DECISION MAKING

On the Shoulders of Giants : Lindblom on Decision Making

-- Timothy L Wilson

This year we look back to a seminal paper by Charles Lindblom. He recognized that complex problems do not have clear objectives and thus in the real world explicit evaluations, comprehensive overviews and quantified values for analyses are impossible. Consequently, decision makers `muddle through' some important decisions. This muddling is explored and several observations from Swedish field studies are cited. The applicability to low understanding/incremental change situations suggest it may be used in a broad number of decisions and thus we might benefit by becoming better practitioners of the approach.

© 2009 Timothy L Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

COVER FEATURE

"We pride ourselves on our ability to collaborate and to bring key partners together - in the government, industry, and academia."

- - Stephen Lund

Stephen Lund is the President and CEO of Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), the agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment to the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. He and his team sell Nova Scotia to the world and bring the world to Nova Scotia. Before joining NSBI, Stephen was Vice-President of Working Ventures Canadian Fund, Canada's largest national venture capital firm. Throughout his career, he has also led an offshore mutual fund administration company and a lease financing company. He has graduated from St. Francis Xavier University, and holds an MBA from Queen's University. He has also completed executive courses at Queen's and Harvard.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

How Strategic is IT Investment in Construction Industry? : A UK Perspective

-- Eric Choen Weng LOU

Evidence suggests that construction organizations have repeatedly failed to exploit the benefits of IT to capitalize on strategic opportunities and leverage competitive advantages. This article reports the analysis of a survey that was undertaken to assess the awareness and understanding of the senior executives and IT directors of the UK's top contractors and consultants on three core areas: The strategic benefits of IT; The realization of benefits through skills, business process and IT strategies; the investment decision drivers, new technologies, organization e-readiness and financial returns.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

MANAGEMENT

International Negotiation Strategies

-- Sumati Reddy

This article provides a perspective on international negotiation strategies and explains how their application differs based on contextual and process-related factors. The context of a nation comprises political, regulatory, legal, economic, and social factors. International negotiators need to be aware of these factors and how they will have a bearing on the negotiation. In general, these factors affect the nature of power balances and the style of negotiation. The process of negotiation is something which the negotiators have more scope in managing since every deal is different from the other.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

MANAGEMENT

Global Meltdown : Looking Beyond the Financial Prism

-- Venkata Subramanian

The global meltdown in 2008 has left behind a deep and indelible devastation for everyone. What started off as a simple mortgage loan crisis spread its tentacles around the globe. It is time we went beyond numbers and looked at the crisis not just via the financial prism but beyond it. Bad decision making coupled with lax governance and inefficient risk management caused the 2008 catastrophe. CEOs and business leaders have an important task ahead of them—to ensure that their organizations do not act as contributories to similar tsunamis in the future. It is time we went `back to basics' and revisit the principles of `agency theory' and `moral hazard' and renourish our decision-making systems, governance systems and monitoring systems.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

HR

Recruitment : The Emerging Challenges

-- Indranil Banerjee

Recruitment, a fundamental HR function, has recently shifted from routine rituals to a strategic initiative of image-building drive for the organization. The value system, competitor's maneuvers, legislation and increasing technology interventions have brought new challenges to the fore. The HR is facing difficulty to deliver right people at the right time, in right volume, with the ongoing talent crunch. To keep the function cost-effective, the source of recruitment is a vital issue, which is largely dependent on selection of the right sourcing partners. This article highlights those inherent challenges.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

TELECOM

Vodafone : Sarin Signing Off in Style

-- P S Sarath Chandra

With the global economic downturn looming large on both sides of the Atlantic, we might have seen the best of Vodafone. Sarin is one of the few lucky CEOs to ride the wave and come out with reputation intact.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

ECONOMY

Global Financial Crisis : Impact and Strategies

-- Sumeet Gupta

Global financial crisis has had a great impact on the Indian economy. Two famous names of Wall Street i.e., Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have disappeared. This as well as the subprime crisis has also led to the problem of shortage of money supply in the Indian financial system. The Indian economy cannot remain aloof from the same situation causing it to suffer by bearish trend. This article analyzes the impact of global financial crisis on the major sectors of the economy and also enumerates strategies that can be implemented to combat this effect.

© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

CASE STUDY

The Motorola Split : Heralding a New Approach?

-- Doris John and P Florence Nightingale

Headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois (US), Motorola Inc. (Motorola), is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. The company maintained its leadership position in areas such as broadband, embedded electronic products, automotive communications and wireless technologies. Motorola is known for its innovation in communication and to deliver next-generation communication solutions to consumers and businesses. With more competition from other handset manufacturers, the company witnessed decrease in its market share and sales. To overcome these problems, the company aimed at organizational changes and planned to split the company into two divisions as broadband and mobility solutions business, and the handset division.

© 2009 IRC . All Rights Reserved.

SHORT BOOK REVIEW

Role of the CEO: Managing Beyond Matrix , Employee Downsizing: An Introduction

-- Editors: Pramod Rao and Simantee Sen Editor: Sumati Reddy