190 Posts found for Source_type: Article

An example of a metric that matters is return on innovation investment (ROI²). A series of Booz & Company studies conducted over the past seven years statistically correlates ROI² with organic growth, and links innovation spending with financial performance in ways that can lead decision makers to generate higher, more reliable returns on innovation and research and development. The statistical validity of ROI² bolsters its … [ Read more ]

Author: Jamie Campbell | Source: Crafting Best-in-Class Business Intelligence | Original Publication: strategy+business | Subject: Innovation

If you look at most applications on Monster.com or Craigslist, the instructions are very simple: “Send a cover letter and resume to (email address).”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. However, an issue that can come up in a tough job market is that you’ll have a tough time separating the wheat from the chafe.

Let’s say 500 people apply for the position you posted. … [ Read more ]

Author: Neil Patel | Source: How To Get More Qualified Job Applicants | Original Publication: OPEN Fourm | Subject: Human Resources

It’s often difficult in creative fields to set specific deliverables to which you can attach incentives. And the very fact that a manager focuses so much on money can strip away workers’ own intrinsic motivations or blind them to other goals that don’t come with a bonus attached.

In the search for other solutions, Harvard Business School professor Karim R. Lakhani and London Business School professor … [ Read more ]

Author: Karim R. Lakhani | Source: Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity | Original Publication: HBS Working Knowledge | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Bill [Gates] required that the first slide in the deck be the lowlights—not the highlights—the lowlights. In other words, what’s not going well and you would tend to focus the whole meeting on the first slide which is the lowlights which is what you should be doing. I can’t tell you, and I suspect you’ve experienced the same thing, how many meetings you go to … [ Read more ]

Author: Barry Moltz | Source: The Secrets Of Working With Bill Gates | Original Publication: OPEN Fourm | Subject: Management

In order to take full advantage of the latent practical knowledge of staff and conduct a revision of company processes, after 3 weeks every new employee is encouraged to single out all the idiosyncrasies that the company has as well as question practices and procedures. Using the simple questions below (or more sector specific questions), management encourages communication and discovers new ways of looking at … [ Read more ]

Source: Hack: Getting Value out of New Employees by Kaeden Arnold | Original Publication: Management Innovation eXchange (MiX) | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Every company should have a set of pricing metrics that measure the financial and operational health of pricing across the business. These metrics may include simple data, such as the average selling price, discount, and margin for key products; operational data, including the number of pricing exceptions and win/loss percentages; and special measures to track the progress and impact of specific pricing initiatives. Best-practice companies … [ Read more ]

Author: Walter L. Baker | Source: Building a better pricing infrastructure | Original Publication: The McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Pricing

As companies in emerging markets grow in number and in strength, they become tougher competitors for multinational companies, for which a dearth of intimate local knowledge is increasingly costly. Furthermore, the war for managerial talent is heating up in the developing world. Companies with reputations for developing local leaders are far more likely to attract the talent they need to pursue attractive growth opportunities. These … [ Read more ]

Author: Jeffrey A. Joerres | Source: Beyond expats: Better managers for emerging markets | Original Publication: The McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: International

We use 70–20–10: 70 percent on our core business, 20 percent on adjacent business, 10 percent on others, as a sort of allocation principle, and we are constantly moving people around to achieve that percentage. Another thing we have is something called 20 percent time, where we tell people, especially in engineering, that they can spend 20 percent of their time on whatever they want. … [ Read more ]

Author: Eric Schmidt | Source: Eric Schmidt on business culture, technology, and social issues | Original Publication: The McKinsey Quarterly

It’s easy for organizations to fall into the habit of seeking sales growth only through existing customers. Even though the sales force is typically best placed to find and approach potential clients, individual reps may shun the uncomfortable task of cold-calling in favor of selling to customers they know well.

One large distributor of auto parts tried tackling this problem by separating these activities. Its … [ Read more ]

Author: Maryanne Hancock | Source: Using your sales force to jump-start growth | Original Publication: The McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Marketing / Sales

Would-be innovators need to break free of preexisting views. Unfortunately, the human mind is surprisingly adroit at supporting its deep-seated ways of viewing the world while sifting out evidence to the contrary. Indeed, academic research suggests that even when presented with overwhelming facts, many people (including well-educated ones) simply won’t abandon their deeply held opinions. The antidote is personal experience: seeing and experiencing something firsthand … [ Read more ]

Author: Marla M. Capozzi | Source: Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide | Original Publication: The McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Customer-Related, Innovation

In a discussion with one person, a team, a class, an off-site meeting, before you get off-stage, take a moment to tell the people you are with — those who may be ready to follow you — that you know who they are, that you respect what they’re doing and that you’re extremely grateful for their hard work upon which you’re going to get your … [ Read more ]

Author: Michael Useem | Source: Mission Critical: 15 Principles to Help Leaders Meet Their Toughest Challenges | Original Publication: Booz & Company | Subject: Leadership

When bringing a new employee onto your team, the experience of current employees can be extremely valuable, particularly those who themselves were recently the new kid on the block. Ask your current employees what they wish they had known sooner. Brainstorm a list of buzzwords and acronyms. And ask current employees what their plans are to help the newcomer get on board and up to … [ Read more ]

Author: Dick Grote | Source: Making Onboarding Work | Original Publication: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

When you start a business, it’s difficult to know what to look for in a good hire. “I learned the hard way that the last thing you want to do is hire people who aren’t 100 percent sure that they want to work for you or 100 percent clear on what they’re getting themselves into,” says Ben Lerer, CEO of Thrillist. To make sure potential … [ Read more ]

Author: Tara Fuller | Source: How To Hire: An OPEN Forum Guide | Original Publication: OPEN Fourm | Subject: Human Resources

I don’t claim to be good at hiring, but I do have a particular style that I learned from some advisors. I never actually interview people. Ever.

I think of hiring as mutual courting. The only way to court in a work setting is to spend time working together. Whenever I’m thinking of hiring someone, whether entry-level or senior, we do a project … [ Read more ]

Author: Jason Freedman | Source: Everyone sucks at interviewing. Everyone. | Original Publication: humbledMBA | Subject: Human Resources

Recent research by Christensen, Brigham Young University Professor Jeffrey Dyer and INSEAD Professor Hal Gregersen concludes that successful innovators share a set of attributes. The good news is that anyone can bolster their “Innovator’s DNA” by taking the right actions.

For example, organizations can help individuals develop their DNA by providing experiential learning opportunities such as “job swaps.” In 2008, Procter & Gamble swapped employees with … [ Read more ]

Author: Scott D. Anthony | Source: The Innovative HR Leader | Original Publication: Human Resource Executive Online | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior

Ford has put a rule in place. It says: ‘You have 24 hours to take a new and emerging issue, try to understand it and see if you can resolve it yourself. After that, you have to go public with it.’ It’s an escalation process. Because with a lot of these issues, we can solve them pretty quickly by applying the intellect we have in … [ Read more ]

Author: Bennie Fowler | Source: How Ford Profits from its ’24 Hour Rule’ | Original Publication: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

How do you find the smartest people in an organization? As we all know, intelligence does not always correspond to current job title. And in an technology company such as Novell, the real brilliant guys and gals are engineers hidden many layers below the top.

Here’s how Eric Schmidt found them, as he told Harvard Business Review in 2001.

“I used a kind of algorithm to locate … [ Read more ]

Author: Sean Silverthorne | Source: Find the Smartest People in Your Organization | Original Publication: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Every business, product, or service can and should create their version of an operating manual that contains various forms of higher education delivered in a variety of available formats and mediums.

Here are some specific ideas that might get you started producing your manual:

• Create a getting-started guide for your product, company, or service
• Create a series of how-to videos and promote the

… [ Read more ]

Author: John Jantsch | Source: Does Your Product or Service Come with an Owner’s Manual? | Original Publication: OPEN Fourm | Subjects: Customer-Related, Marketing / Sales

Set up an internal “best practices and good tries” system, clearinghouse or network to continuously spread the learning about what works and doesn’t work across your organization.

Author: Jim Clemmer | Source: Innovation and Organizational Learning Pathways and Pitfalls (Part 2) | Subject: Best Practices

Focus conversations on meaningfulness, choice, competence and progress. Leaders from the top down need to convey the same message—that the organization stands for doing work that matters and doing it well. When approaching any work project, leaders can underline the importance of contribution by focusing discussions on the basic questions in the self-management process:

• What can we do here that is meaningful?
• What creative

… [ Read more ]

Author: Kenneth W. Thomas | Source: The Four Intrinsic Rewards that Drive Employee Engagement | Original Publication: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior