraged to maintain real-time inventories of carbon assets and could be used to create a system designed to meet specific GHG-mitigation goals.

Article

Dusya Vera, Ana Ruiz Pardo

This Amplify issue portrays the various levels in which character resides — individuals, groups, and organizations — and the processes that show how character manifests in organizations. It crosses three themes: (1) well-being and stress management, proposing that character leadership development and mindfulness training help individuals navigate complex organizational environments more effectively; (2) the strategic embedding of character to advance DEI initiatives and foster a culture of inclusivity; and (3) character resides in strategic leadership teams and high-performance teams, which has important implications for decision-making, the pursuit of excellence, and performance. Our aim is to bring character to the forefront of what it takes for organizations to be prosperous and sustainable, by elevating character alongside competence and commitment in the practice of leadership.

Article

Natacha Prudent, Mary Crossan

Natacha Prudent and Mary Crossan propose embedding leader character into organizations, asserting that the sustainability of DEI efforts depends on leaders reaffirming their commitment to character, suggesting it as a foundational element for both organizations and DEI initiatives: “corporate DNA.” The authors underscore the financial benefits of gender and ethnic diversity in leadership roles and use the Ivey Leader Character Framework (ILCF) as a tool aimed to guide leaders in introspection and development, emphasizing the role of character in driving comprehensive, sustainable change in DEI.

Article

William Spangler

William Spangler delves into how CEOs’ humility and narcissism influence their behavior, focusing on dysfunctional behavior like fraud, crime, corruption, and bribery. With a sample of 190 CEOs and data collected from interviews and public sources, Spangler introduces a set of diverse CEO archetypes. The article differentiates between professional CEOs and entrepreneurial CEOs. Spangler describes how humility and narcissism can coexist in CEOs and shows how humility moderates narcissistic tendencies, reducing the propensity to engage in dysfunctional and negative leader behaviors.