Management Today articles from February 2005

Management Today archives from February 2005

The City's great comeback kid.
February 7, 2005... Some may feel that there is something curiously out of time about Michael Spencer, who you see on this month's cover being whisked away from his office in a chauffeur-driven limo. Spencer is a classic City rainmaker and master of the universe,...

Contributors.
February 7, 2005... ROD ALDRIDGE - Are leaders born or made? Capita Group's chairman found himself contemplating this question while reviewing Living Leadership for MT. As a living leader himself, Aldridge found that the book contained 'excellent practical lessons...

In My Opinion: Chartered Management Institute.
February 7, 2005... Chartered Management Institute Companion John McDonough, group CEO of Carillion, on creating effective project management teams. The dictionary defines a project as a 'planned undertaking'. Therefore, any endeavour becomes a project if we...

The MT Diary.(auditors)
February 7, 2005... It looks as though the Government may be prepared to allow limited liability for auditors. That is a useful step forward, which may help prevent any further withdrawals from the industry. But the fundamental problem of the role of auditors...

Ten Ways to... Listen.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 7, 2005... Make time and take time Clear your mind Give your undivided attention Don't interrupt Ask what they mean Check body language Keep your opinions to yourself Check what they really feel Hear what's not being said Play back what...

Brain Food: It'll Never Fly - Internet Dating.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... You must be desperate to sign up to one of those online dating services, surely. A social failure, forced to turn to a computer for help in finding a mate because you're just too unattractive/incompetent to find one by normal means. In short, a...

Brain Food: How does she manage? - Nail Bar Boss - Claudia Robertson, Manager, Nails Inc, Canary Wharf, London.(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 7, 2005... When did you become a manager? In 1996, after I moved from California to the UK, when I worked as assistant manager in a Greenwich bookshop. I've been at Nails Inc for four years as manager. What does management mean to you? Good...

Brain Food: Earning Curve - Parliament.(salaries)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 7, 2005... Lord Falconer, Lord Chancellor, p.a. pounds 207.7k Tony Blair, prime minister, p.a. pounds 178.9k Serjeant-at-arms, House of Commons, p.a. pounds 90k-pounds 95k Sir Michael Willcocks, Black Rod, p.a. pounds 72.3k-pounds 117k Member of...

Brain Food: Workplace Rights - New-Age Philosophies.(retirement age)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... The momentous introduction of laws prohibiting age discrimination by employers is now just 18 months away. Mandatory retirement has been the most contentious issue in developing the legislation. It seems the Government may be moving to abolish...

Brain Food: History Lessons - Montgomery of Alamein: Have Conviction.(Bernard Law Montgomery)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... The World War II commander of the Eighth Army is best known for his defeat of 'desert fox' Rommel at El Alamein in 1942, the turning point for the Allied campaign in North Africa. Seeing off the business competition may involve tanks and guns...

Brain Food: Your Route to the Top - Implementing changes from above.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Use a ready, fire, aim approach. You're unlikely to create a perfect plan, and if you did, it wouldn't stay that way for long. Planning is helpful, but can become a reason to procrastinate. Get to the heart of the matter. Be clear on the...

Brain Food: Speaking Out - Nicholas Negroponte - Weisner Professor of Media Technology, M.I.T.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... What better way to ensure good early attendance than to jet in a distinguished professor to give the kick-off address? Negroponte has been right about most things techno and the Marketing Society booked him to top the bill at its annual summit....

Brain Food: Business Manners - Giving Good Phone.(telephone manners)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Just smile. Don't growl when the phone disturbs you for the upteenth time; answer with a smile, even if it kills you. When calling, check it's a convenient time. Don't use first names or discuss personal stuff if you've never met. What to...

Brain Food: Slogan Doctor Gillette: The Best a Man Can Get.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Gillette started using this slogan in 1989. Developed by its agency BBDO, it has always been accompanied by a torrent of imagery showing man as sportsman, father and all-round winner. Although often associated with the Mach 3 range of 1998, it...

Brain Food: We'd love that job - Gastropub Owner - Peter Richnell, co-owner and Manager, the Havelock Tavern, West London.(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 7, 2005... What do you do? I'm in charge of the bar area; my business partner Jonny Haughton does the kitchen. Once I've done my office work, I make sure everything is set up for lunch. A lot of the prep work gets done out here, so I check that...

Brain Food: Remember This.
February 7, 2005... 'Sometimes you have to pay a high price for an opportunity' - RUPERT MURDOCH SAID IT 'I understand small business growth. I was one' - GEORGE W BUSH SAID IT.

Brain Food: Are You Suffering From - Anger Fatigue Syndrome.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Have the builders just told you they're going to be late again? Oh, and their bill has increased by 25%. Has your colleague just made a big fat mistake on a report with your name on it? Did you get rear-ended on the drive to work? Normally, any...

Brain Food: Words-Worth - Enterprise.(etymology of enterprise)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Gordon Brown is in favour of 'enterprise'. He demonstrated that last year by declaring an 'Enterprise Week' and then welcoming it in a speech in which he used the word 46 times. Although he'd probably prefer not to be reminded of it, he was...

Brain Food: Sir Michael Angus - If I had to start again..(Interview)
February 7, 2005... I would do it all again. I've had a most satisfying life in what I've chosen to do, which was ultimately running Unilever. I suppose what I liked about it was the consumer goods side. I liked the competitive nature of it, I liked the dealing...

Brain Food: How He Made His Pile - Mohamed Al Fayed - Flamboyant Retailer.(Brief Article)(Biography)
February 7, 2005... Who is he? The Egyptian-born owner of Harrods and chairman of Fulham FC, worth pounds 470 million. How did he make his millions? The young Mohamed Fayed (he added the 'Al' later) peddled Coca-Cola and sewing machines on the streets of...

Brain Food: Us and Them - Singapore.(economy)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... This year, Singapore celebrates its 40th year of independence from the Malaysian Federation. Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, it has the world's busiest port (in tonnage handled) and export remains the country's lifeblood,...

Brain Food: Crash Course in... Protecting against Terrorism.
February 7, 2005... It's the invisible enemy, and nobody knows where it will strike next. Your firm might not be an obvious terrorist target, but it's a threat you shouldn't ignore. How to protect yourselves? Audit your risks. Your first step is to assess the...

Brain Food: MT Masterclass - Emotional Intelligence.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... What is it? Oh, don't bother me now, stupid. Can't you see I'm busy... Sorry, slight lapse there. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a label to sum up the range of interpersonal skills and responses that form our public persona. It is often...

Brain Food: Decisions - Colin Tweedy - Arts & Business - CEO of the organisation that effects arts sponsorship.
February 7, 2005... MY BEST... When I took over at Arts & Business (then AB SA) in 1983, it was a two-man operation run from an office above a teashop in Bath. The setup was very nice but I didn't feel it was right for us. I approached the government with a...

Brain Food: Behind The Spin - Jarvis.(Jarvis PLC)
February 7, 2005... THE DILEMMA Will 2005 be the year that crisis-hit support services group Jarvis gets back on track? The company faced financial collapse last year, but was steered back from the brink by new chief exec Alan Lovell. He sold Jarvis'...

A Big Charm Offensive.(customer relations, investment banks)
February 7, 2005... The words 'warm and friendly' do not spring to mind when describing investment banks. Nevertheless, occasionally these giants of the financial scene decide to rediscover the importance of relationships. When they look in the mirror, they do not...

Jobs to cramp our style.(job freedom)
February 7, 2005... Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves, howe'er contented, never know. William Cowper's couplet should be nailed above the desk of every boss in the land. It may be that organisations want productive workers, responsible workers and...

Techno Life.(gadgets of Lis Astell, managing director, Accenture)
February 7, 2005... Lis Astell, the UK managing director of Accenture, commutes from her Derbyshire home to her office in London and reckons she would find it almost impossible to do her job without a Blackberry and 3G-enabled laptop to turn railway carriages and...

Books: The realities of leadership.(Living Leadership: A Practical Guide for Ordinary Heroes )(Book Review)
February 7, 2005... Although this book fails to recognise some important characteristics of command, it offers practical advice to ordinary mortals with aspirations, says Rod Aldridge. Leadership books - there are just too many of them. The already swamped...

Books: Three of a Kind - How to be true to yourself at work.(Authentic Leadership, Authentic Career, Spiritual Capital)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 7, 2005... AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP; BILL GEORGE; JOSSEY-BASS POUNDS 12.99 This book is part case study, based on the author's experiences, and part DIY guide to being an 'authentic leader'. Authentic leaders are, apparently, people of the highest...

Books: Reining back the company gravy train.(Pay Without Performance)(Book Review)
February 7, 2005... This book's cure for the corporate habit of rewarding failure is a shift in the balance of power. Review by Peter Montagnon. It's nice work if you can lose it. In the two years that Jill Barad was chief executive of Mattel, its share price...

Books: How multinationals can win in the austere Noughties.(The Next Leap)(Book Review)
February 7, 2005... The big idea behind this authoritative volume by three Dutch business consultants is the loose and flexible 'international network corporation'. Review by Roger Parry. Co-operation and collaboration are the ways to create value for...

The MT interview: Michael Spencer.(Management Today)(Interview)
February 7, 2005... Today he runs the world's biggest interdealer broking firm. But before he made the money to cut a dash as a City entrepreneur, he suffered career calamities that would have finished others. The swashbuckling style may have softened now, but his...

Forever changing.
February 7, 2005... The pressure on organisations to keep reinventing themselves is relentless. The insecurity this wreaks is bad for the health of both company and staff. How should the corporate leopard change its spots, asks Stefan Stern. On a cold, sunny...

Tiger on the doorstep.(Hong Kong, RFID)
February 7, 2005... Hong Kong's fortunes took a nosedive after the former colony was handed back to the Chinese, but now business is humming, reports Matthew Gwyther. It is now nearly eight years since the Union flag was hauled down for the last time over...

New Life for Old Brands.
February 7, 2005... If you're the owner of a product with a washed-up image, received wisdom states that you should offload it with the minimum of fuss. But there is an alternative. MT meets the brand whisperers who have put fresh pep into old names ranging from...

Sponsored Feature: A Round Table Discussion - Doing business in a Low-carbon economy.(Panel Discussion)
February 7, 2005... Inspired by the new EU Emissions Trading Scheme, MT linked up with the Carbon Trust to stage a round-table discussion among senior executives with a special interest in CSR and pollution control. The Trust, a Government-funded but independent...

MT Survey of Surveys: Trade Fairs.
February 7, 2005... The Germans may have an unassailable lead in staging major international exhibitions, but London seems to have woken up to the fact that it punches below its weight. Daniel Rogers reports. ExCel, the tarantula-like exhibition centre, squats...

MT Business Travel: Frequent Flyer Asim Zafar's Guide to Bahrain.
February 7, 2005... Where to go, what to drive, how to get there, where to stay, what to do, how much to spend. HOW TO GET THERE Gulf Air and BA fly from London to Bahrain International Airport, on Muharraq island. Both have a morning flight, and Gulf Air an...

MT Business Travel: Room Service where Neil Summerville stays..
February 7, 2005... FOR BUSINESS - Earlier this year, we were looking for a conference centre for National Car Rental. We eventually picked Le Meridien, near Limassol in Cyprus. We chose it because of the space, the exclusivity and the facilities. But most of all...

MT Business Travel: On The Road.(Citroen C4)
February 7, 2005... Both versions of Citroen's C4 are a big improvement on the dull Xsara that the new model replaces. Car manufacturers are always inventing unusual features - sometimes they even help sell cars. We've had cars that talk from Renault and...

What's Your Problem?(career advice)(Column)
February 7, 2005... Q. Since returning from maternity leave, I'm struggling with the person who used to be my deputy. He was acting finance officer while I was away, and he's reluctant to return to the deputy's role. He muscles in on meetings with my boss, tries...

First-Class Coach.(career advice)(Column)
February 7, 2005... When you win promotion to management, your new peer group may take their time to accept you. Q. I recently became a manager and I find myself caught between my senior managers, who want one thing, and my employees, who have completely...

MT Business Lifeforms: The corporate saviour.
February 7, 2005... Simon Kelly: serial turnaround artist, portfolio chairman and TV pundit. Look - it's Simon Kelly, the man off the telly! And on half a dozen big-name boards; and on numerous government advisory panels; and in the Telegraph, the Economist,...