European Business Forum articles from June 2001

European Business Forum archives from June 2001

Wanted--a talent for customisation.
June 22, 2001... Customisation is one of those bits of business jargon that caught boardroom imaginations a few years ago before fading into the shadows of other management 'fads'. Judging by the Summer Issue of EBF, though, customisation looks like becoming an...

How can companies weave a web of talent? In 1998 the consulting firm McKinsey & Company published the results of a survey with the eye-catching title The War for Talent. Based on responses from 77 US organisations and detailed case studies of another 20, the report highlighted "a severe and worsening shortage of the people needed to run divisions and manage critical functions, let alone lead companies".(At the forum)(Cover Story)
June 22, 2001... Had this been a merely cyclical problem it would probably have gone away by now. But numerous studies by grateful headhunters and other management consultants--not to say an update from McKinsey earlier this year--suggests that despite the...

Why companies may be held to ransom by their employees: the very idea that a collection of people turning ideas into products is a piece of property that can be owned by someone else will come to seem absurd.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... Talent--the ideas, skills, knowledge and experience that drive an organisation--is now recognised as the key attribute of every successful business. Yet those same organisations now find themselves caught up in a dilemma of their own making. In...

Copernican revolution or romantic fantasy? Managers will have to apply the logics of marketing to employees just as they have to their customers.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... The existence of a 'war for talent' suggests that the ideas, skills, knowledge and experience carried by individual people are strategically central; that the winners will be those companies that can attract and retain the best talent. This...

The 'net' effect on human resources: the future is about how companies can use web technology to help boost their 'employee' brand.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... Internet technology is transforming the way companies fight the 'war for talent'. The battle is not about the technology as such--this is a commodity that will soon be available to all--it's about the way managers use the technology to develop...

Craft not graft: respect for difference--not just in the traditional sense--can lead to a shared sense of corporate purpose and belonging.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... Much has been written on the impact of change on the world in which we both live and work. Business leaders and management consultants used to talk about change management or managing change as something driven by a particular event or process:...

A single European market for top talent: what's striking is that European-owned businesses are mixing it up at the top as much as North Americans.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... A British national is president of UBS, and another Brit leads L'Oreal. A Dutchman chairs Lloyds TSB and a Frenchman heads The Body Shop. A Belgian is at the helm of Marks & Spencer. At the highest levels of European business there is a truly...

Confronting the leadership issue: if growth is constrained by the mindsets of existing managers companies need to get smarter at replacing them.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... When the flag on the 'the War for Talent' was first raised two years ago I was working with a team of McKinsey consultants creating wider awareness of the issues. There were clear examples at the time of businesses such as General Electric,...

How to attract the new European elite: recruitment should be the final step of a process that starts with higher education.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... There is no doubt in my mind that the War for Talent is getting fiercer. Demographic trends show that the pool of talent is diminishing, while companies have learnt from the traumatic dot-com episode that their future increasingly depends on...

A terrible way of selecting people, but other methods are worse ... a sceptical look at psychometric testing undermines the assumptions that underpin selection itself.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... The psychometric test is a tool much used by professionals involved in the selection and assessment of potential recruits. But is it reliable and, if so, should it overrule an interviewer's intuition? As an extension to our summer forum EBF...

... a viable option for selecting people and not as bad as it looks: two global executive assessment consultants with perspectives from a practitioner standpoint.(At the forum)
June 22, 2001... The study of effective selection and assessment methods in any rigorous way is, by and large, an academic discipline with often only the most superficial distillations of the results penetrating through to the mainstream business world, despite...

In search of the urge to merge: EBF's Winter 2000 Forum explored the mergers and acquisitions process, highlighting reasons why transactions fall apart and integration fails. It inspired this article which analyses the forces driving takeovers--and the implications for managers.(Forum revisited: M & A)
June 22, 2001... My aim here is add some basic ideas to the interesting series of articles in Issue 4 of EBF (Winter 2000) which appeared under the provocative question: "Should we control the urge to merge?" In particular I will deal with issues raised by the...

Corporate governance audited: EBF's spring 2001 Forum sought to answer the question 'Is corporate governance delivering value?' Issues covered included the independence and structure of the board, transparency towards stakeholders, and different national models of governance. But what about the key role of auditors?(Forum revisited: Corporate Governance)
June 22, 2001... The times are over when we dared to say: "In God's good governance we trust." In recent years, the notion of corporate governance and the issues surrounding it have been reflected in the development of corporate law and boardroom practice. No...

Corporate social responsibility through government action: EBF's autumn 2000 Forum and winter 2000 Forum Revisited sections highlighted the growing pressures on business to be socially and environmentally responsible. But the opportunity for companies to work in partnership with politicians in this area is in danger of being overlooked.(forum on corporate social responsibility)
June 22, 2001... The role of business in society has never been so widely discussed. Much of the current debate centres on the notion that the authority of government has been diluted in the face of increasing corporate muscle. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Customising prices in online markets: to what extent has the internet influenced the strategies of those companies seeking to charge customers on the basis of what they are willing to pay? And are there now risks?(In-depth: online pricing)
June 22, 2001... It's a cloudy day in Manhattan--and there is a 60 per cent chance of showers. Sidewalks are filled with people and business continues as usual. Umbrella vendors have put themselves up at street corners, lifting some of their umbrellas in the...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: online pricing)(business transparency with e-commerce)
June 22, 2001... The internet changes the way business is done. Increased information exchange leads to an unprecedented transparency that creates a new environment for vendors and buyers. Companies have more information about their customers' behaviour, while...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: online pricing)
June 22, 2001... The article by Werner Reinartz is not only extremely interesting--it is very timely for me because at KLM we are about to go down exactly the pricing route the author describes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are three classic approaches...

'Green-ness' can be measured: among the surprising conclusions of a new European research project comes evidence that firms with environmental management systems may not be better environmental performers than their rivals.(In-depth: environmental measurement)
June 22, 2001... Among the human activities imposing a heavy burden on our environment, industrial activities are in the foreground. While in the previous two or three decades the behaviour of industries was mainly dictated by government, some companies have...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: environmental measurement)(environmental performance key aspect in industrial management)
June 22, 2001... To an industry novice, the selection of simple but meaningful environmental performance indicators can seem a complicated process. Challenges include the differing requirements of internal and external stakeholders, the often variable data...

The long working hours culture: research over the last four years suggests UK managers are paying a high price for adapting to change. But are continental European executives under similar strain?(In-depth: working hours)
June 22, 2001... Since 1997 we have been researching the changes that have been taking place in UK business organisations and assessing the implications of these changes on the nature of managerial work and the tensions between the working and non-working lives...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: working hours)
June 22, 2001... Oh my God, what a life! If it's true that managers in the UK work long hours (either because they have to do the work of those who have been fired on top of their own work, or simply because they are expected to be in the office) then we are...

Elite graduate expectations: to get the best business school graduates, companies need first to understand what they want.(In-depth: war for talent)
June 22, 2001... The war for business school talent in Europe is set to increase in intensity. The winners will be those firms that have the most profound understanding of what European business school graduates are seeking from employment and what they believe...

Recruiting and retaining the digital generation: the organisation and the individual have become increasingly interdependent in the new economy.(In-depth: war for talent)
June 22, 2001... The shortage of young people in Europe's labour markets is well documented. Last year's Lisbon Summit, for example, reported that European Union countries required an additional 600,000 IT specialists to meet current demand--a figure likely to...

Ways of assessing talent: application form, reference and interview. These are some of the traditional techniques still used by employers, but what other tools are available and what national differences can be discerned?(In-depth: war for talent)
June 22, 2001... Ways of assessing talent divide into the traditional, such as application form, reference, and interview, and the 'post-traditional', which includes graphology, biographical methods, work samples, assessment centres, and structured interviews,...

Who will win in global food retailing? Supermarket operators the world over have radically shifted their strategies over the last decade. Two 'models'--a European and a North American one--are struggling for global supremacy.(Sounding board)
June 22, 2001... As in other industries supermarket operators have been forced to alter course as predominantly national food markets became significantly more global, first in Western Europe and the US but also in Latin America, Central Europe and many parts...

The benefits of globalisation: from the streets of Seattle and London to the 'alternative Davos' in Porto Alegre popular voices against international capitalism have become increasingly strident. The other side of the case--notably the positive social and economic impact of globalisation--deserves to be heard.(Sounding board)
June 22, 2001... The recent backlash against globalisation--particularly the 'alternative' World Economic Forum in Porto Alegre--has been hailed by the international press (see Le Monde Diplomatique and The Financial Times, February 23-24) as a significant...

How dragons can mutate into paper tigers: power dynamics can make an authoritarian system very successful but also vulnerable and insecure. In vying for international prestige Chinese statesmen are pursuing a set of targets they believe will boost the country's future growth and glory. But there are reputational risks of which all leaders should be aware.(Sounding board)
June 22, 2001... Reputation, or face, is an invisible asset that leaders need to nourish carefully. Warfare strategists know that it is easier to lose a yard than take an inch. Reputation can generate high returns, especially when multiplied and leveraged at...

The new ICE age: focusing on the individual; 'Horizontal' strategies are as important as 'vertical' ones in the converging world of information, communication and entertainment. What are the challenges and how should businesses respond?(Sounding board)(information, communication and entertainment)
June 22, 2001... Fundamental change is under way across the information, communication and entertainment (ICE) industries. Markets that were formerly distinct, discrete and vertical in nature are coming together across their old boundaries. Horizontal...

Designs on the elite: EBF talks to Jacques-Olivier Piednoir of Cadence Design Systems.(View from the top)(Interview)
June 22, 2001... In fifteen years of recruiting people to work for companies at Sophia Antipolis, Jacques-Olivier Piednoir says no one ever turned down a job offer on the grounds that they did not like the environment of this high technology business park near...

Cultural transformer: EBF talks to Bruno de la Riviere of Dun & Bradstreet.(View from the top)(Interview)
June 22, 2001... Dun & Bradstreet is as close as you get to a 'household name' among companies which sell exclusively to other businesses. Founded in the United States 160 years ago, D & B provides 'information and technology solutions' to help businesses...

Does humour travel?(Cartoon)
June 22, 2001... ANON, INDIA [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANON, FRANCE [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PIERO TONIN, ITALY [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Dr. Baratti is our company psychologist. I brought him along to tell you that you're crazy if you go...

Online growth pangs: in the Winter 2000 edition of EBF we introduced four companies newly created by alumni of the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS). Three months later (Spring 2001) growth pains were evident but all four remained optimistic about the future. Here are their latest reports from the front line.(Entrepreneurs)
June 22, 2001... Going against the gurus Samsari Education is an e-learning business based in Sweden I remember a lecture at business school during which Kjell Nordstrom, a management guru, kept on repeating "No, no, no!". He talked about his role in...

If the US sneezes, which Western European economies will catch a cold? Some EU countries are more vulnerable to a slowdown in the US economy than others.(European economics)
June 22, 2001... The US economy has slowed sharply since the second quarter of last year and both US and global equity prices have fallen significantly since their peak in March 2000. The consensus view is that US growth will average only around 1.5 per cent...

Anamnesis of three powers: translated from German, this essay is the winner of a student competition run by the University of St. Gallen (a CEMS member school).(Sideways look)
June 22, 2001... If we want to reduce the complex phenomenon of power to a single equation, 'money equals power' presents itself as a possibility. However, upon more intensive examination, money appears to be more of a purely external measure of the dimensions...

Myths debunked.(Book Review)
June 22, 2001... Adair Turner, Just Capital: The Liberal Economy Macmillan, 2001 Does globalisation imply the slow death of the European social model? Some free market thinkers have argued that it does because European governments that fail to scale...

Green bankers.(Book Review)
June 22, 2001... J. J. Bouma, M. Jeucken, L. Klinkers (eds) Sustainable Banking Greenleaf publishing in association with Deloitte and Touche Subtitled "The Greening of Finance", this edited collection tackles the important subject of the role that...

Points of departure.(Book Review)
June 22, 2001... Jeremy Harding, The Uninvited, Refugees at the Rich Man's Gate Profile Books, 2000 "The object is not the point of departure for analysis but its ideal destination" Walter Benjamin The United Kingdom likes to think of itself...

Caviar to the general.(Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Part of the world's sturgeon population has been effectively imprisoned by the United Nations body known as the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Attempting to halt the rapidly dwindling supplies of sturgeon in...

Online jobseek.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... INSEAD's first ever online careers fair in May--organised by MBA-Exchange--attracted 324 students studying for their MBAs and involved 16 companies, including General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and Winterthur Insurance. The virtual jobseekers...

Too cool for skool?(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... A European Union report shows that the UK has one of the biggest drop out rates after secondary schooling in Europe. Twenty per cent of 18-24 year olds either drop out of school or do not go on to further education. In Northern Europe the only...

What keeps you awake?(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... What keeps European directors awake at night? A recent survey of 20 European directors conducted by the Brussels-based executive and training and development company Krauthammer International suggests the top two concerns of corporate leaders...

The book that Jack signed.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Publicity about imminent retirement can do wonders for your market value--at least if you happen to be an all-American business hero. A few months after surprising the financial markets with GE's proposed $45bn acquisition of Honeywell and...

The EU's other single market.(Did you know?)(European Union)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Could the European buying binge in the United States be coming to an end? Last year alone, according to the US Commerce Department, European companies poured a quarter of a trillion dollars into the US amounting to 80 per cent of all direct...

Breathing space.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... A new book has claimed that London's air is getting cleaner and that it is at its cleanest since the Middle Ages. Professor Bjorn Lomborg of Aarhus University has written The Skeptical Environmentalist. In it he claims the level of smoke...

72%.(Did you know?)(internet support the management of human resources)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... 72% of companies use the internet to support the management of human resources. Source: Collinson Grant

Lonesome cowboy.(Did you know?)
June 22, 2001... The word 'maverick' comes from Samuel A. Maverick (1803-70), a Texas engineer who refused to brand any of the cattle he owned so that, in the middle of the nineteenth century, maverick came to mean at first an unbranded calf or yearling and...

Rushing Russians.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... The Russian economy has been going through a merger boom this year with many companies created by the privatisations of the early 1990s coming together to form a few powerful groups. In the last 18 months the aluminium industry--whose...

Scottish prowess.(Did you know?)(sperm quality )(Brief Article)
June 22, 2001... Scots produce the best quality sperm in Europe, a new study claims. Researchers found that Edinburgh men top the poll with sperm that was 15 per cent more potent than that of the continent's traditional lovers--men from Paris. Samples from the...

Poet's complaint.(Did you know?)
June 22, 2001... THE WAR ON TALENT "brush up those sweeping statements and your degree of copernican revolt turns sacroscant for the daily blurb with live coverage by the too cool for skool per se leaping sans phrase that little education's a danger thing but...

News from EBF founders.
June 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 E-Markets: realism, not pessimism. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

CEMS is a strategic alliance of leading universities and international companies whose objective is to shape Europe's management education and research and to offer a Master's level degree programme for Europe's undergraduate elite.(News from EBF founders)(Community of European Management Schools)(Brief Article)
June 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...