Blog

Skills, dedication and commitment. Federal Court Judge Annabelle Bennett is an achiever in a profession where the stakes are high. By Georgina Jerums

Over the past few years, a whole era of young managers has been asked to shoulder often huge responsibilities. 

Good leaders nowadays, says Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer, Dr David Bradford, don't need to have all the answers. But a willingness to embrace change is imperative. By Isaac Wilson

Defined as a decade of political, social and cultural revolution, the '60s were synonymous with change.

The movement away from the conservative '50s first took flight as idealistic and dissatisfied children from the postwar baby boom entered their young adult and teenage years.

If a booming economy presented myriad challenges for Australia's managers, then the subsequent global economic turmoil is hardly going to be the time to look for a reprieve. Looking ahead to the top challenges that managers can expect to face in 2009 - whether it be the state of the economy, the importance of strong leadership or the ongoing skills shortage - the issues are intertwined, making it virtually impossible to consider one without the other.

CEO of Heinz Australia Peter Widdows credits changes in organisational culture for making Heinz a better company. By Jason Day

'Quality is to a product what character is to a man'. So said the co-founder of the H.J. Heinz Company, the American Henry John Heinz.

In common, no doubt, with the inhabitants of other countries in which its brands reside, Heinz products have fed Australian toddlers, sustained hungry students through university, been a staple of kitchen cupboards for quick meals, and adorned the tops of millions of meat pies.

The ideal of lengthy, considered and purely rational decision making is not only unattainable but unworkable, says Dr Ken Hudson. You've got to keep the emotion in.

Frank Lowy, self-made billionaire and co-founder of the Westfield Group, was recently quoted in BOSS magazine saying, "I don't need long interviews to hire staff. I can sum up in five minutes whether I will be able to work with someone."

Good managers act on hard facts not flimsy stereotypes or the latest trend, argues Stanford University's management myth buster, Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. By Georgina Jerums

It's late afternoon in San Francisco and Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer from Stanford's Graduate School of Business is on the phone in his home office, looking out over his garden where shadows are lengthening in the fading sunlight. Holding court about where managers trip up, when the chat turns to business trends, Pfeffer lets fly.

New technologies are crossing over into mainstream organisations quicker than ever. Chris Sheedy looks into the systems and gadgets that are giving leading companies the edge.

On April Fools' Day around five years ago a major Australian metropolitan newspaper ran an ad spruiking a website that people could visit in order to download free electricity for use around their home. The website crashed several times because so many users surfed in to claim their free electricity.

Melbourne Health CEO Linda Sorrell aims to fix the organisation's fiscal woes by 2009. The prognosis? The former nurse and 2007 Telstra Victorian Business Woman of the Year is on target to do just that. By Georgina Jerums For many, taking up the CEO role at an organisation that's carrying a $13.3 million deficit would provoke an "er, thanks, but I'll pass" response. Particularly when that organisation is in public health and under the intense scrutiny of government. Poisoned chalice alert, right? Well, no, not everyone sees it like that.

At its core, engaging with a futurist is an attempt by business to discover new choices for the future. By Ann-Maree Moodie

"If you spend part of the work week in an interim management role or running your own consultancy, and the remainder serving on a board or two, chances are you refer to yourself as a 'portfolio' worker." - Charles Handy.