When Tony Stark took Specialty Chemicals – a division of Conglomerate, Inc. – the group had had 0.2% growth over the last seven years. So how did it turn into sustained double-digit growth the year after he arrived?
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Strategy, Structure, People, Milieu and Markets: The Dangerous Interplay
A common complaint against those of us working with The Law of the Real Boss (or RO or Worklevels, etc.) is that we concentrate too much on the structure of the organization to the exclusion of other important things, such as what the organization actually does. It’s a valid complaint. So let’s talk about how different important elements interact. I …
IBM’s Perna on the Importance of People
eWeek interviewd IBM’s Janet Perna as she retires this month (“Interview: IBM’s Perna Predicts Changes in What ‘Data’ Means”). She’s been with the company for 31 years, and in that time became one of the leading forces behind databases. Her closing comments about what she is really proud of is interesting and worth hearing. [eWeek:] Looking back, what are you …
How To Get Double Digit Growth In Your Business
A recent interviewee gave me this statement. It matches so well with what I have been writing on lately (outside of here) that I can only believe that I heard it and subconsciously started chewing on it. It’s a great statement from someone who took a company from 1-2% annual growth for seven years to double digit growth in one. …
New Short Course on Assessing Capability
The good Drs. Herb Koplowitz (of Terra Firma Management Consulting) and Glenn Mehltretter (of PeopleFit) announced a new short course in Toronto for C$2000+GST. Great course at a great price. Very highly recommended.
Karen Stephenson and How Networks Interweave with Hierarchies
HR.com recently had an interview with Karen Stephenson, the professorial founder of NetForm and the leading thinker in social network analysis. Dr. Stephenson notoriously doesn’t publish anything, preferring to patent her ideas. I think that she has combined hierarchy and social network into something more powerful. Jaques & Co. always needed something to counterbalance the top-down mentality and social network …
Retraining Mainframe COBOL Programmers to Object-Oriented Java Programming, via Requisite Organization
A few weeks ago, I talked about the basics of Requisite software developmen and organizational design affects the quality of software projects. Today, I will continue that, answering Paul’s questions about retoolling a mainframe shop to object-oriented programming (OOP). Computer solution groups within companies have different names, often from when they started. Management Information Systems (MIS) and Data Processing Center …
The Significance of Organizational & Leaderhip Myths
Great people create great companies and great organizations. What makes them great? Why do people work?
The Ledger: “Geico Pays 24.2% In Worker Bonuses”
GEICO’s Lakeland employees received a profit-sharing bonus of 24.2 percent, up from 17.7 percent last year, employees told The Ledger.
“Genevieve W. Gore, Co-Founder of W.L. Gore & Associates, Dies at 91”
I just saw that Genevieve W. Gore, co-founder of W.L. Gore & Associates, died 2005 January 20 at 91. Gore and her husband, Bill, created the company that bore his name. It is now a billion dollar company that ranks #2 on the Top 100 Companies To Work For list. It is a blow to the company, and to her …