October 2007 Issue

NEW ON STRATEGY PEAK- FEATURE CONSULTANT!

Our upcoming issues will showcase the expertise and consulting practice of a fellow management consultant. If you would like to nominate a management consultant to be featured in our future issues, please complete our nomination form . 

The featured consultant for this issue is Bruce Acton. Bruce Acton is president of Acton Consulting Ltd. Bruce’s range of expertise includes Quality Management (QM), Business Process Redesign (BPR), information systems projects, and Performance Measurement.

Articles

From Brand Me to Brand Business

By David Molian

Every ambitious entrepreneur has their sights set on creating a business with independent value. Admittedly not everyone starts a business with a view to selling it. Some people will want to hand the business over to the next generation of their family. Others are just in love with what they do,and plan to keep growing and developing their businesses as long as their health allows them to. But a true test of the maturity of any independently-owned and managed firm is whether you are working for the business, or whether the business is working for you. Only when you can honestly say that the business is working for you, do you have a business that has independent value.

Creating Value through International Work

By Michael Dickmann

The Role of Trainers, Coaches and International Mobility Experts

New research in large multinational companies (MNCs) sees international work not as a one-off experience but rather as integrated in long-term development and careers. Just like in sports where the end of a game does not signal the end of learning but rather a new beginning, the research by Cranfield School of Management, UK which was supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers points out that much of the value in expatriate working is created after the individual returns or moves to the next job. Some of the key activities identified are concerning coaches, trainers, line managers and mobility experts in their strive to manage the expectations of returnees, help them to overcome a potential ‘career wobble’ and to apply the skills, knowledge, social capital and insights they have gained during their years abroad.  

Lessons From The Incredible Story Of Ernest Shackleton

By Steve Macaulay

Today`s managers are constantly involved in leading their people through change. However …

· What is it that managers need to do when they become uncertain about their own goals?

· How do they maintain the morale and motivation of their people, whilst managing their own self doubt at the same time?

This article uses Shackleton`s performance as leader of the Endurance expedition of 1914 - 1916 to the Antarctic to help answer these questions.

The story and lessons for managers are graphically and passionately delivered by the Praxis Centre’s Roger Putt who has not only studied and lectured on Shackleton for 10 years but has followed in his footsteps, visiting all the key sites within the story. Roger has a unique collection of Shackleton material, including books, films, photographs and Shackleton`s personal belongings. Roger was a lead contributor to a National Geographic film called Leading the Way, illustrating the lessons from Shackleton.

Corporate Centres Make a Come Back

By Andrew Kakabadse

Corporate Centres of large organisations are often perceived as expensive bureaucracy, adding little or nothing to multi - business organisations.

Authors of a new book "Designing World Class Corporate Strategies" challenge this view and argue that strategic management can be strengthened by the corporate centre, providing a crucial platform for modelling strategic plans and achieving long term goals. Professors Keith Ward, Cliff Bowman and Andrew Kakabadse place corporate leadership clearly in the context of the relationship between the corporate centre and the underlying businesses within the group. They identify successful ways for leaders at the centre to add value to the total corporation.

Building the World Class Marketing Organisation

By Malcolm McDonald

It is intensely irritating to hear yet more pleas for marketers to become more accountable, especially when those making them use promotion as a central model. Certainly if I were a CEO and asked my Marketing Director what we had got for the millions invested in marketing, on being informed we had achieved an increase in awareness, or a change in attitude, they would be instantly sacked!

In capital markets success is measured in terms shareholder value created, which is not the same as profit. It is a function of both returns and risks. Main Board Directors concern themselves with the risk-adjusted return on capital, a worry their subordinates are generally free of.