Lotus's turned trolley returns into a lottery
Lotus's Malaysia turned trolley returns into a free lottery with RFID-triggered vouchers, boosting returns and basket size.
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3,236 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDPacioli's double-entry ledger catches errors by breaking the balance
Luca Pacioli codified double-entry bookkeeping, where every transaction is entered twice so any error breaks the balance and surfaces automatically.
Read the caseLVMH beat the Olympics' ad ban by making the medals, trays, and uniforms
LVMH, facing the Olympics' ad ban, designed the medals, trays, and uniforms, embedding its brands in every podium shot.
Read the caseM-KOPA sold solar on credit using a remote kill switch as collateral
M-KOPA financed solar for off-grid Kenyans with no credit history by embedding a remote kill switch that disabled the unit on missed payments.
Read the caseWachtell Lipton's poison pill auto-dilutes hostile raiders
Martin Lipton designed a shareholder rights plan that automatically dilutes any raider crossing a set ownership threshold, no board action needed.
Read the caseMartin Marietta answered a hostile bid by launching its own tender offer for the raider
Martin Marietta, facing a hostile bid, borrowed over a billion dollars and launched its own tender offer for Bendix stock.
Read the caseMastercard hid its tap-to-pay chip inside Carnival makeup stones
Mastercard hid its tap-to-pay chip inside Carnival makeup stones, so revellers pay by tapping their face and have no wallet to steal.
Read the caseMax Havelaar put a fair-trade label on ordinary coffee
Max Havelaar certified ordinary coffee so shoppers could buy fair-trade without changing stores.
Read the caseMcCormick let farmers pay for reapers after harvest
McCormick sold reapers on installment plans timed to harvest revenue, letting farmers pay after the machine earned its keep.
Read the caseMcDonald brothers fired carhops and cut menu to nine items
The McDonald brothers cut their menu to nine items and fired carhops, turning burgers into a repeatable production line.
Read the caseMedellín ran ski-lift cable cars into its metro fare system
Medellín ran ski-lift cable cars into its metro fare system to reach slums buses couldn't.
Read the caseMerck gave away its river-blindness cure free forever
Merck donated its river-blindness cure free forever to people who could never pay, turning an orphan drug into a global health asset.
Read the caseMogilner et al. showed more category labels boost perceived choice
Retailers can raise perceived variety by re-sorting the same inventory under more category labels, without adding stock.
Read the caseMondragon made workers the owners who elect management and cap their own pay ratio
Mondragon made workers owner-voters who cap their own pay ratio and absorb losses before layoffs.
Read the caseAli let Foreman punch himself out on the ropes
Ali let Foreman exhaust himself punching on the ropes, then knocked him out in round eight.
Read the casemycar re-skinned a car interior in synthetic skin that burns in the sun
mycar re-upholstered a car interior in synthetic skin that visibly burns in sunlight, showing drivers the UVA damage they wrongly think glass blocks.
Read the caseAudubon turned the Christmas hunt into a bird count
Frank Chapman redirected the Christmas Side Hunt into a bird count by keeping the date, teams, and contest, but scoring live birds instead of kills.
Read the caseNBA killed tanking by replacing coin-flip with lottery
The NBA replaced the coin-flip for the top draft pick with a seven-team lottery, making tanking uncalculable.
Read the caseNew Columbia Encyclopedia planted fake entry to catch copyists
The New Columbia Encyclopedia planted a fake entry, Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, so any rival reproducing it would reveal they had copied.
Read the caseNOAA saved whales by moving the shipping lane, not the whales
NOAA moved Boston's shipping lane 12 degrees north to avoid right whale feeding grounds, cutting ship strikes without changing ship or whale behavior.
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