This article clears the air around the somewhat fuzzy image of empowerment.

Companies can raise the spirit of their employees with gimmicky motivation programs, but this article argues that the new enthusiasm will not last long in a firm which lacks clear objectives and good leaders.

Your company has a rising young star who is energetic, hardworking and good at his job. You pay him a great salary and provide generous benefits. But still he expresses his intention to leave. You perceive his “disloyalty” to the firm as “typical of his generation”. But could you have...

Yesterday’s “baby‐boomers” are the pensioners of tomorrow. The “graying” of the population in most Western countries is a phenomenon that financial services, health care and even marketing professionals have come to terms with over the last decade or so. But there are signs that many...

Just as concurrent engineering can improve manufacturing responsiveness, many companies wrestling with rapid change in today’s markets can benefit from concurrent marketing. The concurrent‐marketing goal ‐ better coordination between staff in product management, sales management and...

Research and experience show that employees are most highly motivated and make their greatest contribution to the business when there is full and open communication at the workplace. Explores how companies from Levi Strauss to Federal Express are seeking to improve their performance in this key...

Your boss has a couple of habits that drive you crazy. If he or she would just change them your job would be so much more satisfying. Presents a five‐point plan to modify the way your boss behaves.

The automotive industry is fairly traditional when it comes to training. Companies generally hire a vendor who delivers a packaged program. A lot of “off the shelf” and generic training has been painstakingly developed for the industry. It is unusual for automotive firms to go to the...

People who feel secure in their work perform better than those who do not. But the modern company usually cannot offer employees the security it once could. Temporary contracts, consultancies and part‐time working are often the order of the day. Anglian Water, a privatized British utility,...

The giant Dow Chemical Company recently went through a successful exercise in succession planning. Here, Frank Popoff, chairman of the board, shares some thoughts on the appointment of a chief executive, and the development of candidates for management jobs throughout the company.