Management Today articles from January 2002

Management Today archives from January 2002

Uncertainty brings its opportunities. (Editorial).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... Did you make any resolutions amid the alcoholic haze on New Year's Eve this year? (And could you even remember them in the morning?) If so, how many of them were work-related? It would be fascinating to know the answer. It is a sure bet that...

In my opinion: Institute of Management companion Val Gooding, CEO of BUPA, argues that the healthcare profession must respond to the well-informed consumer.(Brief Article)(Column)
January 1, 2002... The informed consumer has long been with us. Higher disposable incomes, increased choice in a more global economy, the 24-hour culture and the information explosion driven by the internet -- all these changes have enabled and encouraged...

MT letters.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... COSTING THE EURO Evan Davis makes a number of errors in casting doubt on the figures in our recent literature [Cutting Room, MT November]. First, he claims the annual NHS bill is [pound sterling]47 billion, and not [pound sterling]35...

Cutting room: Welcome to the year of the eurozone; will Pizza Express fall flat?; the Qatar conundrum; where have all the business people gone?(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... What? Another year over already? For anyone who has missed the past 12 months, here is my potted guide to the global economy: slowdown is when small companies go broke; recession is when big companies go broke; depression is when banks go broke...

Ten ways to...get marketing right. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... 1 Clearly identity your target consumers 2 Understand how they behave 3 Sell them product benefits, not features 4 Give them a reason to believe what you claim 5 Design everything to be a pleasure 6 Guard all the unique...

It just might work deadlines they can't miss. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... If your people are always missing deadlines, it may actually be your fault. Research by professors Dan Ariely of MIT Sloan School of Management and Klaus Wertenbroch of Insead discovered that the way deadlines are set markedly affects...

Unlikely managers car mechanic: Gerry Jackson repairs & services, Harlesden, London. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)(Interview)
January 1, 2002... Name Gerry Jackson When did you become a manager? When I went into partnership in 1993. But when our lease ran out, we couldn't find premises. Then I bumped into someone who wanted to sell, so I took over his lease and set up my own...

Webspace rules: Shooting the messenger. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... You get a new text message and, to your surprise, it tells you to report to your local Army recruitment centre -- not a pleasant image in an era of international conflict. Welcome to the world of SMS advertising: 160 characters of marketing...

Earning curve law. (Brain Food).
January 1, 2002... John Grisham, author of The Firm, is worth [pound sterling]25.5m Calista Flockhart (aka Ally McBeal] per wk [pound sterling]70,600 Michael Mansfield QC, p.a. [pound sterling]500,000 Junior barrister, Matrix chambers, p.a. [pound...

How to overcome procrastination. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Incentivise yourself. Describe how you feel about what you haven't got round to, then describe how you'd feel if you had. The contrast between guilt and relief or delight can be enough incentive to get us going. Devote five minutes to...

If I had to start again. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... As a schoolboy, I had dreams of being a professional musician or an actor, but I realised that I'd always be among the strugglers in either field. When I joined the City, I suffered from being the son of a well-known figure in investment, and...

Are you suffering from...: Adult attention deficit disorder. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Helen Kirwan-Taylor Do you know someone who's impulsive, interrupts non-stop, does three things at a time, flies off the handle, and fails to deliver on time? Is he/she bored easily with admin tasks, selfish and immature? Adult attention...

Words-worth: The whole nine yards. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Every day, business people commit to going 'the whole nine yards'. But this US expression - equivalent to 'the whole hog' - has no literal meaning. Some say it refers to American football, but there 10 yards is the critical distance. It may be...

Room service: Where James Strachan stays. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... For business The Copthorne Tara in Kensington. It's neither hip nor overpriced, just thoroughly welcoming and dependable. The key for me when I come back after an exhausting day of meetings is calm, good service -- efficiency with a smile. As a...

Speaking out Manuel Castells: Professor of sociology, Unversity of California, Berkeley, and Internet Expert. (Brain Food).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Professor Castells is a popular chap. His address at the LSE earned him spontaneous applause from the packed house of mainly LSE freshers. And why not? Is this not the guru of the phenomenon that has shaped their young lives? Had he not just...

The human factor.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The successful manager knows that the key to sustaining good relations with the City is the careful management of expectations. Eventually, performance counts too, but investors can be remarkably tolerant so long as they are not subjected to...

E-mail from the Valley.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Last year was a dismal year for forecasters: for economists predicting that the US would avoid recession, and for technology pundits, whose reputations lie bloodily scattered in the office parks of Silicon Valley. The technology industry...

Inside out.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... For the developed world, the great economic shift of the i990s was the apparent productivity miracle in the US. On the basis of published figures, US labour productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.5%, nearly twice the 1973-95 rate of 1.4%. And...

Wanting it all.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... When you stop working, your neighbourhood, which you thought you knew so well, becomes unfamiliar. The world is suddenly populated exclusively with mothers, pre-schoolers and the elderly. The rhythm of the streets feels different -- parking...

Things to come. (Tech Know).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... POWER-ASSIST SUIT The Bionic Man saved 1970s America with his cybernetic right arm. Then, in 1886, Sigourney Weaver saved the whale planet from ravenous Aliens with the hydraulic hiss of her giant robot suit. Now researchers at the...

Pushing the envelope: Nanotechnology. (Tech Know).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Nanotechnology, with its promise of impossibly tiny machines that can cure cancer or build a better microchip, has captured imaginations since US physicist Richard Feynman coined the term 40-plus years ago. But till recently the closest we got...

Smart tools: Handspring Treo 180. (Tech Know).(personal digital assistant with phone)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... What is it? It's a PDA with a built-in mobile phone. The organiser part uses the Palm operating system to manage your diary and contacts. The phone is a dual-band GSM that will work in Europe but not in the US. Putting them in the same...

Small gems in the brantub: Asking 80 MDs the secret of their success sounds like a useful exercise, and it did yield some pearls of wisdom... if you can find them. (Books).('Fast Track to the Top')
January 1, 2002... One wet afternoon a couple of years ago, I was visited at my office at Conde Nest by Ros Taylor, co-author of this manual about executive strategies, to be interviewed for her book. She explained that she was talking to 80MDs to discover the...

Crime and mismanagement: What if a business consultant applied his skills to racketeering? After a plodding start, this thriller rips along inventively. (Books).('Running Rings')
January 1, 2002... A call from Management Today. 'Would you like to review a book? We don't usually review novels, but this one is about management consultants so we thought you might be interested.' So I did, though with same apprehension about what I was about...

10 Top business books. (Books).(management)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
January 1, 2002... 1 No Loge: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies Naomi Klein Flamingo [pounds sterling]8.99 2 Jack: What I've Learned Leading a Great Company and Great People Jack Welch Headline [pounds sterling]20.00 3 Seven Habits of Highly...

Best of enemies.(commercial rivalries between managers, co-workers and competitors)
January 1, 2002... Osmond and Johnson, Galley and Mayall, Gordon and Tony... The world is studded with examples of the deadly rivalry that can result when the sweet turns sour. Healthy competition is one thing, but trying to get one over on the opposition can...

e25 - after the deluge.(state of 25 Internet companies in UK; the e25 dot.com index)
January 1, 2002... When the MT/Bain e25 dot.com index first appeared in 1999, the future looked bright for the UK's likeliest web start-ups. But how many of those original 25 minnows are still around, and did any of them get to swim with the big fish? In...

How to reinvent yourself.(people who left successful careers for another career)
January 1, 2002... Is now the time to morph your career? The doctor who quit the NHS for the City, the banker-turned-novelist, the biscuit factory manager who became a film-maker, the consultancy high-flier who walked out on a six-figure directorship. Matthew...

Sir Howard Davies. (The Andrew Davidson Interview).(head of the Financial Services Authority)(Interview)
January 1, 2002... It's an impressive CV: special adviser to Chancellor Lawson, controller of the Audit Commission, head of the CBI, deputy governor at the Bank of England and founding boss of the FSA. His City watchdog is now snapping at a multitude of heels,...

Catering to the top chef's every Whim: How do you deal with the most awkward customers? Get close to them, says football hooligan-turned-entrepreneur Gregg Wallace. (A Section for Entrepreneurs).(George Allans founder)(Company Profile)
January 1, 2002... Fruit and veg has been very good for Gregg Wallace, a former Millwall football hooligan turned high-end greengrocer. After putting his youthful boot-boy misdemeanors behind him. Wallace, now 35, is founder, managing director and controlling...

Motor mouth a ghost on wheels.(Austin Mini)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... When I first saw the Morris Mini-Minor I was holding my father's hand. Even as a seven-year-old, I was astonished, We'd driven to the showroom in aHumber Super Snipe, a huge car of black paint and smelly brown leather. The contrast was...

What's your problem?(boss steals ideas; planning a department party; misrepresenting reasons for poor performance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... MY BOARD WANTS ME TO MAKE FALSE EXCUSES I'm the director of corporate communications for an international company. Our finals are due, and because of a series of misjudged acquisitions, they're not exactly good news. The board has asked me...

First class coach.(how to be an effective role model for leadership)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I've just been appointed head of department in a sector new to me. There's an important strategy presentation in the next few weeks and I'm torn as to whether to do it myself or let my two direct reports handle it. I want to demonstrate my...

Week at the top.(humor; week in the life of an executive)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... John Weak's Diary MONDAY Got in late, due to intense global warming under my duvet. Opened my post, including regular junk mail from Projector company with the snappy line 'Are you projecting the right image?'. As I projected it into...