Management in Practice
How do you sell steel?
How does a manufacturing company in Baltimore thrive selling steel around the world? Titan Steel Corporation keeps manufacturing jobs in the U.S. by continually adapting to shifting suppliers and customers as macro trends and exchange-rate shifts alter the global competitive landscape.
How will healthcare reform change the economy?
The highly contentious healthcare reform act passed in 2010 is being implemented over the next several years. Businesses, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to global corporations, are struggling to understand how it will affect them. Two healthcare experts with direct experience of policymaking and business decision making discuss what’s ahead.
Where should our trash go?
There's a recycling bin on every doorstep, as cities push to recycle as much solid waste as possible. But Lanny Hickman, the former executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, says that we should think of recycling as just one more way to remove solid waste, with its own costs and benefits. He argues that we waste an opportunity by not converting more of our garbage into electricity.
When do you know you're a leader?
Two accomplished graduates of Yale SOM talk about their transitions to leadership roles with Amy Wrzesniewski, associate professor of organizational behavior.
Can design thinking reshape an esteemed institution?
As chair of medicine at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Nicholas LaRusso started a small experiment to see whether teams of doctors and designers could redesign the way healthcare is experienced and delivered. After introducing the design world's rapid prototyping approach to test potential changes to waiting rooms or integration of technology, he found himself heading the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation promoting innovation throughout the institution.
Can you lead from the middle of a big corporation?
Managers from four global companies talk about how they launched social and environmental innovations within massive organizations.
What keeps the world's ships going?
Global trade is heavily dependent on the world's fleet of cargo ships, which carry everything from oil to iPads. Shipping operators in turn depend on specialized financing to stay in business. Scott Lewallen '89, global head of shipping finance for SEB Merchant Bank, describes how this little-noticed industry keeps globalization sailing ahead.
Have you paid a bribe?
Corruption gums up the workings of a market economy—making legal activity less efficient, degrading the quality of institutions, and disadvantaging those who would behave ethically. A website in India aims to use the tools of social networking to start the wheels of positive change.
What's the Google approach to human capital?
Google's success depends on sustaining both generative chaos and precision output. Laszlo Bock, who heads the internet giant's human resources function—which it calls "People Operations"—talks about how it encourages employees to participate in running the company and builds effective teams.
Do teams need leaders?
The team is an indispensable component of the modern organization. Harvard professor Richard Hackman outlines how leaders can set up teams for success.
