Management Review articles from January 1992

Management Review archives from January 1992

Are We in Business to Make Money?
January 1, 1992... Are We in Business To Make Money? My September column on literacy generated a wave of reader response. Unfortunately, the comments were not about the problem of literacy in the United States, but about a statement I made concerning the mission...

Is Family Leave Here to Stay?
January 1, 1992... IS FAMILY LEAVE HERE TO STAY? After five years of contentious debate, it looks like Congress is about to, again, enact into law landmark federal legislation requiring companies to give employees unpaid leave to deal with family and medical...

Risks and Opportunities of a New World Order
January 1, 1992... RISK AND OPPORTUNITIES OF A NEW WORLD ORDER Are Americans becoming more sophisticated about global business issues? Not according to Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Henry A. Kissinger. Americans believe the whole world is made up of a species...

Primetime Controversy
January 1, 1992... PRIMETIME CONTROVERSY His anonymity guaranteed, the New York City manager shuts his door for privacy and begins to speak. "I have never done anything in terms of trading sex for business," he says. "But during the past few weeks, I realize that...

Wanted: New American Schools
January 1, 1992... WANTED: NEW AMERICAN SCHOOLS The search is on for design plans that will create a new and better generation of American schools. The New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC), a private, nonprofit group formed by leading business...

Young Managers Face a Generation Gap
January 1, 1992... Young Managers Face A Generation Gap A customer service manager in his late 20s was transferred to the regional sales office of a midsized chemical company. He had just completed his MBA with a major in sales, and quickly won raves from the...

Managers Get Gray Hairs over Retiree Benefits
January 1, 1992... Managers Get Gray Hairs Over Retiree Benefits The graying of America, gains in longevity and double-digit healthcare inflation all have compelled companies to reconsider the promises they've made to employees for providing medical benefits upon...

What Executives Should Know about Political Risk
January 1, 1992... What Executives Should Know About Political Risk Life was simple. For decades the American business community had conducted its international activities within the cozy confines of U.S. foreign policy. Out there were the good guys, the bad guys...

Sources of Information (and Misinformation)
January 1, 1992... Sources of Information (and Misinformation) In this ever changing global environment, U.S. businesses find it increasingly difficult to know where to find a good location for a foreign project. Where does one begin? There seem to be so many...

Ford Has a Better Management Idea
January 1, 1992... Ford Has a Better Management Idea Heralded by Fortune magazine as "the most successful boss since the original Henry in his prime," Donald E. Petersen served as Ford Motor Company's president from 1980 to 1985 and as chairman of the board and...

Business Travel on a Shoestring
January 1, 1992... Business Travel On a Shoestring Travel expenses cost American businesses more than $145 billion a year--approximately $10,000 per business traveler--according to enRoute Card USA, a business travel management system. And these expenses are...

Defining Employers' Obligations under the New Disability Act
January 1, 1992... Defining Employers' Obligations Under the New Disability Act On July 26, every U.S. employer with more than 25 workers will have new obligations under the recently enacted Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). This comprehensive new statute,...

Election Year Politics: What Are the Business Issues?
January 1, 1992... Election Year Politics: What Are the Business Issues? With political oddsmakers casting George Bush as a practical shoe-in to extend his--and the Republican Party's--lease on the White House for another four years, most Democrats see 1992 as...

Economic Roundtable: 1992
January 1, 1992... Economic Roundtable: 1992 The predictions for the U.S. economy during the tumultuous past 16 months have been inconsistent at best. Indeed, our finest forecasters seemed hesitant to use the dreaded "R" word up until the beginning of 1991 when...

ISO 9000: A Universal Standard of Quality
January 1, 1992... ISO 9000: A Universal Standard Of Quality Those managers familiar with the lexicon of quality know what ISO 9000 is and realize the impact it will have on their companies. For those who don't know, now is the time to find out, because ISO 9000,...

An Old NLRB Rule Threatens Quality Circles
January 1, 1992... An Old NLRB Rule Threatens Quality Circles XYZ Inc., a large manufacturing company, had just instituted an employee-management quality program that won praise from almost everyone involved. The company was already reaping the benefits of the...

Delegating Is Easy, Deputizing a Posse Is Tough
January 1, 1992... Delegating Is Easy, Deputizing a Posse Is Tough You can learn a lot from old movies. Right now I'm watching "High Noon." It's about a U.S. Marshall (Gary Cooper) whose predicament is that "the noonday train will bring Frank Miller, and I must...

Thank Heaven for Complainers
January 1, 1992... Thank Heaven for Complainers Most companies treat customer complaints either as dreaded plagues that they avoid dealing with at all cost or as necessary "evils" in doing business, worthy of a brief span of reluctant, patronizing attention. ...

Choose Change or Chase It
January 1, 1992... Choose Change Or Chase It Change itself is a given. And America today is chasing change. Think about it: * Consumer debt as a percent of disposable income is at its highest point in 10 years. * Corporate debt exceeds assets. * Savings...