Opinion: Innovation and the 20% solution

As IT budgets threaten to follow the same trend lines as financial markets, it's a natural impulse for managers to circle the wagons, concentrate on core projects and put off innovation for another day. Natural, but wrong. For proof, look at what happened after the Internet bubble burst earlier this decade. Sure, that tech bust pales in comparison with the current worldwide credit crunch in terms of overall effect, but if you consider the Internet sector alone, the money drought and corporate failures were pretty stunning.

Click to read more ...

Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organisation

Coordination, and the communication it implies, is central to the very existence of organizations. Despite their fundamental role in the purpose of organizations, scholars have little understanding of actual interaction patterns in modern, complex, multiunit firms. To open the proverbial "black box" and begin to reveal the internal wiring of the firm, this paper presents a detailed, descriptive analysis of the network of communications among members of a large, structurally, functionally, geographically, and strategically diverse firm.

Click to read more ...

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs

Most new chief executives are taken aback by the unexpected and unfamiliar new roles, the time and information limitations, and the altered professional relationships they run up against. Here are the common surprises new CEOs face, and here's how to tell when adjustments are necessary. Surprise One: You Can't Run the Company

Click to read more ...

10 Reasons to Design a Better Corporate Culture

Why is it that many of the same companies appear repeatedly on lists of the best places to work, the best providers of customer service, and the most profitable in their industries? In their new book, The Ownership Quotient, HBS professors Jim Heskett and Earl Sasser and coauthor Joe Wheeler assert the answer lies in recognizing that strong, adaptive cultures can foster innovation, productivity, and a sense of ownership among employees and customers. They also outlast any individual charismatic leader. But how can you as a manager create and nurture that special culture? In the following excerpt, the authors outline the top 10 lessons of the best practitioners, from ING Direct to Build-A-Bear Workshop to Harrah's Entertainment.

Click to read more ...

Think Like Chinese!!

The difficulty Westerners have doing business in China is in the cultural differences that affect the commercial realities. Westerners identify an opportunity; thinking revolves around making that opportunity work financially in order to do the deal. If the figures stack up the game then becomes getting the customer, regardless of who she/he is, to sign on the dotted line. A new book Think Like Chinese written by husband and wife team, Chinese born and educated Zhang Haihua (Helen Zhang) and Australian born and educated lawyer, Geoff Baker quickly exposes the folly of this thinking. Haihua and Geoff, a former investment banker, have their own management consultant business China Time Inc based in Shanghai and their purpose for writing this book is to offer a practical perspective on the vexed issue of business dealings from the Chinese perspective. Their proposition is that it is important to understand the cultural thinking of the Chinese in order to understand how a business negotiation plays out. They identify 5 core elements that drive Chinese cultural thinking and

Click to read more ...