bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Marketing's Agenda for the 1990s
Authors: Magrath Allan J.
Published: March 2008

The 1990s may turn out to be the most testing decade since the 1930s. Severe competition, industry capacity gluts, and rapid technology transfer will not allow any firm to stay ahead of the pack for long. Depressed margins and increasing costs in benefits and office automation will put companies between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They will be severely challenged to get a payoff from their knowledge workers and upgrade total quality fast.
The Value of Long‐Term Commitment
Authors: Davidson Kenneth M.
Published: March 2008

In the 1950s, the founders of Texas Instruments adopted a daring business strategy; they committed to developing pocket calculators and then selling them for less than their production costs. Texas Instruments expected the low price to create a mass market for calculators and gambled that its production costs would fall quickly as the company gained experience producing calculators in greater numbers. The founders shared their expectations with employees and made them the key to finding cost saving techniques. Management rewarded employees for their individual contributions and for the successes of the company. As sales grew, employees found ways to continually decrease production costs and earn increasingly dramatic profits. In fulfilling the commitments of its founders and its employees, Texas Instruments became one of the great American business success stories of the 1960s.
Structuring a Successful Turnaround
Authors: Finkin Eugene F.
Published: March 2008

The American economy is in a state of turmoil. Prominent firms are in serious trouble in industries such as steel, machine tools, fasteners, meat packing, textiles, cranes, copper, shipbuilding, farm machinery, and railroad products. Troubled companies are not usually destined to fail; a successful turnaround is frequently possible. However, the successful turnaround doesn't just spontaneously happen; proper management is the key to achieving this goal.
Flexible Deployment: Making Decisions that Optimize Service and Costs
Authors: Chapman Paul T.
Published: March 2008

In today's quick‐response marketplace, it is becoming more and more difficult for business to react to the pressing demands of customers and consumers. Try as they might, they cannot achieve perfect knowledge of the market's actual demands. Instead, success depends upon making operations more flexible. In particular, management must work to build new flexibility into deployment—i.e., the allocation of available finished goods to meet immediate demands.
Why Technical‐Market Research?
Authors: Lauglaug Antonio S.
Published: March 2008

It is no secret that success in today's marketplace hinges on satisfying customers. Total customer satisfaction has become the battle cry from board rooms to the factory floor in large and small companies around the world.
The Discipline of the Narrow Focus
Authors: Ries Al
Published: March 2008

Last year, General Motors Corp. lost $4.5 billion. So what? Times were bad. Sales of cars and light trucks in the US in 1991 were down 11% from the previous year.
Marketing to Maximize Profitability
Authors: Duboff Robert S.
Published: March 2008

If marketing stays focused on its traditional charter of building revenues, it may not survive for long as a core management function.
Should US Companies Establish Keiretsus?
Authors: Simerly Roy L.
Published: March 2008

Economic success in today's business environment requires a clearly focused strategy that builds on the distinctive competencies of the organization. Empirical studies over the past 20 years have confirmed that profitability decreases as the degree of diversification increases. Having followed a strategy of growth through conglomerate diversification for over two decades, many organizations have found that they are no longer flexible enough or innovative enough to meet the challenges of global competition. In response, they are restructuring to regain strategic control.
A Vigorous Approach to Customer Service
Authors: Kears Pollock E.
Published: March 2008

Without customers, no business can exist. How a customer is treated — in the broadest sense — determines whether it maintains its relationships with a supplier and, therefore, whether the supplier has a future.
Strategic Planning Unbound
Authors: Hiam Alexander
Published: March 2008

Spurred by globalization, the maturation of consumer markets, the greater number of products and marketing messages in every market, the accelerating advance of technology, and the shortening of product life cycles, today's business environment is increasingly complex. It's become, in the words of H. Igor Ansoff, a professor at the United States International University in San Diego, “highly turbulent.”
Pricing
Authors: Sinclair Stuart
Published: March 2008

Last year was a busy year for pricers. American Airlines made a much‐publicized bid to simplify the industry's price structure. Procter & Gamble announced that it would drastically simplify its U.S. pricing system and eliminate much of the clutter of coupons, stocking incentives, and discounts. IBM and others announced several new software pricing approaches—such as “modifiedtiered” and “hybrid” pricing—that were intended to deal with the proliferation of channels through which their products are now sold and to better reflect the different levels of use that different customers get from an application. In Brussels, the European Commission (EC) was considering the findings of a report confirming many people's anecdotal impression: Price differentials across Europe are huge—as much as 100% for some electronic capital goods and pharmaceuticals, for example.
Managing Radical Change
Authors: Want Jerome H.
Published: March 2008

As the traditional mainstays of American business have collapsed around them, companies have begun searching for ways to become more competitive—and to stay alive.
CHINA ON THE MOVE
Authors: Heenan David A.
Published: March 2008

China's entry into the economic big leagues is full of obstacles, but with one‐fifth of the world's population now champing at capitalism's bit, the opportunities for strategic‐minded businesses are boundless.
Techno‐babble Defined
Authors: Winkleman Michael
Published: March 2008

“Scanners are passé,” says Josh McQueen, a student of futuristic marketing technology who directs the research operations at Leo Burnett, the Chicago‐based ad agency. With all manner of newly delivered interactive tools cramming the corporate workbench, it's not surprising that for a maven like McQueen, last year's hot new toy has already cooled off.
SHORTTAKES
Authors: Voss Bristoll
Published: March 2008

Think you're not hearing English‐as‐you‐know‐it when a consultant opens his mouth? You're not.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

You can't help but be impressed by John White‐head's resume. There's his 38‐year climb up Goldman, Sachs & Co., to the position of co‐chairman. Then there's his three‐year post as deputy secretary of state for the Reagan administration, along with his current position, chairman of AEA Investors in New York. But what's really striking about Whitehead's resume is the lengthy list of volunteer organizations on which he serves. Currently the chairman of 10 nonprofit boards—including the United Nations Association, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Asia Society, Youth for Understanding, and the Greater New York Councils/Boy Scouts of America—and a trustee of numerous others, Whitehead has been described as the consummate nonprofit board member.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Authors: Winkleman Michael
Published: March 2008

Nothing lasts forever. Change is gonna come. Those were the days.
Case Study
Authors: Wiesendanger Betsy
Published: March 2008

IT READS LIKE A BAD JOKE: HOW MANY STEPS DOES IT TAKE TO MOVE A water cooler? If you worked at Florida Power & Light three years ago, your answer would have been: It takes seven separate steps. Sound ludicrous? Maybe, but that's exactly how a team at FP&L's Fort Myers' district office approached the situation when someone proposed moving the water cooler.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Davids Meryl , Mickey Rebecca J.
Published: March 2008

By the halfway All‐Star break in 1991, Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz was badly slumping at 2–11. Then sports psychologist Jack Llewellyn got hold of him, and Smoltz exploded to 12–2 in the second half of the season. It's not surprising that Llewellyn's phone started ringing off the hook soon after; what was unexpected, though, was that it wasn't so much sports figures who were calling, but rather corporate executives looking to put Llewellyn's ideas to work for themselves.
Legal Strategy
Authors: Gerson Stuart M.
Published: March 2008

The most important lesson I ever learned with respect to my usual professional role—that of a corporation's litigation counsel—came several years ago. After the favorable conclusion of a particularly difficult and long‐standing piece of litigation, I visited the client's headquarters to review the case outcome with the company's CEO and its general counsel. The review soon took a self‐congratulatory turn, at least on counsel's part, but the self‐adulation was brought quickly to an end by the practical CEO.
The Business of America is Jobs
Authors: Touby Laurel
Published: March 2008

After slicing and dicing their way to the '90s, American corporations are finding that job‐cutting is really a double‐edged sword.
UNITED WE STAND
Authors: Joiner Brian
Published: March 2008

A company divided misses opportunities, loses profits, and defeats its own best efforts. But seen, analyzed, and fixed as a finely tuned, integrated system, a company can thrive.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Mickey Rebecca J.
Published: March 2008

Michael Culver leverages his lust for increased competition and high‐speed technology by slipping into the tight cockpit of a Formula Ford. This unique diversion requires intense concentration, according to Culver, managing director of First Equity Development, an investment banking firm specializing in the aerospace industry. It also removes him from all concerns of running a business.
Strategic Travel
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

Ask Diana Fairechild what it's like to have jet lag so severe you can't tell a coffee cup from a calculator, and she'll give you a knowing smile. Fairechild is not a corporate CEO, traveling to meet important clients around the country, nor an international strategist hobnobbing with office heads around the globe. But, having been an airline stewardess for 21 years—now grounded due to flying‐related illnesses—she can sympathize with the flight plight of those whose business takes them miles from home much of the time.
SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL:
Authors: Burrus Daniel
Published: March 2008

The tools of tomorrow are here today. Our expert finds the technologies that will actually make a difference in your strategies, your company, and your life.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Wiesendanger Betsy
Published: March 2008

The double life of Les Bridges begins when he wakes at 5:00 a.m. After gulping a mug of tea, he'll don a sweatsuit, plop a Detroit Tigers baseball cap on his head, and amble down the stairs of his brownstone apartment. For the next hour or so, the 55‐year‐old executive will wander the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side, jotting down images that catch his attention: rats scampering among garbage cans; a bleary‐eyed customer at a Kinko's Copy Shop; a man smoking crack on Avenue A.
Where There's There's
Authors: Leibman Michael S. , Bruer Ruth A.
Published: March 2008

Succession planning can no longer depend on straight‐line projections. It must be dynamic, flexible, and tied to tomorrow's business plan.
ROYALTIES FROM LOYALTIES
Authors: Fay Christopher J.
Published: March 2008

If quality begets customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction begets customer retention, why doesn't customer retention beget customer loyalty—and greater profits? Because loyalty's a fickle thing—and needs proper management to thrive.
BUSINESS POLICY
Authors: Davidson Kenneth M.
Published: March 2008

In a Washington Post column, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote that he had found an excellent indicator of companies with good prospects. If the employees said, “we” are introducing a new production system, the innovation was likely to succeed, but if the employees said “they” are introducing a new production system, success was less likely. Secretary Reich's pronoun‐test‐for‐success reflects a fundamental law of nature that is too often ignored by those who run American businesses: Success depends on a cooperative team effort.
In the Company Thieves
Authors: Touby Laurel
Published: March 2008

IN NOVEMBER 1989, RONALD W. SKEDDLE, chief executive of Libbey‐Owens‐Ford Co., stood before a group of financial executives and delivered a sobering speech about business ethics. Four years later, he was standing before his own board members trying to explain certain alleged irregularities in the running of the company. Apparently they didn't like what they heard, and he (along with two other Libbey‐Owens‐Ford executives) was asked to step down. According to court documents filed in Columbus, Ohio (the company, a division of Pilkington P.L.C., is based in Toledo), Skeddle et. al. had bilked over $7.7 million from Libbey‐Owens‐Ford through various schemes. Skeddle could not be reached for comment.
Cost Reduction
Authors: Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without. While the consumer hardships that inspired this Yankee saying have gone the way of flintlock firearms, the harsh conditions facing corporate America are far from history. ♦ In order to help planners cut costs, we searched everywhere to uncover the many overlooked ways that companies still waste money. We found corporations concerned with everything from floor space to fax machines, coffee to corporate locations, and time‐on‐hold to holding time. ♦ Many of the cost‐saving ideas we discovered are simply common sense. Others are more “New Age” in spirit. Some are downright Scroogely. ♦ To get yourself into a thrifty mindset, take a look at the gamut of cost cutting ideas and strategies on the following pages.
Ethics
Authors: Dreilinger Craig
Published: March 2008

Codes of ethics typically define what “thou shalt not” do. They also mostly deal with legalities. Because of this approach, codes rarely prevent unethical conduct because such conduct is in a “gray zone” that is difficult to codify. Prior to the Defense Industry Initiative, for example, Defense contractors had a lot of “codes,” but still got into ethical hot water. The codes did not say what behaviors were expected, only those that were not. That made the rules easy to get around.
The NEW! LEAN Planning Machine
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

Bloated planning departments are history. But that doesn't mean planning's an ancient art. A number of top companies have been starting up new departments from scratch—and so can you. Here's how.
THIS OLD OFFICE
Authors: Ogilvie Heather
Published: March 2008

Tear down the walls. Send your workers home. The company of the future, say the seers at a number of forward‐looking companies. Is not housed in some corporate castle on the hill. It's spread across the land, in cars and living rooms, in clients offices and hotel‐like modules. And the result of this virtual restructuring of the workplace? Nothing less than increased sales, faster customer response time, lower overhead, and greater productivity.
Global Policy
Authors: Heenan David A.
Published: March 2008

America's strategists are at sixes and sevens. At issue: how to chart the United States' moral compass. Repeatedly, we intervene in a host of nations—Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti—to redress grave human suffering. To date, our responses have been uneven, without any clear‐cut guidelines for engagement.
UNIONS AND MANAGEMENT:
Authors: McDermott Michael J.
Published: March 2008

After a long slide, organized labor is back waving some high‐flying numbers—and demanding a higher profile in the lives of workers and management. Here's a look at what this means for corporate strategists, especially those determined to dodge the old game of “us versus them.”
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Wiesendanger Betsy
Published: March 2008

Ginger Conwell isn't the type of teacher that the second graders at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Santa Ana, California, are used to. For one thing, she's an engineer—a female engineer—one who plans and coordinates multimillion‐dollar graphic‐systems projects. And, before launching into today's lesson on airplane flight, she tells them, “You don't have to take notes. If you don't learn anything, that's okay.”
Corporate Strategy
Authors: Rarick Charles A. , Vitton John
Published: March 2008

Few things have been better documented over the past decade than the decline of formal—read big and heavily‐staffed—strategic planning departments. Recently, however, there seems to be a planning renaissance of sorts with smaller, stream‐lined departments cropping up in U.S. companies (see “The New Lean Planning Machine” Business Strategy, July/August 1994). Now there are some new data that are guaranteed to warm the down‐sized, down‐trodden hearts of corporate planners everywhere—especially those looking to keep those seedling departments alive. The results of some recent research (by the authors of this piece) suggest that a key aspect of strategic planning—getting senior executives to agree on, and put into writing, a definition of the purpose and scope of the company—can actually translate into profits.
Ethics
Authors: Kelley Bill
Published: March 2008

Despite books, courses, lectures, panels, and a lot of hand wringing, business ethics remains a vague and troublesome area, primarily because no one can quite figure out what it is. Is ethics making sure no laws are broken while conducting business? Expense accounts honestly reported? Strategies planned that take their effects on employees, customers, and the communities into account?
Horizon Scanning
Authors: Gates William H.
Published: March 2008

Last year more than 25 million personal computers, 15 million fax machines, and nearly as many cellular phones were purchased by businesses and individuals worldwide. They are in our offices and homes, and we use them every day. They are indispensable tools.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

You're at a restaurant with an important client when the wine steward heads your way. Nervously glancing at a list of more than 50 bottles, you feel sweat forming on your palms, and know it will be seconds before the tell‐tale beads cascade south over your eyebrows.
EDUCATING THE SURVIVORS
Authors: Ready Douglas A.
Published: March 2008

Executive education is no longer a perk. It's a company's most important strategic hope for survival—all over the world.
SNAP CRACKLE POP
Authors: Unruh Christine
Published: March 2008

Burnt by the foibles of celebrity spokespeople, more and more companies are turning their corporate images (and fortunes) over to animated characters. Is that a good strategic move? Tony, for one, thinks it's G‐G‐G‐G‐Great!
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Elliot Greenberg Keith
Published: March 2008

The wind is kicking up at Spadero Airport in the resort town of East Moriches, Long Island. A single‐engine propellered Cessna 182 wobbles in the clear blue sky, as it ascends above the tree line at the end of the runway. Just being on board under conditions like this can be intimidating. To some people, anyway. Others crave more, hurling themselves out of the aircraft to get blown about in the wind before releasing a parachute and sailing to earth.
Planning Theory
Authors: Gouillart Francis
Published: March 2008

I used to believe in strategy and rock 'n roll. Two‐by‐two matrices and electronic keyboards were my life, but I haven't played with either of them in years—because I lost faith.
WANTED:
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

Ads for strategists—and CEOs with planning experience—have been appearing more frequently in national newspapers. We asked five companies why they wanted a strategist now and whom they hired.
THE FACE OF TOMORROW
Authors: McCune Jenny
Published: March 2008

In the next 10 years, service industries will dominate the list of fast‐growing, small‐business fields. Take a look at what factors are behind the trends, as well as who's taking advantage of them—and how.
Out‐of‐Pocket
Authors: Johnson Rebecca J.
Published: March 2008

Business writers can tell you how to swim with the land sharks without getting eaten alive, but business strategists who've negotiated great whites, large barracuda, and Mekong River sea snakes say the sharks they face in business are just wimp bait.
Strategic Growth
Authors: Gertz Dwight
Published: March 2008

Although the U.S. military's recent downsizing hurt financial profits at many businesses catering to service personnel, financial services provider USAA sailed through the period with its customary double‐digit growth. Ignoring the conventional wisdom that shrunken customer bases lead to decreases in profits and corporate size, the company boldly set about adding products, increasing sales, and improving the quality of services.
TRENDS OUTSOURCING MARCHES ON
Authors: Kelley Bill
Published: March 2008

Strategic outsourcing has swept virtually every industry—especially those rightsized down to their core, value‐creating processes. Here's a report from the field.
NEW WORLD
Authors: Kreiskzy Peter A. , Christner Richard S. , Sacerdote George S.
Published: March 2008

What took them so long?
BRETT PRAGER:
Authors: DAVIDS MERYL
Published: March 2008

With colleges under constant pressure to keep tuition down, it's not surprising that many are looking for a prescription for cutting costs in their student health programs. For the past three years, Collegiate Health Care has offered them just such an option. The only managed healthcare company specializing in the college market, Collegiate Health helps schools privatize their student health centers and run them more efficiently and businesslike. Since signing its first client, Connecticut's Sacred Heart University, in 1993, Collegiate has won management contracts at 13 schools and less formal relationships with six others. Most are small colleges like the University of Hartford in Connecticut and Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania. This year, Collegiate Health jumped a grade, signing up Idaho's Boise State University, with a student body of 15,000.
Signals
Authors: Ashkenas Ron
Published: March 2008

Like a whirling tornado, the first half of the 1990s has overturned most of our traditional notions about what it takes for organizations to be successful. We have seen premier companies like IBM, General Motors, Kodak, Sears, Aetna, Prudential, and Westinghouse stumble or fall despite dominant market size, brand recognition, and well‐proven management systems. We also have seen mega‐mergers reshape whole industries such as banking, pharmaceuticals, and entertainment; and mega‐breakups reshape our notion of conglomerates. And overlayed on all of these industry shifts has been an unrelenting parade of organizational change programs—total quality, reengineering, business process redesign, reinvention, delayering, and more—as individual companies have resorted to massive doses of disruption to keep up.
GROWTH COMPANIES
Authors: Collins Pete
Published: March 2008

Changes in the product sector translate to a scaling back of revenue expectations and new hiring plans.
FAIR GAME OR FAIR PLAY?
Authors: Culnan Mary J.
Published: March 2008

Corporations, to keep their customers, need to balance the power of information with privacy.
THE ROAD BACK
Authors: Pietrucha Bill
Published: March 2008

Vietnam's industrial evolution is luring U. S. companies as the country emerges from political banishment.
KNOW THY CUSTOMER:
Authors: Wines Leslie
Published: March 2008

Avoid the trap of corporate self‐absorption, a top strategy consultant urges.
Stack Attack
Authors: Lane Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

The business shelf today is dominated by two (not mutually exclusive) factors: Tom Peters and follow‐up editions of self‐dubbed classics. The Peters presence is all pervasive: It's in forwards, thanks (in general), employees‐as‐authors (thanks for the time off), and myriad other places. As a result, we rather think it dilutes the Peters name (or in Stack Attack lexicon, the Peters positioning): How can one management consultant hold to so many diverse (and mutually exclusive) theories?
Stack Attack
Authors: Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

Why authors think that just because they have a new angle on strategy—psychological, self help, or sporty—that the new approach makes the information fresh, is outta my dysfunctional ball‐park. The only way these new takes work are with humor, self‐parody (unintentional does count), or some redeeming worth buried in the footnotes.
GIVING BACK
Authors: Yafie Roberta C.
Published: March 2008

Fidelity Investments has parlayed its mutual funds expertise into a unique spin on corporate philanthropy.
Trends
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

After shining the guiding light on virtually every major reengineering project undertaken in the last three years, the consulting industry finds itself managing some change and growth of its own. It's occurring on three fronts in particular—the consultant's need to integrate business consulting with information technology system (IT) design, the increasingly global nature of clients' businesses, and what many call the commoditization of basic reengineering.
LOW COST CHEMICAL GIANT
Authors: Plishner Emily S.
Published: March 2008

Jon Huntsman broke the mold in commodity chemicals, building a $4‐billion company that is still family run. Is there an IPO in this man's future?
THE OTHER DEREGULATION
Authors: Pospisil Ray
Published: March 2008

Get ready to shop tor megawatts in an open market.
REORIENTING THE BOY SCOUTS
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

Chief Scout executive Jere Ratcliffe is leading America's premier youth organization through its first long‐range plan.
MANAGING THE OUTSOURCED ENTERPRISE
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

You've finally cut to your core. But can you hold all the pieces together?
BALL ROLLS OUT A PLAN FOR PLASTICS
Authors: Plishner Emily
Published: March 2008

A leader in the mature glass and metal containers market enters the fast lane of plastic bottles. Is there still room to grow?
Purchasing
Authors: Kulkarni Shashank
Published: March 2008

Your purchasing department spends 50% to 70% of every company revenue dollar on items from raw materials to services. All the “just‐in‐time,” electronic data interchanges, reengineering, rightsizing, and team development your company pursues will not have as much real bottom‐line impact as a radical change in the way purchasing managers do their jobs.
IS ISO 14000 WORTH IT?
Authors: Begley Ronald
Published: March 2008

A new environmental management system is touted as a vaccine against command and control regulation. But does the reality match the hype?
Management
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

Once upon a time, there was a magician's closet. It was filled with all sorts of wonders. The problem was that nobody knew exactly what was in the closet, and anyone brave enough to open the door risked having a cascade of bowling balls, snow shoes, Ouija boards, and Erlenmeyer flasks come down on his head. This closet, metaphorically speaking, was Dow Chemical's patent archive—a disorganized mess of intellectual capital. In recent years, Dow undertook the necessary task of putting the closet in order, and thus entered the nebulous world of knowledge management.
Reengineering Q & A
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

In Michael Hammer's new book, Beyond Reengineering, he sticks with the same definition for reengineering that he and James Champy put forth in their seminal Reengineering the Corporation: “Reengineering is the radical redesign of business processes for dramatic improvement.”
FACING THE FACTS ON CARGO CRIME
Authors: Cottrill Ken
Published: March 2008

Shippers are realizing they need to take more responsibility for the safety of their freight. And they're pressuring law enforcement agencies for improved support.
Theory in Action
Authors: Galpin Timothy J.
Published: March 2008

Al “Chainsaw” Dunlap's recent announcement of a 50% job cut at Sunbeam aside, “growth” has replaced “downsizing” as the dominant strategic focus throughout American business. Mergers and acquisitions, new market penetration, mass customization, enhanced customer service, strategic alliances, and the like are all in the sights of businesses large and small. But while activities focused on the cost side of the profit equation represent a relatively simple “strategy” to pursue—thanks to armies of consultants churning out graphs, charts, and tables recommending head cuts—growth strategies present management with an even greater challenge: how to make their strategies work.
TAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Authors: Mullin Rick
Published: March 2008

Companies are forging more intimate bonds with both suppliers and customers, to everyone's benefit.
WHO'S IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT?
Authors: Groenfeldt Tom
Published: March 2008

Sometimes business strategists and information technology managers seem to zoom down different roads. To succeed, companies need to get their business and l/T strategies on the same track.
Stack Attack
Authors: Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

In the fashion world, designers and their spokespeople frequently lead into a summary of the latest clothing collection with, “It's all about _,” and then fill in the blank with such observations as “glamour,” “wearability, or tailoring.”
THE ARTFUL ACQUIRER
Authors: Pitock Todd
Published: March 2008

HFS pieces together a collage of lodging, car rental, real estate, and related businesses. With its latest merger, the whole may become greater than the sum of its parts.
Inside View
Authors: Gonzalez Maria
Published: March 2008

Gone are the days, if they ever truly existed, when an organization could afford to pursue corporate strategy without consideration for the “people” side of the equation, including employees only as an afterthought. And long gone are the days when human resources departments could afford to introduce programs or initiatives without being entirely in sync with, and in support of, the corporate strategy.
Theory in Action
Authors: Puckett John P. , Siegel Philip S.
Published: March 2008

Most senior executives view external benchmarking as an indispensable management tool. Finding out how their companies stack up against industry leaders provides a yardstick by which to measure performance and, equally important, role models to emulate. For some it has become an obsession to which they devote enormous resources.
JUST LIKE STARTING OVER
Authors: Groenfeldt Tom
Published: March 2008

Free at last, NCR focuses on its technological and market niches to grow and profit as a centenarian start‐up.
Underdog
Authors: Meyer Harvey
Published: March 2008

In his heart, Richard McNamara is and always will be a product of growing up poor in a small Minnesota town. For one thing, he can't shake his boyhood nickname, “Pinky,” derived from the faded red corduroy pants he wore nearly every day as a youngster because his single working mother was pinched for cash. And even now at 63, he's still scrappy, resourceful, frugal, and keeps a low profile.
Inc. Be Nimble
Authors: Goett Pamela
Published: March 2008

Read enough management books, listen to enough gurus, and you'd think there's no way any company is going to survive too far into the next millennium. The world's just moving so fast, they all say, that executives must ever be poised to leap through windows of opportunity that pop open at unpredictable moments. And they've got to pick the right windows and leap at precisely the right time. It sometimes seems as if enduring the next decade will demand that executives be embued with measurable levels of extrasensory perception.
Practical Strategist
Authors: Simpson Dan
Published: March 2008

Somewhere along the way, the words “strategy” and “forecast” got confused. At its roots, strategy development is about good conversation—and, unless you're returning a call from the state lottery commission, good conversation is almost never about numbers. If there is any correlation between creating good strategies and a development process focused on financial projections, I'm sure it's a negative one.
TURNING TRASH INTO PROFIT
Authors: Cottrill Ken
Published: March 2008

More companies discover that recycling and reusing discarded assets, from sawdust to old machinery, can save tens of millions of dollars.
HFS AND CUC: PERFECT TOGETHER?
Authors: Pitock Todd
Published: March 2008

Two consumer services firms unite to create a company whose biggest assets are information and affiliations.
Stack Attack
Authors: Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

People who are in a constant state of readiness usually end up diagnosed with some sort of clinical disorder, dubbed anxiety, paranoia, manic psychosis, or whatever. Yet for years, business authors have been urging readers to put themselves and their corporations in a perpetual state of preparedness for change. It doesn't take a genius to make the connection between people so hyper‐vigilant they're of little use to us in the real world and corporations so focused on embracing change with enthusiasm that they in some ways are just not “here” with us in this more practical dimension.
Underdog
Authors: Meyer Harvey
Published: March 2008

In the $75 billion restructuring of the defense industry during the 1990s, no company that does business with the military has emerged unscathed. Take Raven Industries Inc., a widely diversified, $140 million company based in Sioux Falls, S.D. At one point, Raven garnered 90% of its sales from defense contracts; now defense accounts for just 4% of its business.
GIBSON GREETS A NEW DAY
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

The nation's oldest greeting card company remakes itself with a slew of new products sold in entirely new venues.
TEARING DOWN THE WALLS
Authors: Meyer Harvey
Published: March 2008

Companies are redesigning their office space to encourage teamwork and break down hierarchies. But is the open office plan a cultural revolution or just more cost cutting?
Practical Strategist
Authors: Simpson Dan
Published: March 2008

I get perhaps three calls a month from inside and outside our company asking what to read to learn about strategy. In most cases, the caller is in a new position where strategy is important. But sometimes, the request stems from a performance review. “Learn to be more strategic,” goes the command, with no direction on how that is supposed to be done.
A LOAF OF BREAD, A JUG OF WINE, A NOTEBOOK COMPUTER
Authors: Elliott Christopher
Published: March 2008

At Sebastiani Vineyards, a 7,000‐year‐old wine‐making tradition joins the information age.
TRENDS IN EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Authors: Young Christopher
Published: March 2008

Executive pay practices have changed radically in the past 20 years. The pay‐for‐performance philosophy is now guiding compensation committee decisions.
NONQUALIFIED PLANS: A TRUST IN YOUR FUTURE?
Authors: Jungman Robert F.
Published: March 2008

Limits on the tax‐free amounts executives can set aside for retirement have led many companies to turn to nonqualified benefit plans.
PAYING PEOPLE IN CRISIS ECONOMIES
Authors: Tilghman Thomas S. , Knight Karla L.
Published: March 2008

If the local currency takes a nose‐dive, you need a well‐thought‐out strategy to properly compensate employees.
AMERICA'S CHANGING WORKFORCE
Authors: Greco JoAnn
Published: March 2008

More important to long‐term planning than the demographic projections for the workforce of the future is the new attitude toward their employers those workers are likely to express.
Global Expansion
Authors: Carr Mark , Hostrop Arlene , O'Connor Daniel
Published: March 2008

The vice president of sales for a major consumer products company was all smiles as he greeted his best customer, but that smile faded quickly. “I've got stores all over the world,” the retailer said. “Yet I'm paying a different price—and getting different promotional programs—for the same product in each market. And your people can't justify the differences.” Before the VP had a chance to respond, the retailer went on: “If you don't give me a consistent price and promotional program for all my stores, I'll just buy everything from the lowest‐priced market.”
INDIANAPOLIS SPEEDS AWAY
Authors: Meyer Harvey
Published: March 2008

The public sector is not known for adopting leading‐edge business strategies. Indianapolis is trying to change that.
Global Strategies
Authors: Hill John S. , D'Souza Giles
Published: March 2008

Latin America has emerged from the economic doldrums of the 1970s and 1980s to become a commercial power in its own right in the 1990s. The seeds for change were sewn with the 1980's movements toward democracy and free market economies. Then, in the 1990s, the region began to integrate economically. Mexico became a member of NAFTA; Mercosur, born in 1988, achieved full internal free trade among member‐states Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay by its 1994 deadline. Central America picked up the remains of its 1960s common market after the signing of a new free‐trade agreement in 1993, the union became the Central American Integration System (SICA). Similarly, the Andean Pact was revived, bringing together Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Interesting Times
Authors: Goett Pamela
Published: March 2008

“May you live in interesting times,” is an old Chinese blessing (or, perhaps, curse). Clearly, American business, and especially its business strategists, have certainly been blessed or cursed with very interesting times. So interesting that when we were planning our annual Strategists to Watch coverage (which begins on page 16), we enjoyed such an embarrassment of riches it was hard to choose whom to profile.
What Every Business Should Learn from MICROSOFT
Authors: Baker Sunny
Published: March 2008

A former Microsoft insider believes that Microsoft prevails not because of its ability to innovate but because of its capacity for covering all the bases.
Strategic Thinking
Authors: Metz Phil
Published: March 2008

Signs of an innovation revolution are emerging in leading firms all over the world. Companies such as Boeing and Motorola are applying advances in information technology and communications processes to “wire” portions of their innovation and product creation processes. Dell Computer, Cisco Systems, Fiat, and Chrysler all use the Web as a new sales channel and—to their competitors' consternation—as a source of instantaneous market data to guide product development. Others, such as Hewlett‐Packard, General Motors, and Ford, employ some form of computer‐based development, design, or drawing. And many companies employ online “knowledge management systems.”
FOCUS ON THE ESSENTIALS
Authors: Cortada James W.
Published: March 2008

You won't have to turn yourself into a propeller‐head, but it would behoove you to sharpen your focus on technology in the coming year.
GLOBAL STANDARDS, LOCAL PROBLEMS
Authors: Davids Meryl
Published: March 2008

“When in Rome” doesn't work anymore. More and more global firms are finding a correlation between ethical standards and economic success.
Stack Attack
Authors: Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

All the books in this Stack try to capture timeless principles as illustrated by historical figures (Grant, the “Founding Fathers”), war/defense philosophies (The Marines “Way,” Aikido), or both (Machiavelli and The Prince) and then try to apply them directly to modern strategy formulation. Regrettably, few actually make the leap to modern strategy.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Authors: Greco JoAnn
Published: March 2008

Jealously guarding the information you held was once essential to the acquisition of power. Today, it pays to share.
Outsourcing
Authors: Forst Leland I.
Published: March 2008

It doesn't take much outsourcing experience to learn you can't take vendor promises on faith, but many companies do just that. When management is under the gun to slash service delivery costs, or under siege from dissatisfied internal customers who can't get what they need when they need it, they'll want to make a quick decision. The vendor will often help speed the decision by cutting prices. In a competitive bidding war for a prized client, the vendor may even price services below cost to win the account. Management breathes a sigh of relief—it has killed not two but three birds with one stone: It has achieved the desired cost savings (thanks to tough bargaining); internal customers will have their needs met; and management has disposed of a lingering service delivery problem. Looks like a win‐win for everybody.
Turnarounds
Authors: Connors Roger , Smith Tom
Published: March 2008

A poorly performing company, one in need of a complete turnaround, typically lacks resources for new strategic initiatives. The usual remedies are lay‐offs, cost‐cutting, and asset sales. However, these remedies often undermine the company's long‐term health. Moreover, they don't address the issues that lie at the heart of the problem: an ineffective corporate culture.
GOING THE DISTANCE FOR MBA CANDIDATES
Authors: Greco JoAnn
Published: March 2008

Sponsoring an employee for an MBA costs a company a great deal—in time as well as money. But now, employees can earn their degrees without leaving the office.
COMPUTING THE PAYOFF FROM IT
Authors: Thorp John
Published: March 2008

It's not enough to measure the dollars and man‐hours an IT project consumes. You must also measure whether it is delivering the business benefits you're looking for.
TRENDS IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Authors: Savin Jerald , Silberg David
Published: March 2008

When integrated accounting packages were the only game in town, the finance department held strategic data hostage. This is no longer the case.
Real Time Strategy
Authors: Oliver Richard W.
Published: March 2008

From the dawn of recorded business history, there has been a “secret formula” that every successful business leader has followed. Those who didn't know the formula, or those who chose to ignore it, were doomed to failure. That formula is, of course:
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Authors: Meyer Harvey
Published: March 2008

Some companies are finding that reverse logistics offers them a way to make a profit from their returned goods.
Stack Attack
Authors: Lane Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

As Stack was finishing up this column, Merrill Lynch made the stunning announcement it will offer low‐priced, un‐brokered, on‐line trading by the end of the year (it had previously delivered limited on‐line access only to selected highest net worth clients).
PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND
Authors: Kelly Brian J.
Published: March 2008

Don't regard computer security issues as fires to put out. First assess the real risks, then establish a coordinated strategy for protecting against them.
Real Time Strategy
Authors: Oliver Richard W.
Published: March 2008

As a young economist graduating from college nearly 30 years ago, I would have laughed if someone had suggested to me that virtually every company in the U.S. would an “information management” company. But at the end of the 20th century, that now seems quite true.
THE 7TH ANNUAL SOFTWARE ROUNDUP: E‐COMMERCE
Authors: Baker Sunny , Baker Kim
Published: March 2008

Whatever business you're in, you need to do something about e‐commerce. Here are some tips.
Stack Attack
Authors: Lane Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

Could you use a little Extra Century Perception (the ability to foresee the next 100 years or more)? (Stack apologizes to New York magazine for adapting the idea.) The authors in this month's Stack suggest they have: the crystal ball itself, the instructions to building one, or the instructions for interpreting what you see in the ball.
Real Time Strategy
Authors: Oliver Richard W.
Published: March 2008

Recently, I was asked to be the technical editor for a book that purported to put in one volume all the knowledge gained from an MBA program. Since a typical MBA program requires two full years of study, this was an ambitious undertaking. Always up for a challenge, I decided to give it a look. First, I skimmed through the text. The section that caught my attention, and stopped me for a closer read, was the one on strategic planning.
HOW E‐BUSINESS IS TRANSFORMING SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Authors: Cross Gary J.
Published: March 2008

With the Internet, companies can access a broader range of trading partners and exchange detailed information more quickly and more cheaply than ever before.
THE PRACTICALITIES OF DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL E‐BUSINESS STRATEGY
Authors: Lord Christopher
Published: March 2008

For mid‐market and fast growing companies looking to increase their successes in launching an e‐business venture, an organic bottom‐up solution is critical.
Stack Attack
Authors: Voss Lane
Published: March 2008

Like the blind men describing the elephant, the authors in this month's Stack grapple with leadership. It may be that, in the end, leadership is impossible to define, analyze, or teach, but, at least, these authors sincerely describe the part of it they know.
ONE‐TO‐ONE MARKETING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE WEB‐BASED
Authors: Lapointe Joel R.
Published: March 2008

The Web is ballyhooed as the greatest and best source of one‐to‐one marketing, but bricks‐anti‐mortar businesses don't have to be felt behind
Real Time Strategy
Authors: Oliver Richard W.
Published: March 2008

One of the more contentious areas of corporate governance today is how active a company's board of directors should be in the development and execution of corporate strategy. While the spotlight is on public companies, private ones (and even not‐for‐profits) would do well to pay attention. Even though private companies and many non‐profits operate without the glare of public scrutiny, the core governance issues they must grapple with are essentially the same as their public brethren.
Spin‐Offs
Authors: Hellerman Myrna , Jones Blair
Published: March 2008

In the continuation of a growing trend, last year more than 60 companies divided up their assets and sent a business unit out on its own into the world of freestanding, publicly traded companies. These spin‐offs represented more than $170 billion in new market capitalization. Some of them emerged ready to be on their own. Others have struggled with their newfound independence. Most wanted to “dramatically reshape their world.” Some have been faster than others to realize this aspiration.
Compensation Strategies
Authors: Zingheim Patricia K. , Schuster Jay R.
Published: March 2008

What's the secret sauce of top business performance? Clearly, it's not just having a brilliant business strategy. It's also the successful execution of the strategy that counts. And execution requires that people understand the strategy, know how they fit in, commit to what they must do to add value to the strategy, and have the capability of making the strategy a reality.
Stack Attack
Authors: Lane Voss Bristol
Published: March 2008

Here in New York, we have a little Senate race going on. Even so, due to a strange convergence of events, most of the population, including Stack, have decided not to move to Iowa but to sit the campaign out, hoping the rhetoric blows over by apple‐picking season. Lately, we've been hearing a lot about what the two candidates are for. They tell us they are for children, for education, and for the future. As if anyone is actually against children et al. Stack had a similar reaction when facing this set of books. Customers? Who in business is against them?
Real Time Strategy
Authors: Oliver Richard W.
Published: March 2008

It won't be news to anyone reading this that the days of leisurely and methodical strategic planning are over. Look at the top 100 companies today compared to the top companies just a year ago. Look at how fast a company can rocket to the top, and how quickly one can crash to the ground. There used to be a different comfort level with technology between generations; now your kids take for granted what was science fiction only a decade ago.