Blog
Truth or lie? Negotiating 101
On 23, Dec 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Harvard Business School professor Michael Wheeler offers some smart strategies for negotiating the best deals possible. Most importantly, by observing your opponent carefully you can often gain the upper hand, so you must “listen with all your senses.” This includes keeping an eye out for “micro-expressions”—those fleeting, involuntary facial movements that indicate what your counterpart is *really* thinking. These unintended signals are what poker players look for to detect bluffing. Look for anomalies—nonverbal cues that don’t match up with the conversation. Ask the right questions—don’t ever ask “Is that your best offer?” “A better strategy is to give the other party an out,” says Wheeler. “If someone says, ‘Take it or leave it,’ simply treat …
Boot camp for aspiring CEOs
On 23, Dec 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Fast-track executives pay $27,500 to attend a five-day program called Top Talent, put on by management consultant RHR International. They learn that the promotion to chief executive is nothing like their many previous promotions. The top job is complex, lonely and laden with land mines that could blow up if they lean on the very skills that took them to the top. The CEO title “isn’t an award, it’s the beginning,” says Ram Charan, a management consultant and CEO trainer. “Anyone who says ‘I’ve arrived,’ had better watch their ego.” Among the differences: Executives on their way up like to brainstorm, talk over ideas before a decision is made. But CEOs have to worry about …
Building blocks of organizational success
On 23, Dec 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Employees don’t function in a vacuum, responding solely to their own agendas. Rather, they act on a broad range of conditions within the company—what they see and understand and how they’re rewarded (financially and otherwise); objectives, incentives and career alternatives; and what they’re encouraged to care about. Strategists and organizational experts from Booz Allen Hamilton say one way to bring employees’ activities in line with each other—and with the company’s goals—is to implement market-based motivational systems and multiple profit-and-loss statements that send managers accurate signals about cost and value of certain activities. Such “motivators” are part of the key underpinnings of a company’s ability to execute critical strategies, say the experts, who liken the elements …
Why isn’t there a keeper of statistics?
On 23, Dec 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
In his interview with journalist Michael Schrage, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman says that he’s really very impressed by the combination of curiosity and resistance that he finds when he talks to business leaders, but adds: “The thing that astonishes me when I talk to business people in the context of decision analysis is that you have an organization that’s making lots of decisions and they’re not keeping track. They’re not trying to learn from their own mistakes; they’re not investing the smallest amount in trying to actually figure out what they’ve done wrong. And that’s not an accident: They don’t want to know. So there is a lot of curiosity, and I get invited …
Where fear rules, ideas go underground
On 23, Dec 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Every CEO wants their industry’s next big idea to emerge from their own company—but few today are willing to take the risks that would enable that to happen. The out-of-the-box thinking that was so popular during the ‘90s boom has been replaced by layoffs, cutbacks and shelved expansion plans. What many executives are calling “austerity” is nothing more than fear. And fear doesn’t create an environment friendly to new ideas. ‘‘The ‘wildflowers’ in many companies have gone underground,’’ says Lawrence Halpern, a professor of strategic positioning and competitive strategy at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. He refers to nontraditional thinkers as wildflowers and yearns for them to start sprouting again amid the current economic …
More homes less
On 18, Nov 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Americans, especially baby boomers, aren’t changing residences as often, our houses are bigger and more expensive than ever, yet we are away from home more than ever. Why? With fewer children in the home, we’re becoming a nation of empty nesters. Higher incomes mean we’re traveling more. More Americans have second homes they visit on weekends and holidays. Empty nesters, second home owners and two-earner households also eat out more often. So despite the proliferation of incredibly lavish kitchens, fewer Americans are even at home during mealtimes. What does this mean for the future marketing of goods and services? American Demographics magazine suggests that consumers will spend more money on services and less on certain …
Strategies for Start-Up Success
On 18, Nov 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
A study of more than 450 startups over three decades found that raising the most capital has no direct correlation to a company’s success, and that over-funding actually allows companies to follow a flawed strategy for too long, the report points out. Simply put, less is more when it comes to capital raised. The study also found that the technical team is the most important factor in a startup’s success (and not the management team), and that a seven-year horizon to a successful “exit” (departure by the venture capitalists) is likely to be the norm, as opposed to the more accelerated timeframe typical of the ‘90s. Darwin Magazine 1 Oct 2003
FCC says landline numbers can transfer to cell phones
On 17, Nov 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Telephone customers in large U.S. metropolitan markets will be able to transfer their home phone numbers to their cell phones, allowing them to drop their landline service altogether without having to get a new number. The new rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission will also allow some wireless customers to keep their numbers if they switch over to landline phones. “This give consumers much sought-after flexibility and if provides further competitive stimulus to telephone industry competition,” says FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. As many as 7 million people use their cell phones exclusively, and another 19 million are likely to drop their landline service for cellular once the rules go into effect. AP 11 Nov …
Sharing 101
On 16, Nov 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
In an era when businesses put a high price on knowledge, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some workers are “knowledge-hoarders”—steadfastly resisting all efforts to cooperate in enterprise-wide knowledge management programs. The reaction is predictable, considering the past several years’ repeated rounds of layoffs, which have prompted workers to hoard information, take individual credit for team accomplishments, and engage in “cover your derriere” behavior in an effort to become “indispensable.” What’s a manager to do? Start with yourself—many employees take their cue from management attitudes, so it’s important to share information, award credit where credit is due, and display collaborative, group-centered behavior. In order to create an atmosphere where sharing is valued, you can …
Find the solution, then the problem
On 16, Nov 2003 | In Uncategorized | By Marcia K
Identifying a problem isn’t always the first step in the innovation process. Sometimes the solution comes first, say Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres, authors of “Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small.” After all, no one thought to themselves, “Kids really need a scooter that spins more easily.” Instead, the developers of the Razor Scooter observed, “Polycarbonate wheels have revolutionized roller skates and rolling luggage. What other products could be similarly improved?” Adapting ideas that worked in one context, along with a creative tweak or twist, can lead to solutions for heretofore unnoticed problems. The solution needs to be well translated to fit the context and institutions of the …
