Our Compensation Principles & Beliefs

Over the years, I have frequently spoken out against companies that preach a “we’re-all-in-this-together” ethos while tolerating Austrian-Afghanistan disparities in executive-employee pay. But I have offered little in the way of a real-world solution...

Inventing the Future of Management: Part 5

A conversation with Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt Here are outtakes from my notes on Eric Schmidt’s talk at the Future of Management conference (see Part 4): “The culture defines the outcome,” in reference to the products and services Google...

Inventing the Future of Management: Part 4

Maximizing the Organization’s Potential A discussion with W. L. Gore CEO Terri Kelly Last week, at Gary Hamel’s Future of Management conference (see Part 3), I had a chance to sit down with Terri Kelly, CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates. While Gore, the...

Inventing the Future of Management: Part 3

All of the attendees at Gary Hamel’s conference on management innovation were assembled in one room (see Part 2). The entire group engaged in a dialogue during the day’s first few hours. It was quite amazing that 35 highly opinionated people could (for the...

Inventing the Future of Management: Part 2

It is impossible to describe all of the conversations at Gary Hamel’s conference on management innovation (see Part 1). The dialogue ranged from questions on whether we had the right language to describe how to drag management into the 21st century; is...

Inventing the Future of Management: Part 1

A few months ago, I received an unusual invitation. It began with, “Permit me to introduce myself. I’m Professor of Strategic Management at the London Business School, the Director of the Management Lab, and an author (Competing for the Future, The Future...

Does Being Ethical Pay?

Recently the Wall Street Journal explored one aspect of this perennial question. Will consumers pay more for products they believe are ethically superior to regular products or even products produced in an unethical fashion? I have known the answer to this question...

On the Road Again

I hate leaving home on Sunday afternoons. The weekend is short enough as it is. With spring in Vermont in full bloom, and my daughter home from college, I was sad to be taking off. My week began with a Monday morning speech at the Front End of Innovation conference,...

Blood on Their Hands

Recently the New York Times reviewed The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, by Steven Greenhouse, a reporter for the newspaper. The book, published by Knopf last week, examines how companies like Fed Ex and Walmart bleed workers to reap hundreds of...