Disrupting Mr Disrupter

The Schumpeter column (our favourite column in The Economist) this week discusses innovation and, in particular, the views of Clay Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, who is often cited as the world’s most influential management guru. 

Strategy; making choices in HR and L&D

We are adding a NEW module to our online Business Education network (BEN) on Strategy; making choices in HR and L&D.  The session will run for the first time on Friday 15th January 2016, from 9.30am-11.30am (GMT).

Can you list your company’s values?

There is an interesting article by Lucy Kellaway in the Business Life section of the Financial Times on Monday 5^th October. 

She is sceptical of the merits of companies having statements of corporate values.  She found through some ‘quick and dirty’ research (ie asking a group of managers to identify the values of their own companies) that most managers were not familiar with the values of their own company.

Primark. Faster, cheaper fashion

An article in the Business section of the Economist this week covers Primark’s launch into the USA. 

Most readers of this blog will be aware of the business model of Primark, selling on trend clothes at very low prices.  The company now sells more clothes than any other retailer in the UK - serving 1.4 million shoppers every day.  It has expanded into Europe across Austria, Belguim, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. 

Now Primark are opening their first store in the USA on 10th September in Boston, with another eight opening over the next year.

Disruptive Innovations

There are two interesting articles in the Business section of The Economist this week dealing, in different ways, with innovation. 

Executive MBAs and Corporate Universities.

Keeping it on the company campus, The Economist, 16th May 2015

The lead article in the Business section of The Economist this week is titled ‘Management Training.  Keeping it on the company campus.’ 

As more firms have set up their own corporate universities they have been less willing to pay for their managers to go to business schools.   

Twilight of the gurus

Twilight of the gurus, Schumpeter, The Economist, 25th April 2015

Pieces by Schumpeter in The Economist on management writers are usually thought provoking.  This week he suggests that the management guru industry has ground to a halt.  The same people make the top of the list of leading thinkers in business in 2013 and 2011, and many recent publications are new editions of existing texts, including Red Ocean Traps by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne which we reviewed in March.

Winners and how they succeed

Winners and how they succeed by Alastair Campbell

 

Alastair Campbell became well known in the UK as Tony Blair’s press advisor during the period before and during the Labour government from 1997 to 2007. 

He has written a number of previous books, mainly focusing on his time in Downing Street.  This new book is a departure and analyses what it is that leads to people becoming winners in the different fields of politics, sport and business. 

Red Ocean Traps

Red Ocean Traps by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne from Harvard Business Review, March 2015

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) for March 2015 has a focus on Strategy.  Two articles are highlighted on the cover, one on Strategy Execution and one on Blue Ocean Strategies.  Here I will offer a few thoughts on the Blue Ocean article by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

The Problem with Authenticity

The Authenticity Paradox, by Herminia Ibarra, Harvard Business Review, January 2015

Having already written a post about one article in the current edition of Harvard Business Review here is another one. We feel that this will be of interest to a large number of learning managers as it deals with the topic of Authenticity.  As the author, Herminia Ibarra of INSEAD points out this has become the gold standard for leadership. However, what does it really mean?

The Case for Liberal Optimism

We see in the current issue of The Economist that the editor John Micklethwait is leaving that post having been the editor since 2006. 

He reflects on his time in what he calls ‘the nicest job in journalism’.  He is optimistic about the future of The Economist and journalism in general.  The advance of technology has not resulted in a large decline in quality and the ‘race to the bottom’ that was predicted by some commentators did not take place. 

We have the technology and the brains…

'We have the technology and the brains…'  Daily Telegraph 20 January

An interesting article in the Daily Telegraph today by Matt Mellor.

He is the MD of a medium sized enterprise, having previously been an academic at Oxford University until he left for industry in 2005. He argues that talented engineers and scientists need training in business skills.

Unsurprisingly this struck a chord with us at MTP.

Where Boards Fall Short

Where Boards Fall Short by Dominic Barton and Mark Wiseman, Harvard Business Review, January – February 2015

There has been quite a lot of comment about the role of Boards of Directors over the past year and there is an interesting piece in the January/February edition of the Harvard Business Review. The authors are the global managing director of McKinsey and the CEO of a major investment board, so both clearly have significant experience of the role of Boards and their contribution.