Management Today articles from January 2006

Management Today archives from January 2006

Contributors.
January 16, 2006... PHILIP BERESFORD Number-crunching for MT's latest Top 100 Entrepreneurs survey comes as second nature to Philip Beresford, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List. But in poring over the figures here, he was at once humbled and heartened by...

An Alchemist who found gold.(Jim Ratcliffe)(Editorial)
January 16, 2006... It's not often we put someone on the cover of MT who few people know or recognise. We're happy to make an exception for Jim Ratcliffe, who heads our Top 100 Entrepreneurs list this year by some margin. Ratcliffe's company Ineos makes its money...

Chartered Management Institute: In my opinion.
January 16, 2006... For Chartered Management Institute Companion Sir Bryan Nicholson, the mark of a great leader is strong decision-making. Throughout history, the world has seen many leaders, but only a few are deemed great. As a wartime kid, I have in my...

The MT diary: Howard Davies.(Diary entry)
January 16, 2006... An OFR Gordon can refuse; farewell to the Great Man of the Fed; Meyer spooks GKN. Gordon Brown seemed to catch everyone on the hop with his decision - announced to the multitude at the CBI conference - that he is canning the legal...

Brainfood: Ten ways to ... Motivate your staff.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 16, 2006... 1. Keep them involved 2. Push autonomy, but be available 3. Tell them when they're doing well 4. Keep the buzz quotient high... 5.... but see the upside of mellow 6. Take them out for lunch 7. Introduce flexible working 8. Promote...

Brainfood: It'll never fly - Farmers' markets.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Taking your pig to market was abandoned long ago by most people, but the beasts have continued to turn up on our plates - via industrial abattoirs, vacuum-packing and supermarket lorries. Ten years ago, the middle class loved this...

Brainfood: How does she manage? - Debt Collector - Heather Hutchins, Siemens Financial Services.(Brief Article)(Interview)
January 16, 2006... When did you become a manager? I came here as a supervisor 10 years ago. I moved up to management, and now head the team chasing late hire-purchase payments. This could be from an airline, a dental surgery or even a church paying for a...

Brainfood: Earning Curve - Nostalgia.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 16, 2006... Elvis Presley estate ('05) - pounds 26m Friends Reunited, profit on turnover of pounds 8.8m ('04) - pounds 4.6m School Disco, turnover for one-day event ('03) - pounds 1.2m Sale of Lady Penelope's car (Thunderbirds) ('02) - pounds 80k Pet...

Brainfood: Workplace rights - Sauce for the goose ..(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... The Civil Partnership Act came into force last month, entitling same-sex couples to register their relationships in a legal ceremony. By all accounts, large numbers are eager to walk down the registry-office aisle. Gay people who enter into...

Brainfood: History Lessons - Do the math - Hoover.(promotions done poorly)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Hoover learnt this the hard way when in 1992 it ran a promotion offering a free pair of return flights to Europe for customers who spent pounds 100. The costs, thought Hoover, would be...

Brainfood: Your route to the top - Slow down to achieve.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Give it all you've got. Direct all your attention to what you're doing now, and do it brilliantly. Don't let your mind rush on to the next task until you've finished this one. Listen a bit longer. We tend to jump in with an answer before...

Brainfood: Speaking out - Richard Reed, Founder, Innocent.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Richard Reed stands slightly sheepish in a crumpled T-shirt and jeans, his tousled hair belying a successful business brain. Just five years ago, he and a friend invested pounds 500 in mixing smoothies to sell at a music festival. Above the...

Brainfood: Business Manners - Giving training.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Give them what they want. Find out the group's needs in advance - it will make life easier for you and the activities more focused for them. Write the aims up as a schedule for the session and use it as a benchmark. Come prepared. Ask...

Brainfood: Slogan Doctor - Vodafone: Make the most of now.(advertising)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Now that everyone has one, the obvious ways of selling phones have been exhausted. No wonder the networks' ads have become so peculiar. Hutchison G3 has migrated to a science-fiction version of Japan. Orange wants you to turn your phone...

Brainfood: We'd love that job - Football Commentator - Martin Tyler, Sky Sports.(Brief Article)(Interview)
January 16, 2006... What do you do? I commentate on three or four live matches a week. You can't just roll up and talk; you need a lot of preparation. Our researchers find most of the facts - my job is to add depth and to provide a relevant, interesting flow....

Brainfood: Are you suffering from - Jobfuscation.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... A favourite buzzword among recruitment offices, Jobfuscation means embellishing the old CV or, better yet, inventing a new one. Most resumes today are lessons in creative writing. Twenty-eight per cent of the British population exaggerate...

Brainfood: Remember This.
January 16, 2006... 'The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining' - JOHN F KENNEDY SAID IT 'Perpetual devotion to your business is sustained only by perpetual neglect of many other things' - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SAID IT.

Brainfood: Words-Worth - Adhocracy.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... 'Adhocracy' is a fashionable concept of business organisation. It means a temporary structure devised to deal with a specific problem - a 'task force' is one kind of adhocracy. The word was invented by Alvin Toffler in his 1970 book Future...

Brainfood: Stat of the Month - UK heading south.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... When judged on innovation, enterprise, investment climate and macroeconomic stability, the US tops the lot, and looks set to keep doing so. Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Germany follow up. Britain's economic security and pro-risk culture...

Brainfood: How he made his pile - Li Ka-Shing, Trader and entrepreneur.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Who is he? Hong Kong's most successful businessman, net worth dollars 13 billion. Ka-shing's empire spans 40 countries and includes real estate, container terminals and UK mobile operator 3. How did he make his millions? Ka-shing left...

Brainfood: Ray Webster - If I had to start again ..(Brief Article)(Interview)
January 16, 2006... I'd certainly do things differently, but that's what business is all about. You don't go into it with all the answers. You learn from your mistakes and try not to make the same ones again. I'd develop my career in steps. I married...

Brainfood: Crash course in ... Whistleblowing.
January 16, 2006... An audit has shown wrongdoing and financial irregularities that could cost your organisation dearly; most worrying, some staff knew what was going on but kept quiet. It's time your people were encouraged to blow the whistle over malpractice....

Brainfood: MT Masterclass - Lean.(business approaches)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... What is it? Relax - this is not another new year column urging you to cut down on the carbs. Lean is a philosophy, a state of mind and a holistic approach to business, not a low-calorie diet. Lean businesses and organisations are offended...

Brainfood: Decisions - Sumerah Ahmad, Club Asia, co-founder of the award-winning London radio station.(Interview)
January 16, 2006... MY BEST... was deciding with my sister Humerah to set up the business in the first place. Neither of us had any previous experience in radio, so we had a phenomenal potential to fail. The likelihood of brand-new, would-be radio operators...

Brainfood: Behind the spin - Compass Group.(Compass Group PLC)
January 16, 2006... THE DILEMMA The world's biggest contract caterer has had a Turkey Twizzler of a year, but Jamie Oliver's criticism of Compass' low-grade school meals is just the tip of the iceberg. Of far greater concern are the investigations by the US...

I predict more red tape.(pensions, employment regulations)
January 16, 2006... Incoming regulations on pensions and employment will hamper firms in 2006. Now we know the remedies that Lord Turner of Ecchinswell proposes for the ills of Britain's pension system. His hefty report, the result of three years' work, was...

Nice guys and gals win.
January 16, 2006... The capacity to show consideration is being seen increasingly as a worktime asset. Nobody wants to be dubbed 'nice'. If your new boyfriend or girlfriend describes you as a nice person, the chances are you'll be crestfallen. Sexy,...

Books: Cross-border conspiracies.(Illicit)(Book Review)
January 16, 2006... This book blames globalisation for the criminal trade in everything from sex and drugs to money laundering and arms, but offers no solutions, says Howard Marks. Terrorists, cocaine dealers and sex-slave traders use web-based e-mail, high...

Books: Three of a kind - Help in raising your self-esteem.(Confidence Boosters)(Weekend Confidence Coach)(Confidence)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 16, 2006... Confidence Boosters Martin Perry Hamlyn pounds 6.99 Weekend Confidence Coach Lynda Field Vermilion pounds 8.99 Confidence Rosabeth Moss Kanter Random House pounds 14.99 [TE Those looking for a more heavy-weight discussion of...

Books: A good motivator or the root of all evil?(Just for the Money?)(Book Review)
January 16, 2006... This jaunty trip through what cash means to us offers entertainment but little useful analysis, says John McLaren. Just for the Money? Adrian Furnham and Tom Booth Cyan Books pounds 9.99 MT price pounds 8.99 To order, visit...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: Enterprise Nation.
January 16, 2006... MT presents its third annual ranking of the UK's top entrepreneurs. Philip Beresford salutes the diversity and the proven record of success of these drivers of Britain's wealth. Britain's leading entrepreneurs are creating employment as...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: The league table.(Illustration)
January 16, 2006... Rnk Name Age Company Activity 1 James Ratcliffe 53 Ineos Group Chemicals 2 Patrick McKenna 49 Ingenious Media Media 3 Simon Nixon 38 ...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: Premier League.( )
January 16, 2006... Our Top 10 wealth-creators made their fortune in such diverse areas as chemicals, entertainment, spread betting, property and fund management. 1. JIM RATCLIFFE, INEOS GROUP Jim Ratcliffe is the chemical industry's answer to acquisitive...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: Winning Women.
January 16, 2006... The females on our list run the gamut of business activities, from tanning parlours and online betting to bespoke travel and financial software services. 15. DENISE COATES WITH PETER COATES, BET365 Bookie's daughter Denise Coates came...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: Young Meteors.
January 16, 2006... Our youthful bosses, ranging from housebuilder and telecoms magnate to internet retailer, are united by their keen eye for a money-spinning deal. =17. STEPHEN HARRISON (36) AND PAUL HARRISON (34), HARRON HOMES Harron Homes, run by...

Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2006: Successful Settlers.
January 16, 2006... Our foreign-born enterprise champions come from all parts of the globe and their businesses range from hedge funds to kiddies' buggies. =19. DR JAN HRUSKA, SOPHOS (CO-FOUNDED WITH PETER LAMMER) Born: Czech Republic In the internet...

The MT Interview: Graham Mackay.(Interview)
January 16, 2006... He knows more about beer than anyone else on the planet, it is said, and the way he has turned a South African conglomerate into a world force in brewing in 15 years seems to prove it. SABMiller's thoughtful boss choreographed all the moves -...

How to really make it happen in 2006.
January 16, 2006... Choose your resolutions carefully and ensure a year of fulfilment by sticking to MT's cunning plan. The Mind Gym's Octavius Black keeps your motivation high. The new year is upon us and it's easy to get excited by all the things we're...

Trade Unions Rebadged.
January 16, 2006... Seventies-style militancy or sweet co-operation in the workplace? Stefan Stern finds a movement in turmoil. Digby, the biggest director-general in the world, is fed up. A Labour government has been talking to the trade unions, negotiating...

Joined-up IT.(information technology in mergers and acquisitions)
January 16, 2006... The elusive synergies of a takeover can be lost through techno-incompatibility. Systems issues must be addressed at the outset of a merger. Ron Condon reports. The merger negotiations are finally over. The ink is barely dry on the...

MT Business Travel: Frequent Flyer - Peter Budd's guide to Shanghai.
January 16, 2006... HOW TO GET THERE: I fly direct from Heathrow with British Airways or Virgin - a 10-hour flight. Either that or via Beijing, visiting Shanghai on a round-robin. Pudong, the new international airport, is 90 minutes from Shanghai's centre....

MT Business Travel: Table Talk - Where Rocco Forte eats ..(Mark's Club)(Restaurant Review)
January 16, 2006... I've long been a visitor to Mark's Club, in Charles Street, central London. I heard about it when it opened, around 1974, when I was a member of Annabel's - another club run by Mark Birley. It's a very civilised place, and there aren't many...

MT Business Travel: On the road.(Management Today, Fiat Punto Dynamic)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 16, 2006... The clean, subtly curvaceous line of the Fiat Punto Dynamic are almost sexy - rare among this breed. Italy makes some of the most beautiful, stylish and desirable objects in the world: Prada suits, Alessi kettles, Ferrari supercars, B&B...

What's Your Problem?
January 16, 2006... Make a mental decision to leave this seamy soap opera and find a job that appreciates your abilities. Q: I've made a bit of a mess of my career path. After completing a PGCE, I wasn't confident enough to teach at an inner-city school in...

First-Class Coach.(sales management)
January 16, 2006... It requires a big shift to move from competing with other salespeople to encouraging them. Q: I run a closely knit sales team, and recently recruited a highly capable senior manager who consistently refuses to have anything to do with the...

MT business lifeforms: The executive coach.(Michael Norris)(Biography)
January 16, 2006... You have to be a good listener in this business, and Michael Norris has the time. Michael Norris is down in town for a couple of days, staying in one of the better rooms in one of London's better hotels. He'll be seeing three clients...