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At a recent executive conference, two Accenture partners shared our latest insights on innovating to achieve success in economic downturns and maximizing the impact of workforce learning on overall business performance. Read about how leading companies outperformed competitors over the last 18 months, and how companies can exploit technology and business process outsourcing to heighten workforce performance.
Editor's Note: this utilizes a pretty nifty multimedia application (by Vodium) that allows you to view the streaming video while simultaneously synchronized viewing of the slides and a line-by-line highlited transcript and table of contents (for me, this option wasn't enabled by default so you may have to choose it also).
Given the recent turmoil surrounding stock options, employers and employees alike may be looking more skeptically at this once-popular form of compensation. Among the issues to be considered: How effective are stock options in aligning the interests of managers with the interests of shareholders? Do broad-based option programs improve company performance? And should companies be required to include stock option compensation as an expense on their income statements?
Note: Darwin Magazine is now dead. Some articles are moving to CIO. I will try to update the links when I have time...
The message is clear: without thorough planning, your intranet could face extinction.
This article was written in August, 2000 and examines the births and personalities of a handful of New Economy magazine start-ups, including:
- Red Herring
- Business 2.0
- The Industry Standard
- Fast Company
- Upside
- eCompany Now
You'll notice that some of these have perished and likewise the article isn't that fresh, but it is an interesting chronicle of an important historical period for the business world.
Note: Business 2.0 is now part of CNNmoney and some older articles are no longer available
Overwhelmed by the complexities of today's marketplace, retailers are essentially letting vendors run much of their business. Here's the method to their madness.
Too many businesses are price takers, not price makers. That means they are willing to lower prices to capture market share or to sign up a marquee customer. But Harvard Business School professor Benson P. Shapiro says don't let your ego get in the way of good business sense. Here are seven steps toward naming your own price.
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HBS Working Knowledge
Benson P. Shapiro
2003-03-25
143
Michael Schrage is co-director of the MIT Media Lab's e-markets initiative and author of Serious Play. In this interview, he elaborates on his concept of shared space and it's use in fostering innovation and collaboration.
Did the stock market wrongly skew business strategy in the 90's? Where do we go now that the strategy of managing to maximize short-term stock price has failed? Professor Marty Anderson gives us a different angle showing that a real social-industrial revolution is going on, a revolution that requires leaders to use strategies that are guided by cash flow creation.
By focusing on combining the best capabilities of both partners, innovative and durable co-branding programs can create significant value for companies and their customers. And they can be particularly useful in an environment of spending constraints.
Editor's Note: read on for an overview of the four main types of co-branding...
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Outlook Journal (Accenture)
Paul F. Nunes, Stephen F. Dull, Patrick D. Lynch
2003-03-22
90
In today's economy, the odds that employees' skills will need to be updated have increased, says management professor Peter Cappelli. The question then becomes, is your employer going to reinvest in you through retraining or lay you off and hire someone new? As director of the school's Center for Human Resources, Cappelli wanted to know why a few companies have remained committed to retraining, even as the ethos of American business has changed. The answer, as Cappelli explains in a new research paper, has a lot to do with what is termed "social capital."
Note: Business 2.0 is now part of CNNmoney and some older articles are no longer available
Is corporate America's love affair with a disease that kills 40,000 women a year good marketing -- or bad medicine?
This article offers three suggestions for improving the strategic planning process. Especially noteworthy is the third suggestion, which includes a description of McKinsey's Nine-cell Business Portfolio framework.
Despite the many well-researched articles about individual chief executive officers, there have been no systematic studies of the impact on CEOs' careers of the tectonic shifts in global business, such as rising shareholder activism and changing corporate governance. Although the performance of chief executives has been the subject of extensive research, much of that research has focused on performance relative to compensation. Little if anything is available that charts relationships among CEO tenure, CEO demographics, and corporate performance. And nothing compares trends in these areas across geographies or industries.
To bridge this critical knowledge gap, Booz Allen Hamilton recently concluded what we believe to be the most comprehensive study ever done of the careers of global chief executive officers. For the 2,500 publicly traded corporations with the largest market capitalizations in the world on January 1, 2001, we identified all the chief executives who completed their stewardship during 2001 - the departing class of 2001. We analyzed these executives' entire tenures as CEOs, including not only personal demographic data, such as age at ascension and departure, but also the financial performance of their companies, measured by net income growth and total returns to shareholders. To provide historical context, we also identified and analyzed the departing CEO classes of 1995, 1998, and 2000, focusing on the 2,500 largest companies in each given year.
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strategy+business
Chuck Lucier, Rob Schuyt, Eric Spiegel
2003-03-18
111
Every nonprofit organization should measure its progress in fulfilling its mission, its success in mobilizing its resources, and its staff's effectiveness on the job.
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The McKinsey Quarterly
John Sawhill, David Williamson
2003-03-17
61
How do you align IT with company goals while also enabling it for success with new resources and development of new capabilities? The methods used to align versus enable are are often opposites. Noted IT expert, Kavin Moody, discusses why there is often a mismatch and provides some new insights on what must be overcome to make things work.
Negotiating the details of an offer is as much a part of the job search as resume paper and shined shoes. At the moment, however, a freaky economy has many candidates gratefully lapping up any hiring package that lands before them. But a little back and forth has its place -- good economy or bad. Points of Entry shows you how to get what you want without getting on your new boss's nerves.
Divestiture makes sense only as part of a sound, long-term strategy. Before shedding business units, companies must consider all the options, then be willing to constantly review, replenish and trim portfolios as markets change and evolve.
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Outlook Journal (Accenture)
Patricia Anslinger, Justin Jenk, Ravi Chanmugam
2003-03-15
56
Your employees may come from nations all around the world. The challenge: Ensure that their contributions aren't buried under language and cultural differences. Here are seven tips for improving communication.
Your intranet may be costing your organization thousands of dollars and leaving your employees frustrated. Find out the cure for the five biggest flaws uncovered by the Nielsen Norman Group's recent intranet usability study.
Much has been written about the looming pension crisis in the U.S., Europe and Japan, whose populations are aging. Wharton finance professor Jeremy J. Siegel argues that economic growth in China and the rest of the developing world holds the key to dealing with the impending crunch.
The SK case may signal a new drive against corporate crime in South Korea
Editor's Note: though a topical article, some of the underlying issues discussed are of value to those without extensive knowledge of South Korea and the chaebol system.