Corus chief calls for more government funds for the economy
Any students who are investigating Corus as part of their preparation for the AQA BUSS4 paper in June should read this interview with Kirby Adams, the Managing Director and CEO of Corus in Europe.
There is analysis of the mothballing of the Corus plant in Teesside, the state of demand for steel in Europe as manufactuing closes down in this part of the globe, and the lack of investment in infrastructure in the UK.
For example, Adams is an American who says ‘I’ve lived in London for a year, and I travel around, and the one thing that strikes me is the aweinspiring investment in infrastructure that the Victorians made — isn’t it time for renewal?’
The article is from the Sunday Times - which is still free for download now, but won’t be later this year - and should be seen as a key addition to the resources about Corus suggested by Jim in his blog last month.
Recession Survival Strategies Cost UK SMEs £16bn
A fascinating research report came out this morning which is really useful for students researching the UK recession and for teachers who want to top up their understanding of what really goes on inside small and medium-sized businesses in the UK…
read more...»Motivation, Leadership & Culture: Ban the Boss (BBC)
A dramatic, double-hat tip to Jill Mcaloon from St Mary’s College Wallasey for spotting this terrific programme on BBC Wales last week which is just perfect for helping to teach issues such as motivation, leadership and changing corporate culture…
read more...»Motivation and management at John Lewis
These news reports about the 10% rise in profits at John Lewis are valuable for students preparing for AQA BUSS 4, as they give plenty of material about how the group turned poor half year results into splendid full year profits in the midst of the recession and decline in high street spending. The report in the Guardian is particularly interesting as it examines the advantages brought by the unusual corporate structure, and the quality of management of the company which it concludes isn’t the best-run in Britain. While the article in Management Today compares the profits with those of Morrisons, and contrasts the growth strategies of the two businesses.
They are equally valuable for those preparing for the AS unit 2 papers, as they examine the way in which John Lewis uses profit sharing as a means of financial motivation, alongside a wide range of other fringe benefits, and in return have a labour turnover which is half that of most of their competitors. They should be viewed alongside the BBC’s series of three programmes about John Lewis and will be of greatest interest of all to any students who have part-time jobs at Waitrose or the department stores, as they stand to gain a 15% profit sharing bonus!
BBC News - John Lewis profits top £306m as staff share big bonus
The Guardian - At John Lewis, ‘happiness’ beats profit
Management Today - Booming Waitrose powers John Lewis to bumper profits
HRM priorities as firms exit the recession
What should a firm’s people management priorities be as the UK & global economy slowly emerges from recession? The Institute of Employment studies has just published its suggestions…
read more...»Autocratic, demanding or bullying?
We spend a lot of time thinking about leadership and management styles. The news is full of it at the moment, with a particular focus on the style used by the Prime Minister towards his subordinates. You will appreciate that the first, most obvious point about leadership styles is that they must be adapted to reflect the situation. Leading a group of creative workers through a brainstorm is very different to being a senior fire officer at a warehouse blaze, or a senior social worker managing an office supporting a demanding range of clients and cases.
But back to the current headlines: when does someone overstep the line from being firm and demanding – into a bullying monster?
read more...»Strategy in the UK Recession - What 69 UK CEOs Did About It
There are some fascinating surveys coming out at the moment, and another one has just landed in my inbox from my former colleagues at PricewaterhouseCoopers. This one - the UK Snapshot from the 13th Annual Global CEO Survey - is a fantastic research resource for students preparing for BUSS4 in June 2010 and January 2011.
read more...»Contingency planning failure leads to customer service disaster
A wonderful topical example to use with A2 and similar students looking at the need for contingency planning, or at how breakdowns in communication can lead to some serious business consequences The report into the fiasco on Eurostar in December 2009 makes compelling reading. Lots of stimulus material in there for students, from both a contingency planning and customer service perspective.
Who would you place as the 50 emerging business leaders of the world?
We all see some of the more media savvy business leaders on the news, but who are the leaders that will shape the global economy of the next 20 to 30 years?
If you think through the business leaders that you might have covered in your course so far, I wonder how many of these faces you would recognise?
read more...»Leadership sets the culture for a thriving retail brand
Wow - this article is just made for students who would appreciate an up-to-date, but definitely non-textbook example of how to use HRM effectively in a retail business…
read more...»Reflections on the ‘Worst Deal in History’ – and the Best
If, like my students, you have been doing some reflections on the big business stories of the past decade (a good place to start is the Guardian’s Business Review of the Decade) you might have looked at the mega $164bn merger that created AOL Time Warner in 2000. What seemed like a good idea turned out to be a massive miscalculation. Now the man behind the deal has appeared on CNBC to offer his humble apologies for the lost billions. Well worth checking out, and the interesting series of slides on the Top 10 Best (and Worst) Mergers of All Time. What’s the difference between a merger that boosts profits and performance as compared to one that destroys value?
read more...»More spaceships, fewer cosmetics: the latest moves by Virgin
Virgin and its flamboyant director Richard Branson are perhaps a little less in the spotlight than they were a few years ago. But one thing is unchanged: it’s a fascinating business to watch, with ups and downs that seem to give a snapshot into the most dynamic markets of the moment. Latest news – the Virgin cosmetics retail business will close next month, and yesterday Branson unveiled the rocket plane he will use to take fare-paying passengers into space!
I’ve long since lost track of the range of markets Branson’s conglomerate has invested in, but I can remember everything from condoms to cola, vodka to vinyl records, trains to planes and plenty more besides.
read more...»Peter Drucker ‘the king of the management gurus’
It’s a century since the birth of arguably the world’s most famous management thinker. The Economist has a special article commemorating the event and reminds us what he is famous for.
read more...»The recent success of Yum! Brands
It’s supposed to be a tough environment for the fast food companies and – with their poor reputation for investing in their employees - it’s surprising to hear that one is implementing a training programme that is described as the “biggest culture-change initiative in the world today”, affecting all of the firm’s 1.4m workers spread across 112 countries. The business is Yum! Brands, once part of Pepsi, before it was sold in 1997.
read more...»Q&A - What is the continuum of leadership?
Tannenbaum and Schmidt suggested that there is a “continuum” of leadership behaviour.
read more...»Q&A - Explain the four main leadership styles
Leaders exercise their authority in different ways. In doing so, they are said to exhibit a “leadership style”. Leadership styles are essentially about:
• The way that the functions of leadership are carried out
• The way that a leader behaves
Q&A - What do Leaders Do?
The key tasks of top leadership in a business include:
read more...»Q&A - What is Leadership?
There are many ways of looking at leadership and interpretations about what it means. Leadership means different things to different people. It is often taken to represent:
read more...»Estee Lauder is Lauderless
Fabrizio Freda was the first “outsider” to be chosen to run a company dominated by members of the founding family since it was founded by Estée and Joseph Lauder in 1946. His previous experience at PG was in stark contrast to the culture at Estee Lauder.
“I had to build my credibility,” he says of the months after being hired by William Lauder, the founders’ grandson who was then chief executive. “People were afraid that I would bring in processes instead of creativity.”
read more...»Leadership styles in action - Dead Poets Society
Robin Williams stars in this short clip which illustrates the potential for inspirational leadership styles…
read more...»The agile business - what it takes to achieve successful change
Change management is an important feature of some A2 business specs and this piece of research from the CIPD provides a useful insight for students into what it takes for a business to achieve succesful change…
read more...»Leadership styles of the great conductors
Here is a fascinating and alternative route into explaining leadership styles…
read more...»The Jenson Button Business Lesson
This brief article provides some useful insight into how the right mix of talent, persistence and a little bit of luck is needed to be a success both as a business and as a Formula 1 racing driver!
read more...»When should we hold a meeting?
Here’s an amusing one from the BBC. I don’t mean to knock business meetings, which are often essential (though sometimes badly managed). What’s interesting is the research that claims to have found the ideal time for holding a meeting. Apparently, it is 3pm on a Tuesday. Why?
read more...»The gentle touch in city finance
Far be it from me to criticise male dominance of the City of London but it seems that, ever since the start of the financial crisis that led to the recession, there has been a series of reports suggesting that if there were more women in positions of power in the city institutions that lost control of their lending, this would never have happened.
read more...»Leadership styles in action - Mel Gibson
As a distinct alternative to the Mike Bassett approach, this classic video clip from Braveheart could be used to illustrate the motivational implications of strong leadership…
read more...»Leadership styles in action - Mike Bassett
Building a selection of online video clips of different leadership styles, I came across this classic example of a paternalistic (:-)) leader in action…
read more...»Putting the Boot into Business Schools
Some of you may go on to study Business at university after finishing school. If you want to go still further and rise to the top, you may end up at ‘business school’ studying for a qualification called an MBA (Master of Business Administration). This is pretty essential in the top flight of modern business. So why has the Economist recently slammed the top business schools? And they’re not the only ones to do so. Many critics are heaping at least some of the blame for the global recession on the mistakes of business schools.
read more...»Could mergers come back into fashion?
The wave of debt-fuelled mergers that helped propel the world into the current recession may not be dead and buried. The recent battle for Cadbury (with American giant Kraft attempting a takeover) could be a sign of things to come, according to The Economist. Executives and investment bankers are feeling much more confident this autumn: even if recovery is slow, the worst may be over for the economy. Crucially, it’s possible to borrow again. Share prices, though off their lows, look cheap by historic standards. These are ideal conditions for a new merger wave to form.
read more...»Police caution the CEO for insisting on better customer service
Here is a fascinating story that is packed full with business studies material. What happens when a CEO of an airline unleashes a tirade against his staff - in front of his customers - who end up applauding him for his actions?
read more...»
