In the corporate underground, creative intrapreneurs produce ideas autonomously and without the consent of management. Such informal activity frequently 'corrects' and compensates for the weaknesses of formal organizational systems. The corporate underground is an adjusting element for a number of organizational paradoxes. This imposes a certain legitimacy on covert activities such as bootlegging and constructive deviance. It reflects a basic axiom of the evolutionary perspective: change a...

This book is based on the findings, issues and questions related to an ongoing decade-old research project named the Innovation Lab (www.innovation-lab.org). The research project focuses on discontinuous innovation in more than thirteen countries, most of which are European, and provides useful insights into its different challenges. It also raises several questions related to the subject, some of which are: how do firms pick up weak signals on emerging — and possibly radically different —...

New tools for managing complexityDoes your organization manage complexity by making things more complicated? If so, you are not alone.According to The Boston Consulting Group’s fascinating Complexity Index, business complexity has increased sixfold during the past sixty years. And, all the while, organizational complicatedness-that is, the number of structures, processes, committees, decision-making forums, and systems-has increased by a whopping f...

Global customers, supply chains and more integrated business functions mean that work now cuts across the traditional vertical silos of country and function. But the 'solution' of the matrix structure also brings multiple bosses, competing goals and higher levels of complexity. Traditional management training prioritizes clarity, predictability and control.In a matrix we need to be able to balance this with the ability to tolerate ambiguity, manage uncertainty and decentralize cont...

Join forces with others inside and outside your organization to solve your toughest problems.If you read nothing else on collaborating effectively, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you work more productively with people on your team, in other departments, and in other organizations.Leading experts such as Daniel Goleman, Herm...

The current global economic environment is defined by unprecedented uncertainty, a premium placed on knowledge, and the threat of future talent scarcity. Key to an organization's success under these conditions is its ability to strengthen the links between people and performance. Creating Healthy Organizations provides executives, managers, human resource professionals, and employees an action-oriented approach to forging these connections by creating and sustaining vibrant and pr...

Widely recognised as a leading practical resource on coaching and mentoring, The Coaching and Mentoring Learning Resource Manual by Jimmy Petruzzi combines an understanding of coaching and mentoring principles, skills, attitudes and behaviours, along with practical guidance and a comprehensive tool kit for coaches and mentors. A pragmatic and passionate learning resource that establishes the many benefits of coaching and mentoring in order to create a working environment for individuals an...

Even world-class companies, with powerful and proven business models, eventually discover limits to growth. That's what makes emerging high-growth industries so attractive. Although they lack a proven formula for making a profit, these industries represent huge opportunities for the companies that are fast enough and smart enough. But constructing tomorrow's businesses while simultaneously sustaining excellence in today's, demands a delicate balance. It is a quest fraught with contradictio...

As an employee, you suspect that your best ideas are valuable and could greatly benefit your organization. Management also recognizes that a company's ability to compete is contingent on how well it leverages its employees' ideas. So, why are individuals at all levels of organizations typically poor advocates for ideas? Intrapreneurship provides an engaging guide for both managers and employees on how to direct the flow of ideas and foster a culture of entrepreneurship within thei...

As you're well aware, your individual energy ebbs and flows--leading to high and low productivity cycles. Fail to manage your energy correctly, and you risk falling into traps including inertia, complacency, and frenzied, unfocused activity that only erodes the quality of your life.The same holds true for your entire organization. In Fully Charged, Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel provide tools and strategies to help you manage your company's collective energy.First, diagnose yo...

Clearly structured in 36 short sections, this practical book provides rapid, accessible advice on all the essential management challenges.Focusing on the managers key role - managing teams to get things done, this book looks at the essential parts of management from unusual perspectives and different angles.Structured with the busy manager in mind, you can dip into any section of the book and read it as an individual piece of advice or read it end-to-end to gain an overall...

Managing people just got easierThe book gives you a sound understanding of the concept of people management; the role of people managers; people motivational theories; the various people management styles and their appropriateness; the tools available to people managers to help them do their jobs effectively; techniques for managing performance; and an insight into how people managers candevelop their teams.Management, along with leadership, is one of the mo...