THE BOARDROOM MONITOR

Jane Simms is a former editor of Financial Director and Marketing Business and has twice been nominated for a PPA award for her Director commentary

Toast to a spirited revival

Phil Parnell's turnaround of Drambuie shows how business leaders can revitalise a famous brand without sweeping away the heritage. Are there lessons here for government too?

Lesson of Leahy's legacy

Sir Terry Leahy's departure from Tesco is a benchmark for succession planning. Too often chief executives are not given enough time to bring rewards or outstay their welcome

Doing good makes you feel richer

SME entrepreneurs at the IoD Annual Convention told stirring tales about the business benefits of social responsibility. Could their grass-roots energy inspire larger corporations?

Bosses caught in the middle

Too often good managers are squeezed between leadership initiatives from above and employee demands bubbling below. They deserve more trust and respect

Leaders have nowhere to hide

Following Lord Browne's candid memoir, the spotlight has been thrown again on whether the privacy of senior business figures can ever be fully protected

Breaking through the us and them barrier

Messy disputes at BA and Royal Mail are embarrassing. The path to smoother industrial relations depends on open dialogue between strong unions and robust management

Why 25k is the price of a happy employee

Bankers who demand spiralling pay awards and threaten to quit Britain over taxed bonuses are amoral. Perhaps they should listen to the government's happiness czar

Glass ceilings? Give us all a break

Surveys may lament the dearth of female directors but many women step off the corporate ladder deliberately. And who can blame them when boardroom life is so uncompromising?

The rough and tumble of office politics

There are two ways to play the game. One leads to greater efficiency and benefits for consumers while the other promotes a culture of bullying and backbiting

Winners and losers in the takeover game

Kraft's bid for Cadbury signals acquisition fever, but too often such mega deals are fuelled by corporate greed and ego. Who suffers? Employees, customers and even shareholders

Employers must invest in younger workers

Generation Y is experiencing its first recession, with many facing unemployment. But smart organisations recognise the need to keep these future employees engaged

Bosses in denial over a volatile new world

Raking through the ashes of economic meltdown will hinder recovery from recession. Directors must square up to the realities of a radically changed business landscape

Catch us if you can

Corporate responsibility could be a saviour of British business if larger companies embraced the idea with more enthusiasm. But too many seem to have lost their moral compass

Casting a spell

Tim Smit's optimistic vision rallied business leaders at the IoD Annual Convention, but the Eden Project visionary didn't have a monopoly on wise words

Empty promises

Snarling contestants on The Apprentice epitomise a growing celebrity culture in business where too many players talk a good game but fail to deliver

Lose the ego

Beware of business celebrities who bolster their personal brand—and exaggerated self-importance—at the expense of real results. They seduce us at our peril

Reasons to be cheerful

Talk of "green shoots" in the economy is perhaps premature, but a more balanced debate about the challenges ahead as the slump deepens can boost confidence and raise prospects

Power games

Western retailers turning the screw on eastern suppliers do so at their peril. As recession bites and the balance of power shifts, the answer lies in forging fairer and stronger trade ties

Leading questions

Why do many managers waste the talent and creativity of employees? It's all down to a lack of vital people skills. Train the leaders properly and the rewards will follow

held to ransom

Cavalier finance directors who regard late payment almost as a badge of honour are not only hurting vulnerable suppliers, they may be damaging their own businesses

The real picture

The global financial system is in turmoil, but the blame for this mess doesn't lie solely at the feet of rich speculators and banks—we've all got some soul searching to do

An absence of strategy

There's nothing like a downturn to show up the error of a company's ways. Which is why non-executive directors should learn to assert themselves earlier

Satisfaction guaranteed

The craft skills of past generations could point the way to more meaningful work in our high-speed, high-tech lives

Investing in those who can

Encouraging companies to invest in schools may plug a funding gap, but the government must tread carefully or risk alienating education's most valuable asset: its teachers

Time to believe

The directors of Britain's small businesses are well placed to exploit new opportunities in global markets, as long as they leave the self-doubt behind and believe in themselves

It's time for a grow slow

Is it advisable, even for a thriving business, to aim for continuous growth, when recent history suggests that such a strategy is bound, at some point, to fail?

Hours to wonder why

The macho, long-hours culture is still prevalent at the top of many organisations. No wonder so few women take up a place in Britain's boardrooms

Not just your average slob

There are some traits that unite the very best business leaders—and the late Sir John Harvey-Jones had them all in abundance

About a ploy

Marketing should play a crucial role in identifying and satisfying customer demand. But marketing directors are more interested in the size of their budgets

Why green means lean

Our insistence on growth as a measure of success is in direct conflict with the urgent need to slow down and save the planet. Priorities must change

Weak signals

Network operators might like to focus a little more on providing decent mobile-phone reception instead of pushing games and sponsoring the events

It's all in the delivery

Focusing on customers and staff may be the most effective way to bring back profit to those businesses that have lost ground

Remote control

Although flexible working cuts costs and improves employee performance, some suspicious managers still refuse to let go of the reins of power

What women want

Promoting a positive work-life balance would be far easier without all these super-human working mothers moaning about sacrifice. What sacrifice?

Cultivating a good culture

Cultures exist in all firms, but not all directors are aware of their presence, or of their far-reaching effects on those outside

The call of the wild

Too many companies appear unaware of the fact that what they call themselves and their products has a huge impact on consumers

Easy does it

Web 2.0 has put corporates in conversation with their customers. Directors who cling to formality and status may find their brands gathering dust

Green and pleasant brand

With British firms such as Body Shop and Jaguar falling into foreign ownership, it's time for UK plc to take on its continental neighbours

Mutiny over the bounty

UK executive pay packages are still out of line with European equivalents. If we don't do something about it, salary capping will be the only solution left

Fight or flight syndrome

Directors often say their staff are their greatest asset. But it's only when the chips are down that we find out how corporations really view the rank and file

Taking the bull by the horns

You may be a considerate communicator, like Greg Dyke, or a charismatic chatterbox, like Branson, but try and avoid business jargon—people can't stand it

The future is ours to write

Whatever their vision of the next 50 years, futurists agree on one thing: our fate lies in our own hands. As for predictions, steer clear of science fiction

It's technology stupid

Despite what the analysts say, technology companies should learn to play by the same rules of business we all adhere to—and don't forget the customer

A green light for change

Companies must start becoming more environmentally friendly now—for their own sake, as well as the planet's