Management Today articles from June 2011

Management Today archives from June 2011

Editorial: Banks Need More Competition
June 1, 2011... Just when you thought the reputation of the banks could sink no lower came a new instalment of the PPI (payment protection insurance) saga. Most of the banks involved in this racket have now acknowledged misconduct and will pay compensation...

Contributors.
June 1, 2011... JEREMY HAZLEHURST Hazlehurst has done everything from writing sketches at Tory party conferences to modelling shooting tweeds in the Mall. This month, he looks at the world of peer-to-peer lending and its alluring promise that strangers will...

The MT Diary
June 1, 2011... The view from Greece; China's long march to be world No.1; can France stay in the race? The British economy is rather dull just now. 'Flatlining' is the word in vogue. In other words, we have had no growth at all for six months and the...

You Live and You Learn: Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk
June 1, 2011... My grandfather was a big influence. He left school at 16 but finished life as a field marshal and a lord. He was my guiding star, which meant that when I was growing up, I wanted to be a WWII general. Riding a horse in a race is instant love...

Ten ways to ... Do viral marketing.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... 1. Give away free stuff 2. Let your hair down .. 3.... but not too much 4. Use email and social networks to spread your message 5. Don't try to make an ad 6. Have an internal competition 7. Find out what people like about your brand 8. Make it...

Workplace rights: Harassment u-turn.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... Employers are legally required to protect their staff against discriminatory harassment by other employees, but how far should this extend to harassment by third parties such as clients and contractors? Previously, the law covered only...

Words-worth: Angels.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... The Government has allocated pounds 50m from its new Regional Growth Fund to pay fees to business 'angels'. These are wealthy individuals who invest, on their own or as part of a syndicate, in new businesses. Not only that, they make their...

Suffering from ... Disconfirmation Bias?(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... We all love detective shows where the driven, incorruptible, sleep-deprived 'tec shows the baddies the incontrovertible proof. Even then, the baddies shake their heads in disbelief. This is what marketing men call 'disconfirmation bias', the...

Career Masterclass: Say What You Want
June 1, 2011... Conquer stage fright. Scared to speak up? List the consequences of keeping quiet: another late night covering lazy colleagues, moaning to your exasperated partner, a reputation as the office pushover. Still happy to suffer in silence? Beat...

Don't you believe it ... It's smart to have SMART objectives.(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed)(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... The idea that objectives should always be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed - seems made for these straitened times. But here's why SMART objectives are really dumb. Specific. Why is this a good thing? It excludes...

What's the big idea?: Managing diversity.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... Forget the PC overtones - diversity really does need to be managed. But what kind of diversity and who's to manage it - more white men in blue shirts? The topic is, of course, code for race and gender. 'Race' is often literally only skin...

35 Women under 35: Alix Pryde, director, BBC Distribution.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... The secret of my success: I lost both my parents when I was fairly young. It gave me a philosophy that life is too short and too precious not to enjoy what you do for a living. I adore what I do and I know that this passion is at the heart of...

Slogan Doctor: Travelodge: Sleep tight.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... Last May, Travelodge started advertising on TV after a gap of two decades, promoting itself as a 'retailer of sleep' rather than a hotelier. Built around a gang of cuddly but gruff-sounding teddy bears, the ads, by agency Mother, carried a...

How to: This Month's most-read advice on MT's website.(Management Today)(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... Ten Top Tips: Help new employees get settled in Legal: How changes to the Corporate Manslaughter Act may affect you People: Why mentoring is good for business Finance: What every FD should know about debt Ten Top Tips: Cut down your...

Remember this.(Oscar Wilde)(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... 'Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much' - Oscar Wilde said it. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not subscribe to the magazine? Please call 08451 55 73 55 for more information or visit...

Decisions: Charles Hunt, Duvet and Pillow Warehouse, co-Founder of the online bedding retailer.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... MY BEST... When I was founding the company, I ignored the industry experts who said it was difficult and dangerous to directly source feather and down pillows and duvets from overseas factories. They suggested it would be better to use UK...

Company Vitae: BT
June 1, 2011... It's the phone and internet provider we all love to hate, but BT dates back to the 1840s and modern life would be pretty difficult without it. Formative years The world's first commercial telecommunications venture, The Electric Telegraph...

Stat of the Month: UK tax take rising.(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... The percentage of GDP taken in income tax and national insurance contributions is rising, meaning that an ever-increasing portion of our cash goes straight to Jeremy Taxman, much of it to pay interest due on the national debt. Every day, the...

Crash Course in ... Using Freelancers
June 1, 2011... When you look around your office, there seem to be plenty of people without much to do, but you can't find anyone suitable for that important new project. If you brought in a few freelancers, on the other hand, you'd have people to do the work...

MT Learning Curve: General Well-Being
June 1, 2011... What is it? You know that warm, sunny feeling you get when all your problems seem to slip into the background and life is good? Sure, it's been a while (without recourse to intoxicating stimulants, anyway). But a sense of 'general well-being' is...

It's Always Party Time
June 1, 2011... There's nothing better than throwing a good party - and your business will benefit too; which glittering prize is the most corrosive?; why Starbucks is my least favourite coffee chain. One of life's great joys is attending and giving parties....

Getting a Grip on Pay
June 1, 2011... Boards or 'remcos' need to show rigour and independence if they want to slow the upward trend in top executives' earnings. I have been a member of remuneration committees - or compensation committees, as they tend to be called in the US - for...

Books: By luck or by judgement?(Book review)
June 1, 2011... Tim Harford argues that success comes when people manage to get things right at an individual level. But, argues Erik Britton, society has to make the big decisions. Adapt: Why success always starts with failure Tim Harford Little,...

Books: Food for thought, but chewy.(The Shift: The Future of Work is Already Here)(Book review)
June 1, 2011... The menu may be a little hit-and-miss at times but there's plenty of nourishment in this three-course analysis of the changing workplace, says Richard Donkin. The Shift, The Future of Work is Already Here Lynda Gratton Collins pounds...

Books: Simple and obvious truths about strategy.(Book review)
June 1, 2011... Too many people in business mistake what it is and what it should be. They ought to read this book, says Roger Parry. Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters Richard Rumelt Profile Books pounds 12.99 Most...

Three of a kind: How to motivate yourself.('Drive,' 'The Procrastination Equation,' and 'Motivate Yourself')(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2011... Drive Daniel H Pink Canongate pounds 8.99 Once, deep in the mists of time, motivation was provided by the promise of food or sex. Then, there was motivation 2.0: the promise of wages or shelter. Now, says Pink, there's motivation 2.1 -...

The MT Interview: Vittorio Colao
June 1, 2011... Vodafone's Italian-born global chief is sitting on the UK's most valuable brand, with profits of more than pounds 9bn last year. Now, with a run-in with the Revenue behind him, a more dynamic company structure and a new chairman on the way, he's...

Will the Banks Mend Their Ways?
June 1, 2011... Bankers have a long way to go before they can walk down the street with their heads held high once more. Even while reform and new regulation may lessen the likelihood of another banking crisis, their gigantic earnings and culture of entitlement...

New Generation Moneylenders
June 1, 2011... High street banks have never been exactly popular, but many borrowers simply haven't had a choice. But now, a new generation of peer-to-peer lenders is harnessing the power of the internet to offer better rates, higher returns and decent...

Why Jung Still Matters
June 1, 2011... Swiss psychologist Carl Jung's ideas have become such an integral part of business that many don't even realise they were his in the first place. From branding to psychometric testing, from the meaning of work to the untapped potential of older...

Brits Blast Off
June 1, 2011... The UK space industry gets funding that's a tiny fraction of Nasa's but, thanks to some very British boffins, it's taking a healthy chunk of the international market and making satellites so affordable you could buy one on a credit card. Emma...

The Future of the Workplace
June 1, 2011... New technology, computer-savvy youngsters, environmental concerns and globalisation are all forcing profound changes, not only in how we work but also in the nature of our work environment itself. In association with Smart Technologies, MT...

Advertisement Feature: The Business of Winning Gold
June 1, 2011... As the Skandia Great British sailing team charts a course for London 2012, it has joined up with Accenture to create a bespoke performance management tool - a streamlined and focused way of developing both individual athletes and the team as a...

MT Travel: Globetrotter
June 1, 2011... Jasmine Montgomery, CEO of marketing consultancy Seven Brands, spends so much time aloft she is writing a book about branding, in-flight. - How many business miles have you clocked up over the year? About one million. That's from going...

MT Travel: Motor Mouth
June 1, 2011... Mercedes-Benz's gadget-laden and quietly powerful E250 CDI fits Sathnam Sanghera like an Oswald Boateng suit. When a friend, colleague or relative of the opposite sex expresses incredulity at my obsession with cars, I often find myself...

Chartered Management Institute: In My Opinion
June 1, 2011... Peter Haslehurst, a CMI Companion and chairman of Luxfer Holdings, on how to secure a strong future for UK manufacturing by learning from 50 years of change. Management in manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past 50 years, to...

What's Your Problem?
June 1, 2011... Q: I work in a large advertising company in the West End of London, where I manage a team of about 20 creatives. The problem is that their idea of 'business casual' and mine are somewhat different. I've tentatively addressed the problem with...

What's your problem?(Brief article)
June 1, 2011... Q: I am a project manager at a medium-sized organisation in the Midlands, where I am very happy - were it not for one factor: we have too many meetings. It's driving me crazy, like we're being micro-managed. And the problem is I have no time...

What's Your Problem?
June 1, 2011... Q: I have run a small business now for nearly 30 years. My wife and I are partners and have worked incredibly hard for most of that time, while also raising a family. We also had to cope with a rapacious franchisor whose clutches we managed...

First-Class Coach
June 1, 2011... Q: Like many others, my company has been restructuring recently. I am a department head and, although our overall headcount has fallen slightly, the new, flatter structure means that the number of my direct reports has almost doubled. How can I...

MT People: The Sharp End - Instant Objects of Desire
June 1, 2011... Dave Waller enters into the weird and clandestine world of high-speed manufacture. I'm off to High Wycombe to catch a glimpse of high-speed manufacturing, the business of cranking out industrial products faster than you can say: 'Shouldn't...