Management Today articles from February 2004

Management Today archives from February 2004

Contributors.
February 5, 2004... SIR MARK WEINBERG The chairman of St James's Place Capital provides a revealing insight into the workings of his business mind in Brainfood's 'If I had to start again'. Weinberg has had to start over twice during his career. 'I would...

SHOWING THE WAY TO STUDENTS.
February 5, 2004... If I were Boots, I'd be afraid. Very afraid. This would be a perfectly natural reaction to the news last month that having decked both Sainsbury and Safeway, the imperious Tesco is now turning its attention to Boots, with pounds 70 million...

IN MY OPINION: Chartered Management Institute.
February 5, 2004... Chartered Management Institute companion Andrew Kakabadse, deputy director of Cranfield, highlights the need for unity of purpose at the top Too often over the past year, details of the expedited departures of chief executives of...

THE MT DIARY: Sniffing the political air, our diarist hand-picks the hottest issues of the coming year.
February 5, 2004... The capture of Saddam Hussein just before Christmas gave an air of finality to the last days of 2003. A chapter was successfully closed, a page turned, and 2004 promised to be a new, glad, confident morning for Tony Blair. The gladness...

BRAIN FOOD: Speaking Out - Michael Howard, QC MP, Conservative Party Leader.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Once elected nem con leader of the Conservative Party, you have to bash the rubber chicken circuit. Only this time it was turkey, and the audience a group of self-appointed goodfellas - the Saints and Sinners Christmas Dinner. Howard had...

BRAIN FOOD: How to get ahead in human resources.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... 1 As a young graduate, target a company with an impressive reputation for developing tomorrow's HR directors, such as Diageo and Ford. 2 Obtaining the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development's professional development scheme...

BRAIN FOOD: The Slogan Doctor - Honda: The Power of Dreams.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... It's the hoariest of journalistic cliches: 'A dream turned into a nightmare...' But isn't that the story of motoring? One minute, we were in an open tourer, bowling along the open road, scattering chickens and pedestrians on our way to some...

BRAIN FOOD: Crash Course in... Renaming your company.
February 5, 2004... You've just been handed market research that shows half your target audience has never heard of your company, and the other half thinks it is a small antipodean rodent. The bloke it was originally named after left the firm 10 years ago, and...

BRAIN FOOD: Masterclass - Employee Engagement.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... What is it? Managers used to ask for loyalty and commitment from their people. Then gurus developed the concept of the 'psychological contract' between employer and employee. Others talk of 'discretionary effort' - the willingness (or not) of...

BRAIN FOOD: Ten Ways not to... Job hunt.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... 1 No confidence to apply for a job 2 An unprofessional CV 3 References that don't do you any favours 4 A bad attitude in interview 5 Poor research into your market 6 Missing deadlines and being late 7 Pigeon-holing yourself 8...

BRAIN FOOD: It'll never fly - Timeshare.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Timeshare. The word may send a shiver down your spine, and the idea of sharing your holiday home with 51 other families may appal. But think again. More than 500,000 British families own a timeshare, typically spending pounds 6,500 for the...

BRAIN FOOD: Unlikely Managers - Rugby Coach - Nigel Melville, Gloucester Rugby Club.(Interview)
February 5, 2004... When did you become a manager? I started coaching for Otley, then moved to Wasps in 1996. I moved to Gloucester in 2002. I'm now director of rugby. What does management mean to you? It involves running budgets, the admin, getting...

BRAIN FOOD: Earning Curve - Hotels.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Sir Rocco Forte and family, worth pounds 375m David Michels, group CEO, Hilton Group ('02) pounds 1.1m Five-star hotel manager, London, p.a. pounds 45k-pounds 175k Front-of-house manager, Paddington Court Hotel, p.a. pounds 18k...

BRAIN FOOD: Workplace Rights - Misgivings on smoother mergers.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The EC's recent draft directive on cross-border company mergers is the latest measure in the Brussels pipeline to create angst for UK and Continental businesses. Aimed particularly at SMEs, its purpose is to facilitate cross-border mergers by...

BRAIN FOOD: Look after the pennies in the bag.(British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch reduces thickness of bags)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... In the Canadian province of British Columbia, alcohol can be bought only from state-run outlets. The local government's Liquor Distribution Branch is responsible for controlling booze prices and for running the liquor stores, which have...

BRAIN FOOD: Your route to the top - How to deal with unpleasant surprises.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Stay calm, even smile. Your mood will affect everyone around you. If they remain relaxed, you are much more likely to get help in sorting out the latest challenge. Pause before you rush to help. Ask yourself what your priorities are...

BRAIN FOOD: Words-Worth - Glocalisation.(an international business tailoring to local tastes)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The next time someone complains about globalisation, offer a word in their ear: 'glocalisation'. That's what's happening now, and it's different. Glocalisation means running an international business that tailors its output and...

BRAIN FOOD: Are you suffering from... Icarus Syndrome.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... The Icarus Syndrome describes people who get carried away by their own success. They begin to believe that, like Icarus, they can ignore what normal mortals cannot. Some would say they purposely cruise close to the sun just to see what happens...

BRAIN FOOD: We'd love that job - Michelin Guide Inspector.(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 5, 2004... Robert X, hotel and restaurant inspector What do you do? There are 6,000 places in the guide and we inspect them anonymously. I have lunch and dinner every day in a restaurant. I have three courses, otherwise I can't determine the...

BRAIN FOOD: Remember This.(Charles M. Schwab)(Malcolm Forbes)(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... 'We are all salesmen every day of our lives' CHARLES M SCHWAB SAID IT 'Making mistakes is human. Repeating 'em is, too' MALCOLM FORBES SAID IT.

BRAIN FOOD: Sir Mark Weinberg - If i had to start again..(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... I have had to start again - twice. My first business venture was to start Abbey Life Assurance on moving to England from South Africa in 1961. I sold out after a few years, at a small profit, to an American joint venture. Abbey Life grew...

BRAIN FOOD: How he made his pile - David Gold - Co-owner of Gold Group International.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... Who is he? Britain's 67th-richest man co-owns Ann Summers, adult magazine publisher Gold Star Publications, executive jet company Gold Air International and Sport Newspapers. How did he make his millions? East Ender Gold borrowed...

BRAIN FOOD: Us and Them - South Africa.(Brief Article)
February 5, 2004... South Africa is an emerging market with an abundance of natural resources and a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; yet one of the legacies of the apartheid era is a daunting array of economic and social problems,...

BRAIN FOOD: Decisions - Rough Trade Records - The man who signed The Smiths owns up.
February 5, 2004... MY BEST... My job entails running an independent record company and taking charge of which groups and artists we sign and work with. A record company is only ever as good as its artists. In order to judge the merits and prospects of music...

BRAIN FOOD: Behind The Spin - Hollinger.
February 5, 2004... THE DILEMMA It's proving a rough time for media magnate Lord Black of Crossharbour and his Hollinger empire, as the outgoing proprietor of the Telegraph newspapers faces allegations of financial malfeasance. Black's troubles started in May...

BRAIN FOOD: It's not just the money.
February 5, 2004... Why do some business leaders seem to have so much fun running their enterprises? Shirley Conran was wrong: life is not too short to stuff a mushroom. If creative cooking is your delight and you have just devised an exotic and...

Techno life.
February 5, 2004... Annoushka Ducas, founder and creative director of 'gifts for men' retailer Links of London, is a late convert to electronic life aids. Her Damascene techno-moment occurred shortly after buying her first Palm Pilot, and she hasn't looked back...

Keeping up with Jones.
February 5, 2004... Attacks by the CBI boss on the public sector's performance are bizarre and insulting Digby Jones has a thing about guts. More specifically, about busting them. Almost a year ago, the populist head of the CBI warned that businesses up and...

BOOKS: How the City forces short-term goals on companies.(Having their Cake...How the City and Big Bosses are Consuming U.K. Business)(The Story of Lucy Gault)(The White Ladder Diaries: The Pain and Pleasure of Launching a Business)(Business, the Universe and Everything: Conversations with the World's Greatest Management Thinkers)(Book Review)
February 5, 2004... The authors of this book argue that corporate obsession with shareholder value has an adverse effect on decision-making. Case not proven, says John Kay Having their Cake... How the City and Big Bosses are Consuming UK Business Don...

THE MT INTERVIEW: Sir Terry Leahy.(Interview)(Biography)
February 5, 2004... Starting as a shelf-stacker, Britain's Most Admired business leader has spent his whole career at Tesco, lifting it to fearsome market dominance. No charismatic general or smooth City persuader, he bases his success on an ordinary man's...

LAKSHMI MITTAL'S RING OF STEEL.
February 5, 2004... For the past 16 years, the 'Carnegie from Calcutta' has built a fortune out of steelworks that rivals had thrown on the scrapheap. Bob Jones charts his controversial career The fate of the steelworks at Nova Hut, near Ostrava in the Czech...

The four steps to corporate extinction.
February 5, 2004... Organisations can suddenly find themselves facing oblivion. Usually, though, the road to perdition is a long one. Persistent inaction or a smug unheeding of the signs is what takes them to the precipice. Then an unexpected event tips them over....

Schools Rush in.(private schools)
February 5, 2004... The demand for private education - especially at primary level - has outstripped supply, opening the gates to a flood of commercial outfits ready to exploit the opportunities. But will their need for profits prove incompatible with maintaining...

Impotence.
February 5, 2004... Until now, Viagra was the only oral treatment for erectile dysfunction on the market, and its creator Pfizer reaped blockbuster returns. But thanks to new drugs from GSK/Bayer and Eli Lilly, the father of all marketing battles has begun. ...

Paper Tigress.(Sylvia Bailey)
February 5, 2004... Sly Bailey may be Trinity Mirror's last chance to stand on its own two feet as it struggles out of a strategic quagmire, surrounded by bigger and better-funded rivals. But after a year in charge, has she done anything to put off the inevitable?...

Mobile Phones.
February 5, 2004... The mobile phone has been the most successful gadget in techno history, but after more than 10 years of stellar growth the market is maturing. In 2004 the search for new revenues will focus on the long-awaited 3G services and squeezing more...

BUSINESS TRAVEL: Room service where Richard Nichols stays..(Hotel Review)
February 5, 2004... For business I stayed at the breathtaking Grand Hyatt in Beijing late last year when we went to open Citigate Dewe Rogerson's new Beijing office. The first thing that struck me was the space - from the allegedly 'single' rooms with their...

BUSINESS TRAVEL: On The Road.(Porsche Cayenne V6)
February 5, 2004... Porsche's new off-roader may not be fast, but the Cayenne V6 stacks up well against its rivals Last time I looked, the road to my local supermarket was smoothly paved and uninterrupted by small boulders, marshy patches, fords or glutinous...

MT BUSINESS TRAVEL: Frequent Flyer.(Chicago, Illinois)
February 5, 2004... ROBERT McHENRY'S GUIDE TO CHICAGO HOW TO GET THERE - I fly Club with BA - there are three direct flights from London daily. Other airlines also fly direct from London. AIRPORT TO TOWN - Take the Blue line 'El' (elevated train) from...

FIRST-CLASS COACH.
February 5, 2004... Q All my previous jobs required me to have strategic ideas, which I find quite easy and enjoyable. I've been promoted to head of department and I'm now in charge of people and implementing my ideas and those of others. I'm not sure where to...

JOHN WEAK'S DIARY: Weak at the top.
February 5, 2004... MONDAY Bloody hell. They've appointed a woman as Chairman. She's a born-again Christian and she doesn't drink. Apparently she doesn't believe in lunch either. How can you be a Christian and not believe in lunch? Hasn't she heard of the...