Management Today articles from April 2004

Management Today archives from April 2004

Predators on the High Street.(Management Today)(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... They possess a sense of being maverick, feral outsiders who work and play hard. The original US Rat Pack was a late 1950s group of showbiz pals - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop - who hung out at...

Contributors.
April 1, 2004... STUART ROSE In reviewing Paco Underhill's The Call of the Mall, retail bigwig Rose abandons the high street to take a stroll around a virtual mall. The former CEO of Arcadia doesn't find much to entice him, though: 'Mercifully, the...

In My Opinion: Chartered Management Institute.(Kevin Parry, Proudfoot Consulting)
April 1, 2004... Chartered Management Institute companion Kevin Parry, chairman of Proudfoot Consulting, warns against hasty outsourcing When a company wants to focus on its core business, cut costs or exploit the expertise of specialists, outsourcing...

The MT Diary: Howard Davies.("code fatigue" United Kingdom)
April 1, 2004... 'Code fatigue' stalks Britain's boardrooms, yet the governance issue rages on in the US The words 'corporate governance' in the first sentence of an article are guaranteed to put off a large percentage of the potential readership. After...

Brain Food: Ten Ways to... Start Again.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Regret nothing that has happened Learn from everything that has happened Don't waste energy on revenge Keep hold of the people you value Sort out your personal life Take a break and recoup your energy Listen to your instincts Widen...

Brain Food: It'll never fly Tobacco.(United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... It's a dried leaf you set fire to in order to enjoy. Some even chew it or stuff it up their nose for personal gratification. Nicotiana tabacum, introduced to the West in the 16th century by Sir Walter Raleigh, shouldn't have flown, but it did...

Brain Food: Unlikely Managers - Solomon N'Jie.(London Marathon, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... Marathon Official, Solomon N'Jie, Finish Co-Ordinator, London Marathon. When did you become a manager? I've worked on 23 marathons. For my full-time job, I held a regional European role at Microsoft, which I left in January. What...

Brain Food: Earning Curve - The Theatre.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Lord Lloyd-Webber, estimated worth pounds 400m Jerry Hall, The Graduate, Gielgud Theatre ('00), per wk pounds 10k Theatre director, average salary at age 40, p.a. pounds 30k Stage manager, starting salary, p.a. pounds 13.1k-pounds 19.2k...

Brain Food: Workplace Rights - Dissed and Dismissed.(Management Today)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Sacked employees can pursue two main types of claim. First, they can say the dismissal breached their employment contract (known as 'wrongful' dismissal). Second, if they have at least a year's service, they can bring a statutory claim for...

Brain Food: Look After the Pennies - Posting - A pounds 2m saving.(British)(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... BT couldn't believe its luck when gap-year student Lisa Neal turned up for a 12-month work placement before heading off to Leeds University to study computer science and music. The 18-year-old from Rugby was placed in the department handling...

Brain Food: Your Route to the Top - Fulfil your goals.(www.themindgym.com)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Start with overall goals. These may need help from others and depend on things you have no control over; eg, the Queen's goals might include improving the Royal family's reputation. The best goals are expressed positively. More support for...

Brain Food: Words-Worth - Governance.(coined by politician Harold Wilson, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... With the subject of corporate governance constantly in the news, it's hard to believe that 'governance' was a rare word until recently. In 1976, when retired prime minister Harold Wilson wrote The Governance of Britain, commentators either said...

Brain Food: Are you Suffering from... Irritable Male Syndrome.(Management Today)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Do you find your colleagues' usual jovial banter suddenly becoming offensive, even hurtful? Does your assistant avoid you, taking refuge on the phone every time you pass her desk? If so, these are symptoms of what Gerald Lincoln, a researcher...

Brain Food: We'd love that job - Chocolatier - Chantal Coady, Rococo Chocolates, London.(Management Today)(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... What do you do? I taste the base chocolate to make sure it's really good. It comes in huge blocks, from Belgium and France mainly. A lot of them are single-origin, which gives them a distinctive flavour. I love chocolate that is fruity...

Brain Food: Remember This.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 'Grace under pressure' - Ernest Hemingway said it 'Luck and destiny are the excuses of the world's failures' - Henry Ford said it.

Brain Food: David Thomas - If I had to start again..(chief executive officer at Whitbread PLC)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... During university vacations, I took a job on the production line at Kellogg's, putting plastic submarines into Cornflakes packets. Wondering whether it made any difference to sales sparked my interest in brands and how they are managed and...

Brain Food: How He made his Pile - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Founder, easyGroup.(chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Who is he? The larger-than-life Greek serial entrepreneur who gave us easyJet. He is worth pounds 300 million. How did he make his millions? Born into a wealthy Greek shipping family, Stelios started Stelmar Tankers in 1992 and...

Brain Food: Us And Them - Brazil.(economic forecasts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Brazil, home of the famous carnival, is the fifth-largest country in the world (by area), has the fifth-largest population, and fifth-largest prison population to match. Goldman Sachs identified Brazil as one of four developing countries to...

Brain Food: Speaking Out - Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer.(United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... As Gordon Brown sat on the platform waiting to speak at this year's annual conference of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, his body language added to his general air of shabbiness. Arms folded or clasped beneath his knees (when...

Brain Food: How To Get Ahead in Hospitality.(Management Today)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 1 Get hands-on experience. Take evening, weekend or holiday work in a hotel, restaurant or visitor attraction to see if the industry is for you. 2 Strong interpersonal skills are a must. Most of your time will be spent dealing with...

Brain Food: The Slogan Doctor - Apple: Think Different.(followed by iPod)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Grammatical unorthodoxy pays off. Many found Apple's semi-literate slogan irritating - but they didn't forget it. Emerging from the offices of TBWA\Chiat\Day in '97, it stirred up valuable controversy among pedants and commentators enraged at...

Brain Food: Crash course in... Work Experience.(offering placements to students)
April 1, 2004... There's a shortage of good candidates at the bottom end of your organisation. Those you get have a completely warped view of what you do. Time to offer work experience placements? Where is help needed? List suitable tasks and consider how...

Brain Food: MT - Masterclass - Social Capitalism.("Bridges Community Ventures" United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... What is it? Capitalists are in it for the money; social capitalists are trying to achieve positive change and make money at the same time. They are 'social entrepreneurs' who have identified needs in their communities and worked out...

Brain Food: Decisions - Karren Brady.(Birmingham City Football Club)
April 1, 2004... BIRMINGHAM CITY FOOTBALL CLUB THE WOMAN WHO, AS MD, STEERED THE BLUES TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE MY BEST... was floating the company in 1997. We decided on 15 December 1996 that we would float and that we had to do so by the beginning...

Brain Food: Behind the Spin - Parmalat.(Italy)
April 1, 2004... THE DILEMMA Not so much dilemma as catastrophe for the Italian dairy group, now dubbed the Enron of Europe. Parmalat's founder Calisto Tanzi and finance director Fausto Tonna were arrested in December, along with seven other Parmalat...

The Unlikely Chairmen: Ofcom thought it a good idea to draft in a restaurateur to chair Channel 4.(Luke Johnson)
April 1, 2004... It's hard to fathom the rationale of some recent high-profile corporate appointments What qualifies someone as the ideal company chairman? We know that Sir Ian Prosser is deemed not to fit the bill, at least according to some shareholders...

The same old diversity.(globalization U.S.A.)
April 1, 2004... Corporations will employ all kinds - as long as they do business the American way There must have been a time when 'equal opportunities' was a newly minted term, one that could inspire change, hope and passion. But it doesn't cut the...

Techno Life.(John Caudwell, Phones4U)(Column)
April 1, 2004... John Caudwell is best known as the hard-talking boss of high street mobile chain Phones4U, but his business interests also include a logistics company and The Discovery Store. When he's not on the phone, he flies his own helicopter and zips to...

Books: How those monster retail arcades took over our lives.("The Call of the Mall")(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... There's a lot to learn from Paco Underhill's latest exhaustive (and exhausting) study of the psychology of shopping, reports Stuart Rose - and even good news The Call of the Mall; By Paco Underhill; Profile pounds 15; MT price pounds 13...

Books: On the bedside table of David Gosen.("First Light", "The Air Pilot's Manual - Flying Training" and "E")(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 'I'm reading the terrific First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, which is incredibly relevant, as I'm learning to fly. I'm also reading The Air Pilot's Manual - Flying Training by Thom and Godwin, which is a technical guide. Finally, I'm reading E by...

Books: On the coat-tails of fame..("Celebrity Sells")(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... An ad veteran expresses his faith in endorsement deals. Stephen Bayley is sceptical Celebrity Sells; By Hamish Pringle; Wiley pounds 16.99; MT price pounds 14.99 (see panel, p36) Charlie 'Chainsaw' Brocket became a celebrity not...

Books: The book that shook Anne Glover.("Copenhagen" a play by Michael Frayn)(Brief Article)(Theater Review)
April 1, 2004... Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen had a big impact on me. It describes the meeting in Copenhagen during World War II between Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his German counterpart Werner Heisenberg. Although old friends and colleagues, they were...

Retail Rat Pack.(United Kingdom)
April 1, 2004... Raw and pugnacious, they do deals together and party together. Who are they? They're the new kings of the stores and, with a network of maverick backers to call on, they cruise the high street targeting takeover opportunities. It is a game...

The friends of Philip.(Philip Green in the business hall of fame)
April 1, 2004... Philip Green 1 If money was the sole criterion for entry, Philip Green's place in a business hall of fame would have been secured some time ago. But try as he might, Green, 52, can't shake off his bad-boy image. He's still viewed with...

The MT Interview: Rupert Gavin.(Interview)
April 1, 2004... If the Beeb is ever privatised - and after Hutton, anything seems possible - the boss of BBC Worldwide has made a good job of fattening up the golden goose. A tough nut, he bats aside criticism about over-exploiting the brand and juggles...

So that's your Aptitude?(psychometrics in employee selection)
April 1, 2004... Putting staff applicants - from school leavers to boardroom contenders - through arcane personality tests is now a familiar part of recruitment. Is this the best tool for the job, or is psychometrics about as useful as phrenology? Do you...

The Man from the Priory.(Dr. Chai Patel)
April 1, 2004... Dr Chai Patel, CEO of a major supplier of mental healthcare to the NHS (and to the stars), has been accused of profiteering at the public's expense. David Butcher dispels some myths In January, several tabloids ran news stories claiming...

Britain's Most Overpaid Jobs.(work United Kingdom)
April 1, 2004... Look, it's really not just jealousy, but have you noticed how some individuals and some occupations seem to be making much more money than they deserve? Rhymer Rigby names a few. How many times have you heard the refrain 'They're so...

MT Survey of Surveys: Advertising.(United Kingdom)(includes "Top 10 Global Advertisers" table)
April 1, 2004... While the lumbering multi-agency giants guard their share price, nimbler start-ups are stealing contracts from under their noses. Ask any executive in the advertising industry how their business is doing and your question will be met with a...

Advertising Feature: Training and Skills - Skills take Priority.("Working Futures", United Kingdom)
April 1, 2004... British business is being hobbled by an acute lack of skills among employees. An intensive drive is under way to resolve the crisis. Text by Stefan Stern. For British business these are the best of times and the worst of times. The numbers...

Advertising Feature: Training and Skills - Train smarter, not harder.(Management Today)
April 1, 2004... If they are to prosper, companies must take responsibility for realising the potential of their staff. Making sure that training brings measurable improvements in relevant skills will inevitably boost the bottom line. For far too long,...

Advertising Feature: Training and Skills - A Britain buzzing with enterprise.("Advancing Enterprise")
April 1, 2004... With their ability to conjure new businesses - and jobs - out of almost nothing, entrepreneurs supply the spark that fires up the economy. Can we foster the conditions in which they will flourish? Relative economic decline has been the...

MT Business travel: Room service where Martin Marshall stays.(Jonathans' Hotel, Oldbury, United Kingdom)(Chale Paradise Island, Kenya)(Hotel Review)
April 1, 2004... For Business I like quirky hotels and Jonathans' Hotel in Oldbury, just outside Birmingham, is the most unusual business hotel I've ever stayed in. From the outside it looks quite normal, but inside it is a replica of a 19th-century family...

On The Road.(Volkswagen Golf 2.0 FSI)(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 1, 2004... The VW Golf 2.0 FSI costs thousands more than its rivals, but then it has a premium aura The Volkswagen Golf is subtly but emphatically superior. With its air of tasteful good quality, this car has assumed a characteristic much desired by...

MT business travel: Frequent Flyer - Anthony Lassman's Guide to Milan.(Italy)
April 1, 2004... HOW TO GET THERE - There are regular flights from Heathrow with British Airways. I'm still a BA fan. Alitalia and bmi also fly from Heathrow. For tighter budgets, Ryanair flies from Luton and Stansted to Milan Bergamo airport. AIRPORT...

What's Your Problem?(job counseling)(Column)
April 1, 2004... Q I am ecstatic to be leaving my job. For four years I was very happy at work, but the past year has been one of redundancies, salary freezes and general bad management. My soon-to-be ex-boss is a cack-handed, bullying idiot and I can't wait to...

First-Class Coach.(questions and answers)(Column)
April 1, 2004... Q I took over as team manager a few months ago and I've been trying to raise standards. But my recent appraisal revealed that I'm seen as micromanaging people and they are not happy. How can I make improvements unless I know what people are...

MT business lifeforms: The serial entrepreneur - David Jonstone, chief executive of Jonstone Holdings.(United Kingdom)(Biography)
April 1, 2004... Dynamic and manic, media whoring (never boring), crazy guy (never wears a tie) and always bubbling over with enthusiasm for his next project, David Jonstone is a hard man to avoid. Here he is stepping into a soiree at Number 10. There he goes,...