Management Today articles from June 2007

Management Today archives from June 2007

Issues that still have legs.(Editorial)
June 1, 2007... Ping! Just as I was sitting down to write this, a press release drops into my groaning Outlook (current Inbox contents: 7,852 items) proclaiming: 'Nearly a quarter of the UK's entire office-based workforce is unhappy at work.' According to this...

Contributors.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Paul Walsh Diageo's CEO pours on the praise for Allan Leighton's book On Leadership, describing it as full of 'funny, poignant and pungently illustrative stories'. Walsh should know about leadership: he runs one of the world's top drinks...

Chartered Management Institute: In my opinion.
June 1, 2007... Chartered Management Institute Companion Keith Clarke argues that dependence on outside advice harms business leaders' political awareness. There has been an unhealthy trend in recent years for companies to take 'expert' advice on a...

The MT diary: Howard Davies.(Management Today)
June 1, 2007... Artless Vancouver enjoys the boom; John Major in the pink; what could rein back PE? It may seem a long way to go, but if you want to find a property boom just like London's, Vancouver is the place. British Columbia has won a double...

Ten ways to ... win more business.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... 1. Know your field 2. Offer consistent quality 3. Market astutely 4. Deliver on time 5. Get feedback from clients... 6.... and act on it 7. Set the right price 8. Have a decent website 9. Network 10....

It'll never fly: The frisbee.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... It's hard to imagine kids getting excited by the interminable back-and-forth flight of a flat, featureless disc when, through video games, they can now sample the greater thrill of pro football, carjacking or war. But the humble Frisbee turns...

Dave's eco-nomics: Lunch thoughtfully.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Green alert The quick answer to the question of where your lunch comes from - the sandwich trolley - doesn't cut the mustard nowadays. Food miles are a big concern in these carbon-conscious times, no surprise when 95% of the fruit and half...

Earning curve: The sun.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Estimated value of global solar power industry, 2010 pounds 20bn UK spend on suntan lotion, p.a. pounds 146m Judy Naake, founder, St Tropez fake tans, wealth pounds 45m Antonio Banderas, Police sunglasses endorsement pounds 1.5m ...

Workplace rights: Last gasp for smokers.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... A complete ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces comes into force in England on 1 July, bringing the law into line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. What are the burning issues for employers? The legislation applies to areas...

History lessons: Let inspiration strike - Archimedes.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The great Greek mathematician clearly had a lot going on upstairs, but even he had trouble getting the cogs moving sometimes. Take his famous 'eureka' moment. Syracuse's King Hiero entrusted Archimedes with an important task: he'd had a gold...

Your route to the top: Thinking on your feet.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Know your stuff. Prepare for tricky questions with a pre-emptive strike. Grab a pen and paper and write a counter-argument to every problem that you come across. When you're put on the spot, you'll have all the answers. Be decisive. Taking...

Why business is like ... Naughty schoolboys.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... 'Stop fiddling and sit on your hands!' shouts the geography teacher to the boy in the back row. He has dropped his pen for the third time in 10 minutes, interrupting Miss Appleton's flow as she explains the difference between a Bergschrund and...

Do it right: Public speaking.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Tailor it. Hosting an awards bash requires a different performance from giving a keynote speech to an industry conference. If you're first up, set the tone; further down the bill, offer something extra to reach those tired minds. Control...

Slogan Doctor: Magners: 'Time dedicated to you'.(Magners Original Irish Cider)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... With Magners and a vast advertising budget, Irish brewer C&C has revived the whole cider market. Cider used to be either electric soup for the Asbo generation or the summer tipple of straw-chewing farmhands But by inventing a simple (and...

How does he manage? Lido manager.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... When did you become a manager? I started out 16 years ago as a fitness instructor, then took the duty management route. After becoming general manager of a couple of health clubs, I spoke to Fusion, a leisure trust, which had won the...

Remember this.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... 'Ability is of little account without opportunity' NAPOLEON said it 'I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end' MARGARET THATCHER said it

Are you suffering from Hedonic Treadmill.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... You save up to buy your first used car, then as soon as you've driven it for a while, you think how nice it would be to have a new one. You get the new one, and think how much nicer it would be were it a specced-up Mercedes. By the time you get...

Words-worth: bubble.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... We're in danger of disappearing under a froth of bubbles. There's the 'private-equity bubble', the 'housing bubble' and the return of the 'dot.com bubble'. This venerable term was first applied to crazed speculation in 1721, when Jonathan...

Stat of the month: Giving it large.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... 190,439 - Number of registered charities in the UK This huge figure may explain why you can't stroll down the high street today without having to shield your bank details from hordes of clipboard-waving fundraisers (known less charitably as...

How he made his pile: Carlos Slim Helu - Telecoms magnate.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Who is he? The Mexican investor is now the world's second-richest man, behind Bill Gates. His wealth has grown by a staggering pounds 11.5 billion since early last year, and the 67-year-old is now worth pounds 26.9 billion. How did he make...

Sir Christopher Bland: If I had to start again ..(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... I had a desire to be a journalist, but I paid no attention at university to what I needed for such a career. When I left Oxford after studying modern history, the BBC quite rightly wouldn't interview me, nor would Ulster TV, and the Irish Times...

Crash course in ... Diversity in the workforce.
June 1, 2007... You've always prided yourselves on being an Equal Opportunities organisation, but a visitor points out that your people look remarkably similar to each other. Are you discriminating against some groups without even knowing it? And could you be...

MT Masterclass.(Management Today)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Cyber-bullying (of business) What is it? This interweb palaver really is getting out of hand. Not only are some of your customers proving to be hard to please and ungrateful, but they are displaying this ingratitude in full public glare,...

Decisions: Tom Bureau - CNET networks UK.
June 1, 2007... MD of the online publisher, and CO-founder of silicon.com. MY BEST... was seeing the potential of online media early on. A friend who'd worked at CERN, the European nuclear research organisation, came back enthusing about the...

Behind the spin.
June 1, 2007... THE DILEMMA The 'world's local bank' has suffered heart-stopping moments over the past year that would have had lesser financial firms reaching for the defibrillator. Last year, HSBC wrote off close to pounds 5.3 billion in bad debt; its...

That amiable arrogance.
June 1, 2007... If faith in macho, charismatic bosses has waned, no-one will follow a self-scrutinising wimp. Leaders must believe they are best for the job. By the time you read this, Gordon Brown should be close to completing his long, painful ascent of...

Books: Fly high but stay grounded.(On Leadership: Practical wisdom from the people who know)(Book review)
June 1, 2007... Leighton's lessons from a portfolio career spanning Mars, Asda, Royal Mail and many other firms are a great resource for leaders in the making, says Paul Walsh. Allan Leighton is one of the most innovative and successful business leaders...

Books: Three of a kind.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2007... GET YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING How To Have Creative Ideas; Edward de Bono; Random House pounds 8.99 De Bono is the master of lateral thinking, so you're guaranteed a thought-provoking - and thought-improving - book. It includes 62...

Books: Time to get serious about our happiness.(Happier: Finding pleasure, meaning and life's ultimate currency)(Book review)
June 1, 2007... This book is not airport flotsam, says Anthony Seldon, but a serious, practical attempt to address the ennui of affluence. Happier: Finding pleasure, meaning and life's ultimate currency; Tal Ben-Shahar; McGraw-Hill; pounds 12.99 ...

Books: The barbarians at the gates.(The Cult of the Amateur: How today's internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy)(Book review)
June 1, 2007... This internet believer-turned-apostate provoked howls of blogger outrage even before publication of his book, but Jeremy Bullmore thinks he protests too much. The Cult of the Amateur: How today's internet is killing our culture and...

Still juggling after all these years.
June 1, 2007... It's a cause that MT took up in the mid-90s, but in the decade since then, have we made any progress in establishing a healthy equilibrium between our working day and our personal time? Is it still an issue? Richard Reeves weighs up the...

The MT interview: Sir Nigel Rudd.(Management Today)(Interview)
June 1, 2007... Qualifying early as an accountant, he was a corporate trouble-shooter at 24 and soon acquiring ailing businesses, building up conglomerate Williams Holdings only to dismantle it later. As chair of big names like Pilkington, Pendragon and Boots,...

Feelgood Factors.
June 1, 2007... Sedentary lifestyles, poor diet and stress can cause sluggishness and absenteeism at work. Keen to pep up employee performance, firms are putting in place wellness initiatives such as quit-smoking programmes, wholesome canteen food, gym passes...

Concrete's comeback.
June 1, 2007... The cement and concrete industry is meeting massive global demand with innovative products and techniques that make construction easier and the materials more appealing. Its impact on the environment is hard to deny, but RHYMER RIGBY salutes a...

Private equity off the leash.
June 1, 2007... The rise and rise of PE is changing the corporate landscape and shifting the balance of power in the City. Investment banks are no longer top dogs, having ceded territory to an aggressive new breed Matthew Lynn reports from the Square Mile. ...

Perks and perils of mobile working.
June 1, 2007... Instant connectivity has changed our working methods and expectations, but not always in the ways predicted. MARK VERNON identifies the social shifts in a wireless world. The other day I heard a three-year-old child ask its parent for a...

Table talk: Where sarah gold eats ..(restaurant Roka)(Restaurant review)
June 1, 2007... The 'advertising lunch' is undoubtedly legendary, but it's largely mythical. It's not that they don't exist, just that these days, they rarely span an afternoon or trouble much of the wine cellar. They tend to be brisk and businesslike, but...

On the road.(Product/service evaluation)
June 1, 2007... Locomotive-like tug and city-car economy turn the Toyota Auris into something slightly less ordinary. It's pronounced 'ow-ris', and it has got one of the toughest jobs a new car - and a new name - ever had: replacing the Toyota Corolla....

What's your problem?
June 1, 2007... Q: I was recently approached by two headhunters with some quite interesting propositions. Initially, the secretive calls and e-mails were fun, but I'm feeling increasingly awkward about lying to my colleagues about where I'm going, and I think...

First-class coach.
June 1, 2007... Q: My organisation spends so much time having meetings that we never get round to implementing what we agreed in them. Now that I'm a senior manager, should I just use e-mails and phone calls instead? A: Meetings are the curse of many...

MT the sharp end: My turn with the tanker.
June 1, 2007... A day of delivering fuel, and Rhymer Rigby rides shotgun as driver's cabmate. My day as a tanker-driver's mate kicked off at a fuel depot somewhere near Leeds. Or Wakefield. Well, it wasn't really that near anywhere. But as the (entirely...