Evil communications corrupt good manners ‐ and a good deal more besides. Examines what to do when a superior is interfering in the day‐to‐day running of your department.

Your company may be flatter, leaner and fitter, but how do the employees feel about it? While modern work methods can bring about significant advantages for the workforce, some feel there can also be important drawbacks.

Laughter, play and a sense of humor are key tools for improving communication. They can help team members to become more creative, collaborative and customer‐centered. They can also lower stress and accelerate learning. Claims that, without humour at the workplace, there can be no real...

Hewlett‐Packard has earned a reputation for excellent products and methods of production. Illustrates the role which creative teams have played in the company’s success.

Like so much else at transport‐equipment and electrical giant ABB, management development is based on achieving a distinctive balance between national and international competencies. Highlights how the company seeks to provide a role model for today’s multinationals.

Co‐ordinating the moves of employees from one country to another in a multinational like Cable and Wireless is a major challenge. The company’s international resourcing and development unit helps to make the process smoother ‐ without being seen as a costly overhead.

A training programme for supervisors at the float‐glass manufacturing subsidiary of UK glassmaker Pilkington boosted supervisors’ skills, increased quality and cut costs. Savings resulting from just one of the programme’s 44 projects have more than paid for the programme as a whole. Total...

Dallas‐based Texas Instruments has formed centres of excellence, to train people to meet the company’s future needs and help to place employees where they are needed most. Explores how the system works.

When Eastman Kodak decided to change from a traditional organization aligned by function to a focus on customers and corporate success, it recognized the fact that teams outperform individuals. At a recent Management Summit conference held in London, Henri‐Dominique Petit, vice‐president and...

GE Plastics, a division of the General Electric Co., came up with a simple yet powerful idea for teambuilding ‐ by putting its employees to work helping the community. Describes the scheme in detail.