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Volume 4,
Issue 4 |
April, 2002 |
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ã 2002 Hopkins and Company, LLC Note re: links---certain
hyperlinks assume that you are registered as a subscriber to the site. If you
are not a subscriber to certain sites, the links will fail. If you register,
the links should work. Also, certain hyperlinks expire and may not be
available when you try to go to the site. Unwelcome PartnersWhen mutual interests
exist, partnerships thrive. Over time, the expectations partners have for
each other tend to become clear and consistent, and any betrayal by a partner
can lead to severe damage to all partners in the relationship. Sometimes,
contract terms prepare the parties for terms of separation or dissolution;
other times, surprising behavior changes what will happen next for the
partners. It’s certainly clear that the action or behavior of one partner has
an impact on other partners. As you read about the spate of partnerships that
have faced critical junctures in recent weeks, think about your own
expectations of your different partners, and their expectations of you. The top
and bottom book ratings in this month’s issue provide an interesting
contrast. Two four-star ratings appear among the fourteen books rated. Joseph
Badaracco’s Leading
Quietly presents an image of leadership that we rarely find in the press
(although the Soft Touch article on page 3 may point toward an emerging
trend). We finally finished reading David McCullough’s John
Adams, and recommend it highly. At the other extreme, Larry Weber’s
The
Provocateur earned our first DNR rating of 2002 (do not read). Shocks, Bonds and Options How will you know when the show is over as far as your contribution is concerned? If you have a partner whose talents no longer fit the role being performed, what happens? Fly Away Airlines have used the
services of independent travel agents for many years to distribute airline
tickets and packages. Convoluted pricing structures, increased use of
technology, and the popularity of loyalty programs have been changing the
dynamics of air travel for years. We read in The Wall Street Journal
(3/15/02) (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1016134620776764560.djm,00.html) that while agents are still used for
three-quarters of the tickets issued for airlines, Delta announced
that it would no longer pay base commissions to travel agents issuing its
tickets. Since then, other airlines followed. Agents have reacted negatively;
some have stopped handling refunds or exchanges of Delta tickets. Around six
months ago, Continental and Northwest stopped paying
commissions on tickets purchased online. Following that announcement, large
online ticketing agents negotiated with airlines for providing different
services. Will travel agents charge fees directly to consumers for the
service they provide? Will airlines add to their costs by providing more
services that agents have been performing? If travel agents no longer provide
valued service, why are they still used for issuing so many tickets? Stay
tuned. In your
business partnerships, what determines where costs are best located, and from
whom payments are most appropriately made? How vulnerable is your business to
the influence of distributors and agents? Whose interests do “your” agents
represent? What changes reduce the value you and your organization provide
for your business partners? How will you respond to these changes? Disney Magic Who felt more out of the loop, Ted Koppel, or ABC News
head David Westin, when they found out that ABC’s owner, Disney,
had been negotiating with CBS star David Letterman to switch
teams and move his show, Late Night, to ABC to replace Koppel’s program, Nightline? We’ve all heard the
expression “need to know.” Disney executives may have expected Koppel and
Westin to know about the flagging fortunes of the company, and that a
moneymaker like Letterman would be a path to the recovery of profits. Koppel
took the high ground in a New York Times letter (3/5/02) (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/05/opinion/05KOPP.html)
and expressed reason and understanding for why the company would want to
pursue Letterman. He made one complaint: against the anonymous ABC executive
who told a reporter that Nightline lost its relevance. Koppel disagreed, and called
attention to the higher costs of recreating the show should that executive
deem it relevant in the future. While Disney CEO Michael Eisner has
called Koppel to indicate support, the damage to the news division and Koppel
has been done, and will be hard to repair.
Do individuals in your organization compete openly or covertly with one another? What methods do you use to determine the relative value of different contributors to the success of your organization? How well have you communicated your appreciation for the contributions of the individuals who report to you? When you emphasize or de-emphasize certain departments, how well do you manage the impact of the change on the total organization? Senior and “Other”
Partners When a partnership gets large, as with some professional service
organizations like law firms and accountants, a small group of senior
partners are charged with decision making, and the “other” partners carry out
their work in the framework established by the decision makers. Most
professionals have assumed that federal workplace rules against
discrimination do not apply to partnerships, since the partners are owners,
not employees. We read in The New York Times (3/10/02) (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/10/business/yourmoney/10EXLI.html)
that an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
into a 1999 decision by law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood to
demote 32 partners may lead to changes in how partnerships treat partners.
The EEOC opines that partners in name aren’t necessarily owners if a small
group of senior partners make all the important decisions. There may have
been age discrimination involved when Sidley demoted these 32 partners. It
should come as no surprise that Sidley disagrees with the EEOC. It’s early to
tell what impact this investigation will have on Sidley or on other partnerships. What kind of partner are you? What partnership rights have you voluntarily ceded to other partners? How vulnerable are you to the decisions of other partners? How clearly do you and your partners discuss performance and other mutual expectations? Soft Touch Hard Results The behavior of a new
generation of CEOs is discussed in an interesting article in Business Week (3/21/02) (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2002/nf20020321_1042.htm).
Pfizer CEO Henry A.
McKinnell posted his own performance review on the company
intranet for all employees to see his results, warts and all. Here’s a quote
about General Electric’s leadership: “While customers and employees
revered Jack Welch, they love Immelt. It's no wonder: The new
CEO likes to make people feel worthwhile. Welch, by comparison, liked to
catch them out and, if they were weak, let them know it.” EDS Chairman
and CEO Richard H. Brown said, “The soft stuff drives the hard
results.” Watch these leaders, and measure their results. How does your personal behavior impact the work of those around you? Are results improved or held back as a result of how you interact with others? How encouraging are you to the people who work in your organization? What “soft stuff” really counts or adds up in your company? Are you doing enough of that soft stuff? For Immediate Release: “Me!”Catch a Rising
Star
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Title (Link to Review) |
Author |
Rating |
Review Summary |
Purchase |
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Leading
Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing |
Badaracco, Jr., Joseph L. |
•••• |
Lots of leadership books focus on heroes. Badaracco presents those
everyday challenges that ordinary people face with all life’s ambiguity.
Useful and realistic. |
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Beattie, Ann |
••• |
Three characters, a daughter, her mother, and a son, narrate
different perspectives of life in this well-written novel. |
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Bing, Stanley |
•• |
A funny reflection on bad bosses by Fortune columnist and CBS
executive. Dilbert without the cartoons. |
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Craig, Charmaine |
••• |
Absorbing and well-written first novel. Life in 14th
century rural France includes strong women, a sinful priest and a rigorous
Inquisition. |
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Gardner, Howard |
•• |
Lessons from professionals in genetics and journalism facing
technological or market changes applied to all of us. |
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Greeley, Andrew M. |
• |
Two parallel stories don’t add up to one good mystery novel. |
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Inman, Robert |
•• |
Raleigh TV weatherman loses his job, leading to an unraveling and rebuilding
of his life. A not very well-written novel of a New South midlife crisis. |
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Kaplan, Robert D. |
•• |
150-page timely and thoughtful essay on how the lessons of the past
via the likes of Machiavelli, Hobbes and Kant, influences how America
conducts itself with global adversaries. |
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Kornfield, Jack |
••• |
Kornfield brings his experience as a Buddhist monk and clinical
psychologist to this book. Loved the messages of tolerance. |
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McCullough |
•••• |
Read this outstanding biography of the second U.S. President and
watch yourself go from respect and admiration to liking him, despite how
hard he was to get along with. |
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Noonan, Peggy |
••• |
Noonan’s view of President Ronald Reagan: a happy, unpretentious,
simple, well-grounded man whose character was formed by hardship, and whose
goodness and kindness were felt by many. |
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Sijie, Dai |
••• |
An engaging story of two young men exiled to the countryside and the
seamstress who changes their lives. Fine imagery and description. |
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The
Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-First Century
Organization |
Stewart, Thomas A. |
••• |
Stewart’s clear and entertaining writing style makes this readable.
An interesting exploration of what intellectual capital means to today’s
companies. |
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The
Provocateur: How a Generation of Leaders Are Building Communities, Not Just
Companies |
Weber, Larry |
DNR
(do not
read) |
Fact-less observations, not unlike the worst of Tom Peters:
reflections on his own consumer experiences, and generalizations that the
rest of us could care less about. |
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ã 2002
Hopkins and Company, LLC. Executive
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