Management Today articles from February 2002

Management Today archives from February 2002

More than one school of thought. (Editorial).(Editorial)
February 1, 2002... Business and education, earning and learning, have traditionally been uneasy pairs of bedfellows in the UK. Whereas the Americans -- and even the French -- founded their first business colleges well over 100 years ago, in Britain the business...

In my opinion: Institute of Management companion Val Hammond, CEO of Roffey Park Institute, argues that leaders must learn to inspire with verve and style.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... A visitor from another planet scanning our newspapers and screens would quickly come to the view that we are in deadliest peril. Maybe we are. Never have we had so much access to news of disasters both natural and man-made. We have live...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... HEALTHY RIVALRY The idea that personal rivalry is a creative and energising force is well known in psychology (The Best of Enemies, MT January). Some of sciences biggest discoveries probably arose out of personal competition: Darwin was...

Cutting room: The unstoppable power of English; how obsolete notes are a nice little earner for central banks; on the agenda again -- the exchange rate... Evan Davis at large.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Now that the single currency is upon us, what other schemes are afoot to enhance European integration? How about a single language across the European continent? How irritating it is to be confronted with people who don't understand you, even...

Ten ways to...create an innovation culture. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... 1 Make meetings more productive 2 Increase cross-functional contact 3 Budget for innovation time 4 Have innovation as a measurable target 5 Hire interesting people 6 Have a canteen worth going to 7 Speed up and...

It just might work find new avenues. (Brain Food).(corporate growth)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Have you hit a 'growth stall'? If your company's growth suddenly drops sharply, you're in good company. Donald Laurie, author of Venture Catalyst, found that, over 40 years, only eight of the Fortune 50 continued to grow significantly. Three...

Unlikely managers ticket officer: Head of ticketing services, the Tate. (Brain Food).(Martin Barden)(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 1, 2002... Name Martin Barden When did you become a manager? In 1994, I was working part-time in the Royal Albert Hall ticket office when a full-time manager role came up. The Tate is my third ticketing job. I never thought: 'I'll go into...

Workplace rights carry on working. (Brain Food).(retirement age)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Should employers be allowed to fix a compulsory retirement age? Although the US, Australia and New Zealand have largely abolished mandatory-age retirement, a recent consultation paper suggests the UK Government is undecided. However, under an...

Earning curve healthcare. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Dr Thomas McKillop, CEO, AstraZeneca, p.a. [pound sterling]1.2m Val Gooding, CEO, Bupa, p.a. [pound sterling]400,000 Nigel Crisp, CEO, NHS, p.a. [pound sterling]150,000 Alan Milburn, Sec of State for Health, p.a. [pound...

Removing creative blocks. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Have a clear objective. Trying to be creative without one won't get you very far. Don't evaluate your ideas immediately. Write them all down, even if you think they're no good, and select the best at the end. Remember there is no risk...

Sir Ronnie Hampel If I had to start again... (Brain Food).(ICI PLC)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... I'd seek a business career because, although I have from time to time 'kicked the wall', I have enjoyed it. When I joined ICI in 1955 careers for life were the expectation. Today, the demands on business and the requirements of employees make...

Are you suffering from...Dysthymia. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Do you feel tired and uninspired? Do you lack an appetite for sex or food, preferring to stay in bed and watch television than go to work or even paint the town red? You may be suffering from dysthymia -- a general kind of lethargy and...

Words-worth behind the curve. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... 'He's a bit behind the curve,' said DTI minister Patricia Hewitt on the Today programme about a businessman who'd dared to disagree with her. But which curve is that? In America, students are marked 'on the curve': fixed proportions get top...

Room service where Lynne Franks stays. (Brain Food).(hotels in Los Angeles and Mallorca, Spain)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... For business I've just sold my flat in LA but I will still be going to the city for work, and I'll use Shutters On The Beach in Venice, LA. It has an excellent terrace overlooking the beach -- great for meetings. There's also a warm, cosy...

Speaking out Sir John Egan. (Brain Food).(President of Institute of Management; speech-giving techniques)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... PRESIDENT, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT Years ago, accused of being less than consultative with the trade unions while turning round the fortunes of Jaguar, John Egan famously replied: 'When you're the pilot of a plane in a nosedive, no-one...

The human factor.(executives' personal reactions in management of press, public relations)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Jeffrey Skilling was, briefly, president of Enron, the energy trading company that spectacularly imploded just before Christmas. Enron's fate had been determined by dubious dealings before Skilling assumed the presidential mantle, but the...

E-mail from the valley.(executive unemployment created by downfall of dot.com business ventures)(Brief Article)(Column)
February 1, 2002... Downward mobility: I finally understood the meaning when I advertised for a personal assistant on an online San Francisco bulletin board and received an application from the CEO of a new-media start-up who said he was experiencing 'cashflow...

Inside out.(business attitudes toward corporate social responsibility)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The fashionable view in the City, Westminster and even in the boardroom is that companies are the institutional equivalent of naughty children. They will misbehave unless forced to promise to be good. Boiled down, this is what underpins...

Wanting it all.(labour relations between working parents and employees without children)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... If one believes the press, new battle lines at work are being drawn up. Not between employer and employee, men and women, but between parents and the child-free. People without children are losing out on all fronts: not only do they not qualify...

Things to come... (Techknow).(Rheonetic dampers in design, construction of safer skyscrapers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... ROCK-STEADY SKYSCRAPERS One practical consequence of the 11 September outrages is that engineers are scurrying back to their drawing boards to work out ways of building safer skyscrapers. And Lord Corporation, of Cary, North Carolina, has...

Burger. (Tech Talk).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... (n): A superficially attractive new Company whose sole purpose is to tempt buyers in the hope that it can be 'flipped' [sold] before its problems became apparent.

Sand Hill roadkill. (Tech Talk).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... (n): Failed company. Name after Silicon Valley's ill-fated venture capitalist district.

Pushing the envelope. (Techknow).(windmills in energy development programme)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... WINDFARMS Windmills aren't everyone's idea of hi-tech but, thanks to new government initiatives on renewable power, the breeze is back in their sails again for the first time since the industrial revolution. If energy minister Brian Wilson...

Smart tools. (Techknow).(Sharp PC-UM10 Muramasa)(Evaluation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... THE SHARP PC-UM10 MURAMASA What is it? As Kate Moss is to fashion, the Muramasa is to laptops. At 17 mm and less than 1.6kg, it's the thinnest and lightest model in the world. What does it do? Who cares? Like big-ticket mobile...

It's Curtains for Managers: If centrally planned economies have been discredited, why should we run our companies that way? Charles Handy hails a book with a wake-up message. (Books).
February 1, 2002... Francis Fukuyama maintained that the combination of liberal democracy and capitalism represented the final conclusion of society's evolution and thus The End of History. How odd then that businesses, the institutions of capitalism, have shunned...

Too Busy for a Boozy Lunch: Arthur Klebanoff may be a successful and dynamic literary agent, but his story lacks the spice of dealmaking gossip. (Books).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Literary agency has to be as near to perfection as any business model can be. Your start-up costs are negligible: a telephone and PC are the bare necessities, and a small office in New York or London, the twin suns around which the publishing...

10 Top Business Books.(Review)
February 1, 2002... 1 No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies Naomi Klein Flamingo [pounds sterling]8.99 2 The Little Book of Management Bollocks Alistair Beaton Pocket Books [pounds sterling]2.98 3 Jack Jack Welch Headline [pounds...

What did business school do for them?
February 1, 2002... MTasked a batch of successful business leaders who have fulfilled many of their career ambitions whether the effort of getting their MBA qualifications had paid off. For most of them it had been tough (but fun), had boosted their confidence and...

The prophets of doom.(lost predictions)
February 1, 2002... From Cassandra's doom-laden predictions to sceptical stock market watchers, the forecasters of gloom have long been treated with derision and cast out into the wilderness. Now that those who throughout the 1990s predicted a downturn have been...

Whitehall handicap.(replacing Richard Wilson taking longer than planned)
February 1, 2002... They're off... The search for a successor to civil service supremo Sir Richard Wilson is becoming urgent but, with no clear-cut favourite and the possibility that the job could be split up, it's a race of many uncertainities. David Walker...

Sir Christopher Frayling. (The Andrew Davidson Interview).(Interview)
February 1, 2002... Design Council chairman and rector of the Royal College of Art, inveterate committee-sitter, writer, TV presenter and pundit on popular culture -- he's full of zestful geniality. What's he running from? Sir Christopher Frayling has to be...

Starting up when things are turning down: Dorling Kindersley, Tie Rack and CityFlyer Express were all born in a recession. Would you be able to spot new opportunities glinting through the gloom? Catherine Monk investigates. (Coming Up Fast).
February 1, 2002... From the slump following the 1929 crash, through the three-day week and power cuts of the early '70s to the jolts of the Thatcherite '80s, recessions come and recessions go. Downturn means battening down the hatches and forgetting about any...

Linda Bennett. (Decisions).(styles in management)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Lk Bennett MY BEST... was starting my own brand. My very first shop in Wimbledon Village in 1990 was an accessory shop where I bought in other brands. In retrospect, that was lazy -- I had trained as a shoe designer. I started my own brand...

Playing the field. (Building to Last).(choosing a business partner)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... DILEMMA: I've been trying to find the ideal business partner for ages, with no luck It's damned lonely running the business on my own -- I need someone to bounce ideas off. How can I find the right person? ISSUES: What's the real problem?...

Smartest move. (Net Result).(online conveyancing services provided by company Pryse Jones)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Moving house is cited as the third most stressful event after divorce and the death of a spouse. In the current dodgy climate, it may even surpass these. But an Essex-based entrepreneurial lawyer has taken her property expertise online to help...

Better meetings. (Stressbuster).(planning business meetings)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Meetings -- no-one seems to want them, but they're impossible to avoid. Try these basic guidelines to help them pass more smoothly. AGREE THE PROCEDURAL RULES for all meetings. Have these printed on every agenda. RE-READ THE AGENDA...

Who needs a consultant? (Crash Course).(recognizing the need for, selecting a business consultant)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Difficult challenges are looming for your business, and you don't feel you have the know-how in-house to tackle them. Time to call in the management consultants? THINK AGAIN. Are management consultants right for the task? Colin Barrow,...

Toying with our emotions. (Motor Mouth).(automobile Mitsubishi Shogun)(Evaluation)
February 1, 2002... Koala bears are vicious, bad-tempered little bastards, but there is something in their morphology -- the big eyes, the pudgy fluffiness, the muted colourways -- that we instinctively find agreeable. The koala design bypasses rationality to...

Speak for yourself. (Vital Signs).(executives' speech-giving)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Do they mean me? Those introductions from the conference ring-master make one sound so extraordinarily interesting. They also mean that in about 20 seconds you've got to enter stage-left and walk impressively to the lectern or, worse, stumble...

What's your problem?(business management advice)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... SHOULD I OVE THE BUSINESS OUT OF TOWN? I run a small business in the heart of London, but can no longer afford the rent. We will have to give up the vibrant surroundings and relocate to the suburbs. The employees are unhappy at the decision...

First class coach.(managing business disputes between department directors)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... I'm locked in a dispute with the sales director. As marketing director, I have a longer-term strategy that could make the company the leader in the field. His views about what's required are all very short term and could be damaging over time....

Weak at the top. (John Weak's Diary).(satire)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... MONDAY Sir Marcus has just heard about Thought Leadership and now wants someone to come up with a thought for him to lead with. The only thought we're interested in is survival after our spectacular downsizing. Sir Marcus included P45s in...