European Business Forum articles from January 2005

European Business Forum archives from January 2005

Rewards for all?(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... The old adage of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work seems like a distant memory from a simpler age. Today's diverse workforce expects much more--target-related pay, stock options, career development plans, flexible working hours and...

What is the best way to reward people?
January 1, 2005... Growing attention has been focused on top people's rewards, notably on so-called 'rewards for failure'. But rewards systems remain a difficult challenge at every level of the organisation. Are we any nearer to agreement on what constitutes...

Debate re-opened.(tax avoidance)
January 1, 2005... In the Autumn 2004 issue of EBF we asked the question: 'How serious are the alternatives to globalisation?' In response to this, Matti Kohonen and Sven Giegold of Attac suggest an overhaul of corporate taxation in the global context, while...

Directors in the hot seat.(corporate governance )
January 1, 2005... The role of directors in public companies is one of the most controversial issues in corporate governance. Before an audience of company directors and investors in London in November, Dechert LLP, the international law firm, organised a debate...

Has CSR outlived its usefulness?(corporate social responsibility)
January 1, 2005... At the recent European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) colloquium, hosted by Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, the audience was asked whether the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility had outlived its usefulness, and considered...

Does humour travel?(Cartoon)
January 1, 2005... AUSTRIA "I had imagined team coaching as something quite different!" OSWALD HUBER [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BELGIUM THE DEBATE ON THE EXTENSION OF WORKING HOURS "GO TO HELL!" "By the time they reach an agreement, I'll...

Insights on competition, high-technology take-offs, social entrepreneurship and business in Asia.(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... EDITOR'S NOTE The in-depth section of EBF--which you will find in the next 23 pages--represents a change of style and pace for the reader. While the preceding EBF debate dealt with a specific theme, here we broaden the focus to look at a...

The unstoppable growth of electronics manufacturing: the assembling of printed circuit boards, electronics subsystems, and finished electronics-based products is a global market expected to be worth more than [euro]1.2 trillion in 2004 and is forecast to grow to [euro]1.5 trillion by 2007.(Industry futures)
January 1, 2005... The Gulfstream G550 jet, the trendy iPod, the addictive PlayStation and the sleek Sony wall-size plasma TV all have something in common. Not the fact that they are all at the top of your wish list. Rather, each of them relies on the lowly...

Grumpy bosses just sleep-deprived.(sleep-deprived managers behavior)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A quarter of Britain's bosses are likely to be in a bad mood at work because of too little sleep, a study titled 'Dream On: Sleep in the 24/7 Society' shows. The research found that half of sleep-deprived managers admitted to shouting at...

Begging for success.(internet firm's employee resource management)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A Chinese internet firm sent new sales staff out on the street to beg as part of their training. Owner Li Jing-hua said the exercise was designed to teach new staff to be thick-skinned and less self-conscious. "Making the staff kneel on the...

Quick! Hans has taken his shoes off!(Germans annoying aspect of their jobs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Germans find smelly co-workers to be the most annoying aspect of their jobs, according to a survey by the German business magazine Junge Karriere. The survey found 38 per cent of German office workers were 'most bothered' by the smells of their...

Keeping up appearances.(New service that sends postcards from exotic locations on behalf of holidaymakers )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A new service that sends postcards from exotic locations on behalf of holidaymakers is doing well in Germany. The MayDayCard service enables people to have cards sent to friends from exotic places even though they are holidaying elsewhere. The...

'Hard-working' job ads discriminate against the lazy.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A British businesswoman has been banned from asking for 'hard-working' staff in a job ad because it discriminates against the lazy. Beryl King was told by a Jobcentre that her advert for warehouse workers "who must be hard-working and reliable"...

Toy factory takes on children as advisers.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A toy factory in Beijing has advertised for children to become product advisers. More than 800 children, aged two to 14, flocked to the firm's office in the Chinese capital hoping to be selected. The company said it would invite 20 children to...

Lawyer's [euro]440,000 for writing letter.(Dr Juergen Graefe)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A German lawyer has entered the Guinness Book of Records after earning [euro]440,000 for less than an hour's work. Dr Juergen Graefe won the fee for sending a standard letter to the German taxman to correct an elderly client's tax bill. The...

Realising leadership potential.(European Business Forum's Leadership Potential)
January 1, 2005... Ashridge and EBF combined in November to stage a breakfast meeting in London on 'Leading to success: realising the leadership potential in your organisation'. Moderated by EBF's Rosemary Radcliffe, the debate kicked off with opening...

The slacker's new bible.(Idle Job Advise)
January 1, 2005... A French electricity worker is facing a disciplinary hearing after publishing a book that shows you how to survive in French corporate culture without doing any work. In Bonjour Paresse (Hello Laziness), Corinne Maier advises her readers to...

Gates is world's most 'spammed' person.(antispam technology controls e-mail traffic)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... E-mail users inundated with unsolicited spam messages have reason to hope Microsoft Corp. will develop better tools for tackling the problem: Bill Gates is suffering more than anyone. Gates, Microsoft's chairman, gets four million emails a day...

Executive education.(Needs of Training for Executives)
January 1, 2005... In an era when knowledge is becoming the most important source of competitive advantage, executives need to be able to draw on the knowledge of business schools. This new section of EBF aims to close the gap between business leaders and...

The secret codes of the 'silent language': beyond words, much of our communication takes place in ways we are scarcely aware of. It all happens in the limbic system of the brain that predates human speech. Understanding these non-verbal clues can be crucial to international dealings.(non-verbal communication)
January 1, 2005... In the seminal film 2001, A Space Odyssey, the opening scene gave voice to the primitive language of our forbears. It consisted mainly of grunts and threatening gestures. Science today accepts that hominids first stood up on two legs five...

Why the new constitution may split Europe: as ten nations begin to prepare for referenda on the new European Constitution, the future of the newly enlarged European Union hangs in the balance. After the voting, Europe may have to reorganise.(Reorganization and restructuring of European Union)
January 1, 2005... If only they had not called it a constitution, there would not have been such a problem. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 2001, with the enlargement of the European Union to 25 member states only a few years away, Europe's political leaders...

In my opinion.(Euroskeptics openion)
January 1, 2005... I am a confirmed Eurosceptic. Cut me anywhere to the bone and you'll find I am a solid Eurosceptic. Of all the things that make my blood boil, the people who are saying the European Constitution is a mere 'tidying-up operation' come first. It's...

Will the distant past of empires become the near future? Since the era of de-colonisation, many of the world's poorest countries have proven unable to govern themselves and manage their economies. For their sake, and for the stability of the world, it may be time to reconsider the benefits of neo-colonialism, argues a leading Russian political scientist.(Economic aspects of Soviet Union)
January 1, 2005... In 1991 the Soviet Union abruptly fell to Earth, and the events that followed amount to perhaps the most shameful end of a great empire in the annals of history. Some 25 million ethnic Russians were abandoned in the former Soviet republics, a...

The role of the subsidiary in harnessing global knowledge: new research indicates that large international companies are moving beyond centralisation to tap the creativity and brainpower of their foreign subsidiaries. The impact is proving positive for both the centre and the periphery.(Economic Condition of Companies)
January 1, 2005... Ten years ago, gaining economies of scale was probably considered the number one advantage of operating as a global company. Today, it is increasingly clear that the top advantage is the ability to harness learning and innovation from...

Winning with the 'big-box' retailers; Large-scale retailing in specialist hyperstores is changing the way suppliers work, and store brands are threatening established producers of durable goods. Bain & Company says there is a message for manufacturers: adapt or die.(Sounding Board)
January 1, 2005... Manufacturers of consumer goods have had little choice in recent years but to adapt to the rapid growth of hyperstore retailers, the so-called 'big-box' chains. Stores that push the limits of scale and selection have remade their markets--from...

How bosses reveal their attitudes towards employees: can you tell if your boss really has faith in your ability to solve problems and manage your operation? If you think you can, chances are that the people reporting to you can also read your behaviour. Your low expectations may have more impact on them than you think.
January 1, 2005... Research with thousands of executives from around the world indicates that the behaviour of bosses towards underperforming employees is pretty much universal regardless of culture or nationality. The vast majority of bosses have quite distinct...

What we owe to Chinese classical economics: where did modern economics originate? History shows that concepts of inflation, regulation and the free market can all be traced to ancient China, whose ideas were later refined by the Enlightenment thinkers.(Economic and Business Activities)
January 1, 2005... As China's economic power and importance continue to grow, the world watches to see how its economic and business culture will develop. Many are convinced that China is shedding all traces of its socialist past, already making the transition to...

Leader in diversity: EBF talks to Pierre Jean Everaert, Chairman of InBev.(European Business Forum)(Personal Narratives)(Interview)
January 1, 2005... Pierre Jean Everaert is chairman of the board of InBev (formerly Interbrew), a [euro]9 billion worldwide corporation based in Belgium. A US citizen, Everaert was born in Belgium and graduated in industrial engineering from the University of...

Why US deficits get worse: the way out of the US trade deficit may be a stronger dollar, not a weaker one, because of the way the world economy now works. Policymakers need to fight economic insanity and forget those old remedies that no longer work.(Letter from Boston)
January 1, 2005... Allow me a heretical view which I share with only a few members of the lunatic fringe of the economics profession. That notion is, to turn around the US trade deficit, the dollar must climb higher. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For at least...

News from EBF founders.(European Business Forum)(German Business Network)
January 1, 2005... PricewaterhouseCoopers is active in understanding the evolving global business environment and its implications. Here are some recent examples: UK German Business Network PwC's German Business Network (GBN) comprises a...

Annual events 2004.(Community of European Management Schools)
January 1, 2005... The beautiful cities of Stockholm and Helsinki paid host to the CEMS Annual Events 2004, where a packed programme kept the CEMS stakeholders busy from Thursday 2nd until Sunday 5th of December. The CEMS Executive Board engaged in debate on...