Harvard Business Review Goes All-in On AR
You know a technology has “arrived” when the Harvard Business Review (HBR) devotes a cover article to it. The influential magazine has long been the leading outlet for top management theorists, introducing many concepts that have been embraced globally, from core competence to business process reengineering to globalization. The publication has more than a quarter-million subscribers worldwide.
Now Augmented Reality is getting the HBR spotlight in the November/December issue – and you can download a copy of the article HERE.
In it, noted strategist, author, and Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at the Harvard Business School, Michael Porter and Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO of AREA member PTC, provide business leaders with a comprehensive exploration of AR, from definition to applications to benefits.
“The title of the article says it all – Why Every Organization Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy,” noted Marc Schuetz of PTC, an AREA board member. “It makes a very strong case for how AR will change how we interact with the world around us.”
Jon Lang, lead principal business analyst at PTC, noted that the article is the third in a series written by Porter and Heppelmann. “In 2014, they wrote about smart, connected products and the Internet of Things. Next, they researched the organizational implications of smart, connected products and the data they produce on companies using or making these products. Now, in this third article, they discuss how AR is one of the best ways to channel the value of the data that smart, connected products create.”
As the article puts it, “AR enables a new information-delivery paradigm, which we believe will have a profound impact on how data is structured, managed, and delivered.”
Porter and Heppelmann highlight several real-life examples of AR applications, including AREA members Newport News Shipbuilding and Boeing. It discusses how Xerox used AR to improve field engineers’ first-time fix rates by 67% and how AR enabled KPN, a European telecommunications services provider, to reduce overall service team costs by 11%.
The article even comes with an AR experience accessible via an app download to give readers a first-hand sample of AR in action. Watch a video of the experience HERE.
PTC’s Jon Lang sees the HBR article as a great way to educate business leaders about AR. “Porter and Heppelmann make a compelling case for why this technology is so powerful and why executives should consider integrating it into their strategies now – because there are a lot of opportunities and the technology is ready today.”
Get your free copy of the article HERE.