... USA The goal was to compress product‐development time dramatically, and the challenge was to design and bring to market in record time a brand new respirator product ‐ a gas/vapour/particle personal‐filtering face mask. But there was more. The product had to develop a market worth $10 million...

... world becomes closer through computers, modems and other forms of advanced communications. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Customer orientation Photography Problem solving Teams Teamwork USA In Europe, the company’s ongoing Euroclass program was designed to build a goal for other...

... building Trust USA A modern variation on the “barn raising” community spirit (see the film Witness with Harrison Ford) helped GE Plastics to assimilate a rival it acquired into its own corporate fold. Community service pulled employees together more than any other teambuilding event...

... Bonuses Electronics industry Pay structures Recognition Remuneration USA No matter how a company handles the sensitive issue of pay, it risks making some, if not most, of its employees angry and confused. Firms which reward employees according to length of service or seniority, or which...

...,” which was originally published in Organizational Dynamics, winter 1996, pp. 36‐48. The author was Marilyn Wood Daudelin, in‐house trainer, consultant and program manager, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Polaroid Corporation uses “The Reflection Workbook” in its...

... is needed, involving the individual, the company and society at large. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Career development Career planning Employee development Layoffs USA The old‐fashioned employment contract was straightforward. In return for loyalty, sacrifice, bureaucratic aggravation...

... Bono has demonstrated that creativity is “not just a natural talent; it is also a skill that everyone can develop and learn”. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Corporate culture Creativity Management development Organizational structure USA Leading corporations have successfully applied de...

... Innovation Organizational structure Problem solving Teams USA If a few members of your firm flew a skull and crossbones from the flagpole, with your company logo covering one eye socket, would you regard it as youthful free‐spirit, or a cause for dismissal? A small team of workers at Apple...

... that companies often find the greatest problems. © MCB UP Limited 1997 New product development Organizational performance Project management Teams USA An information technology company invested heavily in creating teams, but found no improvement in either productivity or quality...

.... This is a précis of an article entitled “Does training pay off?” which was originally published in Across the Board, June 1996, pp. 16‐20. The author was Steve Blickstein. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Organizational change Organizational performance Training USA Motorcycle maker Harley...

... Teams USA “I have a microwave fireplace. You can lie down in front of the fire all night in eight minutes.” US comedian Steven Wright’s gag illustrates what has now become a piece of conventional wisdom ‐ that we live in an impatient world, where competition is fierce and opportunities...

... Some companies increase their profits by eliminating jobs or cracking the whip to get employees to work harder. The Eastman Chemical Company, based at Kingsport, Tennessee, USA, has increased sales by 84 per cent in ten years by motivating its employees. Describes the philosophy known...

... years. After the phase‐in, employees will have a two‐year period in which to use the sabbatical. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Benefits Performance management Sabbaticals USA Apple Computer harvests a rich crop of advantages from its policy of offering sabbaticals to its employees. Staff...

... MCB UP Limited 1997 A recent study of 497 large companies in the USA and 124 in Europe reveals that 85 per cent of corporate‐improvement programmes ‐ business process reengineering, total quality management, and so on ‐ end in failure. The reason is usually not that managers make poor...

... can be done to right the wrongs? Employee attitudes Morale Top management Remuneration USA The average paycheque of a US company boss in 1980 was 42 times that of the ordinary factory worker. By last year, the multiple had grown to 141. Salary and bonuses for US chief executives...

... desire for a simpler life. © MCB UP Limited 1997 Career planning Lifestyles Managers Stress Working hours USA What is the point of working hard for a Porsche if the roads are so clogged that you can rarely get above 50 mph? Forget the new car. Buy an old one, or a bicycle...

... Internal communications Telephones USA Whistleblowing A US senior manager who embezzled $400,000 from his employer was caught as a result of a call to the company’s hotline. On the surface, what could be more innocuous than a toll‐free telephone number for employees to report problems, ask...

... assurance Service quality USA Robbed of her traveller’s cheques, receipts, passport, plane tickets, driving licence and car‐rental contract, a distraught non‐English speaking Dutch tourist in Salt Lake City, USA, contacted American Express. American Express tries to measure the results...

... groups Equal opportunities Recruitment Social responsibility USA No doubt some of the jobs Jack Norbury wrote off for were unsuitable. Even in his most optimistic mood, he should have realized that, redundant at 58 and suffering with a touch of arthritis, he would not be a prime target of every...

... Investigates why unions have found it so difficult to get a foothold in Japanese‐owned automobile factories in the USA. Another factor may involve deciding to site plants away from areas with a high concentration of pro‐union workers. In an anti‐union community, even a hiring process...