Cover -- How purchasing became a strategic function: from purchasing to external resources management -- Supply resource management: Salomon and his network of subcontractors in Romania -- How purchasing managers can benefit from new opportunities -- Geopolitics: a new field of expertise for...

Communications are important when you are a National Health Service Trust caring for a remote and largely rural community in Northern Ireland. On top of that you are responsible not only for acute hospital care, but also community care services, mental health and elderly care. So when the Trust...

The idea that businesses faced with the need for radical change should eschew performance improvement projects is clearly nonsense. However, it has been estimated that almost 70 percent of re‐engineering projects fail. In the face of such statistics pessimists might be inclined to opt for the...

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments...

The planning stage in start‐ups still typically overlooks the importance of organizational capability. Yet experience shows that this frequently leads to operations and maintenance problems that can threaten the viability of new capital projects. So what are the priorities? And how can...

Improving business performance often focuses on clearly articulated strategies, definite goals and structural change. However, even the best laid plans for change often fail to address that performance is inseparable from how an organization does what it does. Improved performance is impossible...

Companies implement TQM initiatives because they seem to be a “fast track” to improved performance and profitability. TQM is also customer driven because as more and more firms receive accreditation they prefer to deal only with similarly accredited companies. However, the TQM failure rate...

Whatever happens, stay focused on your vision, mission and core values, even when other companies are frantically trying to jump on (or off) the Internet bandwagon. That is the core message on how to develop a business strategy when the general business environment is turbulent. Easier said than...

In theory, joint ventures do not sound too complicated. There are decisions to be made and contracts to be drawn up of course, but basically they are just about two or more firms pooling their expertise for mutually beneficial effects. What’s more, they are nothing new and hundreds of...

“It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it – that’s what gets results”: words from a 1980s pop song that also happen to be sound business advice. After all, merely having a good strategy does not guarantee success. It must also be properly implemented. And with one study...