Category: Strategy/ops

A Free exchange of ideas

July 2, 2009 2:41 pm by Ravi Mattu

John Gapper reviewed Free: The future of a radical price, the latest book by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired (US edition) in today’s paper.

And over on John’s blog, we have been engaging in our first ‘interactive review’ – opening up our pages to the author to respond and exchange ideas with the critic.

The discussion threw up some interesting ideas and, being the FT, they were discussed in a suitably civilised way.

I’m sure a lot of readers have thoughts on this so feel free to pitch in with your comments (registration is required but this isn’t too onerous).

Posted in Corporate culture, Creativity, Innovation/tech, Management, Marketing/sales, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Niche marketing takes it to another level

July 2, 2009 7:00 am by Ravi Mattu

Our story in today’s paper that Mars has launched Fling, a chocolate bar targeted at women (“Naughty, but not that naughty”) is part of that contant trend among consumer goods companies to change what they produce and how they market it. Consumers are changing and the company’s selling them products are trying to keep pace with how things are evolving.

One reason, of course, is the global downturn. And to get a sense of how significant an impact it is having, you should take a look at Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers nappies and Gillette razors. The company has decided to start making cheaper products.

Jenny Wiggins, our consumer industries correspondent, explains:

Continue reading: “Niche marketing takes it to another level”

Posted in Hard times, Marketing/sales, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Survive company mergers

June 30, 2009 1:25 am by Stefan Stern

Many promises are made at the altar during a merger or an acquisition. Most of them get broken. It is worth reminding yourself of this now, before the next wave of whirlwind corporate romances arrives.

So far this year there has been only mixed evidence of renewed appetite for M&A. Sure, the proposed £40bn ($66bn, €47bn) merger between the mining companies Xstrata and Anglo American caught the eye, just as Oracle’s $7.4bn deal to buy Sun Microsystems and GlaxoSmithKline’s $3.6bn move for Stiefel Laboratories did.

The past three months have been relatively quiet, however, as businesses wait to see how robust any potential economic recovery really is, and whether finance will be available. Getting valuations right at a time like this is in any case extremely difficult.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Strategy/ops | Permalink

The undercover boss

June 9, 2009 1:34 am by Stefan Stern

Employee attitude surveys, brown bag lunches, focus groups, informal chats: managers try quite hard to find out what their staff are thinking. But the results are mixed at best. What are your staff thinking? Admit it – you don’t really know.

Is there any way of finding out? Electronic surveillance would be a bad idea. Cloaks of invisibility work for Harry Potter, but are not available to the rest of us. One chief executive has done the next best thing. He went undercover in his own business for two weeks, disguised as an office worker, completing shifts on 10 different sites. He has heard for himself what his people really think. It has been a revelatory experience.

Stephen Martin is the 43-year-old CEO of the Clugston Group, a medium-sized civil engineering and logistics company based in the north of England. But for two weeks earlier this year, as far as his colleagues were concerned he was “Martin Walker”, an ordinary co-worker trying to earn a living like everybody else.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Management, Strategy/ops | Permalink

How to manage the clever squad

May 26, 2009 1:48 am by Stefan Stern

Something else to worry about. When business is bad, your best people get twitchy. They struggle. They start looking round for something better to do. “Clever, creative people want to go to work and have fun,” says Gareth Jones, a fellow of the centre for management development at London Business School (LBS). “They don’t like gloomy workplaces.”

We have heard enough for one lifetime about the “war for talent”. But this doesn’t mean that leaders can ignore who is on their team. Last week I went to a seminar hosted by the Corporate Research Forum which, thankfully, injected new life into that increasingly tired debate over talent, knowledge workers and the rest of it. It is time to reframe this debate. What we should be thinking about, you see, are clever people.

Clever is a slippery word. It is never a good idea to be thought “too clever by half”. Many people are told at some stage in their lives that “you are not as clever as you think you are”.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Leadership, Management, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Soar above the skyful of lies

May 12, 2009 1:26 am by Stefan Stern

The great financial crisis intensified at ultra-high speed thanks to super-fast broadband connections and increased computer processing power. Time to switch the machines off? No. But it is surely time to manage the flow of information better.

This will not be easy. Research led by the husband-and-wife-team Professors Andrew and Nada Kakabadse (he is based at the Cranfield school of management, she is at the Northampton business school) has revealed the depths of managers’ addiction to new communication technology. Around a quarter of the 1,200 professionals surveyed spend three or more hours a day on their e-mails and sending text messages. More than half the younger and middle-aged respondents never turn their phones off at all.

Three quarters of younger workers admit to being addicted to technology. Alcohol, tobacco, shopping: none of these temptations matches the appeal of fancy new gadgets and high-tech kit. The only good news is that, while confessing to their addiction, the majority of respondents deny that their use of technology is out of control.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Innovation/tech, Management, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Lasting appeal of interims

April 28, 2009 1:28 am by Stefan Stern

“Blue is the colour, football is the game,” as Chelsea fans like to sing. Tonight their team is playing Barcelona in the semi-final of Europe’s Champions League in the Catalan city’s Camp Nou stadium. But here’s the thing. The guys from London are being coached by an interim manager.

Guus Hiddink, Chelsea’s temporary boss, was brought in by Roman Abramovich, the club’s Russian owner, in February, after the sudden dismissal of his predecessor. Mr Hiddink, who was already manager of the Russian national team, agreed to look after the Chelsea side until the end of the season in May.

Once he was installed, the team’s flagging performances soon picked up. Talented players, who had seemed flat and uninspired under the former manager, began to look like superstars again. After a brilliant victory away at Liverpool this month one sports reporter declared: “The Hiddink effect is looking like something close to alchemy.”

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Management, Managing others, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Four reasons to be cheerful

April 14, 2009 1:30 am by Stefan Stern

Spring is a season for hope and renewal. All that stands between us and an end to gloom and doom are…the facts. But perhaps it is time to give optimism a try. Perhaps all the negativity is being overdone. Clearly, it can be self-fulfilling. Leaders should not be moping about, feeling sorry for themselves and spreading misery.

According to Peter Shaw, a partner at the coaching consultancy Praesta, when one chief executive asked his chairman what was the most important thing he should be doing at a time like this, his answer was: “Smile”.

Wishful thinking is no use. It is irresponsible. But there may be grounds for more positive thinking. Here are four reasons for managers to be cheerful.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Posted in Hard times, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Jack Welch’s shareholder value bombshell

March 18, 2009 4:59 pm by Stefan Stern

My colleague Francesco Guerrera pulled off a wonderful scoop the other day when he asked Jack Welch, former chief executive of GE, for his views on how business leaders should be running their companies in these chaotic times.

“On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world,” he declared to a stunned world.

In recent days Mr Welch has tried to finesse his position a little, but he has not withdrawn the orginal comment.

What do you make of it?

Posted in Governance/CSR, Management, Strategy/ops | Permalink

Pick of the week

February 27, 2009 11:32 am by Adam Jones

My former colleague Charlie Pretzlik provoked an outraged response from some readers when he trashed Ayn Rand in a 2007 comment piece.

The intervening years have only strengthened his thesis, however, as illustrated by a new article on the BNET.com site entitled ‘Why Do CEOs (Still) Love Ayn Rand?’.

Elswhere:

Tom Peters lists 48 pithy strategies for thriving as a manager;
Tips from London Business School on competing with low-cost rivals;
Seth Godin concedes that the Kindle is a hit but claims it missed a few tricks;
Think twice before getting between a Generation X worker and his or her children.