Keywords for this post: business plans
BusinessWeek is usually a good read. This week is no exception. I confess to being old fashioned, and I prefer the hard copy edition. When I settled down in my comfy chair this week, my eyes got glued to all the great innovative ideas they had come up with. I had seen some of them before, but seeing them all in one edition was an eye popper. Things like:
Walt Disney's mentorship program teams newbies with old timers. The newbies teach the old timers about emerging technology; and old times teach the newbies the ropes. Great results. And it trains the next generation of leaders very effectively.
Technology that will allow companies to track suppliers' product liability issues through its manufacturing process.
A budget cutting committe that excluded top management.
Best Buy takes employees out of their regular environment and has them spend up to ten weeks in total immersion together, living together, thinking together, inventing together.
Cisco has created multiple "headquarters" to emphasize its global reach.
Stuffy old IBM sends employees on Peace Corps - like jaunts to underdeveloped countries. They had over 5,000 applicants for 300 positions.
Zappos is notorious for its open management style, even setting aside desks for suppliers and openly sharing all stats and financials with them.
Creating shareholders out of fabric weavers in India, helping some earn over $100,000 a year.
Some of it is really scary, like measuring employee's effectiveness via computer. (I'm sorry, but computers still cannot measure good will.)
There was lots more. It is so refreshing to see so many great ideas flourishing, even in challenging economic times, that I just had to share this with you. Read it. It will lift your spirits.
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