Almost everyone agrees that human resources will play a key role in company success in the next century, but too few firms take a systematic approach to human resource planning. Barron Wells and Nelda Spinks, of the University of South‐Western Louisiana, USA, provide a 15‐step checklist for...

Booming on the surface, US planemaker Boeing is a company in transition. Its jets represented two‐thirds of the dollar value of all commercial airplanes ordered last year. Its defence division, already the prime contractor on NASA’s space station, is competing on the Joint Strike Fighter jet...

What is the McDonald’s recipe for international success? Describes how the company translates its winning human resource practices into many different cultural settings.

A company’s “core” workers in Japan can still expect jobs for life, but recession has brought an end to automatic progression up the corporation’s hierarchy. The result is a growing army of “plateaued” middle‐aged and older employees. Some fare even worse. They remain on the...

If you sense that there are underlying concerns in your company about a major new development or problem, how do you bring them to the surface? One solution is to hold an agendaless meeting, at which employees sit in a circle and are invited to speak out about the matters on their mind. Explores...

Employees who are bored with their job and stuck in a routine rarely perform to best effect. But how do they make the boss aware that they yearn for more interesting work? This article, another in our occasional series examining human‐resource issues from the employee’s viewpoint, suggests...

Your employees, if asked, will doubtless tell you that they really want to feel enthusiastic and to care about their work. But these same employees are often uninspired, show little initiative and simply play it “safe”. What can you do? The good news is that counterproductive practices that...

“All you need is love” is not only the title of a famous Beatles song but also a guiding principle behind education and training at a multinational retailing chain. This article describes the unusual staff‐development practices employed by Yaohan International Group.

Enthusiasm and safety practices rarely go hand in hand: just think of the boredom with which most passengers greet airlines’ pre‐takeoff safety drills. Now imaginative measures, including monthly cash draws, have been taken to foster safe behavior and keep up the momentum of the safety...

How does your company ensure the effectiveness of its research and development (R&D)? There is, of course, no easy or foolproof way. US firm Westinghouse believes that assessment by the businesses of R&D’s performance against ambitious, quantifiable and mutually set objectives is crucial. But...