Management Today articles from May 2007

Management Today archives from May 2007

Editorial: Meet a black-belt scrapper.(James Murdoch)(Editorial)
May 1, 2007... It was hard not to be impressed by James Murdoch. For a split second during our 70 minutes with the BSkyB boss, I felt sorry for Richard Branson, standing in the way of this capable and determined young man, who likes a serious scrap with an...

Chartered Management Institute: In my opinion.(Cobra Beer Ltd.)(Company overview)
May 1, 2007... Chartered Management Institute Companion Lord Karan Bilimoria urges leaders to ensure constant innovation to meet customer needs. Meeting customer needs is in many ways the essence of business - just try creating something people don't want...

The MT Diary: Howard Davies.(video games in United Kingdom)
May 1, 2007... Branson's snowstorms; Blackpudlians in bed with bishops; Gordon's tartan Budget. For a few years in the mid-90s, my children were obsessed by SimCity, a computer program that allows the user to design the city of the future When you get...

Ten ways to ... manage your time.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Think: 'I'm in control' Develop routines Have a weekly planner Prioritise Keep your desk clutter-free Delegate clearly Set deadlines and stick to them Don't procrastinate Learn to say 'no' Credit yourself for what you achieve...

It'll never fly - monopoly.(strategy game from Hasbro Interactive Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... When Quaker Lizzie Magie of Virginia patented her 'Landlord's Game' in 1904, she can't have imagined it becoming a favourite pastime of capitalists. The idea had been to teach the evils of land monopolies. Her original - featuring the...

Dave's eco-nomics storm in a plastic cup - Green alert.
May 1, 2007... You heed the advice from your fitness trainer and keep your fluid intake up at work. Sure, you've boosted your concentration and energy levels, but instead of a pat on the back you're getting it in the neck from the greenies for continually...

Earning curve - coffee.(industry profit rises)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Value of the global coffee industry: pounds 41bn Nestle, profit ('06): pounds 3.8bn Howard Schultz, Starbucks founder, net worth: pounds 560m Store manager, Caffe Nero, p.a.: pounds 17k-pounds 22k Winner, Singapore Barista Championship...

Workplace rights - Harassment is no joke.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Twelve years ago, two waitresses claimed they had suffered sexual and racial harassment at a hotel banquet addressed by comedian Bernard Manning. Their employer, the hotel, was held liable for failing to protect them in a situation where it had...

History lessons - Reap the small print - George Lucas.(director of Star Wars)
May 1, 2007... George Lucas could have taken a handsome director's fee for 1977's Star Wars. Instead, the up-and-coming director asked 20th Century Fox for a comparatively paltry dollars 175,000 - plus 40% of the merchandising rights to the film and any...

Your route to the top - Connecting with people.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Find your common ground. Connecting with colleagues can be as much about personal things as the work you do. Read the sports section or arts review to keep up with their interests. Make them feel special. We connect best when we feel good...

Why business is like ... A hitchcock movie.(Alfred Hitchcock explains duties of a new CEO)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A new CEO heralds a new era. A new era heralds change, and change induces fear. So what can a new CEO do to break this cycle and avoid joining a company paralysed by the prospect of their arrival? Alfred Hitchcock understood the mechanics...

Do it right - Cracking the whip.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Build the right environment. A vibrant workplace - where everyone knows what they're doing, why, and how to do it - should set clear standards and keep discipline issues to a minimum. Be a role model. Your authority will be lost if you're...

Slogan Doctor - Croatia: 'The Mediterranean as it once was'.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... It is about now that we start looking forward to the summer holidays - and recalling favourite trips of years gone by, when flying was fun, the sun didn't give you skin cancer, and hoi polloi hadn't discovered where abroad was. Then, the...

How does he manage? - Park Keeper - Mark Wasilewski, St James's Park, London.(Interview)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... When did you become a manager? I joined the Royal Parks in 1989 as nursery manager in Greenwich Park Back then, I didn't have to speak to people, only plants. Sometimes I got more sensible answers. In 1992, I landed the role of supervisor...

Remember this.(quotations)(Quotation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... 'Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth' - John F Kennedy said it 'There's no good idea that can't be improved on' - Michael Eisner said it

Are you suffering from - Monomania.(obsession with one)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Monos means one in Greek and mania means mania. Put them together and you have someone in the deep throes of obsession. Someone with emotional monomania is obsessed with one emotion (love, for example), but more often, monomania is what you see...

Words-worth - Network.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Real networks (of computers, phones or people) can and will go wrong, but the word itself won't let you down. It stands for everything today's management aspires to: it's as light as a feather but as strong as a hawser; it holds things together...

Stat of the month - Vikings' black gold.(rising economy of Norway )(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Pounds 150bn - The size of Norway's state pension fund. It is the largest pension fund in the world, and a tidy sum to say the least - enough to get you the mother of all Norse Saga holidays. So how did a little country like Norway, with a...

How he made his pile - David Beckham, footballer.(signs contract with Los Angeles Galaxy)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Who is he? After turning out for Manchester United, Real Madrid and England - and with a marriage to Posh Spice - Beckham, 32, is Britain's richest footballer. He's worth an estimated pounds 112 million. How did he make his millions? He...

General Sir Mike Jackson - If I had to start again ..(Interview)
May 1, 2007... I wouldn't swap my army life for anything. I'm a pragmatist - I don't look back and say what I missed. Now it's just a case of 'that chapter is closed, this one's open', and moving on. Operational command was the most rewarding thing I've...

Crash course in ... What to wear at work.
May 1, 2007... Oh dear, the weather's warming up and we've got the usual problem: the women are turning up at the office in micro-skirts while the men are sporting Bermudas. Suddenly, the organisation's entire dress sense has gone to pot, and customers and...

MT Masterclass - Reputation management.(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... What is it? Its advocates say reputation management is about so much more than mere spin. It involves preparing for sudden crises and scandals, dealing with investors, managing the brand and tending to your firm's reputation, at once your most...

Decisions - Robert Braithwaite - Sunseeker.(Sunseeker International Boats Ltd.)(Interview)
May 1, 2007... Founder and managing director of the Dorset boat-maker. MY BEST... Everything is made in Poole. We design, develop and manufacture the boats here. In the past year, we've made 330 boats, from 47ft out to 120ft. The only way I've...

Behind the spin - Jessops.(securities )
May 1, 2007... THE DILEMMA The fortunes of the UK's leading photographic retailer are fading Floundering Jessops has issued three profit warnings and suffered a 90% drop in its share price this year. Two senior heads have been offered on a plate to...

The storm over 'locusts'.(Private-equity firms )
May 1, 2007... It's easy to envy vast personal wealth garnered by private-equity practitioners - but unproductive. Being filthy rich doesn't make them filthy. Private-equity firms have made the transition from invisibility to obloquy. Once the sector got...

Books - Not doing it for themselves.(Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2007... If women are to progress at work, we need firms to champion best practice, argues this author. Nicola Mendelsohn is impressed, but where's the role model material? Apart from the obvious moral, social and political reasons for women having...

Books: Thinking ahead to a global monoculture.(Five Minds for the Future)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... A Harvard psychologist argues that tomorrow's world will require specially trained mindsets. Adrian Furnham tunes in. Howard Gardner is a master taxonomist. He seems to love nothing more than categorising psychological phenomena into five...

Books: Three of a kind - How not to get lost in translation.(Bridging the Culture Gap)(Riding the Waves of Culture)(When Cultures Collide)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... Bridging the Culture Gap Penny Carte and Chris Fox Kogan Page pounds 17.99 When Cultures Collide Richard D Lewis Nicholas Brealey pounds 19.99 Riding the Waves of Culture Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner Nicholas...

Books: Proof that employees make the most patient investors.(The SAIC Solution: How We Built an Dollars 8bn Employee Owned Technology Company)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... Like John Lewis or Arup in the UK, SAIC cites employee ownership as a reason for its sustained success. For its founder, this was just one precept. Of course, it's really all down to his wife, Betty. Over Robert Beyster's office desk hung...

The MT Interview: James Murdoch.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC)(Interview)
May 1, 2007... Is he his father's son or his own man? The boss of BSkyB seems a bit of both, actually. The cries of nepotism have died down and the buzz is he may take over News Corp itself. In the meantime, there are the little matters of Ofcom, Virgin and...

A Decisive Edge.
May 1, 2007... Despite having top brains, a great team and a hard disk filled with data, some firms still make lousy decisions. Is it true that 'pragmatists act on evidence, heroes act on guts'? Rebecca Alexander explores the art of strategic decision-making....

Is the agony of BAA terminal?(BAA PLC acquired by Grupo Ferrovial )
May 1, 2007... Since being acquired by the Spanish Grupo Ferrovial last year, Britain's dominant airport operator has been beset by problems on all sides - terror alerts, big queues at Heathrow, increasingly militant airline customers. And now it faces two...

ARM's strength.(Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.)
May 1, 2007... Most of the world's portable gizmos use technology based on the chip architecture of this British-founded research firm, joint winner in the 'Capacity to innovate' section of MT's Most Admired Companies Awards (in association with Mercer Human...

Keep it safe.(information management)
May 1, 2007... The price of data security is eternal vigilance, as Nationwide and TK Maxx have found to their cost. And the hackers are getting smarter all the time, warns Ron Condon. On Valentine's Day this year, the Nationwide Building Society received...

Table Talk: Where Peter Bennett-Jones eats ..(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... It's fair to say I'm a professional luncher. I feel I've failed if I'm not eating out. There are 100 restaurants within walking distance of my Soho Square office, but the one that represents the essence of Soho for me is Little Italy, on Frith...

On the road.(Mercedes-Benz R320)(Product/service evaluation)
May 1, 2007... All that's missing from the Mercedes R-Class Grand Sports Tourer is a steward to serve pink gins. According to the crystal-ball gazers at Mercedes, the R-Class is that Holy Grail of modern automotive marketing, a new class of vehicle. A...

What's your problem?(public relations)
May 1, 2007... If this PR offensive was launched just to feed the ego of the CEO, then you need to do something. Q: Three months ago, our PR agency decided that our CEO needed to do more press activity and the other exec board members agreed - and what a...

First-Class Coach.(connecting with your boss)
May 1, 2007... Understanding how your boss is wired may help you create a better working relationship. Q: My boss is extremely taciturn. He never greets me and rarely tells me what he's thinking, but is critical if I don't do things in the way he wants -...

MT The Sharp End: Life through a beer mug.(O'Neill's pub in London)
May 1, 2007... A shift at a pub in Carnaby Street, or was it Memory Lane? Rhymer Rigby reports. When I arrived for my shift at the O'Neill's pub on the corner of London's Carnaby Street, things were hectic. The builders, who were enlarging the eating...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Times are good.(Management Consultancies Association)
May 1, 2007... The management consulting industry has enjoyed sustained growth over the past three years. Year-on-year revenues are up by 16% as management consultancy has become an important industry sector in its own right, earning the UK economy close to...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Platinum winner, and International category winner.(Management Consultancies Association honors Atos KPMG Consulting Ltd.)
May 1, 2007... Platinum Award Winner: Atos Consulting with the department for international development The principal role of the UK government's Department for International Development is to alleviate poverty in poor countries, and conflict is one of...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Best small firm.(Quest Worldwide, Unilever Group)
May 1, 2007... Winner: Quest Worldwide with Unilever Unilever is one of the world's largest companies, with 150 million customers in 150 countries. But when Patrick Cescau became group CEO in 2005, it was clear Unilever was not a healthy animal. A...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Change management.
May 1, 2007... Winner, and Best Public Sector Project award winner: PA Consulting Group with the Highways Agency. Road congestion is a pain in the backside, and not just for drivers. The worse the congestion, the greater the number of accidents,...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Operational performance.(WCI Consulting, Eurosilicone )
May 1, 2007... Winner, and Best Private Sector Project award winner: WCI Consulting with Eurosilicone Eurosilicone may have been viewed as a leader in plastic surgery technology and surgical practice marketing, but its manufacturing was a mess. The...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Corporate social responsibility.(Management Consultancies Association honors GSM Association and Accenture Ltd.)
May 1, 2007... Winner: Accenture with GSM Association Access to communications is fundamental to economic development. It can boost quality of life, from delivering information on health and agricultural productivity to keeping families in touch. Yet...

MCA Management Awards 2007:.(Management Consultancies Association honors Threadneedle Investments and Troika)
May 1, 2007... Winner: Troika (UK) with Threadneedle Investments Threadneedle Investments, the UK's fourth-largest retail investment fund manager and ninth-largest pension fund manager with pounds 73bn under management, had reached a crossroads. Its...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Technology.(Management Consultancies Association , IBM Global Services, Ministry of Defence)
May 1, 2007... Winner: IBM Global Business Services with the Ministry of Defence Few UK air passengers are aware that their lives are in the hands of a team of fighter controllers and aero systems operators at interlinked RAF centres who identify each...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Innovation.(Management Consultancies Association honors Atos KPMG Consulting Ltd. and Department for International Development)
May 1, 2007... Winner: Atos Consulting with the Department for International Development In the UK, we take speedy broadband internet access for granted. But in sub-Saharan Africa, the cost of services puts even the most basic of information and...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Business strategy.(Management Consultancies Association honors Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group and British Academy of Film and Television Arts )
May 1, 2007... Winner: Deloitte with BAFTA Most people know the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for its annual film awards, a weather vane for the Oscars. But what are BAFTA's purpose, values and future in a world where video games are as...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Human Resources.(PA Consulting Group Inc., Jobcentre Plus)
May 1, 2007... Winner: PA Consulting Group with Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus is the largest of several businesses within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Besides helping individuals find work and employers fill vacancies, it administers...

MCA Management Awards 2007: Marketing.(Fleet Management Group, Management Consultancies Association)
May 1, 2007... Winner: Propaganda - FMG Support With 130 staff, Fleet Management Group (FMG) offered car and commercial fleets accident management, repair and recovery and rental brokerage Problem was, customers dealt with one business or another, with...

MCA Management Awards 2007: The Judges.
May 1, 2007... - Dr Duncan Angwin, strategic management group, Warwick Business School - Professor Timothy Clark, professor of organisational behaviour, Durham Business School - Julia Cleverdon CVO, CBE, chief executive, Business in the Community...