European Business Forum articles from December 2001

European Business Forum archives from December 2001

Strategy and vigilance.(Letter from the editors)
December 22, 2001... It is a familiar time in the cycle. As evidence of a marked economic downturn accumulates in Europe and elsewhere, the urgent question is whether we are in for a short, sharp rebound after the terrible events of September 11th, or whether a...

Does strategy really matter anymore?(EBF Debate)(Cover Story)
December 22, 2001... The golden era of long range planning has long since vanished into the mists of time. Yet few companies worth their reputation these days are without a strategy document filled with numbers which purport to describe a (sometimes remarkably)...

Governance at troubled companies.(Debate reopened: corporate governance)(financial management )
December 22, 2001... EBF's Spring Debate on Corporate Governance (Issue 5, 2001) considered whether companies and their shareholders are getting value from European boardroom practices and the various rules, regulations and codes established in recent years. Since...

Questions to ask.(Debate reopened: corporate governance)
December 22, 2001... When the Spring 2001 issue of EBF on Corporate Governance was published, few could have predicted that events later in the year would have such a dramatic impact on the fortunes of some sectors of the economy. The difficulties of the airline...

Clarifying the roles of the different players: the distinction between Shareholders and Stakeholders is already well understood. This article proposes that directors and others concerned with Corporate Governance should add two more categories.(debate on corporate governance)
December 22, 2001... EBF's fascinating Debate on Corporate Governance illustrated the variety of challenges facing those who want to promote good Corporate Governance principles. It explored the term's different meanings across Europe and how approaches differ when...

Setting the agenda: EBF's decision to assess the value of what business schools offer was always bound to be controversial. And so it has proved ...(Debate reopened: corporate governance)
December 22, 2001... EBF's most recent debate--Does executive education really improve business performance?--clearly struck a strong chord with readers and outside organisations. The 26-page section (EBF 7, Autumn 2001), for example, inspired City University...

What now for the War for Talent?(Debate reopened: war for talent)
December 22, 2001... EBF's Summer Forum (Issue 6, 2001) looked at one of the biggest boardroom dilemmas--how to attract and retain the best people. At the time of that debate the storm clouds of recession were gathering on the far horizon but as this edition goes...

Value-based management and the corporate profit centre: new research suggests that many European companies are merely paying lip service to VBM--yet the experiences of those trying to go deeper suggest the issues are complex and at times confusing.(In-depth: shareholder value)
December 22, 2001... Value-based management (VBM) has been defined as a means of making explicit the link between a company's strategic and operating decisions and their effect on shareholder returns. As such it should be the natural framework for aligning...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: shareholder value)(company growth and shareholder returns)
December 22, 2001... I am not surprised that research shows many European companies to be merely paying lip service to VBM. While the ability to generate consistently superior shareholder returns over time may be the best single measurement of corporate...

Are cultural differences in Europe on the decline? A study of business school students, using a sampling methodology akin to that of Geert Hofstede's seminal research, has found new evidence of convergence. The implications for pan-European management systems may be considerable.(In-depth: cultural differences)
December 22, 2001... Purely in terms of Europe, Hofstede's findings indicated marked differences between its component countries. In this article we ask whether these findings for Europe retain their validity, or whether with increased political unification and...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: cultural differences)(cross-cultural research in business schools)
December 22, 2001... The manuscript describes an attempt to do cross-cultural research among 1,335 students from 11 European business schools, testing Hofstede's dimension scores for these countries. In Gooderham and Nordhaug's section on "the concept of...

Is your company effective at using information? Good IT practices, information management practices, and information behaviours and values are three distinct capabilities. But having one of them is not enough. The best performing companies are likely to have an 'Information Orientation' which comprises all three.(In-depth: Information management)
December 22, 2001... There is a well-known saying in management that 'you can't manage what you can't measure.' However, there is an even more basic reality that 'you can't measure what you can't see.' How managers see the world defines their actions and their...

Why Europe needs more mobile workers: an extensive new research project in ten countries highlights the link between business competitiveness and the freer movement of skilled individuals across national borders.(In-depth: labour mobility)
December 22, 2001... Competition for talent has become an increasingly urgent business issue in Europe. Human capital is now widely seen as the key to enhancing competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy, while growing internationalisation, widespread skill...

European Shareholder Value Award 2001 winning entry: not badly paid but paid badly.(Shareholder value award)
December 22, 2001... Executive managers are not, in general, badly paid, but many of them are paid badly. Executives deserve to be well paid, because the good ones are capable of creating enormous value for the companies and underlying shareholders that employ...

Pricing strategies and the euro: transnational companies in Europe will have to think very carefully about the implications of greater transparency as the single currency comes into effect.(Sounding board)
December 22, 2001... With the advent of the euro a 'Horror Scenario' threatens many businesses operating in different territories across Europe. The grim prospect for company profits is that the greater transparency accompanying the arrival of the common currency...

The emergence of e-banking in Russia: despite the obstacles and limitations, electronic services continue to grow.(Sounding board)
December 22, 2001... Electronic banking in Russia may not have grown as dramatically as it has in Western Europe and the United States. But a recent study of leading banks in Moscow and St. Petersburg demonstrates that while e-banking is used mainly to complement...

Is there a driver on your supply train? With top supply chain performers working twice as efficiently as the average, the potential for progress is considerable. Here are ten warning signs that all is not well.(Sounding board)
December 22, 2001... When San Francisco and surrounding towns voted to spend $792m in 1962 to build the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART), the City's authorities reckoned that their new state-of-the-art 'driverless' trains would deliver substantial savings...

The triple bottom line is here to stay: will an economic downturn curb corporate appetites for social and environmental reporting? The benefits will be felt in bad times as well as good.(Sounding board)
December 22, 2001... Novo Nordisk has been a champion of social and environmental reporting since the early 1990s--but more recently a growing number of companies have been taking a welcome interest in broader concepts of business performance. The...

Does humour travel?(Cartoon)
December 22, 2001... US 'It's hard, but slowly I'm getting back to hating everyone' [c] 2001 THE NEW YORKER COLLECTION FROM cartoonbank.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AUSTRIA 'He's threatening to clone himself if we do not...

Cable consolidator: EBF talks to Brian Roberts, President of Comcast.(View from the top)(Interview)
December 22, 2001... Comcast Corporation sprang to global attention in mid 2001 with an unsolicited $40bn bid for AT & T Broadband--one of the boldest moves yet in the growing consolidation of the US communications industry. Founded in 1963, the Philadelphia-based...

Surfin' USA.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Some of America's favourite websites have begun charging fees as a result of the dot-com shake-out--but few people have been willing to pay so far. About 17 per cent of internet users surveyed in the late summer of 2001 said they had been...

Monkey business.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... A jobless man in Thailand was given a government job creation loan to buy a coconut-picking monkey. As part of the Thai government's new scheme to help enterprise in villages, Amtuk Ruangsri was lent 15,000 baht, about [euro]370, to buy...

Business school hopes to eliminate golf handicap.(Did you know?)(University of Utrecht)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Business students are being taught to play golf and appreciate wine to help in their future careers. The courses are being run by the department of economy and management at the University of Utrecht in Holland. Professor Gert Lijkendijk told a...

Firm chooses staff by blood type.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... In a celebrated letter to the Financial Times last year Henry Keswick defended the appointment of a modern day Ford to the top job of the world's most famous motor company on the grounds that racehorses from a good blood line perform better. At...

Delivery key to home shopping.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Seventy out of 100 of the UK's biggest home shopping companies surveyed by the UK Post Office say effective and timely delivery is the key issue holding back the growth of home shopping. 'Time-window' delivery, where retailers are able to...

Hidden 'cost' of calculators.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Figures released by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry in the autumn showed that rubber bands hurt 402 people, staplers harmed a further 1,317, and office files caused injuries to 2,707 workers last year. Calculators were responsible for...

Euro Christmas cake.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... German bakers celebrated the birth of the euro with a Christmas cake made with ingredients from each member country. The Cologne bakers used German flour, Italian almonds, Irish butter and Greek raisins. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Their...

Prison launches pay-as-you-go scheme.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... A pay-as-you-serve-time scheme has been launched at a new Russian prison, allowing inmates to buy luxuries like a television or refrigerator and even privacy. The local authorities in Kursk hope the system will turn the prison into a...

Jonas is not yet ready for the euro.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Jonas is one of the attractions at the zoo in Lisbon, Portugal, because he pulls a bell-cord with his trunk when given a coin. The African elephant is trained to accept silver coins valued 20 escudos or more. He won't ring the bell for less....

Happy New Year.(Did you know?)
December 22, 2001... Robert de Fougerolles tells EBF that he can count a dollar bill per second, or 60 per minute. If as a New Year's Resolution he stops all eating, drinking and other biological activities he will have counted $86,400 at the end of his first...

Spoil the child ...(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Reseachers in Italy say spoiled children are more likely to have brilliant careers. Three hundred successful company managers have been interviewed by experts of the Institute of Psychology in Rome. Some 62 per cent confessed they were spoiled...

... and name the child.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... People with surnames beginning with a letter in the first half of the alphabet are more likely to be successful, says a report. The idea goes back to childhood, when school lists and classroom seating arrangements are often determined...

Dow Jones Sustainability STOXX Index.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Dow Jones has launched a new sustainability index "Dow Jones Sustainability STOXX Index" which covers European companies with a sustainability performance above average. The annual review is based on research provided by the Swiss-based SAM...

A company has started selling parachutes to people who live or work in high-rises.(Did you know?)
December 22, 2001... In Michigan, a company has started selling parachutes to people who live or work in high-rises. A North Carolina water-treatment company has developed a home anthrax-testing kit. A Japanese lingerie manufacturer is pitching bras without metal...

Pockets of resistance.(Quand l'Europe parlait francais )(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... Quand l'Europe parlait francais Marc Fumaroli Editions de Fallois, Paris ISBN 2-87706-426-3 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Part of the charm of France is the way the past and present coexist in the French mind. The French are...

Knowledge networkers.(Handbook of Organizational Learning & Knowledge)(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... Handbook of Organizational Learning & Knowledge Edited by Meinholf Dierkes, Ariane Berthoin Antal, John Child and Ikujiro Nonaka. Oxford University Press ISBN: 0198295839 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 'Handbook of...

Identity management.(Identity Is Destiny )(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... Identity Is Destiny by Lawrence D. Ackerman Published by Berrett-Koehler ISBN: 157675068X [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Based on his decades-long consulting experience with big companies (Alcoa, Fidelity, Xerox, Korn/Ferry...

Inside Brussels.(Dealing with Brussels: The European Union lobby)(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... Dealing with Brussels: The European Union lobby (Como tratar con Bruselas: el lobby en la Union Europea) by Robin Pedler published by La Caixa SIGNATURA: Bibl 110168 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It is no easy task to reveal the...

Rollercoaster rides: EBF has been following the fortunes of dot-com businesses in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Sweden. What news from the four founding entrepreneurs?(Entrepreneurs)(European Business Forum)
December 22, 2001... Finally, a breakthrough! SamSari Education is an e-learning business based in Sweden. A handful of weeks during September and October 2001 proved to be the most important in SamSari's history. Firstly we won Sweden's largest e-learning...

The New Vigilance: for more than a decade business has been remaking itself precisely for the set of circumstances we are now facing.(Letter from Boston)
December 22, 2001... Even before the tragic events of September 11, many businesses around the world were conducting strategic reviews. They had good reason to do so. The world economy had changed markedly and quickly in the preceding 12 months. Not only had the...

News from EBF founders.
December 22, 2001... PricewaterhouseCoopers is active in developing new ideas for business and disseminating them through a variety of channels. Here are some recent initiatives: Europe Evolving Role and Future Challenges of CFOs in Belgium, France and...

CEMS is a strategic alliance of leading universities and international companies whose objective is to shape Europe's management education and research.(News from EBF founders)(Community of European Management Schools)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... The CEMS Master's Degree programme already enjoys a reputation as the pan European standard of excellence in management education. It selects the very best business brains from Europe's top management and economics courses and pushes them...