business

First, let me explain where we get our information: Via two of the world's greatest management thinkers, you can learn from the world's most successful business leaders and management gurus - such as Tom Peters, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Peter Drucker and Andrew Grove.

What if two of the world's greatest management thinkers were invited into hundreds of businesses, talked to Chief Executive Officers and their executives about business theory, took an analytical look at how their management processes work, and then sent you a monthly briefing on what techniques are working and where?

Could you use that personal information to improve your own business management skills, performance and prospects? Could it help you achieve quality management? Could it boost creativity in managers you employ? Could it help you improve business strategy and put an effective business plan into place?

The Letter to Thinking Managers provides solutions to hundreds of common management problems. I'd like you to try it, at no risk, over the next two months.

Most managers are far too busy to do our kind of investigative business management analysis. And we are the best, by far, at doing it.

Our two editors are Robert Heller and Edward de Bono, two of the leading creative thinkers in management today. Both are highly critical of many business management practices.

They give examples of bad practice so you'll avoid making the same mistakes as others. Then they offer guidelines for a way forward to help you achieve quality management. We are currently offering a two-month free trial. If you decide to subscribe, you'll build a substantial workbook of best practice procedures for every important aspect regarding the management and development of a successful business.

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ByF.John Reh, About.com

These are standard questions that most of us in the management profession have been asked more than once. And questions we asked once in our careers too. Here, then, is a basic look at management, a primer, Management 101 from my perspective.

Art and Science
Management is both art and science. It is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you. The science is in how you do that. There are four basic pillars: plan, organize, direct, and monitor.

Make Them More Effective
Four workers can make 6 units in an eight-hour shift without a manager. If I hire you to manage them and they still make 6 units a day, what is the benefit to my business of having hired you? On the other hand, if they now make 8 units per day, you, the manager, have value.

The same analogy applies to service, or retail, or teaching, or any other kind of work. Can your group handle more customer calls with you than without? Sell higher value merchandise? Impart knowledge more effectively? etc. That is the value of management - making a group of individual more effective.

Plan
Management starts with planning. Good management starts with good planning. And proper prior planning prevents… well, you know the rest of that one.

Without a plan you will never succeed. If you happen to make it to the goal, it will have been by luck or chance and is not repeatable. You may make it as a flash-in-the-pan, an overnight sensation, but you will never have the track record of accomplishments of which success is made.

Figure out what your goal is (or listen when your boss tells you). Then figure out the best way to get there. What resources do you have? What can you get? Compare strengths and weaknesses of individuals and other resources. Will putting four workers on a task that takes 14 hours cost less than renting a machine that can do the same task with one worker in 6 hours? If you change the first shift from an 8 AM start to a 10 AM start, can they handle the early evening rush so you don't have to hire an extra person for the second shift?

Look at all the probable scenarios. Plan for them. Figure out the worst possible scenario and plan for that too. Evaluate your different plans and develop what, in your best judgement, will work the best and what you will do if it doesn't.

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By Claudya Lacy KElly

The global creedit squence and resulting meltdown in financial markets have clearly taken over not just the headlines but corporate leaders' share of mind as well. However, boards ignore other issues at their peril. Global competition and the war for talent have reached a point that require to be confident that their companies are focusing on talent management at the highest levels.

It has been 10 years since MC.Kinsey&CO issued its much-cited report, "The War for Talent," which stated that the U.S. was facing a long-term talent shortage. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that half of 3.2 million baby boomers who turned 62 in 2008 would take early retirement. While that seems less likely given the recent hit most retirement funds have incurred, the underlying demographic trend of an aging workforce continues to haunt corporations.

There are other factors at play as well. For example, the recent spate of mega-mergers will have long-term talent implications. At the outset, merged companies, in search of economies of scale, lay off employees. Post-merger, these companies frequently face talent shortages in critical areas where the scale of operations have been greatly increased. The global span of large corporations, an inability to bring professional and technical workers into the U.S. because of visa limits, and a dearth of U.S. graduates in such critical specialties as engineering also underscore the need for increased diligence in managing human capital.

To determine how well career development and succession planning are being implemented at the senior executive level and below, there are seven key questions directors should be asking about the companies they govern:

1. What C-level succession-planning process is in place?

There are generally three levels of succession planning for senior executives (including the CEO, CFO, CIO, CHRO, and business-unit leaders). The first is an orderly succession plan based on the executive retiring at a specific age. The second is an intermediate succession plan that anticipates that a key executive may leave prior to an orderly retirement. The third is an emergency plan that can be immediately enacted if an executive is suddenly incapacitated or leaves the company precipitously. Boards should ensure that all three plans are in place and should spend time getting to know the individuals named as next-generation successors.

2. How is the company assessing competencies of its senior executives and those immediately below them?

The board should know the strengths and weaknesses of the senior team and the methodology used to create those assessments. These evaluations should include both assessments and other sources of data, as well as external benchmarking. As a result, HR should have a list of internal and external candidates who can take over any mission-critical job. There should be a seamless transition if a critical member of the team needs to be replaced.

3. How much time do senior executives spend on succession planning at the senior executive level?

It is one thing to say a company has a thorough succession plan and another for senior executives to implement it on a programmatic basis. Companies like General Elektrik(GE) and PepsiCo (PEP) spend considerable time on talent development. HR facilitates, helps with assessments, and coordinates the activity, but it is not HR's job to make final decisions. That is the role of line managers.

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