European Business Forum articles from March 22 2008

European Business Forum archives from March 22 2008

An acclaimed entrepreneur says "social enterprise" will become a popular way to do business in the years ahead.(Last word)
March 22, 2008... * Are we doing enough to stop climate change? No. The trouble is that the politicisation of the debate has itself led to a lot of delay. There is so much disagreement about the amount of C02 that is acceptable that we risk spending time arguing...

A leading Asia observer gives his views on China's future, "decoupling", and what a shift in power might mean for the West.(Leaders)(Company overview)
March 22, 2008... * Commentators have described the 21st century as the "Asian century", with the balance of economic power shifting from West to East. What is your view of the future of Asia? Will growth continue at current rates? I think there is very...

The head of a large energy services firm says the era of easy oil is well and truly over.(Leaders)
March 22, 2008... Bespectacled, dressed in a sharp blue suit, and sitting in a capacious corner office in London's Piccadilly, Ayman Asfari does not come across as an adventuring international oilman, at least not in the classic, buccaneering, sense. And,...

The view from the boardroom and beyond. Siemens' new CEO has a lot on his plate, including a major bribery scandal and a top-to-bottom re-organisation. The long-term aim, he says, is to emulate the success of Jack Welch and General Electric.(Leaders)
March 22, 2008... Peter Loscher dominates any room he walks into. At six-feet-five inches tall, this former captain of the Austrian volleyball team likes to stand up dead straight, accentuating his height advantage further. This causes almost everybody including...

The breaking of Standard Oil: Ida Tarbell's reporting not only led to the dismantling of Standard Oil. It also changed US attitudes to big business.(History lesson)
March 22, 2008... At the beginning of the twentieth century, Standard Oil was one of the world's largest and most powerful corporations. It had an effective monopoly of oil production and distribution in the United States, and controlled a large share of the...

Thales: in defence of independence; With rivals poised to pounce, is there a way for Thales to remain a standalone company?(Case study)(Company overview)
March 22, 2008... As he crossed the Place de la Bastille in Paris, Denis Ranque, chairman and CEO of the Thales Groups, saw a poster advertising a performance of Rigoletto at the Opera Bastille. He had VIP tickets for the day's show, but he did not know if he...

Corporate responsibility: beyond the hype: so-called "stakeholders" have relatively little influence on decision-making at Europe's large companies.(In depth)(Company overview)
March 22, 2008... Advocates of corporate sustainability in the media, business and civil society claim that stakeholder pressure on companies to improve their social and environmental performance is rising. But does this claim hold up against a sober empirical...

Managing by values: many successful organisations are characterised by strong and widely held systems of values. How do managers embed these values and align them with an organisation's strategic goals?
March 22, 2008... This article presents a model of Managing by Values (MBV) as a framework for leaders and managers today. In the wake of the corporate scandals of recent years, integrity has become an increasingly important attribute of both leaders and...

The secrets of career success in the 21st century: how do the careers of European and US CEOs compare? A new study suggests that we may need to rethink some popular notions.(In depth)
March 22, 2008... What are the secrets of career success in the modern business world? What experiences, qualifications and characteristics are required to get to the top? And how do career paths compare across countries and continents? Are they the same, for...

The success of Nokia and others has made Finland proud. But can its companies remain Finnish?(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... Finland offers an interesting case study in any discussion of national identify and corporate performance, as its companies have changed fundamentally over the last 15 years. Until 1993, the Finnish economy was marked by a heavy commitment to...

Globalisation has reduced the ability of the state to effect economic and civic change. That leaves global companies with great power and great responsibility.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... We know that globalisation has taken us beyond internationalisation (exchanges and relationships between countries or states) and multi-nationalisation (with its strategies for transfer and offshoring of resources in search of higher...

"National champion" status can be a mixed blessing. Just ask some of India's most prominent companies.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... No, in this globalised world, national identity is no longer important. Over the long-term, companies that focus on being national champions will lose out to free-playing rivals that concentrate on what matters. What the latter lack in national...

Nationality tends not to figure very strongly in modern corporate branding efforts. But don't count it out just yet.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... Interest in "identity" has grown relentlessly over the past few decades. We now ponder who we are as individuals, as members of organisations, as participants in communities (fan clubs, sports teams, and so on). And, we struggle to make sense...

To share knowledge effectively, firms must learn to be less ethnocentric.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... Norwegian firms are relative late-starters as multinational enterprises. Swedish companies, tended to internationalise earlier, by contrast. It is only in the last decade that Norwegian firms have started to fully internationalise-in the sense...

The lack of mobility in the international executive labour market proves that where senior management is concerned nationality still matters a great deal.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... As they try to pass the time during endless rounds of meetings, fonctionnaires at the European Commission sometimes play a game. It's called "spot the nationality." The aim is to decipher small signals sent by meeting participants--body...

Denmark's "cartoon crisis" shows how corporate and national reputations are intertwined. It is in the interests of both companies and states to work together.(Debate Does nationality still matter?)
March 22, 2008... The question we should be addressing is not so much whether national identity still matters, but rather: "how does globalisation affect the construction of national identity and the role companies play?" In 2006, Denmark became front-page...

Does nationality still matter? The importance of nationality to organisational performance depends on the sector. In some, it seems to have little bearing. In others, it is still a critical factor.(Debate)
March 22, 2008... Does nationality Still matter? It does--though less than it used to. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the one hand, national identity is not a major driver of business performance: successful global companies come from a variety of...

Managing operations with a sense-of-place.(Observations)
March 22, 2008... All of us have at least one special place, somewhere that resonates with meaning and allows us to relax. It may be a place where we call home, or somewhere we go for sun, laughter, or adventure. It could also be our place of work. What do...

The IT alignment problem.(Observations)
March 22, 2008... Most companies believe that IT goals must be aligned with business goals to create value. Yet fewer understand that alignment alone does not guarantee performance. In fact, it can be a trap. Charles Schwab gained prominence in financial...

Personalisation overload.(Observations)
March 22, 2008... Most marketing conferences these days feature topics such as "relationship marketing", "permission marketing", "1:1 marketing", "personalisation" or "CRM". In fact, finding one without one of these subjects would be hard. Relationship...

Executive pay's faulty market.(Observations)
March 22, 2008... We probably all know examples of executives earning several millions of euros in salary, bonuses, and options. Almost every day the media reports on what seem like excessively generous pay packages. It is also likely that you entertain an...

Letter from the editors.
March 22, 2008... In Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift portrays two nations ready to go to war over the subject of which end of a boiled egg should be broken in order to eat it. The Big-Enders and the Little-Enders are each convinced of their rightness and the...

CEMS an authority in management education.(Community of European Management Schools and International Companies )
March 22, 2008... COMMUNITY OF EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT SCHOOLS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES www.cems.org The Community of European Management Schools and International Companies (CEMS) is an alliance of leaders in business and higher education. Founded...