The MIX

When it comes to project work, casting is everything

Assigning people to work on projects is the stuff that management is made of, but how do you choose the right people for the right gigs? By Julian Birkinshaw

Why new tech won't make you a better manager

Despite the talk that tech advances will bring an age of management utopia, traditional corporate juggernauts do not change overnight.

By Julian Birkinshaw, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- When it comes to the future of management, there's a problem with all this talk of virtual and networked organizations, and this vision of empowered and engaged employees. We see the massive changes underway in technology and connectivity, and we assume that these changes will MORE

What business leaders can learn from the Renaissance

While innovation and new business ideas gain central stage today, the decline of one of Europe's greatest Renaissance banking families offers useful, cautious wisdom.

By Christian Stadler, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- As the global economy slowly turns around, we have embarked on a new era of growth. While innovation and new business ideas gain central stage, we should remember that some old-fashioned management practices are worth preserving.

By "old-fashioned" I mean that companies should MORE

Reinventing your business, Wikipedia-style

The Wikimedia Foundation turned the conventional approach to setting strategy on its head by opening its process completely to its community of volunteers.

By Chris Grams, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- The term "strategic planning" conjures up images of suits in conference rooms diagramming the path to world domination on whiteboards. All too often, strategic planning is an activity reserved for the organizational elite -- executives aided by consultants. The top dogs think up all MORE

5 ways to keep your company alive

Think about it: Rare is the company that manages to live long into its golden years. Here's how a company can improve their odds of survival.

By Christian Stadler, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- Some companies have the knack of turning in stellar performance decade after decade.  To be sure, they may lose their way for a year or two, but somehow they overcome the setback and resume their relentless progress. General MORE

What hospitals can learn from the Ritz

Henry Ford Health System's newest hospital, a $360-million facility with all private rooms, concierge service, and indoor farmer's market is a radical, risky move for health care. But it just might be a logical one too.

By William C. Taylor, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- Not long ago, I was in the audience at a symposium organized by the leaders of the Henry Ford Health System, a $4-billion-a-year health-and-hospital company based in Detroit. The organization's leaders MORE

5 rules on cultivating power

Here are some commonsense rules to let you get out of your own way and thrive in today's business world.

By Jeffrey Pfeffer, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- Here are some commonsense, yet often violated, rules about power that can help make you more successful—and, even better, equip you to cope with today's organizational realities.

1. You need to take care of yourself. Companies have been telling employees this for decades. The implication: don't worry about MORE

Giving the performance review an extreme makeover

Performance reviews represent just one skirmish in the war against the unhealthy and artificial power dynamic that is a legacy of the industrial era. Australian software company Atlassian has given this staple of corporate life a new look.

By Polly LaBarre, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- It's one of the toughest -- and most important -- questions in business: How do you mobilize and unleash the best gifts of every single person in your MORE

Capitalism is for lovers too

While many companies often resort to shaving employee benefits and squeezing their suppliers to cut costs and turn a profit, others are showing that you can turn an even greater profit by building business relationships that last.

By Raj Sisodia, contributor

(ManagementInnovationeXchange) -- I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. --Oliver MORE

Moving past austerity: Business leadership principles for 2011

While it would be easy to label 2010 a year of business leadership failure, here are a few lessons from some of the most effective managers working today that we ought to carry into 2011.

By Polly LaBarre, contributor

(Management Innovation eXchange) -- The authorities at Merriam-Webster have declared "austerity" the defining word of 2010. That may be an appropriate reaction to all that's transpired this year (and built up over this MORE