The pace of business keeps hastening, as advanced technology hypercharges the speed at which data and business opportunities emerge, in addition to increasing the amount and accessibility of those things. Fundamental shifts in market structure have shortened the life cycles of innovation, products, and even executives. CEO tenure in the Fortune 500 has fallen from…

Effective business communication skills are vital to successful co-worker and customer interactions. Both the speaker and the listener share responsibility of making the message clear, but effective communication goes far beyond simple speech and hearing. Body language, tone of voice, word choice, message clarification and communication style all come into play, and can make the…

These are the “Top 10” list of guiding principles for change management. Using these as a systematic, comprehensive framework, executives can understand what to expect, how to manage their own personal change, and how to engage the entire organization in the process. 1. Address the “human side” systematically. Any significant transformation creates “people issues.” New…

The benefits of a strong corporate culture are both intuitive and supported by social science. According to James L. Heskett, culture “can account for 20-30% of the differential in corporate performance when compared with ‘culturally unremarkable’ competitors.” And HBR writers have offered advice onnavigating different geographic cultures, selecting jobs based on culture,changing cultures, and offering…

The right type of good leadership is necessary for any successful business, regardless of its size or industry. Companies can only make progress if good leadership is in place that enables them to move forward. When the leader of a company does not have the required skills, he or she will not be able to effectively…