Management Thinking

Does the perfect boss actually exist? And if they do, what does he or she do that makes them perfect?

HR is still thought of as a "necessary evil" in many organisations. But its hardly a surprise when just a fifth are considered to be any good at what are meant to be their basic tasks.

Middle managers are a much maligned as a breed. But they serve a vital role in keeping deeply distrustful workers and senior management talking to each other.

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.

What's your Dramatic Difference? What sets you apart from the rest? Don't have one? Well get working on it and raise that bar. Because the chances of achieving success simply by being the same as everyone else are reducing rapidly

Big companies want big products. They want big ideas. They place big bets on a big future. But what they're doing is putting all their eggs in one big basket. Or worse – putting all their faith in just one egg.

Knowing who its customers are is the foundation for any successful organisation. And as the US Federal Aviation Administration has demonstrated, getting this wrong can be disastrous.

No longer just the domain of geeks and teenage boys, the growing popularity of virtual, computer-generated worlds is something businesses should be looking at tapping into.

Every time there's a downturn, organisations seem to become fixated with "business development" in the belief that there's some magical breed of executive who can wave a magic wand and save the business.

Time once again to visit the Corporate Cynic as he takes an in-depth look at the unintended effects of outsourcing.

When you're not experienced, being on the receiving end of a heated conversation can be tough. But verbal challenges can be addressed tactfully and professionally as long as we've thought through a process for how to do it.

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 three founders of Allan's company are technically brilliant but just aren't interested in management. Staff turnover is high and the problems are mounting. Charles Helliwell has some ideas how they might be persuaded to change.

Fewer than a quarter of managers mange to create a high-performance culture in their organisation – and four out of 10 actually act as a demotivating influence on their staff.

Forget about juggling work and kids. The biggest challenge for workers over the next decade will be holding down a job while looking after ageing relatives.

Des Dearlove talks to psychologist Howard Gardner about the qualities of thinking that will allow people to survive and prosper in the 21st century, both in work and life generally.

Lean Six Sigma is all very well, but it doesn't take into account intangibles. And ignoring things they can't be measured - like integrity, team spirit, dedication and loyalty - is downright dangerous.

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.

You might be forgiven if you thought it was "harass the boss" week on this blog; after all, this is two posts in a row where I'm about to give management types a hard time. But maybe, just maybe they have it coming!

As a manager, are you aware of what employees are saying about you? If you are, you're in a minority, because most mangers are blind and deaf to what others feel about them.

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.

Workplaces are like the weather. They have emotional temperatures. There can be a positive high energy current circulating or a misty gloom. So for bosses, it is particularly important to be a beacon of positive emotions.

With the search for talent such a priority for today's businesses, why is it that so many managers sill have such a negative view of human resources departments? Ross Bentley investigates.

While it seems like the world (or at least, the Internet) has accepted the fact that most managers are incompetent, we shouldn't forget that there are plenty of good ones out there.

Unloved and unappreciated, HR departments regularly come under fire from their management colleagues for failing to deliver. And this week has been no different.

It's not just coming up with a great idea that counts in business. It's how you manage innovation that makes the difference between great performers and also-rans.

If you want to know how an apparently competent manager can preside over the destruction of team morale and productivity and the exodus of their best staff, this true story provides some salutary lessons.

Traditional management theory treats workers like any other input. Get as much out of them as possible and pay them as little as you can get away with. Unfortunately, like so much management theory, it is largely garbage.

The epidemic of bad management is a global one, but whereever it is found, incompetence is marked out by some common traits.

Careful succession planning is critical when those at the helm of a business decide to hand over responsibility to new management. So if you want to boost the value and saleability of your business for the future, start planning for and building the next generation of human resources right now.

Professor Richard D'Aveni has been described as a combination of Henry Kissinger and Sun Tzu. He talks to Stuart Crainer about his work and the challenges posed by emerging economies.

Very few ideas succeed without powerful support. Because powerful people need ideas - and ideas need powerful people to facilitate, legitimise, popularise and even legislate for their adoption.

There are many reasons why complacency occurs. Some people have an aversion to taking risks. Others are frightened of creativity and new ideas because they are unsure of how to deal with them.

The reason so many mergers fail is because managers get overly fixated on financials and technology and forget that M&As involve people, too.

Want a bit of respect from your team and fellow managers? Then you need to stop being all friendly and approachable and get out there and knock a few heads together.

Many corporate leaders are too focused on managing day-to-day crises to see that their organizations have serious underlying corporate health issues which could effect their long-term survival.

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.

Burnout is a slow burn – a process, not an event. That's why it can be so difficult to acknowledge that it is affecting you. But when people are viewed simply as functions, burnout can be built into the very structure of an organization.

As Chinese businessmen and women eagerly consume everything that they can learn about American business practices, the Western world should think about what it can learn from China – particularly its more engaged approach to management.

Chindôgu – the Japanese art of the unusual – describes inventions that solve a problem but cause so many new problems that for most people, they are effectively useless. But far from being a joke, we could all benefit from the Chindôgu philosophy.

What can be learned from the multitude of stores about bad bosses that we all read on the web? Well, here's a piece that not only tells a familiar story of bad management but also but explains what the writer gained from dealing with a bad boss.

Why do so many executives seem to develop a growing inability to back their instincts and judgement the higher up the corporate ladder they climb?

Professor Mark H. Moore talks to Des Dearlove about public value and citizenship and poses some challenging questions about the way we view public services

It's all too easy to get it wrong when hiring a consultant and be left with a bad taste in the mouth. So here are some suggestions that may prove helpful the next time you need to hire outside help.

With eight out of 10 workers complaining they feel let down by their boss, it's perhaps no wonder that so many managers complain it's lonely at the top.

Who are the first people American managers turn to when they have a workforce problem to solve? Not HR, that's for sure.

Eight out of 10 managers are so busy running on the spot just managing that they have no time to step back, think about the bigger picture or plan for the future.

The Evolutionary Provocateur is our new bi-monthly podcast series for executives, managers, and supervisors - in fact, for leaders at all levels - who have noticed that it is not what you know but who you are that has the biggest impact.

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone in the business world complaining about the dearth of qualified young people and how business is doomed as a result. What nonsense. Fact is, the kids are fine.

Most HR professionals believe Western businesses are failing to bring on the next generation of leaders, creating a vacuum just when emerging economies are snapping at their heels.

As with most of life, there are two perspectives around employers tapping into social networking sites to check out current or potential employees.

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?

The employer-employee relationship is a voluntary union that must be based on respect and trust. Which is why the trend for snooping on employees' every move is not just a fundamentally flawed strategy, but suggests that organisations have completely lost the plot when it comes to managing their people.

Many American chief executives are looking over their shoulders at the generation of managers coming up below them and not liking what they see.

The way your organization handles conflict can either be an experience of aliveness, vitality and camaraderie, or one of toxicity, resentment and disrespect. But if we really want to reduce conflict, we need to encourage employees to be more self-aware.

Are strategic alliances "black-holes" or lightening-rods for business innovation? Despite the potential benefits of working with partners, many business professionals remain unconvinced.

Company owners and managers often wonder why their employees don't feel the same dedication to the job that they do. The answer is simple. It is because they aren't owners.

A new method of predicting who is likely to succeed in a managerial role and who is likely to fail could herald a revolution in the way that organizations recruit and groom the managers of the future.

In Peter's workplace, those with a good story tend to be rewarded rather than those who really deliver results. So how can he and others deal with workplace situations and policies that compromise their integrity?

Are super-rich CEOs smart or lucky? Is being lucky a skill? Can sleeping in late make you more money than getting in early? Is being in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing something you can learn? Listen to Max McKeown and Laurence Haughton on Naked Startegy as they make each other laugh while discovering the secrets of Facebook, Fortune and Fate.