Articles
Have
Faith In Your Future
Popcorn Discusses Consumer Trends, Effects on Business
Success
Comes From Breaking New Ground - Not Plowing The Old
Taking
It To The Public
Business Community Works With School Leaders to Turn a
District Around
A
Marriage Of Convenience
Unions, Management Team Up to Counter Takeover, Redesign
Organization
The
Baldrige Award: Winning Isn't Everything, Improving Is
Cutting
Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face
Columns
Caring
About Place
by Peter Block
People
Powered Organizations
by Cathy Kramer
Features
Brief
Cases
Business News Briefs
Views
for a Change
Pageturners
Book Review |
|
Brief Cases
Business Briefs
Bad News for the Teamsters
Union plants are more likely to downsize than their non-union counterparts
according to the first large-scale study of U.S. manufacturing performance
and metrics. The rationale - nonunion plants were cited as reaping higher
performance levels through the use of empowered workforces. The study by
IndustryWeek also linked intensive training practices to manufacturing success.
Low Unemployment - Bad News?
The fact that unemployment is at a 24-year low is not the best news for
employers. Low unemployment has lessened the applicant pool for jobs and
resulted in a lack of skilled employees, according to a study by the National
Association of Manufacturers. In fact, nearly nine out of 10 employers are
having trouble finding qualified workers. Companies responding to the survey
listed productivity improvements and technology upgrades as suffering from
underskilled workforces.
The Other Year 2000 Project
On New Year's Eve 2000 if your computer crashes and your bank accounts end
up MIA chances are good that there will be more than one person to blame.
By the year 2000 most companies will have shifted to team-based environments,
according to a study by Pittsburgh-based Development Dimensions International.
At the turn of the new millenium look for increases in:
- Overall use of teams (self-directed, cross-functional
and virtual)
- Team accountability and responsibility
-Team decision-making
Time to Take Off the Training
Wheels
Why do some managers maintain high levels of control? Jeffrey Pfeffer, an
organizational behavior professor at Stanford's Graduate School of Business,
has an answer. In a recent study Pfeffer concluded that the more control
a manager has over a task the more favorable they view the outcome. High
control leads to more input and ownership of a task, tainting the manager's
perception of the final product. Pfeffer further linked high control techniques
to a "desire for self-enhancement."
|
