Management Today articles from May 2003

Management Today archives from May 2003

EDITORIAL: TALENT THAT MAKES ITS OWN CASE.(younger female managers)
May 12, 2003... It seems in some ways odd that we have returned two years later to compile another MT '35 Women Under 35' feature. Why in 2003 are we still producing a list of faces to watch that is open only to women rather than all young high-fliers in...

Contributors.
May 12, 2003... WILL HUTTON This month, economist Will Hutton scrutinises John Kay's new book The Truth About Markets for MT. Hutton, CEO of the Work Foundation and author of The State We're In, finds he is easily persuaded by Kay's explanations of the...

IN MY OPINION: Chartered Management Institute companion Andrew Summers, until last month CEO of the Design Council, sees innovation as more than just discovery.
May 12, 2003... Once upon a time, a group of scientists in Hull made a discovery. They found they could control the way a substance called Terfenol-D changed shape in response to magnetic fields. They were very excited. Unfortunately, no-one else was - until,...

Cutting Room.(New York Stock Exchange management)
May 12, 2003... NYSE finds it no longer has room for al Jazeera; which directory enquiry service? - it's your call; petrol retailers feel the heat; fat economics... Evan Davis at large. How nice, at this time of geo-political turmoil, to see the New York...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Ten ways to ... Make more time for yourself.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 12, 2003... 1. Clear your backlog and keep it clear 2. Don't pretend that your door is always open 3. Leave things that will look after themselves 4. Actively manage the future before it arrives 5. Get input and experience from your boss 6. Have a...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - It just might work - Beyond budgets.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Are you suffering budget blues, both in doing and meeting the wretched things? Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser, authors of Beyond Budgeting, have a simple solution. Scrap them! No targets for spending and selling means no blasting for shortfalls....

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Unlikely managers Bingo caller - Mecca Bingo, Harlow.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Name: Dawn Milton When did you become a manager? I became a bingo caller two years ago and a manager a year ago. I'm in charge of the ancillary games department, responsible for 25 to 30 staff. What does management mean to you? A...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Workplace rights.(confusion over application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Transfers in turmoil Ministers are at last moving to overhaul the laws preserving employees' rights on business transfers. The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) apply not only to business sales but also...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Earning curve - Racing.(earnings of people involved in horse and dog racing)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 12, 2003... Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum, net worth ('00) dollars 12bn David Harding, CEO, William Hill ('00) pounds 447k Prize money, Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup ('03) pounds 350k Racehorse trainer, p.a. pounds 10k-pounds 75k Horserace judge, starting...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Route to the top .. How to be resilient.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Think about the future. The more complete and clear your mental picture is of success, the easier it will become to stay focused and keep going. Imagine overcoming your current difficulties. It may not be obvious how to do it, but by...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Room service. Where Antonio Carluccio stays.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... For business - Business stays for me generally mean UK book tours, and I usually stay in a Malmaison hotel. They are modern, well kept and well managed. There's no need to stay somewhere grotty just because it's business - business should be...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Speaking out. Dawn Primarolo MP - Paymaster General, Treasury.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The European Business School was packed with luminaries and students from all over the world, including the Middle East, keen to hear a Treasury minister talk on 'The Business of Development'. In other words, how Britain is doing its bit to...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Mike Hodgkinson. If I had to start again....(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... As a university student, the Christmas post was my holiday job, earning a little extra to stay solvent, and now I'm completing the round with my chairmanship of the Post Office. Today, I often do the round of our airport terminals, speaking...

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Are you suffering from ... The Kournikova effect.(why employees who seem unthreatening are preferred)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... A British academic study says the Russian tennis star is the subject of more than a third of tabloid articles on women's sport. Men are attracted to Anna Kournikova, it concludes, because subconsciously they feel reassured by her lack of wins....

BRAIN FOOD: Matters for the mind to chew on - Words-worth Best of breed.(industry business practice)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Are you best of breed? No, not you, sir, despite your clear eye and glossy coat. I mean your company and its products. To be best of breed is to be the best of its kind, just like in a dog show; but in business it is a prize you award yourself....

PATIENCE WHEATCROFT: The human factor.(Hugh Osmond's proposal to takeover Six Continents)
May 12, 2003... If a novelist had drafted the plot for the Six Continents I saga, it could hardly have been better crafted. Here was a tale of David and Goliath brought up to date: lone entrepreneur attacks mighty corporation. The human dimensions were...

STATE OF THE UNION: Now is the perfect time for the US to withdraw from Korea. Having shown its power in Iraq, it can abdicate without revealing weakness.(North Korea and US relations)
May 12, 2003... I trust in the inexorable advance of liberal capitalism, hold the US to be the foremost force for good, see multiculturalists as apologists for backwardness, supported the expedition to Iraq and dream of executing every tyrant from Riyadh to...

INSIDE OUT: Blair should use his influence in Washington to make sure British firms are given contracts in Iraq and to consolidate the special relationship.(UK prime minister Tony Blair)
May 12, 2003... Tony Blair is in danger of squandering the immense political capital he has built up during the war with Iraq. He is under pressure from Labour backbenchers to push for a substantial role for the United Nations in the rebuilding of Iraq; and...

REALITY BITES: All this busy-ness and stress is creating more heat than light. It is a sign not of work being too hard but too shallow, too undemanding.
May 12, 2003... How hard is your job, really? (It's OK, I won't tell anyone, especially your boss.) Yes, I'm sure you work terribly hard at your job, but that's not the question. The issue at hand is how much your job stretches you, challenges you, teaches...

TECHKNOW: The people and products shaping your future - Things to come...X-ray eyes for roadmenders.(virtual reality binoculars for roadside engineers)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Holes in the road dug by public utility firms can be a headache for traffic and pedestrians. But thanks to a new backpack for roadmenders, getting at underground pipes and cables will be a lot faster in future That could save the country about...

TECHKNOW: The people and products shaping your future - Tech talk.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Slebbing (v): Celebrity picture messaging. Jennifer Aniston's face on your moby says 'Let's be Friends'. When the boss sends you Anne Robinson, start jobhunting Big Red Switch (n): The huge 'off' button fitted to big and expensive bits of...

TECHKNOW: The people and products shaping your future - Pushing the envelope. Smart labels.
May 12, 2003... Along with the latest from Prada, Gucci and Donna Karan, a new kind of smart label hits the high street this year. Unlike the fashionistas' offerings though, they'll be affordable, discreet and might change your life - or the way you shop, at...

TECHKNOW: The people and products shaping your future - Smart tools - Exertris.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... What is it? An exercise bike combining work-out with play. What does it do? Cycling is great for the cardio-vascular system, but pedalling away in the gym doesn't offer much mental stimulation. Exertris tries to right this wrong...

BOOKS: WHAT COUNTS IS PLURALISM.(The Truth About Markets)(Book Review)
May 12, 2003... The Truth About Markets; By John Kay; Penguin pounds 25.00; MT price pounds 20.00 This landmark book avoids fundamentalism to identify the vital ingredients of a free-market economy. But Will Hutton finds it a patchwork offering of...

BOOKS: On the bedside table of ... Philip Williamson, chief executive of Nationwide Building Society.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... 'I'm quite a keen golfer, and I'm reading Dave Pelz's Putting Bible, 600 pages of how to improve your golf. I'm also reading a book about building customer loyalty, The Loyalty Effect by Frederick Reichheld, all about attracting barnacles...

BOOKS: Greek hero as consultant.(Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy)(Book Review)
May 12, 2003... Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy; By Partha Bose; Profile pounds 14.99; MT price pounds 12.50 Management theory began with the conquering exploits of Alexander the Great, according to this book. Tristram Hunt enjoys the parables. ...

BOOKS: FURTHER READING.(on office politics and behavior)(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
May 12, 2003... Judi James, who writes about office politics in this month's MT, recommends further reading for those needing advice on Realpolitik in the workplace. The Rules of Work; Richard Templar; Prentice Hall Business pounds 9.99 This is a...

BOOKS: BIG MISTAKES - The authors of this case-studded volume challenge a range of meta-assumptions, reports Paul Gibbons.(The Seven Deadly Sins of Management)(Book Review)
May 12, 2003... The Seven Deadly Sins of Management; By Jonathan Ellis and Rene Tissen; Profile pounds 9.99; MT price pounds 8.50 Sometimes it's easier to say what a book is not. The title suggests this may be one of the growing number of books on business...

BOOKS: The book that shook Jeremy Long.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... 'Without hesitation, I would choose In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert H Waterman Jr. I found that it expressed clearly and very readably that there is so much more to a successful company than just process and strategy. Passion...

LEADING LADIES: WOMEN UNDER 35.(list of successful businesswomen)
May 12, 2003... A mountaineer, an amateur jockey, a triathlete and a martial arts expert... You'll find all these and more among our selection of the businesswomen aged 35 and under who are forging impressive careers in a wide range of sectors. For although...

OFFICE POLITICS: THE NEW GAME - De-layering, team-playing, the coaching craze, relentless training schemes and instant e-mailing ..
May 12, 2003... Such changes demand a radical rewrite of the office Machiavelli's manual. Devil's advocate Guy Browning is here to oblige (above). Judi James, for the office angels, says: Don't go there (below). HOW TO PLAY THE MODERN WAY There are...

SKIMMING THE GRADUATE CREAM: Generations of employees found their first jobs via the corporate beauty parade that is the recruitment milk round.
May 12, 2003... But as employers find better-targeted ways of finding new blood, the days of mass hirings straight from University may be numbered. Is student recruitment turning sour? asks Stephen Cook Deep in its enclave of Astroturf and brutalist...

A MEMORABLE EVENT: Conferences should raise awareness about the key issues affecting a firm - but all too often they just raise a yawn.
May 12, 2003... From booking speakers to ensuring that the loos are clean, a good event depends on a firm grasp of both the big picture and the details. Emma De Vita reports. Next time you go to a conference, take a look around. Are your fellow delegates...

THE CHRIS BLACKHURST INTERVIEW: Sir Richard Sykes.(Interview)
May 12, 2003... Don't imagine that the former boss of Glaxo, maestro of two of the greatest takeovers of the pharmaceuticals sector, has become rector of Imperial College to enjoy a life of cloistered ease. He's there strictly to put it on a business footing...

COMING UP FAST: HOW A NON-EXEC WILL EARN A PLACE AT YOUR TABLE.(Column)
May 12, 2003... Even maverick entrepreneurs appreciate the objective input of independent directors, who bring their own expertise, judgment, connections - and 'sanity check', says Sheridan Winn. The position of non-executive director ought to be a coveted...

CRASH COURSE: HOW TO CURE BULLYING AT WORK.
May 12, 2003... According to a European Union survey, some 9% of the workforce - 12 million people - suffered workplace bullying during a 12-month period. If it's happening under your roof, you could face a hefty legal bill for compensation, leaving aside the...

MOTOR MOUTH: Indefinable class.(the Renault Avantime)(Product/Service Evaluation)
May 12, 2003... A few years ago, we were told that by spring this year those of us driving at all would be in penitential three-wheelers with bodies made out of recycled Slovakian suitcases powered by miniature engines running on gas emitted by chicken...

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?(answer to questions about office dynamics, career choices)(Column)
May 12, 2003... SHOULD I FOLLOW MY BOSS TO A NEW FIRM? Q: My boss and mentor is leaving to join another company, and has asked me to go with him. Although I love working with him and am very tempted by his offer, I'm quite happy with the company I'm in....

FIRST CLASS COACH: At my appraisal, my boss told me I have to become more strategic if I want to be promoted. How do I do that?(Column)
May 12, 2003... It often comes as quite a shock to people who have always focused on doing the job in hand and been rewarded for doing so to discover that they are suddenly required to become competent in a completely different skill. That requires using...

WEAK AT THE TOP: John Weak's diary.(Column)
May 12, 2003... MONDAY It's the end of the tax year and I'm way below budget. There's no better way to burn money fast than appoint an agency. It's the business equivalent of going out with a woman: you haemorrhage cash for very little excitement. Had...