Work-life balance issues bring out the optimist in some, the pessimist in others. For pessimists, the work-life balance concerns of employees will be undermined when a firm faces increased competition — and ‘improves’ its management practices in response to that competition. Examples of improved management practices include: the introduction of lean manufacturing techniques; better tracking […]
Read More… from Does Work/Life Balance Help or Hurt Productivity?
Since 2005, the business units of California-based health care company Allergan has used cloud computing for a wide range of functions, from field sales effectiveness and travel and expense processing to HR performance planning and identity management. In 2010, the company adopted a ‘Cloud First’ policy, looking for cloud computing options before buying or building […]
Read More… from Six Imperatives for Companies to Embrace Cloud Computing
Founder and director of the China Supplier 1000 Project, Neale O’Connor, a former visiting associate professor at the National University of Singapore Business School, conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,000 suppliers in China and Hong Kong. Among the core lessons for buyers, Neale writes, is that China retains its strength vis-à-vis other countries, but is facing some […]
For the past 20 years, like a herd of stampeding buffaloes, companies have been moving en masse their manufacturing to low-labour-cost countries. Despite the occasional bad publicity as working conditions in some of these countries become known, the tidal wave of offshoring seems to make financial sense: companies save money on wages, which are reflected […]
Read More… from Outsourcing Vs Reshoring: The Case for Local Manufacture
Supply chain management has become increasingly sophisticated over recent decades with improved financial performance as a result. Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing; sole-source suppliers; outsourcing to low-cost locations; common parts; and centralized inventories – these among other measures have helped leaders run supply chains more efficiently and guard against recurring risks such as changes in demand, supply […]
Read More… from Is Your Supply Chain Prepared for the Unexpected?
Buying companies in other countries poses significant challenges, requiring close co-ordination and careful integration and creating what’s been referred to in management literature as the ‘liability of foreignness’. But the costs and complications can be matched by the opportunities. The literature also makes clear the potential to access a new managerial and technical ‘ecosystem’ — […]
Read More… from Foreign Acquisitions: The Path to Better Productivity at Home?
Change forms a huge part of our world today, whether we like it or not. The pace of technological progress is phenomenal, while the growth of emerging markets is one of the most striking forces of change. Not only are we seeing more international competitors in a range of sectors (emerging market companies currently comprise […]
Read More… from Emerging Market Strategy: Creating Order out of Chaos
Long-distance relocation of the whole of a company’s headquarters remains rare. Long-distance relocation of the offices of members of the top management team and of core functions such as finance and R&D, on the other hand, is becoming more common. The phenomenon is most clearly seen in small but highly internationalized economies such as Finland, […]
When looking for contract employees for a project, employers now have direct access to workers from across the world thanks to digital labour contract platforms such as Elance, Freelancer, Guru and oDesk. On these platforms, employers post their jobs or actively look for contractors, while contractors post their profiles, which include résumés as well as […]
Read More… from Navigating the Global Online Contract Labour Market
Classical and neo-classical economic theory is predicated largely on an ‘impersonal’ model, in which transactions between parties are governed not by social obligations and kinship ties but by rational and objective calculation of individual gains. This model is particularly associated with industrialized societies and the mature market economies of the West. One might, therefore, reasonably […]
Read More… from Modernizing without Westernizing: Social Ties and Indian Business
