Management Today articles from July 2007

Management Today archives from July 2007

Editorial: Alpha females with sparkle.(Editorial)
July 1, 2007... Take cover! The alpha females are on the march... Each summer as I look at our '35 Under 35' edition, a little piece of me dies. Surely these women must have some dinks and blemishes in their glittering CVs. Maybe they don't have any friends...

Contributors.
July 1, 2007... LUKE JOHNSON - Channel 4's chairman reviews The Black Swan: The impact of the highly improbable, and says it would 'pay our political leaders to study' it. Why is Johnson so keen to improve our leaders? He reckons author Nassim Nicholas Taleb's...

Chartered Management Institute: In My Opinion.
July 1, 2007... Chartered Management Institute Companion Emma Harrison argues that a strong social vision can be the foundation for business success. Having 'vision' in business sometimes seems like an optional extra. When I started in business, the...

The MT Diary.(Libya)
July 1, 2007... The oracle of Tripoli; Greeks in post-Olympic boom; Paris abuzz; Chinese euro-puzzle. 'Representation is the denial of democracy.' So reads the delphic billboard in Tripoli airport. It's a quote from Gaddhafi's Green Book, still the Bible...

Ten ways to ... tame the admin.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... 1. Return calls and e-mails immediately 2. Use your in- and out-trays 3. Print double-sided 4. Tidy your desk every day 5. Recycle paper as soon as it's useless 6. Bin or file old e-mails regularly 7. Have a 'to do' list .. 8.......

It'll Never Fly: iTUNES.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... You might expect people to shun legal music websites when it's so easy to download tracks for free elsewhere. After all, Joe Public has never been shy of dubbing cassettes or burning CDs. And when you buy MP3s you don't even get anything...

Dave's eco-nomics: Ban the bins.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... GREEN ALERT According to Government-funded Envirowise, UK business generates 75m tonnes of waste a year, at an annual cost of pounds 15bn (not to mention the impact that processing all that detritus has on poor Mother Earth). Of course,...

Earning curve: Theft.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Value of British security industry, p.a. pounds 4.3bn Jeff Skilling, estimated spoils from Enron fraud: pounds 91m UK's biggest cash robbery, Securitas depot, Tonbridge ('06): pounds 53m Nick Buckles, chief executive, Group 4 Securicor...

Workplace rights: Leave it to dad.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Government has decided that young families need fathers. Employees' rights to take paternity leave will be transformed in about two years' time under new 'family-friendly' reforms. Statutory paternity leave is currently limited to a...

History lessons: The perils of pioneering - Sir Freddie Laker.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... It sounds like a dot.com era battle: budget airlines undercutting flagship carriers by ditching frills such as meals and legroom. But Sir Freddie Laker began it all in 1977, when his Skytrain first crossed the Atlantic. He astutely judged...

Your Route to the Top: How to get noticed.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Take the lead. Set the mood rather than follow it. Be more energetic but more measured. Whatever you think is needed to establish the right tone, take charge and you'll be noticed for it. Challenge conventions. Established systems are there...

Why business is like ... magic.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Magicians are ace communicators, adept at visual spin. Everything they tell you is wrong, yet you are enthralled anyway. In business, we may not aspire to trick our audience but, insists Nick Fitzherbert, a coach who applies 'The Rules of...

Do it Right: Moving office.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Picture the fallout. The new place may be shiny, but how will things work? How will your team interact with other parts of the business? Where will visitors park? Think through the details before you up sticks. Plan the operation. You...

Slogan Doctor: expedia.co.uk: 'let yourself go'.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The tagline used by expedia.co.uk in its TV ads has three meanings, two helpful, one less so. Devised by branding consultant Lambie-Nairn and launched in 2005, it invites you, first, to give in to your hedonistic instincts and, second, to...

How does she manage? Sheep farmer - Jane Kallaway, Langley Chase organic farm.(Interview)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... WHEN DID YOU BECOME A MANAGER? I started 10 years ago with 10 sheep. After the BSE scare, I became concerned about what my family was eating. I did a lot of research into primitive, unaltered breeds, and came up with idea of breeding Manx...

Remember This.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... 'Business is like riding a bike. Either you keep moving or you fall down' - Frank Lloyd Wright said it. 'Sit loosely in the saddle' - Robert Louis Stevenson said it

Are you suffering from: eco-anxiety.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Does the thought of the size of your carbon footprint keep you awake at night? Do you turn off lights all the time? The planet's survival has become a full-time preoccupation for many - mostly in order not to contradict themselves. No-one...

Words-worth: Deal.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Deals are all the rage, whether it's private-equity funds swallowing City institutions or game-show contestants having their emotions manipulated by Noel Edmonds in the incomprehensible Deal or No Deal. In its origins, the word is about...

Stat of the month: A conspicuous absence.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... 3.8% - Proportion of female executive directors in the FTSE-100. The FTSE-100 remains a male-dominated society. Women still make up only a tiny percentage of board members in the UK's blue-chips, holding 15 executive directorships. The...

How she Made her Pile: Kate Moss - Supermodel and rock chick.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Who is she? The Croydon girl who spearheaded the 'waif' look that came to characterise models of the early '90s. She's now the world's most famous model, worth a cool pounds 45m. How did she make her millions? Spotted at 14 in JFK Airport...

Rupert Howell: If I had to start again ..(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... I'd love to have been a journalist, but I wasn't creative enough. I was always able to write a good letter - I just couldn't stare at a blank sheet of paper and come up with a story. But I went into advertising after university and immediately...

Crash Course in ... Job-sharing.
July 1, 2007... One of your best performers has told you she won't be coming back after maternity leave... unless you agree to a job-share. It's not an idea you're keen on, but the prospect of losing her is alarming, so how could you make it work? ...

MT Masterclass: Price wars.(Management Today)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... What are they? Oooh, nasty. The clue is in the name: it means war. No prisoners are taken, 'victory or death', and so on. Price wars break out when businesses spot a possible weakness in the opposition, or panic that they are simply not...

Decisions: Toby Ash - New Heights, Co-founder of the Furniture and Sofa Group.
July 1, 2007... MY BEST... was to refocus our expansion of the store network in the past year back onto London and the south-east. We started in Cricklewood, London in 1999 and after that went into secondary (non-high street) locations in Battersea,...

Behind the Spin: Bernard Matthews.
July 1, 2007... THE DILEMMA Oh dear. Things aren't so bootiful for Bernard Matthews right now. Sales are still down in the first quarter of 2007 at Britain's largest turkey producer, since its Holton farm in Suffolk was struck by the avian flu virus in...

It's time to axe the DTI.(Department of Trade and Industry)
July 1, 2007... Since issues vital to the future of our trade and industry - education, skills and R&D - are dealt with elsewhere, this ministry has no purpose. In the final episode of Yes, Prime Minister, the PM's political adviser Dorothy Wainwright...

Books: Just a sceptical empiricist.(The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... How do you cope with the unpredictable - like encountering your first non-white swan? Luke Johnson enjoys a rebel capitalist's take on the googlies life bowls us. The author of this book is an unusual person: after a successful career as a...

Books: Can disciplined lunacy give you the edge?(Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Be crazy and differentiate yourself, says this author, but his scatter-gun blast of case studies leaves Henry Engelhardt wanting less. I like to buy business books, some of which I actually read. I might have bought Oren Harari's Break from...

Books: Great ideas at great length.(What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom About Management)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... All 27 precepts in this book are worth considering, and some you might even wish to pursue. But, says Mike Hewitt, its high wordcount will sap your will to read on. I know what I was thinking, 30 seconds into this book. It was 'will this...

35 Women Under 35: Bright young things.
July 1, 2007... Glass ceilings? The confident alpha females on MT's latest list have stormed male bastions or skirted round them. But mixing career and children is still a tough call, reports Emma de Vita. Here, for starters, are interesting facts about...

The MT Interview: David Richards.(Interview)
July 1, 2007... Winner of the World Rally Championship as Ari Vatanen's co-driver in 1981, he has since made his fortune in motorsports engineering and plans to field an F1 team next year - and turn a profit. His latest coup? Outracing the PE boys to acquire...

India Rising.
July 1, 2007... The 'two Indias' paradigm takes many forms: swamis and snakecharmers vs nuclear missiles and space rockets; dire poverty in Bihar vs 14 billionaires; Gandhi vs Bollywood bling. But the contrast that matters most is the India of globally...

How to buy IT.(information technology)
July 1, 2007... The us-and-them mindset is alive and kicking in IT purchasing: techies want the latest shiny toy, and executive unconcern often lets them get it. Both sides should engage in a rational, collaborative decision-taking process, says Ron Condon....

Table Talk: Where Clare Logie Eats ..(Atrium)(Restaurant review)
July 1, 2007... My working lunches tend to be creative meetings, so I like to have a relaxed atmosphere where we can really take time out and talk in a conceptual way. The Atrium in Edinburgh is a small, upmarket place. It's not particularly Scottish, but it's...

On the Road.(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2007... The TDI engine suits the character of the Audi A5 coupe: more long-distance cruiser than sports car. It's more than a quarter of a century since Audi launched one of the best sports coupes the world has ever seen. The 1980 Audi Quattro was...

What's your problem?
July 1, 2007... Tell your firm about your phobia and tell them what you're committed to doing about it. Q: My job, which I've had for six months, involves international travel, but I have a phobia about flying. I've been asked to accompany my manager on a...

First-class Coach.
July 1, 2007... Work out ways to make your departure and subsequent re-entry as seamless as possible. Q: I'm expecting a baby in four months' time. I'm excited but also anxious about how best to handle my maternity leave and my return to work. I was...

MT: The Sharp End - My bin-end opportunity.(Management Today)
July 1, 2007... In a wheelie-shunting day, Rhymer Rigby gets to like the sound of breaking glass. For this Sharp End, I was going to be a bin man for a day, but throwing out is going out of fashion. So MT's team of fixers and strategisers put me onto...

Accelerator: Getting the fundamentals sorted out.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Here we are with accelerator no. 2. The first edition received a terrific response from readers - we've heard stories of it being hoarded and pinched from offices, which is good news. So we've kept to exactly the same formula. What we're trying...

Accelerator: Just do it - Yes, it's always good to talk.
July 1, 2007... A constant dialogue with staff keeps spirits up, says John Vincent, co-founder of Leon Restaurants. We went to the Sony Radio Awards recently as guests of a man called Phil, who is launching a great thing called Food Radio. After dinner,...

Accelerator: Survey - What gets you going?
July 1, 2007... Here at accelerator we aim to discover what's happening at the front line of small business. So, in association with Cisco Smart Business Solutions, we recruited an advisory panel of more than 500 members of the UK's SMB community, 87% of...

Accelerator: Vox populi.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... We asked: 'What will be your biggest opportunity for summer 2007?' You said: 'Internet growth to access overseas markets' 'Competitor consolidation' 'New product launches' 'M&A activity' 'China' 'Global warming' 'Taking advantage...

Accelerator: Tools of the trade - Stay in touch.(Buyers guide)
July 1, 2007... One of the boons of recent years has been the ease with which you can stay connected and productive, wherever you are. Big corporates and high-tech specialists were first to benefit from mobile e-mail, intranets and so forth, but now small...

Accelerator: Keep it legal - Mind what you promise.
July 1, 2007... Take care when giving a personal guarantee for your business's obligations, advises Trevor Watkins. Starting up a business? Looking to expand? Need more space, vehicles or equipment? These are typical situations in which your bank,...

Accelerator: Keep it legal - Q & A.(Interview)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Maxine Raphael founder of Maxine Raphael Specialist Transport and accelerator editorial advisory board member. WHY DID YOU SET UP YOUR OWN BUSINESS? I left my job as a transport manager for an international trucking firm with the...

Accelerator: People - Win talent and keep it.
July 1, 2007... Don't let the big corporates take the cream. Small firms like yours can attract the best people by playing to their own strengths: start-ups are flexible, informal, sociable, purposeful - and exciting. Dave Waller reports. I can't live, if...

Accelerator: Finance - 25 cashflow tips.(List)
July 1, 2007... You may have the greatest product or service and enjoy soaring sales and even healthy profits, but cash - or rather cashflow - is truly king for businesses. Poor cashflow can be the death of an otherwise healthy business, particularly among...

Accelerator: Sales and marketing - Do your own PR.(public relations)
July 1, 2007... A higher public profile can work wonders for your business, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune: small firms with great stories to tell can get media coverage that their corporate rivals would kill for Seasoned public relations supremo Colin...

Accelerator: Take charge - First premises.
July 1, 2007... Now that you're in business, you'll need a decent workplace fast What are the key considerations? Alexander Garrett helps you through one of the biggest decisions that a new entrepreneur faces. For Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, it all...

Accelerator: Technology - Websites that work.
July 1, 2007... When establishing your internet presence, follow basic rules to help you to build customer loyalty and boost business. The aim is to make the site functional, fast and familiar. Rhymer Rigby identifies the key elements for achieving online...

Accelerator: From little acorns.(Company overview)
July 1, 2007... Fresh fare, eager assistants and funky branding have been Pret a Manger's recipe for success, but should it float? The humble sandwich hardly seems a likely commodity for a smash business. Can you make a decent wedge from something that...

Accelerator: Red tape bonfire.
July 1, 2007... EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION: Yet more of it was introduced in April with the burden, as ever, on employers to comply with an even stricter regime. There's now a duty under the gender equality rules for bosses to identify specific goals. The new...

Accelerator: I wish I'd known... How to handle growth.
July 1, 2007... It may be what you want, but without structure it can sow the seeds of destruction, warns Nick Hood. Growing businesses are often the victims of their own success. Almost as many small firms fail because they can't handle a sudden surge in...