SPRING 2004 VOL. 45 · NO. 3 In Praise of Walls A “postcompany” school of experts says information technology is enabling a new world of seamless collaboration among businesses. They recommend that executives tear down the “walls” and merge their companies into amorphous “enterprise networks.” Nick Carr counters that new technologies will never conquer cutthroat […]
WINTER 2004 VOL. 45 · NO. 2 Transformational Outsourcing Outsourcing isn’t what it used to be. When executives began outsourcing substantial portions of their operations more than a decade ago, they did it to offload activities they declared to be noncore in order to cut costs and improve strategic focus. Today, however, companies are looking […]
FALL 2003 VOL. 45 · NO. 1 Cross-Cultural Lessons in Leadership There's no shortage of advice available to guide managers about to embark on an overseas mission. But much of it is superficial, focusing on small points of etiquette along the lines of “Don't hurry through meals” when dining with the French or “Speak in […]
SUMMER 2003 VOL. 44 · NO. 4 Rethinking the Knowledge-Based Organization For “knowledge-based” to be more than a buzzword, managers must recognize that the concept has little to do with the kind of products they sell. Whether it‘s a cement maker like Holcim or a financial services company like CapitalOne, a company‘s knowledge base is […]
SPRING 2003 VOL. 44 · NO. 3 Creating a Superior Customer-Relating Capability In most markets, there are one or two companies that outperform their rivals by staying more closely connected to their customers — Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds, Fidelity Investments, Lexus and Intuit are prominent examples. Their advantage, however, does not have much to […]
WINTER 2003 VOL. 44 · NO. 2 The Power of Innomediation Using the Internet as a platform for customer collaboration on innovation has its limitations. Thus, companies need to complement this through process of indirect, or mediated, innovation known as innomediation and through third-party actors at the center of this process, known as innomediaries. The […]
FALL 2002 VOL. 44 · NO. 1 Survival Under Stress Adapting to rapid structural change requires exploration, not contraction.[gate_icon post_id=”3275″] By Christopher Meyer The Mysterious Art and Science of Knowledge-Worker Performance As far back as 1959, Peter Drucker insisted on the need to pay more attention to knowledge work and the people doing such work. […]
SUMMER 2002 VOL. 43 · NO. 4 The Behavior Behind the Buzzwords When an activity turns into a buzzword, the odds are high that managers will stop thinking consciously about the behavior they‘re trying to elicit and the best way to set expectations clearly. When it comes to the messy, human realities of management, a […]
SPRING 2002 VOL. 43 · NO. 3 Is Your E-Business Plan Radical Enough? The authors maintain that an economic downturn offers the perfect opportunity to get back into the e-business game. That means resisting the temptation to fob off e-business onto the IT department and instead treating it as a long-term, strategic, integral part of […]
WINTER 2002 VOL. 43 · NO. 2 Has Strategy Changed? Globalization has quietly transformed the economic playing field. The traditional strategic paradigms (positioning, core competence and the like) are not dead, but they are less germane. The new global economy is more entrepreneurial and centers on disequilibrium, fleeting opportunities to capture competitive advantage, and the […]
FALL 2001 VOL. 43 · NO. 1 Cutting Costs While Improving Morale With B2E Management Despite lip service paid to the idea that employees are a company‘s greatest asset, too often they are sacrificed in the name of cutting costs and boosting efficiency. But that does not have to be the case. Intensive research by […]
SUMMER 2001 VOL. 42 · NO. 4 Creativity Versus Structure: A Useful Tension Management training rightly stresses the resolution of tensions and conflicts. But there are some organizational tensions and conflicts that managers shouldn’t try to resolve. For example, a necessary tug of war exists between how companies generate knowledge in practice versus how they […]
SPRING 2001 VOL. 42 · NO. 3 What’s Wrong With Management Practices in Silicon Valley? A Lot. To prevent high turnover, burnout and loss of employee commitment, learn to avoid four practices that are undermining some high-profile companies.[gate_icon post_id=”3258″] By Jeffrey Pfeffer A Moving Target: The Mobile-Commerce Customer The race for dominance in mobile commerce […]
WINTER 2001 VOL. 42 · NO. 2 Old Laws Hobble the New Economy Workplace If we are living in the New Economy of the new millennium, why are U.S. labor laws mired in the New Deal of the 1930s? Employers are well aware that the anomalies exist and are increasing daily. It’s the legislators who […]
FALL 2000 VOL. 42 · NO. 1 What Makes a Virtual Organization Work: Lessons From the Open-Source World Today’s workforce is increasingly made up of volunteers — at least in spirit if not in fact. How will the traditional management tasks of motivating and directing employees change in the face of that new reality? The […]
SUMMER 2000 VOL. 41 · NO. 4 Outsourcing Innovation: The New Engine of Growth Innovation today calls for the complex knowledge that only a broad network of specialists can offer. The most effective companies, however, keep core-competence activities in-house, outsourcing the rest to best-in-world suppliers. The author discusses the multiple challenges of successful outsourcing.[gate_icon post_id=”2814″] […]
SPRING 2000 VOL. 41 · NO. 3 Five Steps to a Dot-Com Strategy: How To Find Your Footing on the Web The Internet changes everything — particularly for companies with brick-and-mortar operations, branded products and services, and traditional supplier and customer relationships. The author addresses five key issues confronting such companies: strategic vision, governance, resource […]
WINTER 2000 VOL. 41 · NO. 2 How To Be a CEO for the Information Age Increasingly, information technology isn’t just for supporting the strategy, it is the strategy. Unfortunately, many CEOs send their managers negative signals about IT’s role. Only the “believer CEO,” who demonstrates through daily actions a belief in the strategic value […]
FALL 1999 VOL. 41 · NO. 1 Creating a Market-Driven Organization As companies aspire to become market-driven, they exhort employees to get closer to customers, stay ahead of competitors, and make decisions based on their markets. Yet, even the best-intentioned senior managers find it difficult to translate those aspirations into action. Failed or flawed change […]
SUMMER 1999 VOL. 40 · NO. 4 Strategic Outsourcing: Leveraging Knowledge Capabilities The more companies outsource, the more they approach virtual organization, with knowledge centers interacting through mutual interest and electronic systems. To mitigate the risks associated with reduced authority, companies must develop “best in world” capabilities, leverage the capabilities of others and innovate constantly. […]