OsoSim

Global talent imbalances

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:19:04 +0000

We are two days into a really great week at London Business School working with our partner and shareholder, Lynda Gratton. She has attracted a most amazing group of senior HR professionals from every continent of the world. We have heard of some amazing innovative practices from Brazil, Bulgaria, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, amongst many other places. I am struck by the dichotomy that there is still a shortage of the right talent in many parts of the world and yet there is a huge surplus of well-educated young people, particularly in Europe, who risk being part of a lost generation. Is this just due to the shift in economic power from the decaying world to the developing world or is it because we are simply not teaching young people the right skills? As a business we certainly find it difficult to get the right people as we grow and I know we are not alone.

From shaving foam to Number 10!

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:31:09 +0000

Yesterday was a great example of how varied an entrepreneur’s life can be. I spent the afternoon in a shaving foam factory followed by drinks with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. Preparing for a stakeholder and relationship management session in Warsaw, using our great Hydro stakeholder management simulation, I was interviewing a site manager in Reading. She could certainly teach politicians of all parties a few things about managing stakeholders and customer service, whilst the unflappable Mr Cameron remained on message and totally focused on achieving the end goal of sorting out the nation’s finances – as if he had been through our Strategy Execution simulation!

A hectic April brings a global perspective

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:37:05 +0000

The last few weeks have been hectic for Ososim. We have been working with clients around the world and our new I-Merger change management simulation has been a real hit. Thanks to our partner CCL we also now have an Asian network of certified associates, whose language skills include Mandarin, Malay and even Burmese. Spending a fair amount of time in France, the United States and Singapore has provided a fascinating contrast in terms of business climate. The dynamism, multiculturalism and determination to succeed that are so evident as soon as you step off the plane at Changi airport in Singapore compare so starkly with backward looking Europe. I was in France frequently throughout the French Presidential election where politicians (of almost all parties) and subsequently voters seem determined to defy the realities of the 21^st century. Stuck in a false debate between austerity and growth, no one seems to understand why Asia is growing and Europe is not. They believe growth can be bought by increasing the debt burden rather than unshackling the businesses that will deliver growth. New York provides another contrast. Clearly more chaotic than Singapore and suffering much greater disparities of wealth, nevertheless when I met with twenty plus HR heads of New York technology and media companies, I felt I had been injected with a huge dose of entrepreneurial adrenalin. The US may not be booming in the way the countries of south east Asia are, but the business spirit and drive to succeed that New York oozes will ensure that the US does not get left behind like the scelerotic countries of Western Europe. Fortunately our growing roster of French clients defy the European stereotype and demonstrate that success is possible, if responsible and well-managed, wherever your home country.

Behavioural insight into the banking crisis

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:30:50 +0000

We spent the morning with the wonderfully energetic and insightful Randy White from Duke, after a stakeholder management simulation session with 60 investment bankers. Randy discussed the GE performance management process – mapping behaviour and performance. The context reminded me that the seeds of the banking crisis lay in poor or little performance management in the investment banks, where the banks neglected behaviours and focused exclusively on performance at the extreme. If shareholders and regulators could only measure or track the former, the world would be in a much better place today.

Stakeholder challenges for authentic Baroness

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:38:39 +0000

I was fortunate last night to have dinner with UK Cabinet Minister and Chairman of the Conservative Party, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. Baroness Warsi is a true model of authentic leadership. She speaks honestly and confidently to all she meets and has an ability to engage genuinely which few of her fellow politicians possess. She hasn’t yet acquired that impenetrable glazed look which almost every politician I know has. She described in fascinating detail the challenges of coalition government with two parties who are themselves effectively coalitions with wide ranging views and perspectives. Her insights into the behaviours and communication strengths and weakness of her colleagues were fascinating. We should offer our great new change management simulation – I-Merger – to the coalition government to help them improve internal stakeholder management as well as their dealings with the press and others.

Energy day for Ososim

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:18:30 +0000

March 15 had a real energy focus. The day started early in Brisbane, Australia, when BG Group ran a very successful session with the Hydro stakeholder simulation. It ended with a fascinating INSEAD and Accenture organised panel discussion on Energy security, with the CEOs of Centrica, Shell, Ofgem and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The critical importance of gas provided a common link – BG Group’s Queensland gas business is a major asset for the company. The evening panel discussion highlighted many critical issues. It was clear that successive UK governments have failed to take a long term perspective on the UK’s energy needs and the last government in particular woefully failed to tackle the problem of the UK’s ageing energy infrastructure. The whole subject is highly complex, with intertwining political, environmental, defence and economic issues. Michael Liebrich from Bloomberg New Energy Finance was the grit in the oyster and provided the outside-in perspective that we try to foster in our Strategy simulation. Let’s think about where we want to end up and work out how to get there rather than try to just improve incrementally from where we are today. I came away convinced that this would be great material for a new sim - Gas Choice!

UK Foreign Office applies the lessons of stakeholder management

admin — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:37:00 +0000

I was with the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, today and he gave a good account of how improved communication and stakeholder management with countries around the world is paying dividends. The current UK government is placing a bigger emphasis on engaging at a ministerial level with countries around the world and not simply the US, the EU and major developing countries, as their predecessor used to. According to Hague this engagement is winning the UK friends simply because it is communicating better. Part of this is also getting diplomats away from their emails and out onto the streets and engaging with the community. This is exactly the message from our Stakeholder Simulations – perhaps we should offer the Laos Hydro sim for FO training!

Growing disparities in income – the role of technology and education

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:22:26 +0000

INSEAD Knowledge published an article yesterday highlighting and explaining growing disparities in income: http://knowledge.insead.edu/INSEAD-knowledge-income-inequality-120222.cfm?utm_source=INSEAD+List&utm_campaign=04cfd88c67-Knowledge_Feb_12_Newsletter2_23_2012&utm_medium=email

The article blames the tax system in “Anglo Saxon” countries for the particular problems of the US, Canada and the UK (ignoring in the case of the UK the issue of it being a magnet for international capital). Whilst I could blame the previous UK government for many things I would not link the growing disparity between the rich and poor in the UK to their changes to the tax system. More significantly the article discusses the impact of technology and education – written about recently in Liz Truss’s excellent article on the hour glass economy: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8848889/Time-is-running-out-for-our-hourglass-economy.html. We hope that Ososim’s work in technology based learning will help address some of the issues we will increasingly face.

Different stakeholder challenges for NEDs across cultures

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:09:26 +0000

Just back from an interesting two days with clients in Amsterdam. I was particularly struck by a fascinating conversation over dinner with an old friend who is now a Non-executive Director of three public companies in the UK, France and the Netherlands. Her experience really highlights how culture can affect boardroom decisions. Two of the three companies have been the subject of takeover bids. In the Anglo Saxon UK culture, shareholder value was the one and only criteria within the Board for judging whether to accept the offer. In the Netherlands, broader stakeholder impact is an equally important issue. The French company has not yet been in the same situation, but Gallic hierarchy and status has a clear impact on boardroom dynamics. Maybe we should incorporate this into the new Ososim cross border merger simulation!

The outside-in view creates the best future proof strategy

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:50:07 +0000

Fascinating dinner last night with Michael Comish, Founder and CEO of the video streaming service, blinkbox, which was recently acquired by Tesco. He clearly demonstrates the game-changing outside-in strategic thinking that Cyril Bouquet at IMD highlights when using Ososim’s TV Choice simulation. However clever the insider (like Channel 4’s David Abraham), outsiders entering a new market seem to have a much better sense of the implications of changing technology and consumer behaviour. It demonstrates the benefits of getting people to look outside their own industry for strategic insights before applying the lessons to their own business. Maybe Ososim can create reciprocal strategic insights by bringing together companies from different industries to look at each other’s strategic environment!