View the latest management news[November 2006]In each issue of the newsletter we will review recent articles in the area of management that we feel may be of interest to IMechE members.
We are always looking for interesting contributions, so if you come across an interesting article, why not write a short review and bring it to the attention of colleagues throughout the Institution. All contributions should be sent to the Editor.
Investing in Protection
Director, January 2006, p 35 A short but very relevant article to all of us in the management field. What risk management systems does your company have in place? What about you personally? Close to half of the UK’s SME’s have no contingency plan in place should an incident occur. Chief among the potential problems is the risk of an IT failure. The article suggests an approach based on the following four steps:
Defining your key business practices
Choosing an approach to IT risk management
Deciding whether to adopt off-the-shelf or third party solutions
Keeping pace with technology development and business needs through an evolving IT system and support processes.
The value of a quality risk management system can be priceless. Why not start close to home and don’t forget those back-ups!
Leadership in Organisational Change: Rules for Successful Hiring in
Interim Management
Journal of Change Management, March 2006, Vol 6 No 1, p 35-51
Interim Management is an increasingly commonly heard term in business today. It refers to people brought in to organisations on a temporary basis to manage change issues. The interim managers are usually hired for the specific knowledge and expertise they have that will be aimed at achieving successful organisational change.
Previous work has shown that hiring managers investing time in the interim management process increases the chance of a successful outcome. Unfortunately this happens only rarely. Interim managers are seen as the ‘saviours’ and once hired, the hiring manager leaves them to it. This can have a severe impact on the success of the change project.
The study reported in this paper aimed to identify a set of definitive success and failure criteria associated with interim management. The research was based on 12 case studies in the public sector in the Netherlands.
The authors identified 6 rules that they determined increased the chances of a successful change project. These were that the hiring manager should
Retain control of the interim management project and take careful decisions after
reflection
Be active in the project before the interim manager arrives in the organisation
Make decisions about the hiring of interim managers themselves – taking responsibility
be involved in the development of the plan to address the change project
stay involved during execution of the plan
Be ready to takeover at the conclusion of the project, thus providing continuity and meaning to the process.
The paper gives more detail for each rule and presents small snapshots from the cases to reinforce the arguments made. The conclusion though is clear, don’t hire and stand back to expect success, stay involved.
Multitasking: The next great curse: self-inflicted ADD at work
From the Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada, 7th July 2006
The article points out how easily we are distracted at our work environment, increasingly more so by the means of new information technology such as e-mail and Internet. In today's world we are bombarded by information seeking our attention, therefore we try to multitask and keep 2 or 3 balls in the air at the same time. This affects our work performance, stress levels, fatigue and irritation. Author also points out how different people deal with all this information and manage their time respectively. In conclusion author gives pointers how to get "unplugged" from information flows and manage our time effectively to stay in touch with truly important information while improving our work performance.
This article is available to read online.
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