Management Today articles from May 2006

Management Today archives from May 2006

Editorial: Pebbles in the Chinese shoe.(Editorial)
May 5, 2006... In MT, those scoops just keep on coming. This month, we have the first major interview with the man chosen to lead our top bank - HSBC. Stephen Green is not from the usual HSBC mould. He's a cerebral ex-McKinseyite who has never worked as a...

Contributors.
May 5, 2006... PATIENCE WHEATCROFT MT says goodbye to Wheatcroft, who has commented on corporate machinations in our pages for six years. The insights of perhaps the best-connected woman in business have made her one of our most-loved writers. We wish...

In My Opinion: Chartered management institute.
May 5, 2006... Collaboration will help firms prosper in the new global marketplace, argues Chartered Management Institute Companion Andy Green. Irecently read an interesting comment by Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs correspondent at the New York Times....

The MT diary: Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics.
May 5, 2006... Thanks to its stable legal environment, Hong Kong is cashing in on Chinese expansion. In Hong Kong, things are looking up. The economy is booming. Tourism is up more than 50% from the SARS low. House prices are recovering after a...

Brain Food: Ten ways to ... shine in meetings.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... 1. Believe in yourself 2. Be succinct 3. Look at people, not the floor 4. Sit opposite your boss 5. Circulate documents beforehand 6. Turn arguments into discussions 7. Drop names and knowledge 8. Accept points from the other side...

Brain Food: It'll never fly - The pet trade.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Animals used to serve a purpose. Cats were mousers. Dogs were first domesticated for hunting, farming and security; now, they're likely to be fed a Christmas dinner and kept safe in a handbag. Man's best friend has become his surrogate child....

Brain Food: How does he manage? - Financial Investigator - Carlos Conceicao, Department Head, Enforcement Division, FSA.(Interview)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... When did you become a manager? In a formal sense, five or six years ago. Before joining the FSA, I had management functions at the DTI and the Ministry of Defence. But my background was as a lawyer, which meant managing clients into a...

Brain Food: Earning curve - Magic.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... JK Rowling, income from Harry Potter: pounds 500m David Copperfield ('04): pounds 31.4m Magician, corporate and trade shows, p.a.: pounds 100k Top-hat milliner, p.a. from: pounds 15k Magic Circle, annual subscription: pounds 175...

Brain Food: Workplace rights - Migrant skills ranked.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The most radical overhaul of the UK's immigration system for decades is under way. An Australian-style points system for migrants from outside the EU, comprising five separate tiers, will replace the current work-permit scheme. 'Top-tier'...

Brain Food: Your route to the top - If you can't say yes ..(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Start with no. Being clear at the beginning of the conversation sets the context and reduces any later confusion. It also shows you value the other person as an equal, not someone around whom you need to tread softly. Practice makes...

Brain Food: History lessons - Tailor your product - Confucius.(The Mind Gym: Give me time)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 5, 2006... Like so many historic figures, 6th-century BC Chinese sage Confucius was largely ignored in his own time. Even now, his epigrams are more widely quoted in fortune cookies than in executive suites. A government middle manager, Confucius (Kong...

Brain Food: Speaking out - Sir Derek Higgs, Chairman, Alliance & Leicester.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... He seems a nice guy, but Sir Derek Higgs is the most irritating speaker I've ever watched. He gave the keynote speech to the London Human Resource Group - HR professionals gathered for 'Comply and Prosper', a seminar about managing the people...

Brain Food: Business manners - Handling complaints.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Put yourself in the customer's shoes. No matter how trivial or unbelievable a complaint seems, offer the attention you'd expect yourself. Don't tell your staff that a customer is 'moaning'. Log it. Keep a record, not just a Post-it. The...

Brain Food: Slogan Doctor - BMW: It's a mini adventure.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Who would have thought that BMW could engineer cute? But it did with the new Mini, achieving what has eluded both VW, with its lumpen new Beetle, and Mercedes, with the ruinous Smart. From the start, the Mini has lived up to its slogan, created...

Brain Food: Are you suffering from Madonna syndrome.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Do you have a tendency to be bossy? Are everyone's standards beneath yours? Do people who eat or drink too much repulse you? In fact, do you hate anyone who doesn't share your views (on anything, even though yours keep changing)? It was going...

Brain Food: Words-worth - Silo.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Does your company operate 'silos'? Do people have a 'silo mentality'? Can you do anything about 'siloing'? All fascinating questions, and not only in agri-business. A 'silo' in those circles is a chamber for storing grain and other produce....

Brain Food: Remember this.
May 5, 2006... 'China is like a piece of meat. The more you bite into it, the tougher it gets' - ZHOU EN-LAI SAID IT 'Don't try to be like Jackie. There's only one Jackie. Study computers instead' - JACKIE CHAN SAID IT.

Brain Food: We'd love that job - Vineyard owner - Roy Cook, Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard, East Sussex.(Interview)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... ?WHAT DO YOU DO? Something I wholeheartedly believe in - organic agriculture. This involves a massive variety of jobs. One day I could be planting vines, another wine-making. I could be teaching, dealing with finances, updating the website...

Brain Food: Stat of the month - China's ageing problem - 200m - The number of Chinese projected to be over 60 in 2025.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... China is the oldest country in the world, with 130 million people over the age of 60. This is a tenth of its population, the highest ratio anywhere. And the over-60 age group will number 200 million by about 2025 and continue growing to...

Brain Food: How he made his pile - Chen Tianqiao, Founder and CEO, Shanda Interactive Entertainment.(Brief article)(Biography)
May 5, 2006... Who is he? Dubbed China's Bill Gates, Chen, 32, was China's richest man, with a USdollars 1.5 billion fortune, before shares in his Shanda internet gaming company tumbled last year. He is now 10th, with holdings valued at a mere dollars 1...

Brain Food: Charlie Banks - If i had to start again..(Interview)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... I could have stayed in the military. When we married, my wife actually thought I would. I was in the Navy for two years, and spent five years in the reserves. It was a great leadership experience, but my style wasn't suited to peacetime. I...

Brain Food: Crash course in... The company creche.
May 5, 2006... One of your best people has just quit because she says she can't work for you and look after her children. In her exit interview, she pointed out that her new employer runs an on-site nursery. HR says some help with childcare would be very...

Brain Food: MT Masterclass - Accountability.(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... What is it? President Harry S Truman understood accountability. 'The buck stops here', read the little sign on his desk. He was answerable for the actions of his government and his country. Managers need to know to whom they must answer, be it...

Brain Food: Decisions - Paul Beverley, PMS International, Founder of the importer of toys, novelties and homewares.(Interview)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... MY BEST... I started sourcing goods in China over 30 years ago, back when I was operating out of one small shop on Southend seafront. Now I'd say 98% of our supplies come from China and we've got four offices there, and one in Hong Kong -...

Brain Food: Behind the spin - B & Q.(Company overview)
May 5, 2006... THE DILEMMA The Sixties were swinging when Richard Block and David Quayle, two Southampton entrepreneurs, set up shop in their home town. Did they imagine that 50 years later, B&Q outlets would be catering to keen DIYers from Chingford to...

Gordon's council of gurus.(Gordon Brown)
May 5, 2006... It is hard to imagine that the advisory body of well-known business leaders appointed by the Chancellor will tell him anything he hasn't heard. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer calls and says he would like to pick your brains, it is a...

When lying is acceptable.
May 5, 2006... Honesty and openness are of course commendable in business, but leaders have to tread a fine line: to tell the whole truth can sometimes be unhelpful. If you've never told a lie, please move on to the next excellent article. This column is...

Books: Business with a human face.(Myself and Other More Important Matters)(Book review)
May 5, 2006... Tom Peters, no mean guru himself, salutes his mentor, a writer and speaker who preaches humanity as central to management and who practises what he preaches. Confining this review to just a few hundred words has been painful. I want to...

Books: Three of a kind - How to cope with a nightmare boss.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 5, 2006... DEALING WITH THE BOSS FROM HELL; Shaun Belding; Kogan Page pounds 8.99 Working for a condescending, miserable, control-freak boss can be soul-destroying. If you're in this awful predicament, read Belding's book. Not only does he give you...

Books: It's a bit too soon to write off Wal-Mart.(The Wal-Mart Effect)(Book review)
May 5, 2006... This demolition job on the world's biggest firm is readable but ignores its undeniable positive points, says Andrew Seth. America is awash with books on Wal-Mart, but Charles Fishman has an ambitious agenda and he writes with flair. The...

The MT interview: Stephen Green.(Interview)
May 5, 2006... Stepping into the shoes of the legendary Sir John Bond, HSBC's new executive chairman has a hard act to follow. But the former civil servant and McKinsey brainbox - who has never been a cashier - is determined that the world's second-biggest...

MT In China: Silk route to success.(luxury goods)
May 5, 2006... Fashion retailer Shanghai Tang could be the first big luxury brand out of Asia, appealing to China's newly rich as well as to Western tastes. It's 9.50 on a dark night in a 1,300-year-old Confucian temple in Shanghai, and if the weather is...

MT In China: When in China ..
May 5, 2006... Western firms must now move deep into the country to do business. A fair grasp of local attitudes ensures mutual respect. DAN SLATER talks to some wise old hands. With its high ceilings, tiled floors and airy spaciousness, the Hong Kong...

Robbie's Guardian Angels.(artist managers)(Interview)
May 5, 2006... Britpop phenomenon Williams was a lost soul in 1996, when he was signed up by an indie duo with a colourful past of their own. Mat Snow reports. Of behind every great popular performing artist there is a great management team, then, for...

Rising Star Award: High five fight it out.
May 5, 2006... It's judgment day as the rigorous elimination rounds of the DDI Rising Star Award 2006 (in association with MT) have whittled down the contenders to a handful of high-quality business leaders-in-the-making. The finalists are summoned to the HQ...

The smartest CIOs.(chief information officers)(Interview)
May 5, 2006... Heads of IT used to be sidelined as boffins. Now the top-flight exponents combine tech knowhow with business acumen. Mark Vernon profiles four of the best. The role of the CIO in modern business is an ever-changing and increasingly complex...

Table Talk: Where Jamie Warde-Aldman eats..(Brief article)(Column)
May 5, 2006... I'm only an occasional luncher, perhaps four times a year for work. Most of the time I'm locked in the office, although my boss did once take me to lunch to give me a bollocking. I took this as an extraordinary compliment - better than being...

On The Road.(Audi Q7)(Product/service evaluation)
May 5, 2006... The Audi Q7 will present a parking challenge, even with bumper radar and optional rear-view camera. Soon, there'll be another highly visible target for the anti-four-wheel-drive lobby - in the shape of the new Audi Q7. This bluff-nosed...

What's Your Problem?
May 5, 2006... Q: I'VE WORKED in the customer services department of a retailer for over six years. The company has decided to relocate from Berkshire to rural Wales. My manager has said he'd like me to relocate and can offer me a promotion, and there will be...

First-Class Coach.
May 5, 2006... Q: MY COMPANY is merging and I have the chance of taking voluntary redundancy. I'm nearly 50 and I'm worried about finding another job. Should I go or should I stay? A: WHEN THOSE around you are jumping at the chance of redundancy...

MT Business Lifeforms: The headhunter.
May 5, 2006... What's a great negotiator with a fat contacts book worth? Ask Simon Burnsby. Simon Burnsby kicks off his day with a cold call to a merchant banker. 'Good morning, is that Jeremy Galbraith?' The voice at the other end replies testily that...