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Opinion Archive

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Management innovation: the next big breakthrough?

Robert Heller | 27 May 2009

Almost every car on the planet will eventually be electrified. But new types of car will require new styles of manager, too. So are there any Americans out there who can rise to the challenge?

Surviving the downturn and forging ahead

Robert Heller | 24 April 2009

The great economic disaster rumbles on, but the 21st century economy will continue to thrive and grow in the astonishing environment of the Digital Revolution.

Rewards and incentives - when self-interest isn't enough

Robert Heller | 20 March 2009

Self-interest is a powerful engine of economic performance, but it is far from being the only one. Many other parts are necessary for the economic motor to run smoothly – like teamwork and delegation.

Bad management decisions and the recession

Robert Heller | 19 February 2009

During this, the second-worst of all modern economic disasters, if a company announces lay-offs and closures, much of the blame is automatically attached to the downturn. However, a measure of blame has to be attached to management itself.

What the auto industry bailout says about US industry

Robert Heller | 14 January 2009

The sight of America's Big Three car bosses going cap-in-hand to Congress for a bailout encapsulates some harsh truths about America's industrial decline. Colossally overpaid, professionally incompetent and hugely conceited, they aren't fit to run a company, still less the world's economy.

Corporate culture shock and the IT revolution

Robert Heller | 16 December 2008

Now that we can all see the disastrous effects of The Cult of Shareholder Value and The Cult of the Chief Executive, let's hope that a new movement - the Cult of Collaboration – can come to our rescue.

What happened to technology in financial management strategy?

Robert Heller | 19 November 2008

Since the very beginning of the IT Age, Wall Street boasted more technology and processing power than any other sector. So what happened to it? Why did it fail to stop the meltdown?

Strategy and the crash

Robert Heller | 17 October 2008

Robert Heller explains why the Second Great Crash is different from the First but all too similar to lesser crashes in between – and why it was completely avoidable.

Contemporary management is obsolete

Robert Heller | 09 September 2008

Management is out of date. Managers are failing to take advantage of a unique moment in history where the gathering pace of change opens the door to revolution and new types of organisation.

Management styles: why things go wrong

Robert Heller | 11 August 2008

Robert Heller discusses how, faced with rising complexity, managers make the situation worse with overly complicated reactions

Business management and purpose

Robert Heller | 14 July 2008

The context in which people work is of vital importance. That means articulating a concise and relevant purpose which defines the shared tasks of all staff.

Business strategy in the age of opportunity

Robert Heller | 06 June 2008

Opportunity always knocks. And adversity is the mother of opportunity. When the economic picture looks grim, there exist an increasing number of chances for generating bright new success.

The lessons of total quality management

Robert Heller | 08 May 2008

How could a project as high-profile and important as the opening of Heathrow airport's new Terminal Five have gone so disastrously awry at such a sensitive moment? Robert Heller dissects the fiasco.

The plutocrat's new clothes

Robert Heller | 08 April 2008

The Millennial economy represents the era of the Naked Plutocrat. While their super-fortunes are alleged to be rewards for super-success, they are beginning to resemble a much earlier group of self-servers: the Robber Barons.

The folly of following figures

Robert Heller | 07 March 2008

How many managers ever pause to consider whether the numbers are guiding them and their businesses in the right direction? Perhaps their priorities need to balanced more in favour of innovation.

The strategy expert who made it happen

Robert Heller | 13 February 2008

Sir John Harvey-Jones, who died in January, represented a rare breed. What made him stand out wasn't just his management know-how – it was also the human dimension.

Learning by example

Robert Heller | 09 January 2008

Most managers accept that a subject is teachable and that the lessons, once taught, will bring benefit to them and their companies. But that doesn't stop too mnay of them wasting their time and money by listening to advice they are never going to take.

Incentive strategy and managing mistakes

Robert Heller | 17 December 2007

To what extend should incentives be used as a business strategy? Does motivation naturally follow incentives? Why are gross errors made and how can you protect against them? And how exactly can you use error as a foundation for excellence?

Leadership and management

Robert Heller | 19 November 2007

Management has always been difficult to classify. Managers and management gurus often disagree as to whether the activity is art or science or craft or discipline, or whether it is inspirational or mathematical.

Echoes of the conglomerates

Robert Heller | 19 October 2007

The rise and fall of the giant conglomerates of the 1970s was inevitable. But why? And how exactly do the causes relate to the boom of private equity we see today?

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