Management Today articles from October 2005

Management Today archives from October 2005

Editorial: Green eyes the storm ahead.(Philip Green, BHS PLC)(Editorial)
October 3, 2005... How he manages to weather these adverse conditions will be interesting to watch. In the wild and dark jungle that is British retailing, Philip Green is one of two top bananas. The other is Sir Terry Leahy, but Green outdoes the Tesco boss...

Contributors.
October 3, 2005... DOMINIC O'CONNELL Deputy business editor of the Sunday Times, O'Connell arrived from New Zealand 17 years ago. He comes on board this month for MT's feature on the defence industry. Several years of covering the sector have taught him what...

Chartered Management Institute: In My Opinion.(business creativity)
October 3, 2005... Chartered Management Institute Companion Gail Rebuck, chair and CEO of Random House Group, believes large corporations can foster creativity. Twenty years ago, people thought 'creative industry' was a contradiction in terms. Industry was...

The mt diary: Howard Davies.(Management Today)
October 3, 2005... After Greenspan, who?; Gallic gloom; prepare to tighten belts; cost of Iraq threat to PM. On a long car journey, the Davies family were talking, as you do, about the people we regard as heroes and villains in the world today. The Aussies...

Brain Food: Ten ways to ... negotiate a deal.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... - Talk to the right person - Keep your ego out of it - Know what you want, but push for more - Stay focused on the issue - Put yourself in the other person's shoes - Stick to facts you can back up - Push the deal, but respect the...

Brain Food: It'll never fly - Personalised plates.(license plates)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... A lesson for anyone wanting to make a quid or two: appeal to people's egos and they'll part with thousands. Personalised plates may be completely PO1 NTL355, but that hasn't curbed their success as a status symbol. Nor has their tacky...

Brain Food: How does he manage? Private Investigator Peter Heims (trading under his own name).(Brief Article)(Interview)
October 3, 2005... When did you become a manager? I joined a private investigation agency in 1953, and bought it two years later for pounds 200. I was 25 and ambitious - I didn't have a holiday for my first 10 years. I built up a 30-strong firm and 10 years...

Brain Food: Earning curve - The future.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Tom Cruise, estimated earnings for War of the Worlds pounds 100.8m Michael Griffin, head of NASA, p.a. pounds 88.5k Geneticist, Roslin Institute (creator of Dolly the sheep), p.a. pounds 26k Futurologist, per speaking engagement pounds...

Brain Food: Workplace Rights - Unplug MP3 thieves.
October 3, 2005... Apple's iPod is the must-have gadget of the moment, but this and other similar portable electronic storage devices pose big potential risks for companies. They can be plugged into a PC and used to copy data, often bypassing firewalls or...

Brain Food: History Lessons - Think Big - Alexander the Great.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Master strategist, military hero and indomitable leader, Alexander the Great had an insatiable appetite for glory and a lust for power that brooked no obstacle. By the time of his death at just 32, he commanded an empire that stretched from...

Brain Food: Your Route to the Top - Constructive criticism.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Instil trust. Criticism can be a bitter pill to swallow, so sweeten it by showing that you're trying to help the person, not looking to feed your own ego. Know your aim. Work out what you want them to do differently, and keep this in mind...

Brain Food: Speaking Out - Neil Holloway, President, EMEA, Microsoft.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Accept an invitation to address the plenary session of the Global Leadership Summit 2005 and you'd better have something important to say. Neil Holloway didn't. Here was a chance to give his London Business School audience some insight...

Brain Food: Business Manners - Crafting your CV.(curriculum vitae)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Make the sale. You're advertising yourself to an employer and will be vying with the crowd for precious airtime. Use clarity to stand out with business-like white space and headings, not wacky fonts and boxes. Keep it short. Your CV should...

Brain Food: Slogan Doctor - The Army: Be the best.(British Army )(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... The slogan the British Army uses for recruitment, a difficult job at the best of times, has a curious history. It was devised at least 10 years ago by Purcell Miller Tritton, a firm of architects given the job of remodelling recruitment...

Brain Food: We'd love that job - Garden designer - Stuart Baldry, Containers Inc.(Brief Article)(Interview)
October 3, 2005... What do you do? I visit people's gardens to help plan them. A lot of Londoners have a small space, like a roof terrace, and don't know what to do with it. I'll advise on what products will fit the space and do the planting too. I'm sick of...

Brain Food: Remember this.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... 'The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It's very easy to say yes' - Tony Blair said it 'It's better to be a pirate than join the Navy' - Steve Jobs said it.

Brain Food: Are you suffering from - Parallel Parenting.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Parallel Parenting was first observed in the sandpit. Psychologists noticed that without the skills to socially interact, young children played independently, side-by-side in harmony. As neither child hit or bit the other, psychologists decided...

Brain Food: Words-Worth - Player.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... It is perfectly possible to be a 'player' without getting muddy or picking up a musical instrument. You just have to take an active role in any situation even loosely comparable to a game. Leading companies can expect to be called 'major...

Brain Food: Sir Ronald Cohen - If I had to start again ..(Interview)
October 3, 2005... My crossroads was getting a Henry Fellowship in 1967 after I left Oxford. It gave me entry to either Harvard business school or Yale law school to read the subject of my choice. I chose Harvard, partly because I saw business as the way to...

Brain Food: How he made his pile - Bernard Matthews, Chairman, Bernard Matthews Ltd.(Brief Article)(Biography)
October 3, 2005... Who is he? The man who convinced Britain that a turkey wasn't just for Christmas, Matthews launched his company in 1950 with an investment of pounds 2.50. This paid for an incubator and 20 turkey eggs, and made him pounds 9. Now 75, he is...

Brain Food: Stat of the month - Vehicle manufacturing.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... 2nd to 9th - UK's world ranking for car production, 1950 to 2004 Once a powering Jaguar, the home-owned UK car industry has long since morphed into a Reliant Robin - and the front wheel has finally fallen off. In 1950, British...

Brain Food: Crash course in ... Bringing art to the workplace.
October 3, 2005... The lugubrious portraits of your last five chairmen are a brooding presence in the boardroom, while the Constable prints in the corridor are just so 19th century. It's time you thought about brightening up the workplace with some fresh art. ...

Brain Food: MT Masterclass - Mentoring.(Management Today)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... What is it? A mentor is a senior colleague or acquaintance who provides continuous advice to a more junior person. Mentoring is not the same as coaching. The 'mentee' may have a greater emotional investment in the relationship than should...

Brain Food: Decisions - David Jones, Next - Chairman and former CEO of the retail clothing chain.(Brief Article)(Interview)
October 3, 2005... MY BEST... Another good decision was hiring Simon Wolfson at Next. I had total confidence in his ability and it never once worried me that he was so young. After all, I had been young and talented once - I'd made CEO by the age of 33. ...

Brain Food: Behind the spin.(Eastman Kodak Co.)
October 3, 2005... THE DILEMMA The digital revolution caught the 114-year-old photographic business napping. Kodak vastly underestimated the demand for digital cameras around the world and is now working to speed its change from film supplier to digital...

Lost years at Rentokil.
October 3, 2005... After a messy succession, new CEO Doug Flynn must tidy up the sprawling firm. If Sir Clive Thompson had adopted a slogan to describe his management style, it might have been 'I'll show them who's boss'. So it is ironic that the man who now...

Spare us corporate life.
October 3, 2005... The rising tide of self-employment could be a symptom of workplace disillusion. It is the modern call of the wild, bearing the promise of independence, freedom of spirit and open horizons. It is the new Wild West, full of opportunity,...

Techno Life: King of Shaves.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... King of Shaves, the men's grooming business started by WILL KING 12 years ago in his bathroom, is famous for its high-tech, low-friction shaving oils, creams and balms. No surprise then that King sports a pretty comprehensive range of personal...

Techno Life: On the move - Tom Tom go satnav.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... I've had this for a year - it's great. It is entirely portable and self-contained. There's no aerial or anything else to plug in, it just sits on the dashboard of my Aston (Martin DB7 convertible) and does its stuff. Having this to give me...

Techno Life: At Home - Bang & Olufsen hi-fi.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... We live in a fabulous 1930s Modernist-style house designed by architect Stanley Hemp. My wife and I have wired it for B&O sound in every room; we have computerised room controls, wireless internet, the lot. We had a very expensive quote for...

Techno Life: PC - Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... I had a laptop, but this is better. Laptops with decent-sized screens are too bulky for travelling, and the compact ones don't have big enough screens. As well as doing my e-mail, I have 20 or 30 RSS feeds set up to give me industry news...

Techno Life: Mobile - Motorola Razr V3.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... I chose this one because of the name - it's called a razor and I'm in the shaving business. But it's a good phone, it does everything I want, and as it's made out of aluminium it takes knocks and wear-and-tear pretty well. It also has a...

Techno Life: PDA BlackBerry 7290.(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... This is the old-school BlackBerry, but I don't want to upgrade - I like the keyboard too much. I learned to touch-type at 14 (I can do 120 wpm) so for me the newer ones just aren't as fast. It has done wonders for my productivity. My value...

Books: New templates of maleness.(The Future of Men)(Book Review)
October 3, 2005... Men may have been sidelined by women, but will this book, a brew of planning and voodoo, really help them find their place in the new order? Peter York doubts it. Did you see Michael Buerk ranting on about the new oppression of men in his...

Books: Three of a kind - When your business is a family affair.(I'll Show Them Who's Boss)(Unconventional Wisdom)(Family Business)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 3, 2005... I'll Show Them Who's Boss; Gerry Robinson; BBC Books pounds 7.99 Like Sir Gerry himself, this book gets straight to the heart of the matter. The twinkly-eyed troubleshooter condenses his TV series I'll Show Them Who's Boss into 'six...

Books: More Oregon trail than Agincourt.(Must-Win Battles)(Book Review)
October 3, 2005... A must-buy book this is not, but it contains enough useful tips for those CEOs in need of a refresher, says Patrick Dunne. Smashing, I thought, as I looked at the cover of this book, and in particular at the subtitle, Creating the focus you...

Books: Ditch the Chinese proverbs.(Why Business People Speak Like Idiots)(Book Review)
October 3, 2005... Words matter, but this book's banal bag of tricks won't tell you how to keep slack language out of your presentations or how to make 'em laugh, laments Jeremy Lee. Why Business People Speak Like Idiots Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway &...

The mt Interview - Philip Green.(Management Today)(Interview)
October 3, 2005... Ranked fifth in the Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of pounds 4.85bn, the proprietor of Bhs can't stop chasing the money. As a maverick entrepreneur, he takes great pleasure in outsmarting the retailing establishment and, after the M&S...

Manchester makes a comeback.
October 3, 2005... From blighted wasteland to sparkling metropolis... How a forlorn city reinvented itself, by Andrew Saunders. After a mixed 100 or so years leading up to the millennium, the 21st century has got off to a flying start in Manchester. Fuelled...

How to play hardball.(beat the competition)
October 3, 2005... Do you really want to wipe out the competition? Stefan Stern spells out the Six Ps that drive the steeliest business winners. Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning? According to some business gurus, you had better acquire the...

What price defence?(military contracts)
October 3, 2005... New government procurement rules mean that Brit military contractors won't be playing their home games unopposed. Dominic O'Connell reports. As Tony Blair strode on to the stage in Davos for his headline-grabbing address to the World...

Up close and personal.(customer relationship management)
October 3, 2005... CRM has escaped the shadow of its past failures to find favour again, says Ron Condon. If you were a BT customer three years ago, calling the company helpline could be a long and patience-stretching experience. More than likely, you would...

MT Wealth: Hedge Funds and other alternatives.(Management Today)
October 3, 2005... In this instalment of our quarterly series on personal finance, in association with UBS Wealth Management, Steve Lodge broadens the portfolio. Once upon a time, investors liked to think shares would double in value in five years, but over...

MT Business Travel: Frequent flyer Dido Harding's guide to Bratislava.(Management Today)
October 3, 2005... HOW TO GET THERE - I fly with SkyEurope. It's cheap, easy and flies from Stansted. EasyJet flies from Luton. It takes just over two hours. AIRPORT TO TOWN - Taxis are easy to get and take 30 minutes - congestion is never a problem. Taxis...

MT Business Travel: Room service - Where Pierre van Beneden stays.
October 3, 2005... FOR BUSINESS - When I'm doing business in France I tend to stay at the Meridien Montparnasse in Paris. I've been going there for six or seven years. It's in a lively area - there are 20 or 30 restaurants within a few hundred metres of the...

On the road: Peugeot 1007.(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 3, 2005... The sliding doors of the Peugeot 1007 give brilliant access, but they are slow to open and close. You may remember the sliding doors of old post-office vans and milk floats, but there has never been a small hatchback with sliding doors...

What's your problem?
October 3, 2005... Like Annie Oakley, your defences are down. It's all too timely, too tidy and too convenient. Q: I won an industry award a few months back and instead of it boosting my career, all it has led to is ill-feeling and sarcastic remarks. My boss...

First-Class Coach.(management)
October 3, 2005... Managers who go wrong fail to create appropriate boundaries and try to curry favour with staff. Q: Since being promoted three months ago, I've found my former peers no longer seem to want to associate with me. They assume that I've turned...

MT Business Lifeforms: The self-made man.(Management Today, Derek Tarling )(Biography)
October 3, 2005... Derek Tarling may look like a Costa-tanned rich geezer but he's a real diamond. To visit Derek Tarling's Surrey estate is to enter the land that taste forgot. Stone-effect lions flank the gates. A Versailles planting 'n' portico scheme...

MBA & Business Education Guide 2005: The right school.
October 3, 2005... Finding it can be a confusing process, complicated by conflicting league tables, with suspect data that needs careful interpretation. Checking accreditations will help you draw up a shortlist. Let's agree on one thing: everyone disagrees...

MBA & Business Education Guide 2005: Funding your studies.
October 3, 2005... MBAs don't come cheap, especially if you are an executive with a mortgage and family. Financing a business education requires serious planning, but there are ways of realising your dream. Take out a personal loan. Remortgage your house....

Service Excellence Awards 2005.
October 3, 2005... The winners have been announced, the speeches made, the celebrations enjoyed and commiserations passed to those who saw glory slip through their fingers. But what do these awards really signify and why do they matter? If you ask...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Overall winner and winner, Business to Business - Rackspace Managed Hosting Europe.
October 3, 2005... Among the many wise words posted around the walls at Rackspace is a line attributed to Confucius. 'Get a job you enjoy and never work another day in your life,' it says. For the 65 souls (at the last count) working for Rackspace, it might -...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Retail & Consumer Services - RAC PLC, Roadside.
October 3, 2005... Every seven seconds, somebody calls the RAC. They are usually in distress, stranded at the side of the road and worried about completing their journey. 'When you have broken down, your life stops,' says the organisation's operations director,...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Financial Services - Prudential UK, Customer Services.
October 3, 2005... One in every four deaths in the UK is notified to the Prudential, and one in 10 of us is saving for our retirement with this company, indicating how significant the Pru's place is as a life insurance and pension provider. Once, the Man...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Manufacturing/Engineering - Cougar Automation Ltd.
October 3, 2005... Software engineers are not the most naturally extrovert and demonstrative people. But at Cougar Automation, a small system integrator in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, they think differently. The firm's tagline is 'Real people - real...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Public Services - Bromford Housing Group.
October 3, 2005... 'Creating communities where people really want to stay' is the mission of Bromford Housing Group, and the proof of success is that at the end of 2004, for the fourth year in a row, there wasn't a single empty home among the 15,000 properties on...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Small Business Award - Wrapit Plc.
October 3, 2005... Anyone who has ever compiled a wedding list knows what a daunting task it can be. You'll find yourself trudging around floor after floor of the department store, notebook in hand, trying to find out what's available in what colour and...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Learning Organisation Award - West Bromwich Building Society.(West Bromwich Permanent Building Society)
October 3, 2005... In association with Cranfield School of Management When the West Bromwich Permanent Building Society was founded in 1849, its objective was 'to enable its members to acquire property by the fruits of their own honest industry and...

Service Excellence Awards 2005: Shortlisted - Highly Commended - Novotel London West.
October 3, 2005... At the start of 2001, the Novotel London West hotel was a two-star bed factory, morale was in the doldrums and service was poor. Five years later, the Hammersmith hotel has been transformed into a four-star, state-of-the-art convention...