European Business Forum articles from September 2000

European Business Forum archives from September 2000

Responsible optimism in the air.(Letter from the Editors)(Editorial)
September 22, 2000... However important and newsworthy the topic, there are always two challenges when issues of corporate social responsibility are aired. The first is to find something new to say, the second is to give the discussion a hard business edge. In...

Will the internet encourage more responsible business?(At the forum)(Cover Story)
September 22, 2000... Street protestors outside the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle last year sent a powerful warning to 21st century business. Summed up by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, their message was that global...

Does EU enlargement really matter? Political and economic changes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have created substantial new business opportunities over the last decade. But how should companies respond to the process of enlargement that will see much of CEE admitted to full membership of the European Union (EU)?(In-depth: EU enlargement)
September 22, 2000... In an effort to address this important strategic question and better understand the issues of EU enlargement for corporate decision makers we recently completed a major study based on interviews with senior executives from nearly 40 companies....

In my opinion ...(In-depth: EU enlargement)
September 22, 2000... The European Business Forum article--based on a PricewaterhouseCoopers report--provides a welcome summary of how business views EU enlargement. But it is a polite report. It is analytical and objective. It does not give a feel for the challenge...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: EU enlargement)
September 22, 2000... As Mark Ambler makes clear in his article, many of the challenges and opportunities arising from EU accession are not really new for the IT industry in Central and Eastern Europe, or for Graphisoft in particular. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Brands that grow: the compelling logic of innovation; The onus on all brands in an area like consumer goods, where the scope for growth is limited, is to innovate in order to grow. If brands fail to innovate then they face the prospect of falling behind their rivals and declining shareholder value creation.(In-depth: brand innovation)
September 22, 2000... In today's competitive markets for branded consumer goods, growth carries a premium. Everyone seeks it, yet only a few are able to attain it. Even more of a rarity is a brand's ability to sustain its growth over an extended length of time. ...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: brand innovation)
September 22, 2000... 'Connectivity, speed, and intangibles--the derivatives of time, space and mass--are blurring the rules and redefining our businesses and our lives. They are destroying solutions, such as mass production, segmented pricing, and standardised...

How to get the best results from alliances: the secret to good alliances is simplicity both in terms of collaboration and strategic autonomy. A simple matrix is proposed in this article.(In-depth: managing alliances)
September 22, 2000... Alliances with other companies are an integral part of corporate life. No matter what industry or country, alliances are essential tools by which companies reduce costs and gain access to technology, products and markets. Recent research...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: managing alliances)
September 22, 2000... The authors of this article are addressing one of the most critical issues on the managerial agenda today--that of managing alliances successfully. Strategic alliances are sweeping through nearly every industry and most managers now recognise...

Adjusting project management techniques to uncertainty: why Critical Path thinking needs to be replaced on occasions by Contingency thinking.(In-depth: project management)
September 22, 2000... For virtually every engineer and project manager, a discussion of project management triggers two related concepts: the Critical Path Method (CPM) and the PERT or Gantt chart. These techniques (developed in the 1950s) enable project managers to...

In my opinion ...(In-depth: project management)
September 22, 2000... As the boundaries of project management have been pushed into more varied situations, complexity and uncertainty have become today's primary challenges. The work of Messrs Loch, Pich and De Meyer demonstrates the value of codifying the...

Financial shared service centres: hype and reality; Is this centralisation by another name, or a market driven approach?(In-depth: shared service centres)
September 22, 2000... Shared Service Centres (SSC) are autonomous operating units providing services to different businesses and geographical entities in group companies. Pioneered by American corporations, SSCs have also proliferated in Europe as companies have...

Making knowledge management work: companies everywhere are striving to turn the theory of "Knowledge Management" into workable practice. Here a senior executive of global industrial group GKN describes the positive results of the group's eighteen-month-old innovation and learning programme.(Sounding board)
September 22, 2000... 'As an employee of GKN you have the power and resources of a huge global company at your fingertips. Why not use it, and make your mark on our future?' With those words in April 1999 GKN launched an ambitious knowledge sharing programme...

Pricing internet stocks: traditional methods of stock valuation can give very conflicting results in e-business.(Sounding board)
September 22, 2000... Terra Networks, the crown jewel of Spanish Internet companies, went public on November 17, 1999 at [euro]11.87. It closed its first day of trading at [euro]37, and quickly went on to reach a high of [euro]139.75 on February 25, 2000, for a gain...

Germany ahead of the online game: a new index of European dot com stocks has some surprising results.(Sounding board)
September 22, 2000... Contrary to what many might have expected, Germany has become the dominant internet economy in Europe. This is the picture that emerges from a new index of European dot com shares, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Internet 150*, which tracks...

A contribution to better German governance: a new "Scorecard" can help monitor company performance.(Sounding board)
September 22, 2000... Intensive demands for visible corporate governance rules for German companies--notably from international investors--have produced substantial progress of late. In January 2000, the German Panel on Corporate Governance, a ten member group of...

Mike Harris, CEO of Egg.(View from the top)(Interview)
September 22, 2000... The internet bank Egg has been one of Europe's most eye catching 'dot coms' since its launch in October 1998. The name, its juicy deposit rates and a flagging share price have all made colourful headlines but the company--more than 70 per cent...

Dominik von Braun: managing director of StepStone, Germany; Young German entrepreneurs are less of a rarity than they were when Dominik von Braun founded Careernet.de five years ago. After selling out to Stepstone of Oslo he now runs the German company of the European online recruiting and career services group. Here he talks to EBF about the digitised job search, the German business environment and the impact of European legislation.(View from the top)(Interview)
September 22, 2000... EBF Did you feel unusual among Germans of your age when you decided to start a new business? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dominik von Braun When we started back in late 1995, I did not have very much business experience. However, I have...

Does humour travel?(Cartoon)
September 22, 2000... You can't halt progress 'I broke into a safe!' 'Using a crowbar?'. 'No with a mouse!'. 'Wow!' NICOLAS VADOT, LE VIF/L'EXPRESS, BELGIUM [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 'This new 4570mhz system with super high-speed dsl...

Today's Asia for tomorrow's Europe: Europe should revive imperial dreams, but transmute them to the creation of an electronic empire or risk being left behind by history.(Window on the world)
September 22, 2000... 'The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions', according to Confucius. The humility of many Asians is proverbial. Yet investments ranging from the Three-Gorges Dam in China to ambitious National Car projects elsewhere...

Fixed line telephones in a fix: European countries have still not solved the problem of the 'local loop'--but competition may have its downsides too.(Window on Europe)
September 22, 2000... The fixed line telecommunications market in Europe has been going through a significant and comprehensive reform process. In the not so distant past, every aspect of fixed-line telephony was controlled by national monopolies. In some European...

The privacy paradox.(The Hundredth Window--Protecting your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet)(Book Review)
September 22, 2000... Charles Jennings and Lori Fena, The Hundredth Window--Protecting your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet Free Press, 2000 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the paradoxes of our so-called Information Age is that as society...

Managing owners.(Capitalism for tomorrow: reuniting ownership and control)(Book Review)
September 22, 2000... Allen Sykes, Capitalism for tomorrow: reuniting ownership and control Capstone Publishing, 2000 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Allen Sykes, a well-known commentator on corporate governance, believes that, despite the changes resulting...

In defence of derivatives.(The Fisherman and the Rhinoceros: How International Finance Shapes Everyday Life)(Book Review)
September 22, 2000... Eric Briys & Francois De Varenne, The Fisherman and the Rhinoceros: How International Finance Shapes Everyday Life Wiley [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The title of this translation is more enchanting than La Mondialisation financiere:...

How e-business can transform the corporate centre: managers must have an eye for 'value propositions'--and the skills to grasp them.(Book extract)
September 22, 2000... Corporate headquarters affect nearly every aspect of their companies' functioning. Situated at the hub of the organisation, they influence the most important decisions, from strategic orientation to M & A and from management values to the...

Surf before you take off: there are plenty of sites to choose from when planning trips abroad.(Web.europe)
September 22, 2000... Travel information is an area where the web excels. Not only can you find up to the minute information geared to your needs, but you can also act on it immediately by making all the arrangements you need from a single site. A good general...

San Francisco.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... San Francisco voters will have the chance in November to vote on Propositions, which require local companies to contribute money for transit, childcare and charities. They would also place limits on the growth of new office space.

Salon's Damien Cave.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Salon's Damien Cave told the e-mail digest Business Thinkers.com that building a business in San Francisco means joining the community. "Dot.com or not-com--all businesses need to be socially responsible," adds Bigstep.com CEO Andrew Beebe.

It is not enough to be responsible at home.(Did you know?)(Corporate Code of Conduct Act)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have made sweeping proposals to regulate U.S.-based multinational corporations' global operations. Representative Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from Georgia, has introduced the Corporate Code of...

BMW--the idealistic loner.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Has BMW come up with the answer to car pollution? A recent edition of Business Week describes the "warm odourless steam" (water vapour) coming out of the back of one of its 15-strong fleet of hydrogen-powered 750hL sedans and the proud boast of...

Customer service lost in cyberspace.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... So you think the web improves customer service? These indicators were all picked up by Internet World: * Eighty per cent of on-line retailers fail to meet basic customer service standards, with no guarantee of security, slow delivery times...

Online beauty contest in Germany.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Men may be spending more time and money on their appearance--but an article in the technology magazine e-business suggests that the online market for cosmetics in Germany is dominated by women. Less of a surprise if you know that, according to...

A 'French touch'.(Did you know?)(Singapore Airlines appoints Eric Lepleux)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... For the first time Singapore Airlines has appointed a European to take control of one of its subsidiaries. Eric Lepleux, 34, has become CEO of the Asian airline's French operating business--a move being hailed as a real revolution for the 54...

Would Marie-Antoinette have wanted a Swatch?(Did you know?)(Breguet appoints Nicolas Hayek)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Nicolas Hayek, the founder and CEO of the group Swatch, has recently also been appointed CEO of the legendary Breguet watchmaking business. One of his first moves was to inaugurate a new shop and museum in Paris' Place Vendome. The brand was...

wc.in-vienna.com.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Vienna has gone on-line with a wc web site listing 340 toilets available to the public. The www.wien.at/ma48/wc site lists toilets by district and indicates whether they are subterranean, accessible by wheelchair, etc. Click on an entry and a...

A muse in the workplace.(Did you know?)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... For more than 25 years John Barr, founder of the Societe Generale-owned investment banking boutique Barr Devlin Associates and one-time senior Morgan Stanley executive, pursued parallel lives as a businessman and a poet. President emeritus...

dot tv tycoon in Asia-Pacific.(Did you know?)(Tuvalu)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... Tuvalu--a group of nine small atolls spread over an area of 10 square miles about 600 miles north of Fiji which is one of the planet's poorest countries- is emerging as an early leader in the race for non 'dot com' domain names. Tuvalu's...

Holiday hell.(Did you know?)(American workers use mobile devices)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... About 83 per cent of American workers with an annual income of more than $75,000 remained in contact with the office during their holiday this summer, according to a survey from Andersen Consulting. Mobile devices were popular with 60 percent...

Model, model on the wall.(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2000... Dear Sir The debate on the existence and value of a European management model has been fascinating. I personally have learnt a good deal, although, as is common in debates of this kind, I have not changed any core views. First, as Richard...

Euro corridor.(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2000... Dear Sir I would like to express my compliments on the article by Richard Kohler and Matthias Richard Bacher on pricing strategies for the euro published in EBF Issue 1 (Spring 2000). The euro price corridor concept which the article...

Academia here to stay.(Letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2000... Dear Sir Being an academic I was amused by the Grady Means and David Schneider article on the metamarket (EBF Issue 2). Some of their predictions are already a reality: we no longer have tenure, applications are dropping, exclusive and...

Pushy continentals and the ECB.(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2000... Twenty months on the euro is having a significant impact on the European corporate scene. M & A activity has risen significantly and the corporate bond market has grown substantially. A truly European management model--in the sense that it will...

PricewaterhouseCoopers is committed to understanding the implications for businesses of the key drivers that are changing Europe.(News from EBF founders)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The drivers of change operating across Europe and globally are unprecedented. Distinctive European, as well as global, issues are transforming the business environment within which companies operate. Together they pose strategic and operating...

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)
September 22, 2000... The CEMS Master's Degree already enjoys a reputation as the pan European standard of excellence in management education. In addition to a degree from their home school, over 2000 graduates from 34 different countries hold the CEMS Master's. ...