European Business Forum articles from December 2006

European Business Forum archives from December 2006

Letter from the editor.(Editorial)
December 22, 2006... Innovation is an over-used word, but that doesn't stop it being fundamental to Europe's prospects. In the next century, Europe will not be able to cost-cut, outsource, or productivity-boost its way to competitiveness, at least not for long. It...

EBF and the European perspective on global management issues.
December 22, 2006... EBF: A CEMS INITIATIVE European Business Forum (EBF) represents an original departure from the traditional positioning of business publications. It is neither an academic journal nor a business news magazine. EBF draws on the contributions of...

CEMS: an authority in Management education.
December 22, 2006... The Community of European Management Schools and International Companies (CEMS) is an alliance of leaders in business and higher education. Founded in 1988, the network has grown steadily, largely due to the success and popularity of the CEMS...

Climate change: threat or opportunity? There is no contradiction between tackling climate change and being globally competitive. Reducing emissions is in business's interests, and the low-carbon economy presents golden opportunities.
December 22, 2006... Our world is rapidly getting warmer, and among serious scientists there is no longer any doubt about the cause. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases from human activities are blanketing the atmosphere and trapping more...

Companies should lobby governments for tougher emissions targets and subsidies to stimulate investment in green technologies. One business group has shown what can be done.(Climate change: Threat or opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... Governments and the private sector are in a catch-22 over climate change. Politicians feel limited in their ability to introduce new climate change policies because they fear business resistance. And companies are unable to increase investment...

Governments, business and the media are overstating the threat of climate change to the exclusion of more important priorities. the rumpus around the recent Stern Review is a case in point.(Climate change: Threat or opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... Global warming is currently an obsession among politicians, the media and business leaders, prompting increasingly alarmist statements about future environmental and financial catastrophes. Supposedly, climate change is the greatest moral test...

Businesses should review their portfolios for "carbon intensity" and audit their public lobbying positions. Most of all, they need to flip their mental switches from "risk" to "opportunity".(Climate change: Threat or Opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... Climate change is more than an "inconvenient truth" for business--it is potentially the biggest market disruptor yet, world wars included. Interestingly, April 2007 will mark the 20th anniversary of the United Nations' Brundtland...

Companies have the power and the responsibility to solve the problem of climate change. How they face up to the challenge will define how they are viewed by society in the future.(Climate change: Threat or Opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... Large companies live in the shadow of a paradox. They have never been so mistrusted and at the same time so important to society. Throughout the first decade of its existence as a business-led think tank, Tomorrow's Company has believed in...

Insurers are deeply worried about climate change. More disasters like Hurricane Katrina could raise premiums dramatically and render some of the world uninsurable. That would have consequences for everyone.(Climate change: Threat or opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... Businesses around the globe are beginning to wake up to the potential impact of climate change. But for one industry-insurance-global warming is already a reality. As the first effects become clear, insurers are changing the way they...

Climate change has nothing to do with corporate social responsibility. Companies should be acting out of pure self-interest and concern for the bottom line. Only then will they come up with meaningful solutions.(Climate change: Threat or opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... The first thing to do in discussing climate change and business is to ban any mention of corporate social responsibility. Don't get me wrong: CSR is a fine thing, and I have nothing against companies practising it, but it has nothing to do with...

Climate change is a highly complex management issue. In assessing their options, companies should weigh up internal relevance and overall value chain impact before making firm decisions.(Climate change: Threat or opportunity?)
December 22, 2006... In April 2005, IMD's Forum for Corporate Sustainability Management convened a meeting of its 30 corporate members to discuss how they could best adapt to climate change. The debate focused on a case study we had written about ABB, the...

Does humour travel?(Cartoon)
December 22, 2006... NOUS, LES iNDUSTRiELS SoMMES SENSiBLES A LA PRoBLEMATiQUE DU RECHAUFFEMET DE LA PLANETE RAiSoN PoUR LAQUELLE NoUS AVoNS DECiDE DE PRENDRE DES MESURES ANTiCiPATiVES US "We should take the lead on climate change and move...

Against the flow: reaping the rewards of management innovation; Management innovation is a proven source of long-term competitive advantage. Yet, compared to other forms of innovation, it remains an under-explored area.(IN DEPTH)(Company overview)
December 22, 2006... Management innovation" refers to the implementation of new management practices, processes and structures that represent a significant departure form current state-of-the-art practices and are intended to further organisational goals. The...

Innovations in management.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Innovations in management practice are often overlooked in favour of product and process innovation.

Important as drivers.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * In fact, management innovations tend to be more important as drivers of long-term competitive advantage.

General Motors and Toyota rose.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Companies such as General Motors and Toyota rose to industry leadership primarily through their management innovations.

The rewards for management innovation.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * The rewards for management innovation are potentially great, for both companies and individual innovators.

Managing in the network economy: faced with technological complexity and global competition, many companies are turning to "business nets", partiularly for product development. How do they get the most out of these new alliances?(IN DEPTH)
December 22, 2006... The ways companies produce value are fundamentally changing. The increasing importance of knowledge, technological complexity, global competition and the availability of digital information technology are driving this change. Individual...

Create value and develop new projects.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Increasing numbers of companies are turning to the use of business nets to create value and develop new projects.

Bluetooth project and the Star Alliance .(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Diverse examples such as the Bluetooth project and the Star Alliance of airlines show the kinds of value that business nets can deliver.

There are several different types of business net.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * There are several different types of business net, each with its own requirements for knowledge and managerial skills.

Networking is not a simple game.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Networking is not a simple game, but companies that can master it have a powerful competitive advantage.

To get more from the law, managers should reframe legal issues as business issues. Potentially the compliance process can boost shareholder value and lead to new business opportunities.(IN DEPTH)
December 22, 2006... It has long been recognised that to create value a company must hold some sort of competitive advantage over its rivals. In the words of Michael Porter: "Competitive advantage grows fundamentally out of value a firm is able to create for its...

An important role in shareholder.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Compliance with the law plays an important role in shareholder value creation.

Understanding of the law.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Understanding of the law is an essential prerequisite for many managerial decisions.

Legal issues are also business issues.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Legal issues are also business issues, and need to be seen as such.

Legal compliance should be seen as a positive step.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Legal compliance should be seen as a positive step, one that can create value and lead to new business opportunities.

The glass clife: the stress of working on the edge.(IN DEPTH)
December 22, 2006... "The glass ceiling" is a common metaphor used to describe the largely invisible barrier that women face as they attempt to reach the upper echelons of management. Although 20 years have passed since the Wall Street Journal coined the phrase, it...

Women are more likely than men to be given leadership roles .(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Women are more likely than men to be given leadership roles that are risky or precarious.

While men are given safer and more secure jobs.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * While men are given safer and more secure jobs, women at all levels often feel that they have been "set up to fail".

These roles are leading to increased stress for women .(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * These roles are leading to increased stress for women leaders, and to larger numbers of women departing senior management positions.

Glass cliffs may also have repercussions for organisations.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Glass cliffs may also have repercussions for organisations, leading to poor communication and decision-making.

Creative destruction.(IN DEPTH)
December 22, 2006... Companies implement downsizing strategies with the aim of increasing cost-efficiency and operational effectiveness. However, these companies also face the prospect that downsizing may hamper their ability to innovate. The main focus in existing...

Downsizing can have a strong impact.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Downsizing can have a strong impact on an organisation's ability to innovate.

Previous research has shown that downsizing reduces.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * Previous research has shown that downsizing reduces an organisation's stocks of knowledge and hinders the creativity of individuals.

Processes of knowledge creation.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * But, counter-intuitively, downsizing can have a positive effect on the processes of knowledge creation.

The loss of existing knowledge.(IN BRIEF)
December 22, 2006... * The loss of existing knowledge through downsizing can be a strong motivator to create new knowledge.

The end of universities?(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... Are elite universities in trouble? A new study, entitled Are Elite Universities Losing Their Competitive Edge? for the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London, suggests that they may be. E Han Kim, Adair Morse and Luigi Zingales studied...

America's Debt mountain.(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... American consumers now owe more money than ever before, according to a report from Standard & Poor's ratings services, in New York. Despite high fuel costs, rising unemployment and rising interest rates, American householders continue to borrow...

Low investment, low knowledge.(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... The European Union has a knowledge economy that is as big, if not bigger, than that of the US. More than 40 per cent of European workers are employed in knowledge-based industries. But Europe has failed to match the US in economic growth and...

Can auditors be independent?(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... Recent financial scandals have thrust the role of the auditor into the spotlight, and new rules and regulations have been introduced to ensure that auditors are fully independent and cannot be influenced by the businesses they audit. But new...

Making research relevant.(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... That advertising practitioners tend to ignore research is well known. According to a study by Mark Chong of Singapore Management University-How Do Advertising Creative Directors Perceive Research?-published in the International Journal of...

Keeping it in the family.(SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD)
December 22, 2006... The debate over whether professional independent management is superior to owner-management has been going on for more than a century. A new study from management cousult-ant McKinsey suggests that, rather than either-or, a synthesis of the two...

Ready for prime time? After 18 months at the helm, Bertrand Meheut had managed to re-engineer Canal+ into a lean and profitable TV group. But there were still several strategic issues to confront.(CASE STUDY)(Company overview)
December 22, 2006... It was September 2003 and Bertrand Meheut had reason to be happy. After 18 months as chief executive of Canal+, he had rescued the French TV group from near-bankruptcy and he was now about to announce positive news to the press. With a new...

The invention of management; many of the great early civilisations had sophisticated management systems. One even had a textbook.
December 22, 2006... The modern world is often under the impression it invented management. But nothing could be further from the truth. Every one of the great civilisations of the past-in China, India, the Middle East and Peru-had sophisticated systems of...

EBF special feature in association with KPMG.
December 22, 2006... SCOTT PARKER, partner at KPMG LLP (UK), discusses a recent report into the changing role of the CFO. He says leading CFOs are centralising finance functions, spending more time on investor relations, and becoming key strategic partners to top...

Leaders: insights and opinions from the boardroom and beyond.
December 22, 2006... As you read this, something extraordinary is happening in Beijing. Vast, pioneering and often beautiful Olympic buildings are being finished early - and on budget. Just outside the city, the world's largest airport terminal is also taking...

Pariwar, talks about the unique philosophy behind India's largest private company, his country's rapid development, and how he gets the most out of the people working for him.(Leaders)(Company overview)
December 22, 2006... The story of Sahara India Pariwar is remarkable by any standard - a corporate fairy tale. In 1978, Subroto Roy, a man from a humble family with 15 dependents, founded a savings institution in Gorakhpur, a poor area in northern India. He had...

Pierre Beaudoin, president of Bombardier Aerospace, talks about running a large manufacturing enterprise, how to spot good managers, the pros and cons of family ownership, and letting go when the risks are too great.(LEADERS)
December 22, 2006... EBF: You're the grandson of Joseph-Armand Bombardier, the company's founder, and your father is Laurent Beaudoin, the current chairman of Bombardier Corp. Have you always seen yourself as a leader and wanted to be in charge of a company? ...

Leaders: Jozefina Topalli, speaker of the Albanian parliament, explains why her country should be part of the European Union, how her government is trying to push through economic reforms, and why there are still so few senior female politicians in Europe.
December 22, 2006... EBF: You once said: "It has never been easy to lead in Albanian politics". Why do you believe that? JT: I believe that it is never easy to lead. Leading requires making decisions, and decision-making is always difficult. As far as Albania...

Leaders.
December 22, 2006... EBF: In your new book Making Globalisation Work you say companies are approaching globalisation in the wrong way. What do you mean? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JS: Corporations have been at the centre of the success of globalisation - the...