As we are reminded in his new book, the UK’s best known commentator on management not only witnessed the unfolding story, he helped write the plot.
If Blair can’t save the world for us, then business will By: Simon Caulkin
When in the name of ‘the free market’ lobby groups campaign against society-friendly regulation and governments back off from taking tough decisions, both are denying their proper roles and acting against their own (as well as our) interests.
The real lessons of lecturers’ pay walk-out
The bitter university pay dispute, which saw lecturers refusing to call off their exam-marking boycott last week and some universities retaliating by docking pay, is a classic case of long-term public-sector mismanagement.
Pull the other one… how iPods took over the world
Apple’s iPod does a lot more than play music: as part of a larger system with iTunes and the iTunes music store, it defines a new relationship between customer and producer and reshapes an industry. One day all products and services will be like this.
Forget about targets – and decide what really matters
Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result was a definition of insanity. That’s what the obsession with targets is. Whether in business or public service, misuse of targets is the single most important reason fo
Government isn’t a black box – it’s a black hole
It is ironic that an administration that sets such store by efficiency and private-sector methods should end up resembling Fawlty Towers.
From the ashes of failure grow the roses of success
WHAT SHOULD we think of failure? Personally, disappointment in the case of fired chief executives walking off with golden goodbyes, possibly rage or in the face of such unequivocal evidence of life’s manifest unfairness, perhaps more rational would be to
How Labour turned the UK into a Soviet tractor
Despite its professed dedication to market disciplines, New Labour is the most micromeddling administration in history, creating detailed specification and prescription for everything from school lesson planning to the way documents are processed or calls
Plus ca change: Kremlin 1980 to the Whitehall of today
ALL CHANGE! The traditional cry of the London bus conductor at Tottenham Court Road seems to have become the working slogan of every organisation in the land. According to consultants McKinsey, at any time up to 15 of the FTSE 100 are ‘transforming’ thems
City calls the tune – but can it remain lord of the dance?
GORDON BROWN’S establishment of a panel of the world’s biggest business cheeses to advise on globalisation and competitiveness, and another to ‘promote London as the world’s leading international centre for financial and business services’, prompts a ques