If something cannot go on forever, it will stop,” said American economist Herbert Stein. That, in a way, is all you need to know about sustainability. If something – a business practice, relationship or raw material that is in limited supply – cannot last, eventually it won’t.
Part of the problem with the discussion about sustainability in business is that the word has been hijacked or twisted by a range of people (where have we heard that one before?). So some might suggest that sustainability is merely something to do with energy use, or pollution, or recycling paper. (more…)
It’s that moment so many of us secretly dread. You walk into a crowded room of businesspeople – perhaps at a conference or dinner event. Some turn to see who the new arrival is. And then a quiet but insistent voice in your head utters the command you have been nervously waiting for: “Network! Network!”
It sounds like such a simple idea. Professional people need to network, to get together and share ideas. No-one has all the answers to every business problem. In terms of managing your own career, it makes sense to see and be seen. And yet not everybody has the confidence or enthusiasm that make attempts to network feel natural. (more…)
Phew, that was close. As President Obama winked goodbye to the press corps and returned to his holiday in Hawaii, there was relief as imminent financial disaster – the ‘fiscal cliff’ – was avoided. There was instant celebration in financial markets too. Share prices rose steeply – not that traders ever need too much encouragement to get over-excited. (more…)
In 2004, the journalist James Surowiecki published one of those business blockbusters that did not seem to be a particularly devastating contribution at first sight, but which went on to become a huge success. The Wisdom of Crowds: why the many are smarter than the few and how collective wisdom shapes business, economies, societies and nations came ready equipped with the compulsory grand-sounding title. But it popularised the concept of ‘crowdsourcing’ – gathering ideas and information from a wide array of people to try to reduce the error factor. (more…)
cheap lasix online00″ height=”100″ />My friend Andrew, an excellent communications and presentations trainer (ask me if you want a discount), was about to start a session on negotiation skills with a bunch of City traders. He politely asked the guy in the front row what negotiation meant to him. “I never negotiate,” came the unsmiling reply. (more…)
Businesses used to be staffed by people called… people. Personnel managers worried about the personnel. Then came ‘human resources’ managers, with their amazing dictionary of jargon and arid phrases. And finally human beings ascended to the ultimate level. They became ‘talent’.
If you lived above a shop, as prime Minister David Cameron does, you might think that getting to see your family would not be too much of a problem. But in his recent Today programme interview on Radio 4, the PM bemoaned the fact that sometimes he only got to take his children to school once a month. Sure – he’s a busy guy. But he must see his wife and kids a lot more than many people do. (more…)
“From clogs to clogs in three generations” runs the wise old saying about family businesses. I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the Murdoch dynasty is about to find itself out on its uppers – or clogs. But the recent dramas at News International are a reminder that family businesses, as Nigel Nicholson of London Business School has pointed out, can experience wildly varying outcomes. (more…)
No new year’s resolutions for me again this year. How can you improve the unimprovable? I’m joking of course, but there is a more serious point here. As we all know, those seemingly earnest commitments we make in the first week of January do tend to unravel by… well, by the third week of January. (more…)
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that now the obituaries have all been printed following the death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of tech giant Apple, it will mean the end of all the hero-worshipping articles. A new biography also explores his genius.
Buyers, though, will not be surprised to learn that beneath all the Jobs-worship was a real business story that has probably received too little attention. (more…)
If something cannot go on forever, it will stop,” said American economist Herbert Stein. That, in a way, is all you need to know about sustainability. If something – a business practice, relationship or raw material that is in limited supply – cannot last, eventually it won’t.![[Bloglines]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
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