3590 Posts Found

Managers who are in touch only through their keyboard are out of touch with the vast world beyond it. They risk substituting breadth for depth. Recent research shows that we may have more connections today, but fewer relationships. Facebook and LinkedIn can complement but not replace the personal interactions at the heart of managing effectively. Managers who believe that they can learn about their department … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Henry Mintzberg, Peter Todd | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior

When we think of a typical leader, most of us picture a person who’s sociable and upbeat. But new research puts a wrinkle in that stereotype, revealing an unexpected sign of leadership potential: the tendency to feel guilty. “Guilt-prone people tend to carry a strong sense of responsibility to others, and that responsibility makes other people see them as leaders,” says Becky Schaumberg, a doctoral … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Leadership, Organizational Behavior

A fact wrapped in a story is 22 times more memorable than the mere pronouncement of that fact, according to cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner.

Content: Quotation | Source: MarketingProfs | Subject: Storytelling

Psychologist Frederick Herzberg’s Two-factor theory… focuses on the idea that the factors that determine job dissatisfaction (“hygiene factors”) are completely separate from those that determine true satisfaction (“motivators”). Insufficient financial compensation, for example, falls into the former camp. But having sufficient compensation will not lead to passion for a job; it just takes away the dissatisfaction. Motivation, according to the theory, is determined not by … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Clayton M. Christensen | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Motivation, Organizational Behavior

This article presents a model for engaging in a feedback-related conversation effectively across a variety of settings. It is based upon the authors’ extensive readings and research. The model outlines a three-step process whereby the mnemonic ABC represents each of the critical stages.

Content: Article | Authors: Edward H. Rockey, Ph.D., Steven M. Sommer | Source: Graziadio Business Report | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Danger lurks if a problem-solving discussion turns into unfocused complaining.

Content: Article | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Today’s senior executive needs more than an assistant. He needs a chief of staff.

Content: Article | Author: Liza Wright | Source: The Conference Board | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Trust is the basis of agility, of flexibility. Yet it’s an incredible challenge to establish trust and maybe even harder to maintain it. Underlying the challenge is the question of how to institutionalize trust between buyer and supplier. I’ve got colleagues who maintain that trust can only be established between individuals. But a few souls like Robert and myself say we’ve got to be able … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Trust

The biggest problem with a successful company is that you don’t learn from success. Learning from failure is so much easier.

Content: Quotation | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Learning, Organizational Behavior, Success / Failure

Every business needs three types of people: Flashlights, who see what is coming and send warnings signals in a timely fashion; Innovators, who pick up those signals and innovate; finally, the Doers, who make it all happen.

Content: Quotation | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

What is the right number of direct reports for any incoming C-level executive? A new diagnostic tool can provide the answer, based on each leader’s situation and strategy.

Content: Article | Author: Gary L. Neilson | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

World-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen explores the personal benefits of business research in the forthcoming book How Will You Measure Your Life? Co-authored with James Allworth and Karen Dillon, the book explains how well-tested academic theories can help us to find meaning and happiness not just at work, but in life. This excerpt describes how marginal thinking can lead to personal, professional, and moral … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Clayton M. Christensen | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Ethics, Personal Development

Most organizations and most boards of directors recognize the need for integration at the top but they also know that integration is elusive and often temporary. Research—still in its early stages—by the Accenture Institute for High Performance, has begun to identify the behaviors, the composition and the cognitive styles associated with global top management teams that achieve high performance.

The questions are tough: should top management … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Claudy Jules, Joshua B. Bellin, Nandani Lynton, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

The way to improve society and reform the world is to enlighten [people], spread knowledge, and convince the multitude that they have, or may have, sense, knowledge and virtue. Declamations against the cunning of politicians and the ignorance, folly, inconstancy, or effrontery of the multitude will never do.

Content: Quotation | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior, Politics

Almost faster than you can say mark-to-market accounting, management controls disappeared once Jeff Skilling became CEO of Enron. The rest is sad history and a shareholder’s worst nightmare come true. These authors document the subversion of Enron’s management controls and suggest the lessons managers can learn from the worst financial collapse in U.S. corporate history.

Content: Article | Authors: Clinton Free, Mitchell Stein, Norman Macintosh | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Management, Organizational Behavior | Company: Enron

Does working in teams make people less receptive to outside input? How can social comparisons undermine trust in working relationships? How do the training and technical knowledge entrepreneurs take from previous employers impact the success of their new ventures? Wharton professor Jennifer Mueller and lecturer Julia Minson, and professors Maurice Schweitzer and Evan Rawley, respectively, examine these issues, and what they mean for business, in … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subject: Organizational Behavior

We design service jobs for superheroes. No wonder service is terrible.

Content: Article | Authors: Anne Morriss, Frances Frei | Source: The Conference Board Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Management, Organizational Behavior

Discretion is the enemy of order, standardization and quality.

Content: Quotation | Author: Theodore Levitt | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Quality

Ann Rhoades, author of Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture That Outperforms the Competition, introduces a lesson in attaining the full potential of employees from All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.

Content: Article | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Too often, organizations promote the wrong people and then set them up for failure. The result: Both employees and managers find their relationship frustrating and unfulfilling.

Content: Article | Author: Thomas O. Davenport | Source: The Conference Board Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior