Siemens, once noted for its bureaucratic and hierarchical approach to business, has adopted a grass‐roots and “bottom up” approach to knowledge management, which has transformed the company over the last three years. Without any suggestion or provocation from above, middle‐level...

Despite recording more than $1 billion in annual sales world‐wide, LL Bean faces the pressures of all major retailers – competition, fluctuating sales, overcapacity in the sector and potential squeezes on margins. The business is one of the world’s best‐known brands in outdoor sports and...

A new form of organizational structure is helping the giant Philips electronics company to gain more improvements and innovations from workers on the shopfloor at one of its components plants. Philips Components has adopted the mini‐company concept at its Roermond factory in The Netherlands....

How often have individuals vowed to change their ways, stop, reflect and start over? Large corporations too often face the starker situation of evolve or die – few can do so. Boeing has proved itself one of the global leaders in knowledge management. Given the pressures and increasing strains...

Team‐working is now regarded as essential to operational efficiency. Teams enable fast responses to internal and external change and provide individuals with an environment for effective contribution. However, while there is a large body of research into how teams form and function, less...

Telecommunications giant Cable and Wireless adopted a three‐prong approach to slimming down its in‐house HR, which Ian Muir, vice‐president of group human resources, described as “too big, too expensive and with a cost base that was fixed rather than variable”. First, the company began...

Organizational energy at first can appear to be an obvious business concept. Any organization you care to pick only has a finite amount of human energy that it can muster to deliver its business goals. Energy, rather than time, is the commodity leaders are realizing they need to value. You could...

With organizations constantly seeking to grow, remain competitive and meet changing business conditions, the human resources function, like other functions, is under scrutiny to deliver value‐adding quality services to the business, coupled with a drive to reduce operating costs. Outsourcing...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide an interview with Dr Meredith Belbin. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an interview with Dr Meredith Belbin. Findings – The paper explores Belbin's thoughts on current issues including HR management, organizational...