The adoption of new technology by companies and their leaders is often slow. Reasons for this hesitation can range from incentive structures that push managers to favor established technology, as well as the challenges related to learning, coordinating, and funding new technology. Another potential factor slowing the adoption of new technology may be career concerns […]
In business, to “scale” means to become larger, to grow. Scaling has been adapted to the social and environmental sectors in the concepts of scaling up (influencing policy) and scaling out (spreading business models). The focus on scaling up and scaling out has shunted aside a different type of scaling the transformational act of Scaling […]
Women continue to battle inequality and discrimination in many different forms in companies and organizations. While progress has been made, many women continue to be paid less than men, to have fewer opportunities for advancement than men, and to be subject to subtle or overt sexual harassment. If women are to overcome these barriers, they […]
Many people “make sense” of the world through their peers—that is, they seek to better understand events in the world around them by talking with and learning how their peers are responding to the events in question. This occurs when a new corporate strategy is announced by top management that is ambiguous—that is, not clearly […]
The agile management approach, which began as a project management approach in the field of software product development, rejects rigid structures and processes in favour of customer-focused incremental processes that respond and adapt continuously to changing developments and customer feedback. Numerous methodologies have been developed to ensure the flexibility and responsiveness at the heart of […]
Significant developments such as new strategies, new competitive pressures, or new leadership often require changes to a company’s organizational culture. This undertaking, however, is complicated by the amorphous nature of organizational culture as an invisible but pervasive force guiding how people think and behave, rather than a tangible and clearly defined facet of the company […]
The best middle managers influence and inspire their subordinates to higher levels of performance. Research has shown that the secret to being an inspirational middle manager is behavioural integrity, which can be summarized as ‘walking the talk’. Subordinates become motivated and engaged when they see that the behaviour of managers aligns with what they say. […]
In the annual global MIT/Deloitte survey of executives and managers, 90% of respondents recognized that digital trends would disrupt their industries. Only 44%, however, believed their organizations were prepared for the disruption. Parsing the data in the survey returns, the MIT/Deloitte team were able to divide the companies of respondents into three categories: early-stage, developing, […]
Behind all human progress is the question: What’s Next? Asking “What’s Next?” led humankind from the invention of the wheel to the building of the pyramids, the establishment of common laws, the printing press, the founding of universities, coinage and commerce, steamboats, passenger trains, the light bulb, space travel and, most recently, the iPhone. But […]
Implementing change is never easy, but for a newly hired executive working with new people in a new culture, the challenge is even greater. Understanding the current culture of the company is an important first step. What are the norms, values and beliefs of the company? Who are its informal leaders? Dissecting the company’s organizational […]