Blog

Can the economy's boom continue? Will the skills shortage ease? Can we live with our sluggish technology platform? Will the rich–poor divide widen? Important issues confront Australia in 2008. Four respected business leaders were quizzed on the key economic, education, social/environmental and technology issues facing the nation next year. By Cameron Cooper

The economy

Form or fashion? It's a personal thing, but Chris Beer of Sunglass Hut is riding the wave of a boom in global demand for luxury accessories. By Jason Day

Sunglasses are one icon for a modern age. Most of us have a pair, although the reasons for doing so vary. Athletes use them to cut glare, celebrities or security types wouldn't be caught dead without them, while sensitive eyes are covered for medical reasons.

For Australian companies, there are advantages and opportunities to be had in outsourcing business components overseas. By Louise White

Outsourcing is becoming a vital component of many business practices around the world. As companies strive to increase their bottom line profits without adding to the burden on expenditure, they have to find more efficient ways of conducting business.

As workers request more flexibility in work practice, balancing greater staff autonomy and operational soundness will be a crucial issue for managers to address. By Bina Brown

Taking delivery of new and discounted personal information managers (PIMs) made available through a special employer offer, excited bank staff at one of the big four immediately set about synchronising them with their desktop computers.

Diane Grady, full-time non-executive board member with some of Australia's top companies, believes good boards achieve an effective balance between competing pressures. By Jennifer Alexander

Currently on the board of directors of Woolworths Ltd and Bluescope Steel, Diane Grady has been a full-time independent board director since 1994, following being a partner at McKinsey & Co where she consulted on strategic and organisational issues. Grady talks here about a board's role, governance and being an effective board member.

Governance has shot up the corporate agenda in recent times, but what is driving it and where is it all headed? By Ann-Maree Moodie

It's often said of corporate governance that change takes time to achieve, but once started, the pace of improvement tends to increase exponentially.

Six years ago, the key issues facing Australian boardrooms were how directors were recruited and whether the board's performance should be assessed. However, directors were keen to keep the doors of the boardroom firmly closed.

The company secretary is often seen as the key source of corporate knowledge in organisations. Australand's Bev Booker talks to Management Today about her role in ensuring good governance.

In an era where governance is high on the corporate agenda and transparency is a part of doing business, it is natural that the company secretary is viewed as adviser, mentor and arbiter of what is acceptable, and what is not.

A board with an eye on the governance ball might have prevented the $300 million scandal that engulfed the AWB, Australia's monopoly wheat marketing company. By Derek Parker

As business undergoes rapid transformation in the global era, organisational culture is more than ever the key to long-term success. By Cameron Cooper

For Ann Herrmann-Nehdi, memories of her childhood are a far cry from the usual ice-creams, soft drinks, playing and games after school.
Her father Ned, a celebrated physicist, would often hook up electrodes to Ann’s head for an electroencephalograph, or EEG, to measure her brainwaves as part of his research.