Today's New York Times features an article about the book Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter with Holger Rathgeber. It's an illustrated tale that demonstrates Kotter's philosophy of change management. I prefer the more extensive discussion in his...
A recent post by CIO Magazine's blogger Christopher Koch explores our evolutionary, biological reaction to change. Humans automatically respond with fear and anger when facing the unfamiliar. Understanding this innate reaction and working to help employees...
According to the WSJ, interim CEO Robert Fisher at the Gap, Inc. is counting on faster decision making and less bureaucracy to turn around the struggling clothing retailer. Fisher hopes to combat high turnover in critical leadership roles by attracting and...
Promoting Process Improvement Company-wide Increasing responsibility for operations efficiency and performance management requires a more proactive approach than finance has traditionally held. Financial professionals have a uniquely analytical skill set and...
Today Tom Peters blog observes that company culture is critical to strategic execution. When your company's underlying values, behavioral norms, and informal reward systems undermine the strategic direction the strategy is bound to fail.If your strategy is to...
Business Week's December 18th issue features their second annual "Best and Worst" recap. The HP boardroom scandal is highlighted as the Worst Boardroom Rivalry, and attributes the debacle to the contentious relationship between Thomas J Perkins and...
CFO.com reports that most finance executives and managing directors of US multi-national companies believe that their investments in technology have had a postive impact (such as better customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and revenue improvements). But only one...
A must-read article in this week's FORTUNE Magazine In an earlier post I shared my astonished reaction to Wal-Mart's sustainability initiative. I had just attended a corporate performance management conference and my impression of Wal-Mart had been turned...
Do the various systems operating within your company speak the same language? Are customer IDs consistent? Are prices and quantities in standard formats (cases vs. individual units)? Are interest rates expressed in percentage points or basis points? As companies...
I just saw An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary featuring Al Gore and his global warming crusade. I recommend the film - regardless of your feelings about Al Gore, the message is impactful and important. Al Gore's campaign against global warming demonstrates...
