№ 8-9 (033-034), 2005
Summary
Theme of this issue: Proprietors and Managers: How to Apportion Authority and Money?
The issue opens with information about two of the journal's new projects:
— A Laboratory of the social communications of business. Professor Grigory Tulchinsky, Doctor of Philosophy, an expert in social management and business communications, has agreed to take on the function of head of the laboratory.
— A special section “All So Simple, All So Difficult...”. Each issue of the magazine will feature a problem scenario with a question. The following issue will include comments on that problem and will introduce the next one. The magazine is running a competition for the best solutions and invites those wishing to participate to send their entries to the editorial office.
The section will be supervised by PhD in Medicine, Associate Professor Edgar Linchevsky.
Interview with Yelena Sorokina,
General Director of Group of Companies “OST” (Moscow Region)
“CONTROL SHOULD BE LEFT WITH THE OWNER”
Editorial review of the opinions of experts
The Experts (proprietors of organizations) answer the questions:
1. What are the requirements with which a top management team should conform in order to manage a company effectively?
2. Which property management functions should not be delegated to a company's top managers? Why?
3. What problems do you most frequently encounter in your relations with your company's management?
The Experts (managers) answer the questions:
1. Which property management tasks could and should be carried out by top management?
2. What problems in your relations with the company's owners hinder your management of the organization? Why?
3. What powers should a manager possess in order to achieve the desired level of capitalisation of a company?
The Experts (organizational consultants) answer the questions:
1. What problems in agency relations are typical for major Russian companies?
2. How can authority be demarcated between a company's owners and managers, so that the management of property will be effective?
3. What means of motivation for top managers work best in Russian companies?
Sergey Rasskazov, PhD in Mathematics (St. Petersburg)
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: THE “PHOTOS” OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The board of directors is known to be one of the most important mechanisms of corporate governance. The board's structure, authority and specific activity can exert a considerable influence on the functioning of the corporation as a whole. How do national models of boards of directors differ? What factors enable boards of directors to fulfill their functions effectively? A well-known expert gives his view on these problems.
Maxim Skobtsov (St. Petersburg)
THINKING AS PROPRIETOR, OPERATING AS MANAGER
The series of notorious corporate scandals in the USA at the beginning of this decade was to a large extent predictable, on account of the boards' ineffective fulfillment of their functions, affirms this well-known specialist. The activity of boards of directors in American corporations is currently subject to serious reform. This article examines the principal directions of these reforms and the reasons for their potential failure.
Oksana Alekhina, PhD in Economics (Moscow)
WHAT IS «HEALTHY» HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY?
The effective human resource management is impossible without effective human resource policy. On what principles should it be developed? What is “healthy human resource policy”? How is the “health” of human resource policy evaluated?
Maxim Saprin (Moscow)
BOSS AND SUBORDINATE: DO THEY ONLY DREAM OF PEACE?
Conflicts are both the evidence of the existence of serious problems within an organization and at the same time a spontaneous method of solving those problems, if managers do not have the desire or the competence to solve them purposefully. How should one behave in a conflict situation, if the employer represents the other side of the conflict? Should one run for assistance to work colleagues in the event of conflicts?
Rebecca Karlsson, M.A. (Finland)
Kim Wikstrom, Professor (Finland)
MANAGING THE DYNAMIC INTERFACES BETWEEN PROJECTBASED COMPANIES
Companies involved in project activity have now become an integral element in a developed economy. However, significant changes are taking place even in the most project-orientated companies: instead of supplying their clients with a finished product, they are more and more often involved in the “manufacture” of decisions at source, while maintaining an individual approach to each client. In this article, well-known specialists examine the problems of relations between project-orientated companies and their clients.
Maria Rubtsova, PhD in Sociology (St. Petersburg)
MANAGEABILITY IN AN ORGANISATION: FROM DEFINITION TO PROVISION
Nobody would argue with the fact that the manageability (or unmanageability) of employees is an important characteristic in an organization's system of management. Manageability means that the conditions have been created in an organization for the owners to influence the behavior of the managers, and the managers the behavior of the staff. What are these conditions? How are the limits of manageability defined? What is the main indicator of manageability in a company?
Eduard Fiyaksel, PhD in Techniques (Nizhny Novgorod)
PERSONNEL FOR THE RUSSIAN VENTURE BUSINESS
Any Russian business can be called “risk” or “venture”, on account of the constant changes in the rules of the game, thinks the author, the Chairman of the Board of a telecommunications company. In these conditions the training of manager-entrepreneurs who know how to work with risks and to be effective team players assumes particular importance. What should this training consist of? How much of it should be theoretical study and how much practical activity? You can find the answers in this article.
Vyacheslav Shevtsov (Moscow)
SERVICES OF ONE-OFF ORDERS? BETTER TO OUTSOURSING
What is service of one-off orders? What benefits do they promise the client company and what are the risks that may be encountered? Why has service of one off orders not developed to such an extent in Russia today as it has in Western countries? Answers to these questions are suggested by the head of a company that provides such a service to Russian companies.
Irina Vizirova (Tyumen)
HEARD-RENDING ROMANCE OR, ONCE MORE ABOUT OWNER — MANAGER RELATIONS
Vyacheslav Ardentov (St. Petersburg)
SMART WORDS. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SELLER AND CUSTOMER
A good salesman, whatever he is selling, will never ask a customer "How may I help you?". That question is most likely to be evidence of the salesman's inexperience and the low efficiency of his work, in the opinion of this well-known consultant. Since any business deal depends above all on the relationship between the protagonists, a good salesman is the one who understands the customer's problem, analyses it and helps to resolve it effectively. You can find out about the mechanisms of the interaction between salesman and customer in this article.
Norma M. Riccucci, Professor (Newark, USA)
BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
In modern conditions the social capital of a company is more often seen as the element of its assets on which depend, to a large extent, the effectiveness of its activity as a whole and its relations with the environment in particular. In addition, in the conditions of a 21st century organization, in which people of different races, nationalities and religions work together, the creation and accumulation of social capital can lead to serious difficulties. A well-known expert offers her point of view on the strategy for the creation and management of a company's social capital.
Valeria Terentieva (Moscow)
MOTIVATIONAL TRAINING: “...THE TRUTH IS SOMEWHERE HERE”
The consequences of a poorly chosen or unprofessionally run training programme can be considerably more serious than the majority of managers and HR specialists suppose, affirms the author, the HR manager of a well-known company. A particular role in making training effective is undoubtedly played by the trainer. What is a good trainer? A good trainer is one is able to see the potential of the trainees and give them confidence in their own abilities. Why? You will find the answer in this article.
Vladislav Tolkach (Moscow)
CONTROLLING — GERMAN CONCEPTION WITH WORLDWIDE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
An essential attribute of a successful western company today is a controlling. What is controlling? Is it a “fashion” or a necessity connected with the specifics of modern management? What effect can it have on company’s performance? The well-known expert examines the essence and significance of controlling for the success of a company.
Yelena Sharafanova, PhD in Economics, Professor (St. Petersburg)
SPECIAL FACTORS IN THE MOTIVATION OF HOTEL STAFF
Is it difficult to achieve a high level of motivation among employees in the hotel business? It certainly is, especially considering that the national peculiarities of the Russian character have to be adapted to world standards of service, claims the author, a well-known specialist. What role can non-financial rewards play in the solution of this problem? What types of reward may be particularly effective? The analysis of the specifics of HR management in the hotel business continues.
Experts answer the following questions:
What are the key stimuli in the motivation of hotel managers?
What does the loyalty/disloyalty of hotel staff depend on?
Is it possible to speak of specific "Russian" characteristics for motivating staff in the country's hotels?
Is it possible to speak of specific characteristics for motivating hotel staff in various countries and regions of the world?
What role do nonmaterial stimuli play in the motivation of hotel staff?
The Experts:
Anna Amosova, Hotel National (Moscow);
Ekaterina Garanina, PhD in Pedagogic, AMAKS grand hotels (Moscow);
Alexander Lesnik, Hotel Consulting and Development Group (Moscow).
Edgar Linchevsky, PhD in Medicine, Associate Professor (St. Petersburg)
HOW TO GET RID OF LATENESS ONCE AND FOR ALL
Many employers and managers consider that lateness for work is a serious breach of labour discipline. But are the losses caused by lateness always really so great? Is the employer's reaction to an employee's lateness always adequate? In fact — thinks the author of this article, a well-known psychologist and consultant — the conflicts that arise in the process of fighting against lateness can often cause greater losses than the lateness itself.
In the Information Section of the Journal
CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS.
Interesting events in the world of HR.
WHAT'S NEW AND INTERESTING?
A press review, compiled by recruiters.
WHAT TO READ?
An editorial review of new books.
THE AUTHORS AND EXPERTS IN THIS ISSUE. INDEX OF ORGANISATIONS.
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