Business is not politics
After the failed popular uprising in East Germany in 1953, Bertolt Brecht wrote sardonically
.... the peopleHad forfeited the...
Why the Atkins approach is bad for business
Doing an Atkins diet is now as fashionable in business as it is in personal life. But in business – as on the female body – there are places where you want fat as well as those where you do not. Bottom line – rather than tinker with sustainability, it is still best to soak up resources and use the energy productively.
Bonuses are a problem diet for financiers
Heads, we win; tails, they lose! Managers, traders and advisers who take more of gains than of losses have incentives to support risky courses of action that are not in the best interests of the principals they represent. John explains why this scheme can never really align the rewards of the individual with the objectives of the organisation.
Obliquity
Strange as it may seem, overcoming geographic obstacles, winning decisive battles or meeting global business targets are the type of goals often best achieved when pursued indirectly. This is the idea of Obliquity. Oblique approaches are most effective in difficult terrain, or where outcomes depend on interactions with other people.
Give state funding to students not their colleges
Europe once took 75 per cent of Nobel prizes; today the US does. It is less widely appreciated that this is the triumph of autonomous institutions over government-controlled ones.
Miracle on 34th Street
Not everyone likes Miracle on 34th Street. However, as we review the demise of Andersen, and as the lessons of Enron and WorldCom sink in, there are worse ways to end the year than by revisiting the maudlin but incisive economic analysis of one of the most loved Christmas films.
Customer inertia and the active shopper
When human nature conflicts with government policy or business strategy, human nature will usually win. From mobile phones to credit cards, customer inertia remains a dominant influence in many markets.
Boeing and a dramatic change of direction
John used to teach students that Europe could never regain supremacy in civil aircraft manufacture. He was mistaken. What went wrong with Boeing’s strategy?
Television networks are dying in a flurry of reality
Wouldn’t it be better if quality broadcasters embraced a future as publishers of quality rather than broadcasters of rubbish? John illustrates why broadcasters invent markets that suit their organisation, instead of inventing an organisation structure that suits their market.
A touch posting for any captain of industry
Sometimes there are stranded businesses - once successful companies whose competitive advantage has disappeared. Does Barclays new chief executive find himself in this position?