Book Review- Leadership and Organisation in the Aviation Industry by Marc-Philippe Lumpé

Leadership and Organisation in the Aviation Industry is a dense and well written book about different how different professional cultures interact. The book is based upon a PhD by Marc-Philippe Lumpé. He basis his analysis the GLOBE project and how that relates to the aviation industry The GLOBE project (global leadership and organisational behaviour effectiveness research project incorporated the ILT and HOFSTEDEs dimensions into one unique study. In short it looked at national culture and how different cultures adapt to such things as: uncertainty avoidance, power distance, social collectivism, future orientation etc. The theoretical basis of this book centres around this study and how it helps us understand different national and professional cultures. 

BOOK REVIEW: “Network Advantage: How to Unlock Value From Your Alliances and Partnerships” by Heinrich Greve, Tim Rowley & Andrew Shipilov (2014)

Greve, Rowley and Shiplov have done extensive academic work and research on alliances over the past two decades. According to the authors of Network Advantage, companies have made more than 42,000 alliances in the past ten years. Despite this experience, many of them failed to be successful. This book explains why so many alliances fail and gives advice on how companies can work to ensure that they improve their chances of succeeding when they make alliances. This book is designed to give easier access to some of their research and is written in a style that would most managers of the general public will find easy to understand.

Key words

Network, alliances, corporation, value creation, partnerships

BOOK REVIEW: “From Worst to First” By Gordon Bethune (1999)

The turnaround of continental airlines in the 1980’s is one of the most remarkable stories of the corporate world. The company was set up in 1934 and for decades had been known for quality of its service and the stability and caring of its governance structure. Indeed the CEO Bob Six had actually been CEO of the company from 1936 till 1981. The deregulation of the airline industry by the Carter administration changed all that. Suddenly, Airline companies became caught in a dog fight for market share. In an industry that saw its profits plummeting due to the increase of oil prices and also the lack of barriers to entry in the industry. By the time Gordon Bethune took over in 1994, the company had gone bankrupt already and had gone through 10 leaders in 10 years and looked, to all intents and purposes to be totally doomed.

Drucker Forum 2014 – Launch Event- Second panel- Releasing the creative energies in companies.. Should we change our management models?

The second panel of the day on the topic of “Releasing the creative energies in companies.. Should we change our management models?” was animated by Johan Roos, the Dean and CEO and Professor at Jönköping International Business school. He began by outlining that is was a question of willingness and ability to make changes in society. He then gave each of the 5 members of the panel a 5 minutes introduction to their talk.  

1st EFMD America Conference: Executive Education and the Corporate Perspective

At the 1st EFMD America Conference in Sao Paulo, a panel of corporate experts from  Valor Econômico, Avon, PwC and General Electric animate at lively and informative discussion on the state of education in Brazil and how executive education can help the business world. 

BOOK REVIEW: “Up in the Air” by Greg J. Bamber, Jody Hoffer Gittell, Thomas A. Kochan & Andrew Von Nordenflycht

Airline travel used to be so glamorous, those days are gone. If you think you are having a hard time getting home on another delayed flight, the four authors of this book have a stark warning. The employees are even more fed up than the passengers. Far from the glamorous days of the 60s and 70s, epitomised by Leonardo Di Caprio in “Catch me if you can”. The industry has become known for a series of bankruptcies, low wages and increasingly harder working conditions.

Ian Warner and Federico de Giuli, APRIO, Vancouver, talk to GEM & SFU students about business during Innovation Business Week

Ian Warner and Federico de Giuli, respectively CEO and CIO at APRIO, gave a talk about their business to GEM and SFU students as part of the corporate visits co-organized by both schools on the 11^th of February 2014.

Charlyne Fothergill and Jonathan Bixby, GrowLab, Vancouver, talk to GEM & SFU students about entrepreneurship during Innovation Business Week

A group of 30 students from Grenoble Ecole of Management and Simon Fraser University who are participating in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program which started for the first time this year, were grateful to visit and discover GrowLab accelerator of Vancouver.

“Don’t get smart person’s disease.” says Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox

“They called me ‘The Master of ‘I don’t know!’” confesses Anne Mulcahy with a warm smile. For someone who didn’t know much, she certainly knew how to save one of the world’s largest companies. Ms Mulcahy was appointed CEO of Xerox in August 2001 when the company was in dire straights. Xerox had so dominated the world of photocopying that its name had even become a verb. By the time Ms. Mulchay took over however, this corporate giant was two weeks from bankruptcy. Despite the weight of expectation on her shoulders from the various stakeholders, Ms. Mulcahy claims that leaders should not give the impression that they know all the answers. 

Rick Goings, CEO of Tupperware: “Passion and Purpose are the keys to a successful career.”

At the recent Peter Drucker forum in Vienna, I was lucky enough to catch up with Rick Goings, CEO of the Tupperware Brands Corporation, a multi-brand, multi-category company. The company achieved great success by distinguishing itself through direct sales and its famous Tupperware parties. The company was founded just after the Second World War when it was all about ‘plastics’.  During the 50s, 60s, 70s and early 80s Tupperware went through wonderful years until it hit a wall. But Goings is passionate about the company and since he joined Tupperware in 1992, its fortunes have revived. Today it employs 13 500 people and has revenues of $2.3 billion.