Management Today articles from July 2003

Management Today archives from July 2003

EDITORIAL: Fat cats and an 800 pound gorilla.
July 1, 2003... This month, we return to our bi-annual MT Global Salary Survey, and glory be if we aren't back yet again in the land of fat cattery, where the fur is flying faster than a bad night at the RSPCA refuge. Excessive executive remuneration is a...

CONTRIBUTORS.
July 1, 2003... DAVID BUTCHER: David Butcher's quest to find out whether employee-owned firms really work proved an eye-opener. 'I envisaged places like United Airlines, where there was a sense that the lunatics had taken over the asylum,' he says. 'But it...

IN MY OPINION.
July 1, 2003... Chartered Management Institute companion Michael Bray, until recently CEO of Clifford Chance, pinpoints the strategic challenges facing all law firms. Strategy is not that difficult. It comes from the heart as much as the mind. It's about...

BRAIN FOOD: Ten ways to - Start a new job.
July 1, 2003... 1 Introduce yourself to reception 2 Walk round the entire site 3 Check you're getting what they offered 4 Visit other departments 5 Make friends with the office manager 6 Say hello to the managing director 7 Learn...

BRAIN FOOD: It just might work - Anticipating the crisis.
July 1, 2003... Get yourself a large disc and turn it into a 'Wheel of Crisis', with compartments for the seven crisis families: criminal, personnel, physical, economic, information, natural disasters and reputation. Gather round with management colleagues and...

BRAIN FOOD: Unlikely managers - Hairdresser - Stuart Phillips, London.
July 1, 2003... Name: DALE McCOOK When did you become a manager? When I was a head junior - I'm now a stylist. What does management mean to you? Making sure everything runs correctly. If it doesn't, there's no structure to whatever you're trying to...

BRAIN FOOD: Workplace rights - Beyond belief.
July 1, 2003... New laws come into force in December prohibiting workplace discrimination and harassment on grounds of religion or 'similar philosophical belief'. Not only will mainstream religious groups be protected, but also people belonging to fringe...

BRAIN FOOD: Earning curve - Summer events.
July 1, 2003... Charity money raised, Glastonbury Festival ('02) - pounds 1m Chairman, Britain's Olympic 2012 bid, p.a. - pounds 200k Cecile Bonnefond, chair, Veuve Clicquot UK ('02) - pounds 73k Events manager, London, p.a. - pounds 20k-pounds 25k...

BRAIN FOOD: Route to the top - How to give a great interview.
July 1, 2003... Think ahead. Know the main messages that you want to get across beforehand and think about the type of questions that will help you share them. Do your research. Be well informed about the person you are meeting and the organisation they...

BRAIN FOOD: Room service - Where Tim Waterstone stays.
July 1, 2003... FOR BUSINESS: My favourite hotel is the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, Massachusetts overlooking Boston Common. It was recommended to me years ago as the best hotel there, and I've been going there since 1979. The hotel has a lovely position and...

BRAIN FOOD: Speaking out - Buzz Aldrin - Space pioneer.
July 1, 2003... Buzz Aldrin, the guest of honour at the Institute of Directors' annual convention, looked dapper in his moon-and-stars tie. He was well introduced. Three thousand sets of hairs rose on three thousand necks as we witnessed the thunderous,...

BRAIN FOOD: If I had to start again.
July 1, 2003... Both in politics and in business I would pay less attention to prevailing fashions. Take a view of your own and stick to it. If you go back to the 1960s and '70s, the prevailing fashion in business was to bring everything into the centre and...

BRAIN FOOD: Are you suffering from - Repetition Compulsion.
July 1, 2003... We all know someone who complains bitterly about his abusive boss, only to take another job with the same kind of person. Repetition Compulsion is Freud's term for such (often unknowing) destructive behaviour. He theorised that people who...

BRAIN FOOD: Words-worth - Brand extension.
July 1, 2003... 'It wasn't the best extension of our brand,' said the Microsoft spokeswoman, pulling the plug on the iLoo. It certainly wasn't: but neither was it a hoax, as originally claimed. The UK division really was planning an internet-enabled portable...

THE HUMAN FACTOR.
July 1, 2003... There may be some kudos to be had from being the best-paid executive, but to be the one who benefits most from failure is surely not to be boasted about. When Sir Christopher Gent used his last annual meeting at Vodafone to criticise...

STATE OF THE UNION.
July 1, 2003... Modern communications - the growth of e-mail, weblogs and web bulletin boards - have given destructive power to bitter employees. From the turmoil at the New York Times, The US's most prestigious newspaper, everyone has taken the lesson...

REALITY BITES.
July 1, 2003... The researchers found that the most productive firms have higher proportions of skilled workers. But then they looked more closely at the causes... Everyone knows about Gordon Brown's infatuation with Prudence. But lately he seems just as...

TECHKNOW: Things to come - Tower power.
July 1, 2003... Solar power demands direct sunlight, one of the reasons why the Government's alternative energies are now directed at wind turbines. But now structural engineers Schlaich Bergermann of Stuttgart plan to put turbines and sun together to generate...

TECHKNOW: Tech talk.
July 1, 2003... Lay-off lust (n): Burning desire to be de-cruited, caused by down- sizing rumours. Can cause crippling over-subscription to voluntary redundancy deals Last-mover advantage (n): The benefit of letting others make all the mistakes for you,...

TECHKNOW: Pushing the envelope - Air traffic control.
July 1, 2003... It's July and the nation takes off for sunnier climes. Or at least it tries to. The democratisation of air travel has placed increasing strain on Britain's air traffic control systems as controllers try to squeeze ever more planes into what are...

TECHKNOW: Smart tools - The GN NETCOM 9120.
July 1, 2003... WHAT IS IT? A cordless phone headset. WHAT DOES IT DO? It turns your old office telephone into a high-tech, hands-free wonder, leaving you free to wave your arms, stride about the office - anywhere within 100 metres of the base station. The...

CUTTING ROOM.
July 1, 2003... Fundamental rights and quite nice ideas; it's a fare cop on Le Shuttle; how to curb the over-pushy lenders; my crash course in decor... Evan Davis at large. It's been hard to escape the debate over the European Union's new constitution....

INSIDE OUT.
July 1, 2003... Blairite ministers tell me that we (the British) are winning the arguments in the European Union for freer markets - and against further stultifying centralization on Brussels. Douglas Hurd and other pro-EU Tory grandees told me the same during...

BOOKS: Anyone for globalibation?
July 1, 2003... This selection of polemic contributions to the debate about the overweening power of multinationals ranges from the glib to the disturbing, says Alan Kemp. FENCES AND WINDOWS; By Naomi Klein; HarperCollins; pounds 8.99; MT Price pounds...

FIRST CLASS COACH.
July 1, 2003... As manager of a small team, l am overwhelmed with demands on my time and attention, and would like to know how best to prioritise on a daily basis. Is there a rule of thumb for working out how much time to dedicate to particular people or...

BOOKS: A psychological contract.
July 1, 2003... Inspirational leaders should connect deeply with those whom they lead. That is the central idea of this book, which Tim Radford finds perceptive and practical. The Inspirational Leader; By John Adair; Kogan Page pounds 12.99; MT Price...

BOOKS: On the bedside table of ... Lloyd Dorfman.
July 1, 2003... 'At the moment, I'm reading Roy Jenkins' comprehensive biography of Churchill. For some reason, I also have two catalogues on my bedside table, both from auction houses. One is from Christie's, the other from Sotheby's. I enjoy looking...

BOOKS: How the UK has been doing.
July 1, 2003... A clutch of essays in which economic experts assess Britain's post-war performance makes engaging reading, reports Kate Barker. The Challenge of Change; Edited by Jim Hirst; Profile; pounds 12.99; MT price pounds 9.99 Published to mark...

BOOKS: Three of a kind - Find and attract the best people.
July 1, 2003... RECRUITING EXCELLENCE; Jeff Grout & Sarah Perrin; McGraw Hill; pounds 19.99 If everything about recruitment can be covered in one book, this well-written offering does so. There are sections on how to attract candidates from different age...

THE MT GLOBAL SALARY SURVEY: Who 's worth what?
July 1, 2003... Since our last MT Global Salary Survey, the downturn has hit salaries, but Britain and the US still lead the CEO pay league. In India, fat cattery is taboo. In Spain, workers are poorer but happier Andrew Saunders takes in the big picture. ...

THE ANDREW DAVIDSON INTERVIEW: Nick Land.
July 1, 2003... As head of Ernst & Young's British partnership in troubled times for accountants, he has fulfilled a Blair-like role of managing relations with an all-powerful US-run operation and been a reforming force at home. Clearly, there's a steely core...

NEW MODEL AUNTIE.
July 1, 2003... With the BBC's charter due for review in 2006, a lobbying force is gathering around its media rivals, who argue that licence funding allows it to dominate markets way beyond its public-service remit. But will it change anything? Adam Leyland...

WHOSE COMPANY IS IT ANYWAY?
July 1, 2003... Democracy and co-ownership are no way to run a business, say hardline capitalists, pointing to the United Airlines bankruptcy and the St Luke's bust-up. Could they be mistaken? David Butcher reports. When employees own the company, strange...

HOW TO MIX PLEASURE WITH BUSINESS.
July 1, 2003... In lean times, entertaining clients at Ascot may seem like frittering away hard-earned profits. But a well-selected outing is an effective way to build client relationships. Emma De Vita advises on getting your corporate hospitality right on...

A SECTION FOR ENTREPRENEURS: Put your bright idea through college.
July 1, 2003... Top business schools now offer cash and facilities to help their budding Bransons to get off the ground, disproving the adage 'Those who can do, those who can't teach'. Michael Wale reports. It's a popular myth in Britain that the average...

A SECTION FOR ENTREPRENEURS: Crash course - Assessing a rookie supplier.
July 1, 2003... A company you've never heard of is offering to supply one of your vital components at a lower cost than the outfit you've been using for years. You're not sure what to do and you've realised that you need a methodical approach to choosing your...

MOTOR MOUTH: Like skiing a black run.
July 1, 2003... Porsche has come a long way since the Konstruk-tionsburo fur Motoren- Fahrzeug-Luftfahrzeug und Wasserfahrzeugbau consultancy was established in Stuttgart in the days when Hitler had not yet determined his ultimate career path. A vehicle...

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WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?
July 1, 2003... WOULD A YEAR OUT JEOPARDISE MY CAREER? Q: I have recently been made redundant, and after 10 years of keeping my nose to the grindstone I'm keen to take time off before looking for another job. I can afford to take a year out of work, and my...

WEAK AT THE TOP: John Weak's diary.
July 1, 2003... MONDAY: We're having a big Health and Safety push at Smokehouse. If you ask me, a big push is the last thing you want - someone could get hurt. We have a safety rep called Donald McIver, a young Trotskyite union activist who's discovered you...