Articles

Large, loosely organized groups of people can work together electronically in surprisingly effective ways.

Customer-centricity may sound like a good idea. But a new breed of companies focuses instead on getting the customer to comply with a company's systems.

What it means when people who grew up with technology in their hands become the heart of a workforce--and what it means if managers don't understand them.

Information technology matters when a company works backward from the value it wants to create.

In a global economy, sustained competitive advantage arises from tackling social, political and environmental issues as part of a corporate strategy.

Should coworkers have sex with each other? Should employers try to stop them? The answer to the first question is that the question isn't worth answering--because office romance is inevitable anyway. The answer to the second is more interesting. And due to recent shifts in the legal climate, for companies, it's also more scary. There is a misunderstanding at the epicenter of the office romance debate, even as it attracts increasing scrutiny due to famous examples such as the recent episode involving CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman" host. Contrary to some commonly misread signals, managers are not interested in stamping out employee dating. However, sexual relationships and romances change office dynamics in potentially problematic ways, presenting legal challenges such as allegations about sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, and those challenges need to be managed skillfully This article explores the changing legal and managerial landscape regarding office romance, and explains what practices companies should take to avoid trouble.

The country's largest corporations have hit a road bump on their way toward factoring sustainability into their transportation choices. Despite pressures from customers and investors--and the prospect of evervolatile energy costs--just 9% of Fortune 500 companies include environmental goals in their public documents. A study of those 44 companies reveals some of the best practices that can help a business go the distance, ultimately working with its partners to rethink its entire transportation infrastructure. Companies must demonstrate three distinct levels of integration before they can embed the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into their transportation strategies: establishing a foundation (acknowledging the problem), changing internal company practices (building an environmentally aware culture) and impacting supply chain practices (such as better vehicle utilization or more efficient routing). Within these categories, the tactics need to be measured by carefully calibrated metrics that can track both environmental and financial progress. As employees begin adapting their own decision making to the new priority--by, for instance, choosing videoconferencing instead of traveling--executives should spread such success stories, reinforcing the institutional preference.

Andrew McAfee's new book looks at Enterprise 2.0 tools as a way to span organizational networks.

Ads that complement online content can be effective — but not if they rouse consumers' privacy concerns.

What role does reputation play in a R&;D worker's decision whether or not to share knowledge with a colleague? To study this question, the authors surveyed more than 200 scientists in 63 different pharmaceutical companies. The authors' findings suggest that, even among R&;D workers in the same company, information is not always shared freely. Instead, a potential knowledge source's assessment of a knowledge seeker's reputation affected whether or not information was offered. The authors found that a variety of factors affect scientists' assessment of a colleague's reputation. Not surprisingly, the duration of two parties' past interaction was positively related to the likelihood of current knowledge sharing occurring between them. Also, proximity influenced how positively reputations were perceived. But, if the person seeking information was already indebted to the potential knowledge source, knowledge sharing was less likely to occur. In addition, the study found that scientists are more likely to share information with a colleague in the same company if the know-how is unique and vital to accomplishing a task.