Management - Leadership

A fictitious pricing strategy scenario is presented, with contributors offering advice. A clothing line contemplates a no-discount business model to jumpstart growth, but risks alienating its customer base. One suggestion is to retain a low-price value option for customers; another is using flexibility to lead customers.

Key components of successful virtual teams are the team's size, the individuals involved, and their roles. Leadership must foster trust, clarify goals, and encourage dialogue. Appropriate technology includes conference calling, discussion forums, and direct calling/text messaging.

Four stages of the corporate function life-cycle are identified and steps for management are presented. Stage 1 emphasizes focus; Stage 2 emphasizes planning and review; Stage 3 emphasizes relationships and monitoring; Stage 4 emphasizes value-adding activities.

The survey shows that women and men begin with similar goals; however, men are more likely to achieve them. Many women believe their careers are as important as their partners', but often their partners' careers are prioritized over their own. Women are less happy than men regarding work and family compatibility.

The article identifies reputational pressures and informational signals as causes of error creation and amplification in group decision making scenarios. The solution is to allow those in non-leadership positions to speak first, or to assign particular areas of expertise to different members.

Day one to 30: define innovation buckets, identify gap between growth targets and present operations. Day 20-50: select a few strategic opportunities, informed by consumer needs. Day 50-70: create a team to develop innovations. Day 45-90: generate a mechanism to guide projects.

The author emphasizes the importance of engaging employees after emerging from bankruptcy, which included culture goals and profit sharing. Consolidation opportunities were carefully considered and executed. Vertical integration was implemented, and processes to promote innovation were put in place.

"New power" models include sharing others' content; shaping that content; funding such as peer-to-peer giving; producing content within a peer group; and co-owning content. "New power" values include opt-in decision making, open source collaboration, and widescale participation.

Successful experiments for innovation must have a clear purpose, and stakeholders must commit to abide by the outcomes. Independent variables as the presumed causes must be separated from the observed results, and then manipulated to determine their effects.