Blog

In 2011, the key people skills managers need remain constant, whatever industry you are in. By Karalyn Brown

It's 2011 and Australia has significant parts of its economy moving at two speeds. If you're looking to expand, you'll be looking at ways to retain key staff as talent shortages bite. If you're still struggling you're probably considering how to ask an already stretched and tired team to do more with less.

John Ballard, CEO of Mercy Health, talks about the changes they are making in managing a diverse, and overwhelmingly female, workforce.

By Darren Baguley

Ask most CEOs about their role, their goals for the company and they'll talk in terms of being the number one player or doubling the business in five years. They're hard, number related goals.

Ask CEO of Mercy Health, John Ballard, the same question and he starts talking about stewardship and social justice.

While there may be many reasons behind the increase of women launching out on their own in business, all start with a brilliant idea and buckets of gumption. Here, 20 female entrepreneurs talk about what it takes and why it's not for everyone. By Cameron Cooper.

Pricing is an issue for all organisations. Ron Wood outlines the common mistakes and the key areas to focus on when developing a pricing strategy. How many meetings have you recently attended where pricing strategy, aggressive competitors and customers' procurement techniques were an issue? On top of this, your finance team is reporting margin contraction across a range of key products and customer groups, yet revenues are actually higher than last year. What could be the problem?

It may surprise that, since about 1995, one-third of all small businesses in Australia have been launched and operated by women. There are many more woman entrepreneurs out there than yesteryear, making their mark in the industries you'd expect, and many you may not.

Increasing business complexity and uncertainty requires an effective approach to solving important problems. By Geoffrey Coffey

In today's organisations there is little doubt that high complexity and uncertainty abound. Increasingly, leaders are faced with a raft of complex problems that defy simple solution.

There are two broad approaches to dealing with high complexity. The first aims to reduce complexity to a manageable level. The second, when complexity cannot be reduced, is to deal with it directly.

A good induction program can make all the difference. Louis White talks to the experts about how to make your new hires feel welcome.

We have all waited with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety for the first day of a new job, and with it, the employee induction.

The induction can range from the simple - "There's a desk, you'll pick it up as you go" - to a full-on program of briefings involving videos, HR manuals, fire safety drills and meetings with key staff, including the CEO.

Working in an industry you are passionate about is the lot of too few. Chris Murray of creative house Neon Group is one. By Josie Gagliano

When Chris Murray speaks of his work, the enthusiasm flows; it's positively infectious. He is the Co-Director of The Neon Group, a range of companies that produce film and online content, undertake projects such as launches and marketing events, can do multidisciplinary creative design, and provide professional studio facilities. He's a busy man.

An upfront strategy to engage with clients during the GFC was successful for Unisys. Leanne Ward believes the company's strong links to end-user needs helped pave the way for such collaboration. By Jason Day.

When the global financial crisis really emerged in late 2007 and early 2008, the first instinct for most was one of protection. Whether it was margins, market share, sales levels, customer retention - and the rest of what makes businesses survive or not - companies battened down hatches.

Inevitably, the business landscape has altered dramatically in the past 12 months. Management Today analyses 10 of the top issues facing managers as we move into 2011. By Chris Sheedy.

1. Two-speed economy

Australia weathered the financial storm better than most, but there are still areas of risk and reward. It's all part of the two-speed economy that Associate Professor Nick Wailes, Associate Dean of Executive Education at the University of Sydney, says we have always had.