Organizations
-
How Can Start Ups Grow?
•
1 min read
Another perspective that might be lost in the rush toward innovation… “Assistant professor Mukti Khaire believes that small companies can grow by developing intangible social resources such as legitimacy, status, and reputation. In an interesting twist, her research on this insight is that these intangible resources may be best acquired by following a road of…
-
How to Delegate
•
1 min read
The four-step process for delegation: Train Enable Delegate Let Go Danke to Ulrike for this one.
-
jetBlue Apologizes, The Others Don’t
•
1 min read
Another reason I like jetBlue: they care enough to apologize deeply for their mistakes. Here’s how the email began… We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry. Last week was the worst operational week in JetBlue’s seven year history. Following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast, we subjected…
-
Spreading the Toyota Way in America
•
1 min read
With Toyota about to unseat Ford and GM as the top car seller in America, maybe the Toyota Way will finally be taken seriously among American managers, including those working for Toyota… …analysts say Toyota’s recent and embarrassing surge in vehicle recalls was partly a failure by Toyota to spread its obsession for craftsmanship among…
-
Netflix’s Competitive Advantage
•
3 min read
I’m developing a new course, Introduction to Internet Business Strategy, that I’m pretty excited about. Ironically, though everyone in the Internet industry discusses strategy, it’s difficult to find any standard references on the topic. This presents a great opportunity for me to plunge in and synthesize the basics as well as to examine what role…
-
I am in Love with John Hagel
•
2 min read
…or at least his writing. In his latest post he offers an alternative to Porter’s three generic strategies and looks at the Siemens/BenQ situation through this lens… I have anticipated that all companies over time will unbundle into three much more focused business types – infrastructure management businesses, product innovation and commercialization businesses and customer…
-
Pfeffer and Sutton on Prototyping Organizations
•
1 min read
In Why Managing by Facts Works, Pfeffer and Sutton urge us to manage-by-evidence rather than gut instinct. This is less an argument against Blink-style decisions than it is an argument for prototyping… …treat the organization as an unfinished prototype. Executives who use evidence-based management best encourage their employees to learn even as they act on…
-
Successful small business units, schools
•
1 min read
William G. Ouchi on decentralized management: I had spent 35 years studying the management of very large companies, and one of the most consistent principles is decentralization. In a competitive world, you must make decisions in the smallest operating units possible, or you will go out of business… …We have a research project under way…
-
The Neuroscience of Leadership
•
1 min read
I agree with Ed when he says of The Neuroscience of Leadership “it’s an outstanding piece of work, well worth your time” but that the authors’ critique of humanism is both lame and unnecessary.
-
The Five Functions of a Team
•
1 min read
In retrospect, when Christina bought me a copy a The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, there were a few reasons it didn’t exactly rise to the top of my to-read pile: It addresses a non-fiction topic in the form of a story, which can sometimes feel contrived. It looks at the topic through a negative…
-
The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart argues against the value of Winslow Taylor’s methods, an MBA education, and much of management theory. His tone is often snarky and flip, which is a shame because it undermines the delivery of some great ideas, such as this discussion of values: …as anyone who has studied Aristotle will…
-
Management Advice: Which 90% is Crap?
•
1 min read
I like everything Bob Sutton has written, including this anti-bullshit manifesto: I wish I could wave my magic wand and provide you with a 100% reliable and shock-proof “management advice crap detector.†Alas, life is too messy and uncertain… But we’ve found five guidelines that can increase your hit rate, that will help you do…
-
Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation
•
1 min read
Sirota, Mischkind, and Meltzer suggest some ways individual managers can motivate employees… 1. Instill an inspiring purpose. 2. Provide recognition. 3. Be an expediter for your employees. 4. Coach your employees for improvement. 5. Communicate fully. 6. Face up to poor performance. 7. Promote teamwork. 8. Listen and involve.
-
Wal-Mart enters the consulting biz
•
2 min read
This is interesting… Wal-Mart Stores, whose all-in-one retailing model has forced scores of competitors to close their doors over the last 40 years, is turning to an unusual business plan: helping its rivals. The giant discount retailer, under increasing assault by critics, announced a wide-ranging effort yesterday to support small businesses near its new urban…
-
Charan’s “10 Tools of Profitable Revenue Growth”
•
1 min read
Ram Charan’s book Profitable Growth Is Everyone’s Business seems to be closely related to (and a summation of) Peters and Waterman’s In Search Of Excellence. Charan’s book in turn is summed up on his site.