In November 2019, digital marketing firm Arcane was six months into the conversion of its London, Ontario, headquarters into an organization of “agile” squads (small, self-managed teams)—a radical departure from the discipline-based silos that had served the agency since its beginning in 2011. Chief executive officer Lindsay Schneider and chief operating officer David Bunce, the architects of the change, were preparing an update for Arcane’s Ownership Group the following week on the status of the squad structure rollout. Schneider and Bunce were tasked with reviewing the introduction of the squad structure and assessing the success of its implementation.
This article examines the increasing need for resilience in organizations, then explains the three underpinnings of individual resilience and how they can be replicated in firms. In the pre-COVID period, VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) was the trendy acronym that summed up the four major challenges faced by managers in the Age of Disruption. Unfortunately, the VUCA world has now been disrupted by a pandemic—which has triggered all four dimensions simultaneously for most organizations. As Diane Coutu notes, resilient people tend to possess three core attributes: 1) an unwavering acceptance of reality; 2) a deep belief underpinned with strong values that life is meaningful; and 3) an uncanny ability to improvise. Organizations can build up three pillars of organizational resilience: facing down reality, the search for meaning, and the ability to improvise or bricolage. Within your organization, ask yourself: “Do people really understand and accept the realities we’re facing now?” These questions are important because people and organizations often slip into denial as a coping mechanism when facing adverse situations. It is time for organizations to rethink their people responsibilities if they want to help develop the resiliency that today’s organizations require. Since finding meaning in one’s situation is such an important aspect of resilience, it is no surprise that the most resilient people and organizations possess strong value systems.
In 2011, a health care director at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) asked one of her managers to review two candidates for promotion to a front-line coordinator position. The manager was tasked with the job of choosing between two promising candidates who were quite different from each other. He had to carefully review the qualifications of the two candidates and determine which one would be better suited to the role. Use with supplement 9B16C050.
Stories abound about situations where individuals and groups that went on to great performance levels were passed over (or nearly overlooked) in the early stages of their careers. Talent isn’t always easy to recognize early on, and the challenges in distinguishing potential from performance aren’t new. However, the increasing pace of change in most industries coupled with alternative opportunities from competing organizations means that most firms can’t afford to overlook emerging talent as much as in the past. Spotting future leaders “early” means spotting them in their initial jobs and roles. This means looking for signs of potential that do not necessarily correlate with current performance metrics. Since leadership potential isn’t always embedded in early jobs and roles where it can be easily demonstrated, we need processes to spot the “glimmers” of potential that manifest themselves in less-than-systematic ways. We also need systems that help organizations sort out those glimmers from the day-to-day noise. All cases will be somewhat different, and talent spotting probably leans more toward an art than a science. The point isn’t to be 100 per cent accurate, but to leverage more critical development time by looking for serious leadership potential while it’s in the glimmer stage, but understanding that glimmers aren’t constant in frequency or equal in brightness.
A vice-president of human resources at a technology software provider was reviewing the employee appraisal submissions for her firm. After years of rapid growth, the firm was underperforming relative to its peers and it seemed that part of the problem was its relaxed performance appraisal system. As much had been written about Microsoft Corporation’s stack ranking system, the human resources executive wondered how much she could learn about appraisal systems from this example.
Many managers believe that the acquisition and application of knowledge from external sources will have a clear impact on firm performance and innovation, yet little research exists that helps managers determine the impact of that knowledge. This article seeks to examine whether the use of external knowledge delivers the competitive advantage often claimed. It explains that the outcome of using external knowledge sources may not be positive, and is dependent on a firm’s strategies and capabilities. The authors use a study of the fifteen largest firms in the semiconductor industry to reinforce their arguments.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, an eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
The head of salaried personnel at a large automotive manufacturer is faced with the unenviable task of implementing head count reductions. Several options are available including voluntary leave of absence, contract position reductions and early retirement packages. She must decide the best method to carry out the reductions and how to keep the targeted reductions fair to all employees at the company. Supplemental case Janet Michaels at American Car, product 9B02C054 discusses her decision.