Management Articles

Source: Ivey Business Journal / Sydney Finkelstein
Read this article: http://www.iveybusinessjo…cle.asp?intArticle_ID=458

It’s rarely discussed, at least as not as much as the habits of successful CEOs, but the truth is that it takes some special personal qualities to be spectacularly unsuccessful. This author has written a best seller on the subject, and in this article he discusses how leaders can be not only instruments of success, but sometimes also architects of failure.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Career/Employment and Leadership

Source: Harvard Business Review / Adrian Slywotzky and John Drzik
Read this article: http://custom.hbsp.com/b0…?pr=MERMCR0504E2005042914

You’re insured and hedged against many risks—but not the greatest ones, the strategic risks that can disrupt or even destroy your business. Learn to anticipate and manage these threats systematically and, in the process, turn some of them into growth opportunities.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Risk Management and Strategy

Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) / Michael J. Silverstein, George Stalk, Jr.
Read this article: http://www.bcg.com/public…upply_ChainsMar05_CGR.pdf

Companies that rush overseas in search of low production costs may be walking into a strategic trap, as gridlock hits ports and railways in the United States and Europe. It’s easy to underestimate the hidden costs in long supply chains and their impact on profitability. The authors demonstrate how companies can get a handle on costs by comparing the economics of a typical North American domestic supply chain with those of a supply chain based in China.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Uncategorized

Source: Pmarca / Marc Andreessen
Read this article: http://blog.pmarca.com/20…7/06/the_truth_about.html

Marc Andreessen offers a series of blog posts on venture capital.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

Source: BNET / Jennifer Alsever
Read this article: http://www.bnet.com/2403-13241_23-52960.html

Crowdsourcing is a technique that sophisticated companies use to translate the enthusiasm of their most highly-engaged customers into valuable marketing, branding, or product-development insight. You can do it, too. Use these techniques to harness the intelligence of customers that love your business, talk about your business, and better yet, will do free work for your business in today’s increasingly democratic, user-generated, social-networked, marketplace.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Customer-Related and Management

Source: TechRepublic / Ramon Padilla
Read this article: http://blogs.techrepublic…m.com/tech-manager/?p=332

Mentoring means different things to different people, which is okay, because in fact, there are different kinds of mentors. Here is a list of the kinds of mentors you might find out in the world.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Leadership and Management

Source: INSEAD Knowledge / Markus Christen, Ganesh Iyer, David Soberman
Read this article: http://knowledge.insead.edu/abstract.cfm?ct=8486

What motivates an employee to work hard? If you ask an economist, the answer is self-interest. Work is only a means to an end and an employee will exert higher effort only to the extent that the monetary compensation for it is sufficiently attractive. If you ask a behavioral theorist, the answer is that work itself is fulfilling. Having a stimulating work environment with job enrichment and autonomy motivates an employee to work hard.

Interestingly, there is very little dialogue between these two perspectives, and Markus Christen, INSEAD Assistant Professor of Marketing, David Soberman, INSEAD Assistant Professor of Marketing and Ganesh Iyer, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Haas School of Business, bridge the gap, combining these two perspectives. In their recent working paper, they examine the effect of various job factors on two specific criteria: a firm’s profit and an employee’s overall satisfaction or utility from the job.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Uncategorized

Source: Accenture / Ana Dutra, Richard Hagberg
Read this article: http://www.accenture.com/…eatingHighPerformance.htm

Corporate executives used to look upon issues of their corporate culture as “soft and fuzzy” areas over which they had little control. No longer.

Today’s senior leaders are increasingly finding that their most sophisticated corporate strategies stand little chance of being adopted and executed if the inherent culture of their company cannot or will not accommodate the change.

Learn more about creating a culture conducive to high performance, and the specific cultural drivers that can lead to better financial performance.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Organizational Behavior

Source: The McKinsey Quarterly / John T. Horn, Dan P. Lovallo, and S. Patrick Viguerie
Read this article: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/links/22777

Although canceling a project or exiting a business may often be regarded as a sign of failure, such moves are really a perfectly normal part of the creative-destruction process. Companies need to realize that in this way they can free up their resources and improve their ability to embrace new market opportunities.

By neutralizing the psychological biases that make it harder for executives to evaluate struggling ventures objectively, companies have a considerably better shot at making investments in ventures with strong growth prospects. The unacceptable alternative is to gamble away the company’s resources on endeavors that are likely to fail in the long run no matter how much is invested in them.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Strategy

Source: Pmarca / Marc Andreessen
Read this article: http://blog.pmarca.com/20…7/08/age-and-the-ent.html

Marc Andreessen summarizes some research by Dean Simonton on age and creativity across many fields.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Entrepreneurship and Miscellaneous