Gen X( Born 1965-1980) was willing to go along with the Baby Boomer/Jack Welch leadership style. Gen Y or Millennials ( Born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z or Zoomers (Born 1997 – 2012) are very different. Gen Y and Z in the workforce and with the Great Resignation since the pandemic and 2021, we thought it was timely to rethink the Jack Welch style as discussed in our very popular posts on Jack Welch. When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he made the reading of “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall B. Rosenberg compulsory for the top management. Nadella’s predecessor Steve Balmer followed a version of the Jack Welch approach without the candor that Jack promoted at GE.
Category Archives: Diversity
Power did not corrupt Mandela: lesson in leadership
Every leader in business or public life must wonder at the enormous global goodwill and affection on display at the Nelson Mandela funeral today. What was it in Mandela that inspired people worldwide? Mandela was one leader who power did not corrupt. But first some background about the quote ” Power tends to corrupt andContinue reading “Power did not corrupt Mandela: lesson in leadership”
Innovation : tyranny of the Buy Class Relationships in B2B Marketing
The tyranny of buy-class relationships hinders innovation. Buy-classes are a part of the Buy Grid that also considers Buy Phases. The Buy-Grid is an old model of looking at buying decisions in the supply chain. Robinson, Faris and Wind in 1967 (here is a nice summary) came up with the buy-grid to say that organizations have different processes depending on whether the B2B buy was a straight rebuy, modified rebuy or a new buy.
Marketing is about segmenting and diversity is about *not* segmenting
Marketing is all about segmenting so that you have viable “buckets” of customers for whom you can develop product or service offerings, get a reasonable price as you communicate your offering and deliver it without excessive cost. “Stereotyping” is thus at the heart of conventional marketing and it is “stereotyping” that is at the core of diversity issues in organizations.
IBM-CMO Study 2011: Big Data,Social Media,multiple channels and changing demographics
The IBM-CMO Study of 2011 is a pretty large scale study of 1700 CMO (Chief Marketing Officers) in 19 industries and 64 countries. Here are four headlines of the study that re-iterate some of this blog's earlier posts: 1. There is a deluge of data– strikingly 90% of all data in the world was generatedContinue reading “IBM-CMO Study 2011: Big Data,Social Media,multiple channels and changing demographics”
WEF Davos : Capitalism and Democracy try to find balance through CSR
This year (2012) there seems to be a marked and discernible change in this gathering’s tone and tenor. Leaders of both Governments and Businesses seem to realize that becoming richer and richer is probably not enough. This realization as capitalism,democracy and affluence rises worldwide , 1 billion more global middle class by 2020 according to Muhtar Kent of Coca Cola ( see accompanying video). Here is some interesting stuff to think about from happenings at Davos in 2012:
What an 80 year old workforce means for organizations and innovation opportunities
Working till you are 80 years old is not a happy thought, particularly if you want to retire at 65 or 67. But 25% Americans think that they might have no other alternative. From an older worker's point of view not being able to retire is hard as is dealing with the stereotype of beingContinue reading “What an 80 year old workforce means for organizations and innovation opportunities”
Happy 4th of July and a globalized America
At a recent entrepreneurs meeting the speaker mentioned that if you can't succeed in America you can't really succeed anywhere else. The audience which was feeling somewhat down with earlier talk of the slow economy, got galvanized and started making active plans for the next thing they were going to do for their businesses. OnContinue reading “Happy 4th of July and a globalized America”
What has Oprah’s last show got to do with B2B/Supply Chain Relationships? : Validation
Humor aside, one has to give it to Oprah: 25 years, over 4000 shows, millions of fans for a black woman who would have been at the maximum a “school teacher in a segregated school”(by her own words today) has a huge message for business. Oprah said that every one of her thousands of guests over 25 years had only one need. That was a need to be heard,understood and where possible appreciated or validated. This need irrespective of whether they were weak or strong, rich or poor.
What do you know about Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt Benckiser?
I am surprised at the the approach of Bloomberg who seem to somehow underestimate Rakesh Kapoor as a CEO succeeding Bart Becht at Reckitt Benckiser. Normally this blog stays with stuff in the public domain out of respect for privacy. But I guess CEO's of major companies are public figures and this being a timeContinue reading “What do you know about Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt Benckiser?”