The traditional, hierarchical structure of organizations is diminishing as we work our way through the 21st century. Business is fast-paced and unpredictable; we cannot rely on things the way we used to, whether it is our customers, our suppliers, or even our staff. Modern companies are constantly reminded to be flexible, to adapt, and to […]
Read More… from Smart Moves – the Tango and Modern Leadership
One way that organizations ensure that they accomplish certain objectives is through management control systems. These systems reward and promote employees according to certain criteria, in order to achieve goal congruence. According to the authors, very little research into the design of control systems that lead to goal congruence takes into account the role that […]
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Through their research, the authors set out to examine the effects that leaders at different levels in an organization have on each other. To do so, they investigated the relation between leadership alignment and strategy implementation in a large health care organization of more than 3,000 physicians, who work in 19 large medical centres or […]
Read More… from Leadership Alignment and Strategy Implementation
What makes a successful leader, and how can leaders develop their own personal leadership models? Exploring these questions in this article, the author highlights the importance of leaders in general; they are responsible for other people’s lives, futures and money. They lead people in challenging times and times of uncertainty, thus making it imperative that […]
Read More… from Leadership Essentials: Diagnostics, Influence and Energy
In high-growth companies, it is a fact that periods of expansion are often punctuated by sudden and severe challenges. Noting the extreme tension between success and failure in businesses today, the authors set out to research how “the dark side” of growth can be managed appropriately. They describe this as the often sour situation that […]
Many large companies have developed corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) initiatives. Examples include global management consultants Accenture, French cement, concrete and aggregates company Lafarge and Swiss pharmaceuticals multinational Novartis. Often referred to as ‘social businesses’, CSE initiatives are usually started by employees who want to help underprivileged people. Motivated partly by personal experience, these social intrapreneurs […]
Strategic embeddedness is a priority for companies; a strategy is much more likely to succeed if a critical mass of employees understands and accepts it. Despite this, articles on strategic alignment have tended to focus more on organizational structures, systems and processes than on employees. Why do some people understand and accept their company’s business […]
Read More… from Embed the Strategy (Do Not Rely on Cascading)
In the early 2000s, there was a rush by organizations to outsource and offshore many call centres because of the significant cost savings that could be achieved. But offshoring has often led to a reduction in customer satisfaction, so businesses are increasingly bringing their critical customer service call centre operations back ‘onshore’. At the same […]
Read More… from Homeworking Beats Outsourcing: a 6 Step Model
Recent years have seen company stakeholders demand better environmental performance, particularly by businesses in polluting industries. Whether it is consumer pressure for green products, media pressure for a green approach or government pressure to stick to green regulations, leaders must take action. The degree to which they respond – or not – appears to hinge […]
Building on the latest research on leadership, as well as scores of interviews with CEOs and other leaders, Professor of Strategy and Leadership Sydney Finkelstein of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has identified four key capabilities that he argues are essential to strategic leadership. The first is intellectual honesty, that is, the capability of the […]
Read More… from Four Capabilities of Great Strategic Leaders
