tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109891172011-11-30T22:13:31.597+01:00“The companies that survive longest are the ones that work out what they uniquely can give to the world, not just growth or money, but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul” (Charles Handy). Can we talk about that soul here? A different management, social transformations and the new human being at work.rosannanoreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1160760151346663812006-10-13T19:17:00.000+02:002007-04-04T12:23:55.376+02:00

I see everyday how blindly we spent lot of energy trying to get from people what they cannot provide. And they cannot, since it’s not on their nature, backgrounds and expectations. I see parents trying to see a personal desideratum projected on their loved children. Teachers fighting for get pupils all the same through a unified type of education. Managers expecting the same type of performance

rosannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1157820958401818152006-09-09T18:52:00.000+02:002006-09-09T18:55:58.430+02:00

Making the best profit for main stakeholders: customers in holidays and local communities in Africa. I’m happy to know and collaborate for such an special business initiative: Africadventure, now Zed&Away, a tour operator providing eco-tourism, volunteer work and support to conservation projects and local communities in several countries in Africa. What is more interesting to me is the idea of

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1154028031502976682006-07-27T21:12:00.000+02:002006-07-27T21:20:31.513+02:00

Fundamental ideas about how knowledge truly occurs; why delivery and storage of information should not be confused with knowledge; what’s the critical importance of communities of practice in helping learners “to be” real practitioners (e.g. a physicist, social scientist, historian, etc.) rather than people just knowing about such professions...all are essential concepts in a John Seely Brown’s

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1153241462487365152006-07-18T18:45:00.000+02:002006-07-22T01:56:03.406+02:00

One of the main features of technology affecting life is mobility. Today more than ever human beings are nomads, not only physical nomads but mental ones as well. Change is not only inherent to activities, places and work practices, but it also relates to lifestyles and therefore the way we organize our mind according to uncertainty. Technology determines, but also facilitates this: the fast and

rosannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1151351141752285762006-06-26T21:32:00.000+02:002006-06-26T21:54:05.300+02:00

A pioneer voice in the field of Knowledge Management, John Seely Brown wrote an enlightening paper published six years ago, which still shed light on many actual approaches on the use of the Internet as a platform for learning processes and deep transformations in work, education and life.“Growing up digital” (2000) was written when JSB was the chief scientist of Xerox and director of Palo Alto

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1149937079760574642006-06-10T12:46:00.000+02:002006-06-12T14:17:47.260+02:00

1. What does learning mean in a new information environment fostered by Web 2.0?Essentially it could mean new social patterns of behaviour, related to openness and sharing contents. Users find out they can be publishers of their own contents, and take advantage from this possibility.Users want to share information and any kind of content (images, sound, music, texts, etc.) among people with

rosannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1148932533336612372006-05-29T21:54:00.000+02:002006-05-29T22:26:51.336+02:00

I found an inspiring article by Stephen Downes, from the National Research Council of Canada, about e-Learning 2.0, in accordance with the new movement Web 2.0, where users are becoming more and more the centre and main agent of what is happening on the web: they are acquiring the properties of communication networks.I think maybe Tim Berners-Lee –the world wide web creator- could visualise this

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1147516772049602032006-05-13T12:36:00.000+02:002006-05-20T14:50:40.456+02:00

Brave and essential. Euan Semple, ex-head of KM at BBC, dares to talk about an unusual term in management. A concept always hidden or dismissed in our current learning in this field, but certainly somehow prevalent: he talks about love.It’s not about "loving our work" or "loving success"...but about that very intrinsically motivating force that makes things to happen. As Semple mentions: a deep

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1145185593522529862006-04-16T12:58:00.000+02:002006-04-16T22:40:56.786+02:00

Why do people start their first week in a new job with real enthusiasm, but progressively their interest for waking up in the morning and get in the office inevitably falls? I remember Corinne Maier in 2004, publishing what has been a real Molotov fire on the enterprise’s core today: her satiric and quite assertive book "Bonjour, Paresse"...or how to survive in a kind of system (corporations)

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1143880824982122752006-04-01T10:39:00.000+02:002006-04-01T10:40:24.983+02:00

Jonas Ridderstrale, co-author of "Funky Business" (2000), keep on saying some old words, always valid and still alive. In a recent interview on La Vanguardia (March, 2006) I read what I think is the very sense of every organisation today. Ridderstrale mentions:"...That’s because in a business, which is not conveying human values, which is not capable to create meaning, its employees are going to

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1142027057092664352006-03-10T22:33:00.000+01:002006-04-16T18:39:43.416+02:00

Ethics is also business for companies dealing in some countries such as China. Regimes confronting strong demands for democratic reforms, arise questions about the corporate social responsibility of global firms providing intangible and omnipresent services, such as Yahoo or Google. Should these companies conform government requirements for allowing access to private users' data, which in turn

rosannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1141502165890837032006-03-04T20:35:00.000+01:002006-03-04T21:53:08.263+01:00

¿Se hace evaluación de resultados en la implementación de programas de e-learning? Creo que es parte necesaria en el cierre de todo proyecto de esta índole, y no sé si siempre las organizaciones se ocupan de realizar esta medición de impacto y retorno de la inversión. Me pregunto si saben que tienen que hacerlo; si saben cómo hacerlo, o si son conscientes de la importancia de conocer de qué

rosannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1139342182827974192006-02-07T20:45:00.000+01:002006-02-07T21:02:34.286+01:00

It is so simple, again (I remember that beautiful song by Songs Ohia). But terribly complex as well. Best things are paradoxical. A key driver of any knowledge management strategy has its roots in the basic reasons for fostering effective communication within an organisation (OUBS, 2004):Keeping informed people on why are they charged with some plans, why and how are they affected by those plans

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1137845975670278302006-01-21T13:13:00.000+01:002006-03-04T21:58:39.406+01:00

This note is not about management, but about the context and society influencing and determining in high extend the kind of organisations we live and work for.Zygmunt Bauman is the author of “Liquid life” (2005), a work that describes the contemporary characteristics of modernity: compulsiveness and permanent change.This book explains that a prevalent feeling in our societies is that called in

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1137341717152004592006-01-15T17:04:00.000+01:002006-01-15T17:15:17.163+01:00

I've just found this interesting definition:"Internal marketing is about attracting, motivating and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. Internal marketing is the philosophy of treating employees as customers - indeed 'wooing' employees... - and is the strategy of shaping job-products to fit human needs".(Berry and Parasuraman, 1991, p.151)But seen also:"

rosannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1124994983550608072005-08-25T20:27:00.000+02:002005-08-29T21:48:15.693+02:00

When studying the essential rules of management, a basic lesson is that one related to the control loop process. Management implies to plan tasks or actions, and to ensure that plans are followed through in order to meet objectives. If progressive goals are not achieved, it is required to review the actions done and to make corrective decisions, sometimes checking again the main objectives.The

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1123409617309508902005-08-07T12:08:00.000+02:002005-08-07T12:19:32.980+02:00

"Who built the town of Thebes of Seven Gates?The names of kings are written in the books.Was it the kings who dragged the slabs of rock?And Babylon, so many times destroyed,Who built her up again so many times?""Young Alexander conquered India.All by himself?Caesar beat the Gauls.Not even a cook to help him with his meals?Philip of Spain wept when his ArmadaWent down. Did no one else weep?

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1122720130567815282005-07-30T12:39:00.000+02:002005-07-30T13:44:18.946+02:00

Knowledge management seems to be a new label for older approaches on management. The revival of former concepts. Languages changes, but ideas are the same.I have recently met an interesting description of the so called “quality circles” in organisations. This is an idea emerged in the early 1970s which was mainly addressed to reinforce the employee involvement and participation in organisational

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1121021835634974262005-07-10T20:43:00.000+02:002005-08-01T20:03:37.896+02:00

Benjamin Zander, the Boston Philharmonic's conductor, has been recently interviewed in La Vanguardia giving an interesting definition of the meaning of being a manager. I’d like to resume some parts of this conversation:La Vanguardia: I have a friend who has spent a fortune in violin lessons for his child, but the boy doesn’t think about it.Benjamin Zander: Does he really want his child play the

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1116265925802091332005-05-16T19:45:00.000+02:002005-08-29T21:54:24.970+02:00

Enlightening. I’ve been reading a chapter related to individual ethics in organisations on the literature about Managing that I am studying at the Open University, and I found out an interesting questionnaire devised by A. Lawton (Ethical management for the public services, 1998). For each question, you have to answer Never, Sometimes or Often.From the 22 original issues, I would like to quote

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1115229461874882642005-05-04T19:53:00.000+02:002005-07-30T13:06:25.996+02:00

“Profit should be the result, not the purpose of the business”. I love this idea.I found it, of course, in a brief and intelligently written description about the Japanese approach to business, that Charles Handy developed for The BBC service some time ago. This is also the key idea that can be derived from the work of Kenichi Ohmae, the so called “corporate strategist”.Ohmae lives in Tokyo, but

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1114248036887382382005-04-23T11:11:00.000+02:002005-07-30T13:04:33.676+02:00

Are your main jobs to work with data analysis, to research and contrast information, to elaborate models, concepts and methods, to manage the public or the customer service, but you are working as if you were part of a machine, a piece of a production chain, where everything you do must be carefully measured and designed within time and resources’ parameters to increase the output per worker?

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1113420023689792962005-04-13T21:03:00.000+02:002005-07-30T13:02:45.940+02:00

For many people the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming the new face of capitalism, as it claims for more social involvement from businesses, mainly in those countries where big multinational corporations make important profits.A colleague told me recently, in a quite apologist way that: “CSR is the new commitment of business with society. Nowadays the big companies must

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1112030264180200832005-03-28T19:06:00.000+02:002005-07-30T13:01:47.853+02:00

Recuerdan aquel dilema que dos famosos investigadores del choque intercultural plantearon a 15.000 managers en 28 países alrededor del mundo, y que decía….:“Imagínese que usted viaja en un coche conducido por su mejor amigo, y que éste atropella a un peatón. Usted sabe que su amigo iba a una velocidad muy superior a la permitida en esa calle, pero usted y su amigo son los únicos que lo saben,

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1111432680630295372005-03-21T20:12:00.000+01:002005-07-30T13:00:39.630+02:00

I’ve been thinking about “sustainable capitalism” today, as Ivan posted some approximation to the idea in my last note. And I had an interesting argument with a friend who definitely doesn’t believe that “capitalism” could have any morality nor ethic principle. To him, “sustainable capitalism”, understood from an ethic sense, is going to be an oxymoron, like saying: “loudly silence” or, more

rosannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1110632770686426752005-03-12T14:00:00.000+01:002005-07-30T12:58:41.433+02:00

Recently I had the fantastic chance to read a script of the BBC serie, “The gurus of management”, related to Charles Handy’s ideas.What impressed me about Handy’s reflections was his critical analysis of management and his vision of some of its specific consequences impacting in society. It was more worth reading to me than any other approach about how to do things in this field or, perhaps,

rosannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1109966532668672782005-03-04T20:52:00.000+01:002005-07-30T12:56:30.886+02:00

Recientemente leí un artículo en “Working Knowledge” de HBS que tenía por título Is business management a profession?Excelente pregunta.Allí se contrastaban las clásicas y antiguas profesiones universitarias como Medicina y Derecho, con el ejercicio de la gestión empresarial, a partir de la selección de 4 criterios característicos de las primeras que me parecieron muy interesantes. En cada

rosannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10989117.post-1109714677327170482005-03-01T22:42:00.000+01:002005-07-30T13:14:39.183+02:00

I just want to start the first post of my blog whit a wonderful quote from Charles Handy. I found it on a great interview for Leader to Leader Institute :"The first half of life is certainly a struggle to prove that you can survive and then can achieve some special capacity. But the interesting thing for me is that given that you can survive, that you are successful, what is it you can contribute

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