This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. A survey of top business executives from major international organizations found that 79% said it was extremely important to have leaders who act on behalf of the entire organization, not just their units. The rest said it was very important. Nearly 65% said they expected at least half of their senior and midlevel managers to behave as enterprise leaders -that is, executives who are as successful at serving the needs of the enterprise as they are at growing the units they head. The expectation that managers will know what's happening elsewhere in the enterprise is rising, authors Douglas A. Ready and M. Ellen Peebles write, but few organizations have been set up to support the development of such enterprise leaders. So how are managers learning to become effective enterprise leaders, and how can organizations encourage their development? The authors surveyed and interviewed scores of executives from the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and focused on three companies: Pfizer, Li & Fung, and Unilever. They found that regardless of the business or the location, enterprise leaders developed their capabilities in similar ways -through a combination of deliberate personal development, high-level mentoring, and opportunities afforded by their work that enabled strong unit performers to become even more effective as enterprise leaders. According to the authors, the essence of enterprise leadership lies in combining two often incompatible roles -those of builder and broker. That means executives need to build their unit's vision and integrate it into the wider corporate vision, clarifying where the enterprise is going and how their teams can best contribute, both within and beyond unit boundaries. They must build unit capabilities and share resources and business know-how across units to contribute to enterprisewide organizational capability.
When executives meet together to grapple with moral and ethical questions in literature, they end up applying their insights in practice. This Harvard Business School professor endorses book clubs as part of leadership development.
Talk of cost cutting and layoffs was already in the air in the New York offices of international beverage company Legrand SA. But now everyone is imagining the worst after the sudden and mysterious resignation of Lucien Beaumont, the company's president of U.S. operations. The rumors are flying fast and furious about what prompted his departure and, just as important, who will get Lucien's job. Michael Feldstein is confident that he's a top contender for Lucien's job. Michael, the global category director for rums, believes his stellar brand results and strong track record might earn him the position. Then, with a slight sense of paranoia, he notices Danielle Harcourt--the global category director for vodka and liqueurs and Michael's chief competitor for Lucien's job--networking with some of the Paris executives at a launch party for one of Michael's brands. She has also reached out to at least one of his direct reports. Before he can confront her, Michael gets a call from CEO Pierre Hoffman and a proposition--but not the one he's looking for. In this fictional case study, Michael must weigh the advantages of taking an unexpected post in China against holding his ground in the politically charged New York offices of Legrand. Commenting on this fictional case study in R0501A and R0501Z are Nancy Clifford Widmann, an executive coach, and Amy Dorn Kopelan, the CEO of Bedlam Entertainment, a conference management company; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Allan Cohen, the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor in Global Leadership at Babson College; and Gary B. Rhodes, a senior fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership.
Talk of cost cutting and layoffs was already in the air in the New York offices of international beverage company Legrand SA. But now everyone is imagining the worst after the sudden and mysterious resignation of Lucien Beaumont, the company's president of U.S. operations. The rumors are flying fast and furious about what prompted his departure and, just as important, who will get Lucien's job. Michael Feldstein is confident that he's a top contender for Lucien's job. Michael, the global category director for rums, believes his stellar brand results and strong track record might earn him the position. Then, with a slight sense of paranoia, he notices Danielle Harcourt--the global category director for vodka and liqueurs and Michael's chief competitor for Lucien's job--networking with some of the Paris executives at a launch party for one of Michael's brands. She has also reached out to at least one of his direct reports. Before he can confront her, Michael gets a call from CEO Pierre Hoffman and a proposition--but not the one he's looking for. In this fictional case study, Michael must weigh the advantages of taking an unexpected post in China against holding his ground in the politically charged New York offices of Legrand. Commenting on this fictional case study in R0501A and R0501Z are Nancy Clifford Widmann, an executive coach, and Amy Dorn Kopelan, the CEO of Bedlam Entertainment, a conference management company; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Allan Cohen, the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor in Global Leadership at Babson College; and Gary B. Rhodes, a senior fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership.
Talk of cost cutting and layoffs was already in the air in the New York offices of international beverage company Legrand SA. But now everyone is imagining the worst after the sudden and mysterious resignation of Lucien Beaumont, the company's president of U.S. operations. The rumors are flying fast and furious about what prompted his departure and, just as important, who will get Lucien's job. Michael Feldstein is confident that he's a top contender for Lucien's job. Michael, the global category director for rums, believes his stellar brand results and strong track record might earn him the position. Then, with a slight sense of paranoia, he notices Danielle Harcourt--the global category director for vodka and liqueurs and Michael's chief competitor for Lucien's job--networking with some of the Paris executives at a launch party for one of Michael's brands. She has also reached out to at least one of his direct reports. Before he can confront her, Michael gets a call from CEO Pierre Hoffman and a proposition--but not the one he's looking for. In this fictional case study, Michael must weigh the advantages of taking an unexpected post in China against holding his ground in the politically charged New York offices of Legrand. Commenting on this fictional case study are Nancy Clifford Widmann, an executive coach, and Amy Dorn Kopelan, the CEO of Bedlam Entertainment, a conference management company; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Allan Cohen, the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor in Global Leadership at Babson College; and Gary B. Rhodes, a senior fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership.
HBR's editors searched for the best new ideas related to the practice of management and came up with a collection that is as diverse as it is provocative. The 2004 HBR List includes emergent concepts from biology, network science, management theory, and more. A few highlights: Richard Florida wonders why U.S. society doesn't seem to be thinking about the flow of people as the key to America's advantage in the "creative age." Diane L. Coutu describes how the revolution in neurosciences will have a major impact on business. Clayton M. Christensen explains the law of conservation of attractive profits: When attractive profits disappear at one stage in the value chain because a product becomes commoditized, the opportunity to earn attractive profits with proprietary products usually emerges at an adjacent stage. Daniel H. Pink explains why the master of fine arts is the new MBA. Herminia Ibarra describes how companies can get the most out of managers returning from leadership-development programs. Iqbal Quadir suggests a radical fix for the third world's trade problems: Get the World Bank to lend to rich countries so that there are resources for retraining workers in dying industries.
Bryant Pharmaceutical's flagship product, a popular arthritis medicine called Seflex, is selling well--but not well enough. With generic versions due on the shelves in a couple of years, the drug company is looking for a dramatic sales increase. VP Laura Goldenberg knows she has to reach more consumers, but in an environment where people bombarded with advertising are using devices such as TiVo to skip ads, her job has suddenly taken on a new intensity. In search of a new, gangbuster campaign, Laura and her ad agency come up with the idea of product placement--not your typical integration of a product into a television or movie script, but a less traditional approach. Their idea is to hire a much-loved, elderly actress to extol the virtues of Seflex on a morning news program. The news segment would be about arthritis, and Seflex would be casually mentioned during the interview. The company would have to pay the actress $1 million, and there are risks: What if it gets out that Bryant is paying her? What if the actress errs and says something about Seflex's side effects? Should the company green-light Laura's plan? This fictional case study looks at the pros and cons of traditional product placement and newer, more subtle alternatives to advertising. Commenting on the case in R0310A and R0310Z, are Bob Gamgort, president of Masterfoods USA; Michelle R. Nelson, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; FTC commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson; and Mike Sheehan, president and CEO of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos.
Bryant Pharmaceutical's flagship product, a popular arthritis medicine called Seflex, is selling well--but not well enough. With generic versions due on the shelves in a couple of years, the drug company is looking for a dramatic sales increase. VP Laura Goldenberg knows she has to reach more consumers, but in an environment where people bombarded with advertising are using devices such as TiVo to skip ads, her job has suddenly taken on a new intensity. In search of a new, gangbuster campaign, Laura and her ad agency come up with the idea of product placement--not your typical integration of a product into a television or movie script, but a less traditional approach. Their idea is to hire a much-loved, elderly actress to extol the virtues of Seflex on a morning news program. The news segment would be about arthritis, and Seflex would be casually mentioned during the interview. The company would have to pay the actress $1 million, and there are risks: What if it gets out that Bryant is paying her? What if the actress errs and says something about Seflex's side effects? Should the company green-light Laura's plan? This fictional case study looks at the pros and cons of traditional product placement and newer, more subtle alternatives to advertising. Commenting on the case in R0310A and R0310Z, are Bob Gamgort, president of Masterfoods USA; Michelle R. Nelson, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; FTC commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson; and Mike Sheehan, president and CEO of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos.
Bryant Pharmaceutical's flagship product, a popular arthritis medicine called Seflex, is selling well--but not well enough. With generic versions due on the shelves in a couple of years, the drug company is looking for a dramatic sales increase. VP Laura Goldenberg knows she has to reach more consumers, but in an environment where people bombarded with advertising are using devices such as TiVo to skip ads, her job has suddenly taken on a new intensity. In search of a new, gangbuster campaign, Laura and her ad agency come up with the idea of product placement--not your typical integration of a product into a television or movie script, but a less traditional approach. Their idea is to hire a much-loved, elderly actress to extol the virtues of Seflex on a morning news program. The news segment would be about arthritis, and Seflex would be casually mentioned during the interview. The company would have to pay the actress $1 million, and there are risks: What if it gets out that Bryant is paying her? What if the actress errs and says something about Seflex's side effects? Should the company green-light Laura's plan? This fictional case study looks at the pros and cons of traditional product placement and newer, more subtle alternatives to advertising. Commenting on the case in R0310A and R0310Z, are Bob Gamgort, president of Masterfoods USA; Michelle R. Nelson, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; FTC commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson; and Mike Sheehan, president and CEO of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos.