We may be happy to eat the food that multinationals make, and fly in their aircraft, and even take the pills they have invented. But many of us say we don’t trust corporations, and we don’t trust the people who lead them. Some are even willing to go out onto the streets to make this clear. It seems to me that now is the time for corporations and their leaders to be more explicit and transparent about their purpose and goals.... Continue Reading ...

Service lies at the heart of business. This truth has long been acknowledged and celebrated. Indeed, Peter Drucker said that creating a customer was the function of business. In the 1980s the customer service movement was loudly hailed by the likes of Tom Peters and Philip Crosby. SAS's Jan Carlson talked of moments of truth, the times when customers came to face-to-face with frontline staff.... Continue Reading ...

From the UK’s high street to the world’s shopping mall - globalising Britain’s most sustainable retailer. Marc Bolland, CEO of Marks & Spencer, spoke to students at London Business School on Thursday 1st March about his professional journey and M&S’s pioneering sustainability strategy, Plan A.... Continue Reading ...

Kenny Kitamura, an MBA student at London Business School speaks to Mr. Senta Hoji - General Secretary of the Japan Economic Research Institute, Board Director of the Japan Professional Football League (‘J-League’), and member of the Japan Football Association (JFA) International Committee.... Continue Reading ...

A recent study of 1,225 senior executives of large European companies reports that 95 per cent of those whose firms are involved in a price war believe the poisonous fight was initiated by the competition. A second study, this time involving close to 4,000 participants from companies in the US, Asia, and Europe, produced a similar outcome: 83 per cent believed the competition was responsible for the downward spiraling of prices.... Continue Reading ...

Are the people in your organisation good at collaborating across boundaries? Do you have effective ways of building and delivering cross-unit offerings? I know of no large company where the answers to these questions are an unequivocal yes. But increasingly cross-unit collaboration is becoming a critical strategic imperative, and a lot of companies are actively seeking out new ways of raising their game in this area.... Continue Reading ...

In your firm, when you come up with an idea for a new product line or service, or some other project that you think has great potential and want your company to invest in, what does management want to see? My guess is it’s “payback time”, a “net present value” calculation, or some other number in a business plan, right? And if you can’t produce the numbers, you won’t get the dosh.... Continue Reading ...

It is right that MBA students learn how to distil complex business problems into their basic components, says Markus Reitzig, But, as the Fukushima disaster tragically illustrates, there is a downside: the danger of "overconfident oversimplification"... Continue Reading ...