74 Posts found for Source: Babson Insight

2007 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of the Apple II, the first true personal computer. Because of his belief that everyone should be able to afford and use a computer, its creator, Steve Wozniak, pioneered an ingenious low-cost design that combined ease-of-use with valuable functionality.

Babson Insight recently interviewed the Woz, as he is known, and asked him to go beyond the tale … [ Read more ]

Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Allan Cohen, Jay Rao, Steve Wozniak | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Innovation, IT / Technology / E-Business

Most of us who manage people have had difficult subordinates. Often the greater their ability, the more irritating or disruptive they may be to the work of your organization. But you can’t succeed without them, so how can you influence their behavior? Drawn from the book Influence Without Authority, this article examines the factors that affect your ability to influence subordinates, some practical approaches … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Allan Cohen, David L. Bradford | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

With more than 440 US and foreign patents, the record of successful innovations from this self-taught physicist and entrepreneur includes inventing the worlds first portable medical infusion pump, which lead to breakthrough devices like insulin pumps that improve treatment regimes for the millions of people who suffer from diabetes, as well as a portable dialysis machine and the Segway transport system. Most recently he and … [ Read more ]

Content: Thought Leader | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Management

Internal coaching is one of the fastest growing trends in leadership development. It may also be one of the most cost effective. What does it take for an organization to achieve benefits from building an internal coaching capability? In this article, Prof. James Hunt and Joseph Weintraub describe important lessons learned from their research and work with organizations that have successfully implemented internal coaching programs … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: James Hunt, Joe Weintraub | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

For people with the mindset and motivation to create entrepreneurial change there is still the question of how they can operate to be successful within their company environment, since each company’s culture, goals and its set of opportunities are different. That is to say, what types of opportunities do they look for, where do they look for them and how do they move these opportunities … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Neal Thornberry | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership

I do not believe you can manage people at all. You can manage all sorts of things in an environment that are frankly pretty perfunctory to allow people to achieve their goals – you manage the schedule, you manage the budget. But, you lead people.

If your interaction with a person ends with you thinking, “I need to manage what they do, or how they … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Leadership, Management

We use a series of tests and evaluations that produce data that often proves we don’t have a workable solution. The rest of the world would characterize this as a failure. I would characterize this as an exhaustive study of many ways to apply technologies to needs to determine those that fit and those that do not. It’s a mistake to make decisions solely by … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Success / Failure

We attempt to treat everyone fairly, but treating people fairly is not the same as treating them equally. People are not equal. And I think people don’t want to be equal for many reasons. Most people want to be individuals; they want to excel at something. And the definition of excelling means, “I’m going to prove just how unequal I am.” I don’t think there’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

If you can put a box around each person, their role and their relationships – if you can actually draw a diagram with boxes and arrows – that’s a far more simplistic model than a company full of very passionate, very creative people all bringing their backgrounds, experiences and visions to a project, and having them all rowing the boat in the same direction.

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Organizational Behavior

When someone comes to me with a cost saving idea, I don’t immediately jump up and say yes. I ask: what’s the effect on the customer?

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Customer Related, Management

Herb Kelleher speaks with Babson Insight about the challenges faced by the airline in its early entrepreneurial years as they worked to create a new market segment in air travel, how they managed the strategy, people and growth as the company transitioned to become a large organization, and his thoughts about the future of his famous company.

Content: Thought Leader | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Management | Industry: Airlines

Herb Kelleher, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Southwest Airlines Talks About Building Leaders and How their Innovative People-culture has Lifted the Airline to Success

Content: Thought Leader | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Management | Industry: Airlines

Is it always possible to continue to reduce costs and improve efficiency? Some companies seem stuck in a mind-set that says only process excellence will drive their success and that efforts aimed at continuing to drive down costs will create competitive differentiation. Professor Rao examines the limits to this thinking and discusses how diminishing returns, ease of copying and competitive convergence can cause your company’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jay Rao | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Strategy

Employees at every level of the organization need to take initiative-to conceive, to inspire, and to initiate change. In short, to lead. What is needed today, more than ever before, is entrepreneurial leadership. Professor Cohen previews his new book on the subject by reviewing a successful example of a how a General Foods division used innovative operating structures and processes to create an entire facility … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Allan Cohen | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

For as long as there have been large companies there have been smaller ones that have succeeded in knocking off their larger foes using innovative ideas. Can large companies create a systematic and sustainable approach to innovation? After studying companies like GE, Texas Instrument and IBM, Dean Mark Rice answers: “Yes, through commitment, clarity of focus, a dedicated organizational structure, portfolio management methods, and building … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Mark P. Rice | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

When you think of fun services you think of the experiences provided by Disneyworld or Southwest Airlines. But most services are so routine that users don’t even remember doing them. Can fun experiences be built into these neutral services to create a market advantage? This article looks at successful funsters like Commerce Bank and Jordan’s Furniture to draw some lessons on how to add fun … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ivor Morgan, Jay Rao | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Miscellaneous

Trumpeted across the headlines we have all heard about how American business has been cutting costs and seeking other benefits by moving some of its business processes to locations in other countries. But as some companies like Ford and Dell have discovered, there are risks and costs to sending part of your business to an outsourced provider. Before taking action, managers can learn from the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: A. Rao, K McKone-Sweet, W. Costello | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Outsourcing / BPO

Because of ever increasing responsibilities managers today have little time to focus on the need to step back and look at the processes that make up a company’s value creation chain. Yet without someone providing dedicated attention to process management and elevating the topic to become one of the company’s top priorities how will there ever be process improvements and integration? This month Tom Davenport … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Thomas H. Davenport | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Management

After many years in which companies invested millions into management information systems that produce massive amounts of data each day some companies are now narrowing their management attention to one chosen performance measurement called a Super-Measure (SM). In these companies all eyes are fixed on this SM that monitors a critical performance statistic and is used to align behaviors and actions with the company’s value … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ivor Morgan, Jay Rao | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Management

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