European Management Journal

Daniel Quinn Mills introduces a new management system -- GEM (Goals, Empowerment, Measurement) and contracts it with two traditional systems -- ODS(A) (Organize, Deputize, Supervise -- Autocratic) and ODS(P) (Organize, Deputize, Supervise -- Participative). A professional manager should know and recognize and be able to apply all three as the setting requires. GEM -- Sometimes referred to simply as "empowerment", goes beyond participative management -- it involves a change in the way the individual relates to work. Because of significant successes in the West using GEM, some Japanese firms (who do not go that far) are beginning to use it.

Increasingly complicated tools known as financial derivatives have been introduced in recent times to manage the market risk arising from floating exchange rates. The rapid development of the derivatives markets has in turn introduced new risks into the business of finance - witness the highly-publicised trading losses at Metallgesellschaft and Procter and Gamble. A principal method for measuring and reporting market risk in the portfolios of banks and their clients is ‘value at risk’ (VaR).Fred Stambaugh explains the concept of ‘value at risk’ and describes three principal approaches to calculating it - correlation matrix, historical simulation and Monte Carlo simulation; they are alternatives, not competitors. As well as setting out their uses, he considers those situations that go beyond ‘value at risk’, i.e. dire events that lie beyond the confidence level of VaR. Techniques for portfolio stress testing are discussed.

The article will examine an extended case study (over 14 years) of the challenges of operating a mode 2 academic research project (which generated a unique diagnostic tool for use in business to business relationships) and then of converting academic theory into a practical application which has been used successfully in over 150 companies.The research process will be discussed and the difficulties of managing the operational management agendas along with the need to do rigorous academic work will be examined.

An increasing number of corporations around the world are certifying their environmental management systems by ISO 14000 series standards. Advocates of ISO 14001 claim substantial operational, managerial, and competitive benefits for corporations that adopt the international guidelines. Critics contend that ISO 14001 does not ensure either legal compliance or continued performance improvements. They claim that at plants or facilities already complying with environmental regulations, ISO 14001 certification may merely be an image-building or public relations effort.Theoretically, ISO 14001 could serve as a comprehensive framework for significantly improving performance in a firm with minimal environmental management capacity (in a sense, a `panacea') or as a set of common sense guidelines for enhancing performance in a firm with regulatory compliant practices. Some firms may, indeed, simply use ISO 14001 as a `label' for image-building. The following Case Study of an operationally efficient and regulatory-compliant aluminum plant that certified its environmental management system under ISO 14001 guidelines in 1996 identifies the impacts three years later. Drawing on the literature of program evaluation, and using archival material, interviews with managers, and a concept mapping exercise, four sets of impacts were found of certifying the plant's environmental management system by ISO 14001 standards. They included improvements in (1) employee awareness, (2) operational efficiency, (3) managerial awareness, and (4) operational effectiveness.Many of the world's largest multinational corporations have certified their environmental management systems (EMS) under ISO 14000 standards during the past few years, and many other companies are in the process of doing so. ISO 14000, the International Organization for Standardization's guidelines for environmental management systems, has become the international benchmark by which corporations can voluntarily develop and assess their environmental practices. The ISO 14000 standards, approved in 1996, describe the components and characteristics of an effective system for managing a corporation's environmental impacts (Tibor and Feldman, 1996). They offer a format for developing an environmental policy, identifying environmental aspects, defining objectives and targets, implementing a program to attain a company's goals, monitoring and measuring effectiveness, correcting deficiencies and problems, and reviewing management systems to promote continuous improvement.Some firms are using ISO 14000 guidelines to develop new environmental management systems, or adapting their environmental practices to the international standard, without formally certifying them. Other corporations, government agencies, and environmental interest groups are skeptical about the real impacts of ISO 14000 certification, and either ignore the guidelines or question their effectiveness in improving environmental performance (Krut, R. and Gleckman, H. 1998). But an increasing number of corporations are, through external registrars, formally certifying their EMSs based on ISO 14000 standards or the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).Despite the growing interest in voluntary environmental management standards for industry, little empirical information exists and few in-depth case studies have been done on the effects of adopting an ISO 14000-certified EMS. Why and how do companies adopt voluntary EMSs? What impacts does ISO 14000 certification have on a plant or facility? How does certification affect the operations and management of a manufacturing plant? Is certification merely a formality, or does it change the way management and employees conceive of and deal with the environmental impacts of their operations? Are there significant benefits to companies that have certified their quality management systems under ISO 9002 of also certifying their environmental management systems under ISO 14001?In this article we assess the impacts of ISO 14000 certification through an in-depth case study of a plant that began preparing in 1995, more than a year before the international standards were officially approved. The analysis focuses on the Alumax aluminum ingot production facility, called Mt Holly, in South Carolina. Alcoa purchased the plant in 1998. This study traces the history of the ISO 14001-certification process at Alumax — which already had strong environmental practices in place and had earlier certified its quality management system under ISO 9002 — and analyzes its impacts. The case study demonstrates how the certification of a manufacturing facility affects both its operations and management processes. Data were derived from archival sources, from plant site visits, from interviews with key personnel involved in the development of Mt Holly's EMS, and from a concept-mapping exercise involving 15 of the plant's managers and pollution prevention team members. The researchers also interviewed environmental, health, and safety (EHS) managers at other Alcoa facilities and drew heavily on the program evaluation literature in applying the concept mapping exercise.

Multinational and domestic corporations around the world are adopting environmental management systems (EMS) and certifying them by international standards. ISO 14001 is becoming the dominant international standard for assessing environmental management processes and in Europe many firms are also registering their EMS according to the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Yet, relatively few studies have explored the motivations of firms adopting and certifying EMS and even fewer have examined the results or impacts on the companies that do so. The few empirical analyses and case studies that have been done on corporate EMS provide insights into motivations and results primarily for large multinational corporations in the United States and Europe. We compare these findings with those of five in-depth case studies of smaller domestic energy and gas companies in Germany.

Per Thygesen Poulsen categorizes features shared in common by successful Scandinavian corporations. His research has also led him to conceive of an "attuned corporation" -- a model of a successful company. It is characterized by possessing a growth nucleus or knot tightly tying together the corporation's three strategic elements -- business platform, market position and corporate culture. The corporation can tie the knot and select growth strategies in different ways.

Sustainable competitive advantage is a key concept in strategy practice and research, not least because of its intended result of persistent superior economic performance. Previous research revealed that persistent superior performance is very rare. Also, theory predicts that Schumpeterian innovation will erode sustainable competitive advantage and thus prevent leading established firms attain persistent superior economic performance. This study of Fortune Global 500 computer firms, active in a dynamic industry with widely acknowledged Schumpeterian innovations, found a relatively high ratio of firms achieving persistent superior economic performance.

Summary This paper investigates the growth of offshoring administrative and technical task by German and US firms. We consider the relevant theories and related factors that influence the decision to initiate and pursue offshoring. We link offshoring implementation decisions by German and US firms with technological and country-specific developments. We analyze external events that have enabled German and US firms to locate business processes offshore and we investigate the importance of both internal and external factors influencing offshoring decisions over time. We discuss differences in institutional configurations and highlight managerial implications for German and US firms.

Increasing attention is being directed towards smaller and medium-sized enterprises in many countries as a means of reviving the industrial base. In this paper the authors argue that implementation of such an industry policy calls for fundamental changes and developments in attitudes and institutions, and in particular revised approaches to the training of people to help themselves.

European technological and economic progress is being materially hampered by our slowness in implementing Article 2 of the Treaty of Rome. Dr. Dekker proposes a specific five year plan of action embracing trade facilitation, VAT reform standardisation and Government procurement especially in telecommunications. The plan was launched at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels on 13 November 1984. Further detail is available from Philips Press Office, PO Box 523, 5600 AM Eindhoven The Netherlands. Telephone 040 757223.

This is a case study written for senior international managers of a US-based multinational company, General Electric. It was first discussed during a GE sponsored four week programme at IMD International on the political and economic changes of Central and Eastern Europe. The programme included two weeks of meetings with company managers and government officials in five Central and Eastern European countries. The case study is about a company, in the former Yugoslav Republic*, in the petrochemical industry. DINA was seeking a global partner to develop its plastic producing capabilities and to leverage its land and geographic assets. The company representatives from DINA believed that the recent changes in Eastern and Central Europe as well as changes in Yugoslavian law put the companyin a favourable position for joint venture discussions with an appropriate partner. DINA had had experience with a western partner in the past. In 1977, INA-DINA had been formed through a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Industrija nafte Zagreb (INA). Dow was responsible for the early technology transfers and joint development of DINA's petrochemical facilities until changes in the market and issues in the partnership caused DOW to withdraw from the agreement. This was a major factor affecting DINA's partnering possibilities. DINA's prospects for finding a new partner were also hampered by the company's relatively weak financial position, limited access to end markets and upstream raw materials, and the inertia of a consolidating industry. Nonetheless, the new management of the company had aggressively restructured the business around their installed base of two petrochemical products, and were optimistic about the changing Yugoslavian and European economies. The case study revolves around a series of strategy review meetings among DINA's top managers.

The 1990 European Manufacturing Futures survey shows that European manufacturers are doing well. Efforts in total quality management and improvement of deliveries are paying off; the factories have been cleaned up and reorganized. The creation of the post-1992 single market is not expected to change the total number of their factories, but is likely to demand a more customized output and service to more markets from each factory. More non-EC competitors are expected to enter and set up plants in Europe. The leading European manufacturers are focusing increasingly on establishing closer links between production and the other functions in the company as well as with suppliers, customers, and others outside the company. This is done partly through technology, partly through interfunctional teams, and partly by modification of procedures. The goal is to remove the barriers to free flow of information, goods and people to and from the factory. This is a bold move, but as the logical next step to the improvement efforts within the factory, it is unavoidable. The excitement of the 1992 single market, and the opening of the Eastern European markets, can hinder such risk-taking ventures in manufacturing. But, in fact because of the new opportunities, uncertainties and potential turbulence in Europe in the next few years, there is even more reason for bringing the factory in closer contact with its environment. This will be risky, but for the European manufacturers, the favorable recent results provide a window of opportunity to prepare for the factory without borders.

The article develops a five-step framework for dealing with the strategic issues of multinationals' entry into foreign markets. First, it assists multinationals in identifying their superior strategic capabilities. Second, it focuses on forming a basis for competitive advantage. Third, it focuses on identifying multinationals' relative marketing positioning. Fourth, it describes the mechanisms by which competitive advantage can be gained via the marketing mix. Finally, the framework suggests continuous reassessment of multinationals' competitive positioning in foreign markets.The major argument is that multinationals should concentrate not only on the entry decision but also on adapting the proper strategy for winning the game. This can be done by simultaneously developing strategic capabilities, being responsive to stakeholders and customers' needs and anticipating the moves of competitors.The article bases its conclusions on the latest theories of strategic management such as the Strategic Reference Points Theory (SRP) and uses the ascending experience of the invaded Israeli market during the mid-1990s.

Effective management does not depend just on smart thinking or understanding of secret competitive formulas. Outstanding corporations are created by consistently out-managing the competition with a chosen strategic posture. Werner Ketelhöhn explains that continous improvement and continous learning processes are the key - industrial leaders need to 'think-out' problems in their business systems in order to gain insight.

This paper argues that changes in manufacturing conditions in many organisations are creating a renewed interest in the development of autonomous work groups as part of competitive strategy. Evidence from the electronics industry and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) indicate that these groups offer a degree of flexibility in organisations which is a prerequisite for competitive edge. Shorter product life cycles, increasing levels of global competition and more sophisticated customer demands create a need for this level of flexibility in organisations and begin to push decision-making responsibility further down the organisation. This has implications for the management of change in firms in the future which is also examined.

The psychological contract — what employees and employers want and expect from each other — has been changing dramatically in recent years. As a result of all sorts of pressures and trends on both sides, such characteristics of corporate employment as stability, permanence, predictability, fairness, tradition and mutual respect are out. In, are the new features of self-reliance, flexibility and adaptability.Jean-Marie Hiltrop examines the human resource implications of the changing psychological contract, specifically, how organisations under pressure from greater competition, internationalisation, and integration of functions can manage employees now facing increased professional risk and uncertainty. A number of suggestions are made for changing organisation and management practices in order to build real commitment from employees in the new socio-economic environment.

In this prize-winning essay in the 1989/1990 Minit Corporation/European Journal Best Management Essay of the Year Competition, Richard Ford chose marketing aspects of managing retail service businesses for the 1990s. He argues that there is a continuity in retail trends, like the evolving trade-off between price and service, and such developments will continue into the 1990s. In this decade, the main catalyst for progress will be information technology. He then identifies the key issues of the 1990s as retailers retaining their traditional economic role in the distribution chain and retaining their market positions and earnings. The keys to success lie in information and licensing.

The relationship between the Far East and the Single European Market (SEM) is made up of apparent contradictions. The global success of Japanese companies has provided part of the inspiration behind the SEM, and yet is also perceived as a threat which could exploit the new opportunities in Europe and channel the benefits Eastwards. Many SEM supporters who are fervently in favour of free-trade when looking inward into Europe, begin lobbying for protectionist defences to be built when their gaze shifts to the East. Japanese companies complain that they are bringing much needed and requested jobs and investment into Europe, but find themselves frequently labelled as "invaders".

Dr Butt Philip takes a refreshingly unsycophantic view of '1992', pointing out that, away from the hype, a good deal of the Single European Market (SEM) programme has been in place for some time. Although the European Commission's timing and tactics over the SEM programme were shrewd, in Britain at least, the national campaign has been confusing. It is a company's business development and positioning in relation to 1992 that matters, and this involves both an internal '1992 audit' as well as making sure it is well represented in Brussels. Although giving us cautionary good advice, the author feels a sense of Zeitgeist about the SEM programme and the federal Europe that it implies. Attitudes and institutions in business must be developed to achieve the destiny of European integration.

Europe '92 is a goal for the free movement of goods, people and capital within the Internal Market of 12 European Countries. This process of economic integration has already started, but it is not a popular movement leading to a political unity as visualized by Winston Churchill in 1946 based on a model of Switzerland. Today, Switzerland cannot join the EC Internal Market for political and social reasons. On top of that, it is not even advisable for Swiss business to enter "Fortress Europe" for economic reasons. In this article Swiss strategy is shown to be based on a "Success Model of Switzerland". Thus the case of Switzerland serves as a useful case study for all those countries not joining the European Internal Market.

The article analyses the responses of small firms in the textiles-clothing sector to the challenge of the "Single Market" of 1992. Significant contrasts emerge from a three-country survey of levels of in-firm preparedness for 1992. Italian and French firms show a broader experience base in exporting, greater readiness and greater enthusiasm for 1992 than British firms. These factors will impact not only on the performance of the firms themselves but also on the regions in which they are located. When global developments in textiles-clothing are taken into account, difficulties for all three regions are in store. However, Como and Lyons firms display strengths in international markets and are seeking to build on them. The outlook for Leicester may be more problematic unless firms and enterprise agencies cooperate to develop new forms of promoting local textiles and clothing at European and international levels.

It is widely recognized that organizations, both in the public and private sectors, are subject to a wide range of changes in their external environment which often necessitate changes either in organizational structure or in management practice. The range of factors which can have these effects are many and varied. They can include changes in the international business environment, technical innovations, legislation, political developments and social changes. The completion of the internal market in 1992 will be a source of fundamental change. This article considers the response of one public sector body to the challenges presented by the advent of 1992 by focusing on the experience of Northern Ireland's largest Government Department -- the Department of the Environment (DoE (NI)) in responding to the revised procedures for obtaining financial assistance from the European Community for regional development measures. The managerial response to the reform of the European Community's Structural Funds is outlined along with a brief discussion of its potential application for public sector bodies in general.

Forces of deregulation, internationalisation and technological innovation have dramatically changed the European telecommunications industry. To cope with these forces, incumbent telecommunication operators had to strategically renew their companies. What can be learned from these incumbents and which managerial challenges are ahead? To address these questions, we investigated trajectories of strategic renewal of Europe’s five largest incumbent operators and the impact on financial performance for the period 1992–2001. Remarkably, we did not find significant differences between the renewal trajectories of these incumbents. These findings suggest herd behaviour, indicating a preference for adopting similar organizational templates due to institutional forces resulting in a common ‘follow the industry’ renewal trajectory. In the years to come, however, we expect such herd behaviour will not be viable anymore. On the contrary, top management should make firm-specific strategic choices. The analysis and findings discussed in this paper provide insights for top management of incumbent firms in other deregulating European industries as well, such as the financial services and energy industries.

Liberalization of the EC banking industry presents both EC and non-EC banks with strategic predicaments. EC banks will face fewer shelter-based entry barriers, and will have to rely on competitive advantages to erect natural entry barriers. In contrast, non-EC banks will be forced to rethink their strategies as they face both shelter-based and natural entry barriers. In doing so, some non-EC banks may even gain an upper hand over some of their EC rivals if they can be nationally responsive. Those non-EC banks which fail to establish operations in the EC by 1993 risk being subjected to a Fortress Europe scenario; the Second Directive will present newcomers from non-EC banks with increased entry barriers. In this case non-EC banks will find themselves relegated to niche markets.

In this article, Andrea Caruso makes it clear that EUTELSAT, the European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation, is a working model of a Single European Market in the field of providing and operating communications satellites for public telecommunications in all EEC and some non-EEC Member States. EUTELSAT is transnational and based on co-operation and exchange. This regional telecommunications system achieves considerable economies of scale compared with any national one, as well as technological and commercial benefits like VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) services for the business user, and the ability of in-orbit satellites to be very flexible in terms of ground coverage zones on the Continent. '1992' requires greater inter-country communication and the EUTELSAT network is already in place in Europe to supply it.

Yves Fassin and Klaus Nathusius, respectively the Secretary-General and Chairman of the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA), point out that venture-capital can very successfully fuel the expansion financing necessary for 1992. Already the venture capital industry has Europe-wide networks helping SMEs to find "proximity investors". It can also help in many other areas, from acquisitions to investment in new technology.

The extent and magnitude of the changes called for from 1992 onwards, leads to the most significant feature of the problem of deregulation -- how to cope with the radically unfamiliar. Managers will be faced with asking what the problem is rather than how to solve it. This forces them back to fundamentals. Where previous experience will not help them they have to make greater imaginative leaps. Reacting to such change requires learning ability: radical learning means relearning how to learn. It demands critical self-appraisal and a reappraisal of the adaptive or learning powers of the organisation. This paper examines resources and techniques to assist the learning process and create the learning climate.

has a well-defined and committed strategy towards the Single European Market. Alan Rousell sets out the various and coherent dimensions of this strategy, involving a producer "partnership" programme, talking determinedly with the European Commission, training and educating its own workforce and, most of all, focusing on customer care.

The implementation of the Single European Market in 1992, if it comes, will have widespread implications for the United Kingdom. The impact will not just be on a national basis. The regions themselves will be just as profoundly affected. Whether the consequences are good or bad will depend upon how prepared a particular region is. This study has investigated the preparedness of one such region, the North East. The authors believe, however, other regions will not be dramatically different, despite local characteristics, and that a regionally-based sectoral study should be set up through a collaborative network of institutions such as that to which the authors belong.

A fundamental change is sweeping through the structure of European industry and trade as a result of the proposed European Single Economic Market (SEM). These moves will have an important impact on all countries which have substantial links with the European Community (EC). It is therefore essential for Australia to assess the likely impact of moves to create the SEM by 31 December 1992. This paper provides an analysis of the possible consequences for Australia of the proposed unification of the European Market. Victor Perton and Howard Scott outline the strategies proposed for market liberalisation and briefly address issues associated with their implementation.

The date for the implementation of the Single European Act is now less than four years away. In this paper, it is argued that, even if the deadline for implementation is met, it is unlikely that any great increase in labour mobility will accompany the expected growth in trade and capital movements that liberalisation is aimed to promote. In this situation, labour relations in individual member states may have a significant role to play in influencing the directions in which resources will flow. As strike statistics are frequently taken as a summary indicator of disharmony within labour markets, the recent UK record is examined in order to assess its ability to meet the new challenges which 1992 will issue.

This paper reports on doctoral research being undertaken into journal submissions to the UK RAE, specifically for BMS (Business and Management Studies –– Unit of Assessment 43). Data gathered post-1996 and more recently post-2001 enables a longitudinal approach to be taken. Although only one part of the evidence in RAE submissions, the listing of published journal outputs provides the primary evidence for research quality to most RAE panels, and is a significant driver of the final grade awarded, and thus the funding received by submitting institutions. Pertinent issues to this UoA are discussed (the nature of management research, discipline boundaries, modes of knowledge production) which invariably have an effect on the type of research produced, publication outlet decisions and ultimately assessment. A detailed analysis is made comparing the results of the submissions to, and results of the last two RAEs for this very large field. The diversity of titles and subject coverage is discussed, and implications for the future are considered.

In the great share price setbacks of 1987 and 1998, financial authorities, in The Netherlands, as elsewhere in the world, adopted policies to stabilise financial markets. The Dutch response was effective in the former case but, in the latter instance, the actions of authorities magnified problems, especially for equity options markets. Our analysis suggests that regulatory authorities pursued a course which corrected for turbulence when financial problems first occurred in 1998 but failed to monitor and restabilise. When a second setback in equity markets impacted later in the year, the original stabilising policy magnified problems rather than calming them.

Currently, there are three forces creating a more favourable background for western multinational companies to do new business in China by transferring new technology. First, growing overcapacity means China requires not traditional turnkey factories, but instead, technology which leads to innovation and improvement. Second, a changing attitude by all levels of Chinese government to demanding state-of-the-art technology including software instead of previous generation technology, and to technology management and commercial implementation more. Third, intellectual property rights are becoming better respected.Arnoud De Meyer makes suggestions to best manage technology transfer into China, with this changed background. Based on six case studies and extensive desk and literature research, he makes proposals under three headings: creating a win–win situation, applying good basic principles of technology transfer to the Chinese case, and applying common sense to the management of intellectual property rights.

The authors analyze Phase Two of the Internet Revolution in which the best incumbent organizations are being recharged and revitalized by the Internet and digital technologies to emerge as leaders in the Internet economy. Using the Marketspace Model and Customer Relationship dimensions, business innovation is evaluated among incumbent organizations making use of the Internet.This 2000 Study of Fortune-listed companies shows changes since 1997 in the ranking of companies creating value for their online visitors, with the US leading Europe on electronic commerce innovations, and Asia lagging well behind.Online companies are prioritizing customer relationships and moving to greater interactivity and value-adding information on products as well as making price information and the pricing process more dynamic through auctions and negotiating.Since 1997, there has been a significant increase in online ordering and payment and in online advertising and numbers of links to other firms' corporate web-sites.

Corporate growth has evolved into a challenge of undisputable and increasing interest among senior managers, in particular, after the bursting of the stockmarket bubble. Nevertheless, the available theories of corporate growth (resources, life-cycle, etc.) tend to focus on only one dimension of the growth process. In this paper1, we argue why corporate growth is important, introduce the need for a more holistic view of corporate growth and discuss the drivers that growing firms use to keep growth going.

Over the past twenty years, relationship marketing has represented a renaissance in marketing and even a paradigmatic change according to some. The shift has had uncertain effects, however, and its applications have faced some serious challenges. Questions are being asked about the future of relationship marketing by both academics and businesspersons. To answer these questions, we have devised a Delphi-type predictive survey of twelve European marketing experts, with the aim of producing one view of potential changes that may occur by the year 2015. The present paper categorises this view into four major themes. It also details the managerial implications of one of the themes based on the following key points: "the experience at the heart of relational approaches"; "new data generation"; and "working together with communities".

The fifteen years to end of this century should logically produce greater changes in society and technology than ever before. What will be the characteristics of the managers of the new century? This article reviews the survey taken at the end of 1985 and early in 1986 of groups of successful managers of different nationalities and of different disciplines, as part of a research project to produce the picture of the Year 2000. The information collected from these interviews was supplemented by a variety of Round Table discussions involving managers from such companies as ITT, Ford, Mobil, Texaco, Dow Corning, Levi Strauss, GB-Inno-BM, Dechy Univas, Honeywell Bull and the Hilton Corporation. Managers were American, British, French, Dutch, German, Belgian, Italian, Swiss, Danish and Swedish. In an attempt to create the profile of the manager of the 21st Century, the very first interview which was held produced a statement, "If anyone had told you in the 60s what the 80s would be like, you would have said they were crazy". This statement hung as a backcloth to all subsequent discussions in the survey of the Manager of the 21st Century. These interviews were conducted by TASA (Benelux) over a period of almost a year with more than seventy senior marketing, personnel, and finance executives, as well a their chief executives, in order to help build a skeleton of what their view would be of the manager of the year 2000, and subsequently to try to add flesh to that. The survey is not yet complete, but the picture of tomorrow's executive, so far as it has been revealed, and the complexities which he or she will have to tackle, demonstrate a person we may all recognise, but not necessarily envy.

As organizations move into the 21st century, past measures of organizational performance based largely on accounting and financial statements will be insufficient to meaningfully assess value. Short- and long-term performance will be increasingly determined by three resources: ideas, information, and investment capital, of which only investment capital is measured in traditional accounting and financial statements. Consequently, the 20th century orientation of return on investment needs to be expanded to include and account for both return on ideas and return on information. By focusing on these three measures of ROI the organization will be able to unleash creativity and obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. In this paper it is suggested that organizations should balance their focus on return on ideas, return on information, and return on investment, a ROI3 orientation for assessing organizational performance.