Customer service representatives are no longer perceived as secretaries or telephone operators, nor considered as mere support staff for personnel working in the field. Rather, they are increasingly viewed as carriers and guardians of the company’s image, and key players in the...

When your core competences can be quickly replicated by copycat corporations, what competitive advantage have you got left? Explains that it is probably the knowledge of key managers, their ability to access and assess information, and their ability to innovate and think creatively.

At one time or another, every successful executive has observed or been part of a group that was dedicated to solving an impossible problem or defeating an unbeatable foe. Such groups are usually vital, absorbing, full of debate and laughter ‐ and very hard work. They are almost never...

US business will spend more than $30 billion on training this year. But will organizations get value for money? Argues that the criteria against which training effectiveness is measured should be changed to reflect the changing demands made on the training function.

Many companies are restructuring key business processes to break down barriers between departments. Underlying these efforts is the belief that value is created through horizontal work flows ‐ flows which cut across traditional vertically organized functions and end at some point of contact...

Concurrent engineering is all the rage in new‐product development. It is helping such US high‐technology firms as Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. to improve their designs and get new products on to the market faster. But it throws up a number of important human‐resource problems....

Once upon a time, companies were like ocean liners. Anyone fortunate enough to secure a berth cruised through a career and disembarked at retirement age. Those days have gone, probably for ever. Argues that it is no good believing things can be the same, only a bit different. A fundamental...

When Eastman Kodak decided to change from a traditional organization aligned by function to a focus on customers and corporate success, it recognized the fact that teams outperform individuals. At a recent Management Summit conference held in London, Henri‐Dominique Petit, vice‐president and...

GE Plastics, a division of the General Electric Co., came up with a simple yet powerful idea for teambuilding ‐ by putting its employees to work helping the community. Describes the scheme in detail.

Participation, teamwork, innovation, risk‐taking and empowerment. We all know the buzz words. But how do we bring the concepts successfully to fruition? Provides some important clues.