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The word on everyone's lips these last few weeks has been "uncertainty". As the world waits to see how the international dispute over Iraq unfolds, the stock market, consumers and investors are retrenching, while companies are at an impasse. What can managers do in turbulent times such as these? And what if the uncertainty is not due to the war?
In our March edition we delve into some aspects of strategic management, employment policies and people management that are changing in this new millenium. Aside from the question of whether or not there will be a war, uncertainty is emerging as the prevailing trend in all these areas. And managers must be ready to deal with it. Reading the reports featured in this edition of IESE Insight may be a good way to start.
We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the IESE Insight portal is now available in Spanish as well as in English. If you wish, you may change your registration details to register in Spanish or to subscribe in both languages.
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Leadership, Strategy and Change |
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Strategy in Turbulent Environments |
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| Adrián Caldart, Joan Enric Ricart |
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The changes in the business landscape are becoming ever more acute and unpredictable. Amidst such uncertainty, what strategy is best: plan diligently for the long term, or develop new capabilities to brave the perils of instability and disorder? In this technical note, IESE professor Joan Enric Ricart and doctoral candidate Adrián Caldart analyse the pros and cons of these two options and invite us to reflect on the challenge of managing "on the edge of chaos" as the new paradigm for strategy. 
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Business Ethics |
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Developing Values in Individuals and Organizations |
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| Antonio Argandoña |
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| "Values" became a buzzword following the terrorist attacks of September 11, which some people considered to be a direct assault on all Western values. In the business world, values remain an important facet of business ethics and organization theory. Yet, the definition of values and their role in the workplace are still under debate. Here are ways to clear up the confusion and to foster values both within individuals and organizations.
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Corporate Social Responsibility |
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A Job for Life? |
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| Antonio Argandoña, Jordi Gual |
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| Traditional employment institutions in Western Europe are in serious trouble and may not be equal to the challenges of the new century: that much is clear. In light of the trends in the economic environment (global interaction, increasing role of IT, aging populations), the participants at IESE's 6th Conference on Job Creation chose to assess the validity of the 20th century labor model as a foundation for the future. Their contributions, brought together in the book The Social Dimension of Employment: Institutional Reforms in the Labor Markets, analyze the complex relationships between the economic and non-economic aspects of labor institutions at various levels.
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Finance |
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Measuring Risk in Emerging Markets |
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| Javier Estrada |
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| There is a growing debate over how to measure risk in emerging markets. While the CAPM model has been widely used for the last 30 years, many academics and professionals are now arguing against it, claiming that it is not the best way to estimate required returns on equity in emerging markets. This article, published in Emerging Markets Review, discusses the merits of an alternative measure of risk, the downside beta, and an alternative pricing model called the D-CAPM.
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Leadership, Strategy and Change |
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How Subsidiaries of Multinationals Are Fighting for Power |
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| Carlos Garcia-Pont, Fabricio Noboa |
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| In multinational corporations, the central headquarters tend to steal the spotlight away from the far-flung subsidiaries, even though subsidiaries are a key part of any global operation. In today's high-pressure environment, with a strong trend towards centralization, many subsidiaries are losing resources and capabilities. This paper explains how one subsidiary in the automotive components industry is using its valuable network of contacts to stay ahead.
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Marketing |
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Tell Me What You Consume and I'll Tell You What You Are |
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| Ercilia García Álvarez, Jordi López Sintas |
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The cultural products we consume can say who we are or who we would like to be, to which group we belong, what our identity is. In their article "Omnivores Show up Again: The Segmentation of Cultural Consumers in Spanish Social Space", Jordi López Sintas of Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and Ercilia García Álvarez of IESE analyze the stratification of cultural product consumption in Spain. They discover four segments of consumers based on their cultural lifestyle: the no cultural activity class, the popular class, the highbrow class, and the omnivore class.
The article was published in European Sociological Review (18-3) in 2002.
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Organizations and People |
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Flexible Work-Arrangements at Procter & Gamble: A Cultural Clash |
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| Steven Poelmans |
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| In 1998, Procter & Gamble discovered an alarming trend in its offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Its employees, especially women, expressed complained of a lack of balance between their personal and work lives. To better meet their needs, the company decided to offer flexible work arrangements. This case study explains the ins and outs of the flexibility program and the factors that caused it to eventually falter.
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(c) IESE 2003 | Please click here to unsubscribe from IESE Insight Newsletter
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