More than ten million Britons currently use telephone banking and an estimated 11.5 million online active bank accounts are in use – more than in any other European country. These figures demonstrate that Internet and telephone banking are firmly embedded in everyday lives and are here to...

There have been many examples of how various teamwork systems have improved an organization’s competitive edge and helped in reducing costs. There have also been many examples of how teamworking has, for various reasons, not lived up to expectations.

New systems of performance appraisal and management development have helped to revitalize a UK housing association, enthuse its managers and transform them into a more cohesive group. Rother Homes, part of the Horizon Housing Group, had a five‐year program to repair and upgrade the 3,000 homes...

Lancashire County Council, a local authority in the north of England, is delivering a leadership‐development program for all middle and senior managers, which is changing the organizational culture and driving service improvements. The program is a platform for continually improving management...

The Nationwide’s regional call centers are designed to supplement the services of the society’s two main call centers, in Swindon and Nottingham. These two centers employ hundreds of staff, trained face to face by instructors working in classrooms. In order to meet the needs of the new...

The fact that the Finns fought an epic battle to repel a Soviet invasion more than 60 years ago should not really have much bearing on how banking colleagues get on with each other in the twenty‐first century. Such things should not matter when you are faced with merging two big banks, but...

Moving from hierarchical management with annual reviews to a program and project‐management approach has helped the mighty British American Tobacco (BAT) to gain market share in 13 Middle Eastern countries.

The transition from paper‐based employee surveys to electronic implementation has resulted in quicker and fuller feedback from employees and reduced costs by half at Emap Communications, which employs more than 1,200 people at eight sites in the UK.

European pharmaceuticals‐distribution group Alliance Unichem is using 360‐degree feedback among its top managers to drive culture change, support employee development and increase overall performance. The 30,000‐employee company – which serves more than 81,000 pharmacies and other...

The week before Christmas, with staff winding down at a quiet celebration, might not be the most appropriate time to embark on a ground‐breaking system to revolutionize a top company’s management‐recruitment procedures. But a telephone call five days before Christmas Eve from one of the...