Outsourcing and offshoring projects to India: “Different Worlds, Different Ways”

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Outsourcing and offshoring projects: It is autumn; we are in the Indian city of Pune. Twenty Indian project managers, business analysts and software engineers have gathered in a training room. They want to learn how they can successfully bring the cooperation with a customer whose team is distributed across Germany and the United States back … Read more

Business Expansion

Napoleon’s Big Mistake – and how you can avoid repeating it Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France and military genius, was one of the most brilliant leaders that the world has ever seen. And yet he failed in his goal, and was overthrown. Why? There’s a story about the battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon’s army was … Read more

Case Study: Swiss-Indian Software Development

Swiss-Indian Co-operation in the Area of Offshore Software Development In the mid 1990s, large corporations in Europe and the USA realized there was a huge lack of skilled software engineers. The need to solve the Y2K problem within a short timeframe, combined with unsuccessful education policies of the respective governments were two of the major … Read more

How To Manage Major A Company Transformation

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Do you (or will you) have to manage a major company transformation? Written by Tim Thexton As interim managers, especially senior managers and directors we are most frequently called in at times of major change – for example a major company transformation. As such, titling ourselves change managers, we are the harbingers of that inevitable … Read more

International Business Relationships: A Success Story

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Introduction to international business relationships This success story describes one experience and two levels of feedback on international business relationships. The experience is my assignment as Executive Vice President for Orascom started 7 years ago. One level is describing a senior management position within an emerging market leader organization. The other is how, on a … Read more

International Management – Future Plans

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International Management: A sticky wicket? Some facts about the global economic climate Not a reference to the England cricket team’s difficulties on the subcontinent but a term economists use when inflation is resistant to change. Should we then be overly alarmed to see inflation stuck at 2.7% for three months straight in the UK? Perhaps … Read more

Scenario Planning

Scenario planning that leads to success Scenario planning isn’t the same issue as strategic planning; basic strategic planning tends to address the accidents of the day, such as the decision to reduce inventory because of a downturn in the economy. Scenario planning looks at what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s focused on understanding what the … Read more

How to rescue a start-up that is failing

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An Interim Manager Success Story of rescuing a failing start-up Mission Company: You Take ControlMarket: PrivacyIndustry: Health CarePosition held: Interim CEOResponsibilities: Worldwide Sales, Marketing, Service, Support, Business DevelopmentHow hired: I met the founder at a conference and he hired me to come in to grow the start-up.Company status when started: Burned thru $300K with no … Read more

4 ways that startup companies spend themselves out of business

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You’ve seen it too many times before – the free-spending startup company which burns through their funds like a cocaine addict on vacation in Columbia. It’s ultimately a sad tale, with great potential often wasted, many jobs lost and multiple lives hurt. But it is sometimes hard to feel sorry for the management teams that … Read more