While new technology is intended to make work more efficient and effective, it often helps the professionals in a company while increasing the workload and decreasing the autonomy of assistants and other administrative-level or lower-level employees. Finding solutions to address workload issues related to new technology is hampered by three challenges: MIT’s Katherine Kellogg studied […]
Read More… from Resolve Workload Conflicts When Integrating New Technology
Companies once viewed themselves as isolated entities engaged in win-lose battles with opponents for the same set of customers. The technology-driven evolution of business has re-ordered the universe. Today, companies operate as participants in business ecosystems in which they engage with a broad and diverse set of partners in a range of different types of […]
Many companies struggle to keep up with today’s supercharged, constantly evolving competitive markets, where customers needs, products and technologies change at ever-increasing speed. An in-depth study of the global telecom equipment leader Huawei Technologies by researchers from Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and China’s Zhejiang University’s School of Management offers a detailed lesson in what […]
Read More… from Super-Fluid Companies Keep Pace with Customer Needs
Despite the well-known and well-documented financial benefits of outsourcing and offshoring business activities, a growing number of U.S. companies are changing direction: they are moving their business activities, including manufacturing and service operations, from foreign markets back to the U.S. — a process known as ‘reshoring’. Reshoring entails both benefits and costs. On the benefit […]
Company follow different strategies in their quest for competitive advantage. For example, some companies compete on price. Other companies try to differentiate themselves from competitors through their capabilities. Still others draw their competitive advantage from their flexibility and innovation. At the operations level, the strategic direction chosen by the company leads to a set of […]
Read More… from Meeting Sustainability Priorities in Competitive Operational Strategies
Developed in Japan, lean manufacturing introduced tools, processes and a mindset that eliminated waste and ensured the smooth flow of production without sacrificing quality. Kanban, a system that sounds the alert when a component in the production process is running low, and TPM, a proactive approach to equipment maintenance, are just two examples of lean […]
Read More… from Lean Manufacturing More Effective in Collectivist Cultures
Despite its best intentions, a company may have structures and processes in place that allows it to construct its own misfortune. This is organizational ‘zemblanity’, a term coined by writer William Boyd. Zemblanity is the antonym of serendipity, which, in an organizational context, occurs when an organization purposefully puts itself in position to take advantage […]
Read More… from Bad Luck Doesn’t Just Happen: The Case of the Costa Concordia
While much research has focused on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on profitability and results, less attention has been paid on the antecedents of CSR — that is, what conditions make a company more likely to become socially responsible. Two researchers from Queen’s University School of Business and Saint Mary’s University investigated whether […]
Read More… from Management Practices that Lead to Corporate Social Responsibility
Collaboration, either formal or discretionary (informally approaching others for guidance, information or assistance), is considered a virtue in today’s workplace. The advantages of collaboration are many, ranging from creativity and knowledge sharing, to teamwork, employee engagement and improved long-term results. However, an in-depth study of the interaction of physicians and health care personnel in one […]
Read More… from The Overlooked Productivity Costs of Collaboration
Highlighting the continuing challenge of information systems security, more than 80% of companies around the world have been hacked by cyber-criminals, including more than 80% of companies in the U.S., and more than 85% of companies in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa, according to a worldwide survey of CFOs. The goal in these attacks […]
Read More… from CFO Survey: Most Hit by Hackers Otherwise Optimistic
