How earlobes can signify leadership potential

Evolutionary biologists have learned that people with greater “genetic fitness,” as manifested by a high degree of left-right body symmetry, are not just considered better looking but also tend to be healthier, more intelligent, and more dominant than others. They’re the classic alphas who rise to the top of rigidly hierarchical organizations such as the military. But our research shows that people with subtle asymmetries—for example, imbalances in ear or finger length—are often better “transformational” leaders, able to inspire followers to put self-interest aside for the good of the group. Furthermore, teams they lead outperform teams whose leaders have more-symmetrical bodies. These findings add a new twist to the debate about whether effective leaders are born or made. We believe it’s not asymmetry per se that positions people to be good transformational leaders. Instead, we argue, these individuals’ childhood responses to others’ perceptions shape them for success.

Simulation process templates for e-business modelling

This paper argues the use of reusable simulation templates as a tool that can help to predict the effect of e-business introduction on business processes. First, a set of requirements for e-business modelling is introduced and modelling options described. Traditional business process mapping techniques are examined as a way of identifying potential changes. Whilst paper-based process mapping may not highlight significant differences between traditional and e-business processes, simulation does allow the real effects of e-business to be identified. Simulation has the advantage of capturing the dynamic characteristics of the process, thus reflecting more accurately the changes in behaviour. This paper shows the value of using generic process maps as a starting point for collecting the data that is needed to build the simulation and proposes the use of reusable templates/components for the speedier building of e-business simulation models.

Doing business in India

On its independence in 1947, India was among the two most industrialized nations in Asia. Since then it adopted a “mixed economy” approach that hindered its national growth and the optimum utilization of its immense resources (both natural and human). To re-establish itself as an economic force in the region, India liberalized its economy in early 1990s. The adoption of the “free market economy” model has created great opportunities for foreign businesses. This article provides useful information on the complex business environment, aimed to help foreign businessmen and investors to develop a good understanding on key background knowledge for being successful in India. It reviews Indian historical development, political structure and climate, international relations, and economy and foreign trade. India's infrastructure, legal framework, socio-cultural set-up, competitive environment, as well as market structure and potential are also analyzed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Doing business in... Indonesia

Indonesia's long stability of over three decades came to a sudden end after the regional economic crisis of 1997–1998. The economic crisis not only shattered the Indonesian economy but also resulted in political turmoil. The national leadership has changed three times over the last five years. In such conditions, the confidence of foreign investors is very low. The present government has initiated a number of steps to restore political stability and economic recovery. This article provides useful information on the complex business environment, aimed to help foreign investors to develop a good understanding on key background knowledge for being successful in Indonesia. It reviews Indonesian historical development, political structure and climate, regional relations, and economy and foreign trade. Indonesia's infrastructure, legal framework, sociocultural setup, as well as market structure and potential, are also analyzed.

Doing business in... Sri Lanka

Having a well-developed human resource base and a relatively well-developed capital market infrastructure, Sri Lanka offers a liberal and dynamic investment environment. Over the years, macrostability has been achieved and considerable reforms have been implemented, contributing to a healthy economic growth. This article provides useful information on the business environment and is intended to help foreign businessmen and investors to develop a good grasp of essential background knowledge for being successful in Sri Lanka. It reviews the Sri Lankan political structure, climate, and economy. Sri Lanka's infrastructure, legal framework, and socioculturel set-up, as well as market structure and potential, are also analyzed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Bridging the gap from the general to the specific by linking knowledge management to business process

A phenomenon common to almost all fields is that there is a gap between theory and practical implementation. However, this is a particular problem in knowledge management, where much of the literature consists of general principles written in the context of a ‘knowledge world’ that has few, if any, references to how to carry out knowledge management in organisations. In this chapter, we put forward the view that the best way to bridge this gap between general principles and the specific issues facing a given organisation is to link knowledge management to the organisation’s business processes. After briefly reviewing, and rejecting alternative ways in which this gap might be bridged, the chapter goes on to explain the justification for, and the potential benefits and snags of, linking knowledge management to business processes. Successful and unsuccessful examples are presented. We concentrate especially on the issues of establishing what knowledge is relevant to an organisation at present, the need for organisational learning to cope with the inevitable change, and the additional problems posed by the growing internationalisation of operations. We conclude that linking knowledge management in terms of business processes is the best route for organisations to follow, but that it is not the answer to all knowledge management problems, especially where different cultures and/or cultural change are involved.

The impact of e-business infusion on channel coordination, conflict and reseller performance

Manufacturer–reseller interactions are becoming more technology-enabled as channels of distribution increasingly utilize e-business tools on the Internet. This research examines the performance consequences for resellers as these technological advances are applied to distribution activities between channel members. Using a sample of 216 resellers of computer products, the research explores the impact of e-business tools in 2 areas of manufacturer–reseller interactions: supply tasks and demand tasks. The results suggest that e-business in supply tasks increases relationship coordination between manufacturer and reseller, whereas e-business in demand tasks increases coordination as well as conflict within the channel dyad. The increase of conflict constitutes a potential “dark side” of e-business in channel relationships that may provide an explanation for e-business implementation failures and negative returns on investment in technology.

Design and development of agent-based procurement system to enhance business intelligence

The purpose of this research is to propose a procurement system across other disciplines and retrieved information with relevant parties so as to have a better co-ordination between supply and demand sides. This paper demonstrates how to analyze the data with an agent-based procurement system (APS) to re-engineer and improve the existing procurement process. The intelligence agents take the responsibility of searching the potential suppliers, negotiation with the short-listed suppliers and evaluating the performance of suppliers based on the selection criteria with mathematical model. Manufacturing firms and trading companies spend more than half of their sales dollar in the purchase of raw material and components. Efficient data collection with high accuracy is one of the key success factors to generate quality procurement which is to purchasing right material at right quality from right suppliers. In general, the enterprises spend a significant amount of resources on data collection and storage, but too little on facilitating data analysis and sharing. To validate the feasibility of the approach, a case study on a manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has been conducted. APS supports the data and information analyzing technique to facilitate the decision making such that the agent can enhance the negotiation and suppler evaluation efficiency by saving time and cost.

Business implications of manufacturing innovation : the experience of increasing automation in smaller to medium sized companies.

Despite the considerable potential of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) for improving the economic performance of many firms, a growing body of literature highlights many instances where realising this potential has proven to be a more difficult task than initially envisaged. Focussing upon the implementation of new manufacturing technologies in several smaller to medium sized enterprises (SME), the research examines the proposition that many of these problems can be attributed in part to inadequate consideration of the integrated nature of such technologies, where the effects of their implementation are not localised, but are felt throughout a business. The criteria for the economic evaluation of such technologies are seen as needing to reflect this, and the research develops an innovative methodology employing micro-computer based spreadsheets, to demonstrate how a series of financial models can be used to quantify the effects of new investments upon overall company performance. Case studies include: the development of a prototype machine based absorption costing system to assist in the evaluation of CNC machine tool purchases in a press making company; the economics and strategy of introducing a flexible manufacturing system for the production of ballscrews; and analysing the progressive introduction of computer based printing presses in a packaging and general print company. Complementary insights are also provided from discussion with the management of several other companies which have experienced technological change. The research was conducted as a collaborative CASE project in the Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees Scheme and was jointly funded by the SERC and Gaydon Technology Limited and later assisted by PE-Inbucon. The findings of the research shows that the introduction of new manufacturing technologies usually requires a fundamental rethink of the existing practices of a business. In particular, its implementation is seen as ideally needing to take place as part of a longer term business and manufacturing strategy, but that short term commercial pressures and limited resources often mean that firms experience difficulty in realising this. The use of a spreadsheet based methodology is shown to be of considerable assistance in evaluating new investments, and is seen as being the limit of sophistication that a smaller business is willing to employ. Several points for effective modelling practice are also given, together with an outline of the context in which a modelling approach is most applicable.

Small business development and the “learning organisation”

The paper proffers a tentative conceptualisation of the “small business strategic learning process”, demonstrating the complexity of the small firm learning and management task. The framework, built upon personal construct theory and learning theories, is elaborated through the grounding of relevant areas of the strategic management literature in an understanding of the distinctive managerial and behavioural features of the small business. The framework is then utilised to underpin consideration of the concepts of “organisational learning” and the “learning organisation” within a small firm developmental context. It is suggested that whilst organisational learning may be a key and effective small business management approach to underpin sustainable development, the learning organisation, as currently conceived in the mainstream literature, fails to recognise and address the idiosyncrasies, problems and constraints relating to sustainable small business development. There does appear, however, to be great potential for extending understanding of the learning organisation concept into the small business context. An indicative research agenda is suggested.

Organising the business processes of a product servitised supply chain:a value perspective

This paper develops a structured method from the perspective of value to organise and optimise the business processes of a product servitised supply chain (PSSC). This method integrates the modelling tool of e3value with the associated value measurement, evaluation and analysis techniques. It enables visualisation, modelling and optimisation of the business processes of a PSSC. At the same time, the value co-creation and potential contribution to an organisation’s profitability can also be enhanced. The findings not only facilitate organisations that are attempting to adopt servitisation by helping avert any paradox, but also help a servitised organisation to identify the key business processes and clarify their influences to supply chain operations.

e-Business in supply chain management

E-business is concerned with the use of the Internet to link companies with their suppliers, customers and other trading partners. As a business concept, it has evolved significantly since its introduction in the 1990’s in parallel with the rapid rate of development of information technology (IT) during this period. Supply chain management (SCM) is fundamentally concerned with integration of activities both with and between organisations. IT plays a crucial role in SCM as a key enabler of supply chain integration (SCI). This chapter sets out the role of e-business concepts in the context of the supply chain challenges faced by firms. It specifically explores the role of e-procurement as an example of how e-business concepts have been applied to one key SCM activity, namely purchasing and procurement. In this context, the chapter examines the nature and evolution of e-marketplaces and goes on to identify key adoption drivers and benefits based on recent research. This research identifies key adoption drivers and benefits but also recognises that there are many barriers that ongoing research needs to address if the potential of e-business is to be fulfilled.

Intellectual property asset management:how to identify, protect, manage and exploit intellectual property within the business environment

In the new ‘knowledge-intensive economies’ Intellectual assets increasingly play a key part on balance sheets. There is an increasing global awareness that in order to promote innovation and the growth of the economy, businesses must fully recognise and exploit their intellectual assets. A company’s ability to innovate rapidly and successfully is now regarded as essential and most breakthroughs are made by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), usually with no in-house legal professionals to help them. It is essential that those working with or creating intellectual property rights (IPR) are aware of the basics of Intellectual Property Law. Intellectual Property Asset Management provides business and management students at all levels with an accessible-straight-forward explanation of what the main Intellectual Property rights are and how these rights are protected. Locating the subject squarely in a business context and using case studies and examples throughout drawn from a wide range of business organisations, it explains how an organisation can exploit their rights through licensing, franchising and other means in order to make the best possible use of their IP assets. This book will provide students with: • the basic Intellectual Property law knowledge needed to identify a potential IP issue • the tools and understanding to assess an IP breach • the ability to identify where the problem cannot be solved in house and where expert legal assistance is required • the knowledge required to work effectively with lawyers and other legal professionals to achieve the desired outcome

Purchasing green transport and logistics services:implications for small business

Considering its strong environmental impact, logistics plays a critical role in green supply chain management. It provides strategic links in the supply chain and is an essential function in the delivery of green products to the consumer. There is a general consensus on the fact that more environmentally sustainable companies may be achieved only if transport and logistics activities also become greener. To achieve this objective, buyer companies need to incorporate green considerations in the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This appears particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their traditional lack of managerial, organisational and financial resources that often result in failure to adopt an environmental perspective. In the extant literature, green purchasing has received increased attention over the past decade and the strategic importance of introducing green aspects into purchasing practices has been recognised. However, little has been written in relation to purchasing green transport and logistics services. The aim of this paper is to explore practices in the buying of green transport and logistics services and to derive implications for small buyer companies. The paper analyses how general environmental company ambitions and environmental purchasing practices are reflected when green transport and logistics services are purchased in three different European countries (Italy, Ireland and Sweden) using a multiple case study research approach. The results of the paper indicate that while the case companies show a relatively high concern for green issues at corporate level, a lower importance is attributed to green issues at the purchasing function level. When green concerns in the purchasing of transport and logistics services are analysed the level of importance decreases further. Thus, a conflicting attitude is evident between the overall corporate level and the purchasing of transport and logistics services specifically. This suggests that there is potential for improvement especially in the area of green collaboration in buyer and supplier relationships.

Gamification:using gaming mechanics to promote a business

The use of digital games and gamification has demonstrable potential to improve many aspects of how businesses provide training to staff, operate, and communicate with consumers. However, a need still exists for the benefits and potential of adopting games and gamification be effectively communicated to decision-makers across sectors. This article provides a structured review of existing literature on the use of games in the business sector, seeking to consolidate findings to address research questions regarding their perception, proven efficacy, and identify key areas for future work. The findings consolidate evidence showing serious games can have a positive and valuable impact in multiple areas of a business, including training, decision-support, and consumer outreach. They also highlight the challenges and pitfalls of applying serious games and gamification principles within a business context, and discuss the implications of development and evaluation methodologies on the success of a game-based solution.