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Consulting firms would do well to enact business ethics policies that are adhered to and managed

Article tracks some of the features and lessons learned from Intranet strategies to manage employee and expert knowledge at Booz-Allen, Arthur Andersen, E&Y and KPMG.

Straightforward explanation of how to use the CHOOSE and VLOOKUP functions in Excel to convert codes (numeric or text) into meaningful descriptions.

Very little observational data are available on what management consultants actually do on an hour-to-hour basis. The purpose of the present research study is to gain insight into the work of management consultants by answering the following questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the management consultants' working days? (2) What are the characteristics of the management consultants' verbal interaction patterns during scheduled interactions? (3) Which intervention strategies are dominant during management consultants' scheduled interactions? (4) What are the main functions of unscheduled interactions? (5) What are the characteristics of the management consultants' desk work?

Business negotiations are filled with dangers and risks. Who are the deal maker's allies? Who are the enemies? What is the chance that a particular outcome will stick? This article describes readily understood tools to help decision makers in complex multiparty negotiations. Don't approach the bargaining table without it.

"Even the best strategies do not implement themselves" is the pithy opening sentence of this article. The authors suggest that many management systems come up short because they focus too narrowly on measurements and results. Measurement is not management, as they put it. Instead, they argue in favor of the Booz-Allen system, Performance Management, that continuously analyzes decision-making and draws on intra-company relationships rather than delivering a bald account of good or bad results.

A model-based management system, Performance Management incorporates a number of effective tools and processes that focus on linking operating decisions to financial performance. The model is upgraded as the business evolves - and its information communicated to all levels of management. Among its attributes are the capturing of knowledge across a company's business units which enables managers to emulate the successes of the best performers. In essence, therefore, Performance Management goes directly to the heart of a company's behavior.

Article discusses "appreciative inquiry," a management tool developed by David Cooperrider, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University. Highlighted is its application at Roadway Express.

"Ego is inseparable from human nature and plays a huge role in corporate governance. Put any number of people into a boardroom, and invariably the largest ego will dominate, shouldering aside everyone else, including those with better ideas or more constructive suggestions...That's the premise behind group decision support system software. The School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., has created a high-tech service with the goal of ridding the decision-making process of personality, so that ideas can speak for themselves."

The use of strategic storytelling as an agent for change in business organizations is quite new . But its impact is increasingly clear.

Storytelling's success in helping effect change comes from its ability to open lines of communication and enhance understanding of systemic integration, while actively involving the personal dimension, which is a crucial element in motivating people. Storytelling can be a powerful clarifier: of individual motivations, of the essence of a strategy, and of key barriers to change. Importantly, it also encourages people to sign on to the values and vision of the company in a highly personal way. It may prove to be the single most powerful technique in business organizations where personal choice must be the centerpiece in making change happen.

Core integrated planning is a five-step process. Here are the key Magic Matrices (a spreadsheet chart with key products or service lines on one dimension, and key market segments or accounts on the other, both arranged in descending order by total revenues), and some important planning issues they enable managers to address.

Read the follow-up article in this series at:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3847&t=dispatch