Operations and Business Processes

Publications

Executive Action Reports

May 2009	Shift in U.S. Policy on Climate Change Opens a New Era for Business It's no longer business as usual when it comes to climate change. A significant change of direction for U.S. regulatory policy on the issue will eventually affect all of business. File size: 272KB
May 2009	Waddayaknow? Knowledge Management Can Be an Organization's Key to Survival This Executive Action report uses three case studies to build a business case for implementing Knowledge Management, and provides tips for making KM work. File size: 248KB
May 2009	Key Questions in Pandemic Planning This report addresses questions of concern to business managers across sectors, industries, and regions in light of the current resurgence of a global pandemic health threat. File size: 152KB
January 2009	Tighten Your Supply Chain to Wring Out Costs This report features insights and practical advice from corporate executives and supply-chain experts, and helpful suggestions for recruiting logistic specialists. File size: 178KB
December 2008	How Effective Information Services Can Contribute to the Bottom Line The five case studies in this report demonstrate how having the right information at the right time and in the right format can create a competitive advantage and help top executives more effectively manage the bottom line. File size: 127KB
October 2008	Innovate Today, Grow Tomorrow In a down economy, companies can't afford to mark time. Three midsize firms are seizing the moment to explore ideas for new products and invent new business models. File size: 114KB
August 2008	Bridging the Logistical Divide: Integration of Poor Countries in Global Supply Chains This report analyzes the reasons behind the lagging development of the world's poorest countries and offers some solutions for conquering the divide to help those nations achieve sustainable growth. File size: 117KB
May 2008	Harnessing the Perfect Storm: Business Executives in Mid-Size Companies Are Seizing Green Opportunities Mid-size businesses that may have only considered taking small affordable steps toward energy efficiency or that originally balked at government regulation are actively seeking ways to become environmentally friendly. File size: 233KB
May 2008	Company Approaches to Green Products and Services: What's Working and What's Not How can companies use the growing customer demand for so-called green products to their business advantage while minimizing financial and reputational risk? File size: 317KB
April 2008	Coordinating Business Preparedness: Managing Public and Private Efforts An effective partnership between the public and private sectors is essential to ensure the resilience of America's critical infrastructure. File size: 117KB
April 2008	Benchmarking Business Preparedness: Plans, Procedures, and Implementation of Standards This report reveals the preparedness and business continuity practices put into place by a wide range of companies. File size: 955KB
April 2008	Security Metrics as a Management Tool Modern security management requires a toolkit of effective metrics to relate security operations to the reduction of risk. File size: 288KB
August 2007	Crafting a Strategy for Virtual Worlds: Eight Questions to Ask Virtual worlds are emerging fast on the business landscape, but few companies have developed a strategy to deal with them. How can you take advantage of this new technology? File size: 115KB
March 2007	Becoming Skilled at Painting with Two Brushes What are Asian and Western-based companies doing to develop the kinds of leaders that are badly needed in Asia and elsewhere today? File size: 295KB
February 2007	Risk and Opportunity in the Gathering Climate Change Storm Converging trends and forces are raising the profile of climate change and the need for carbon emissions reduction. Business must prepare to minimize risks and realize the opportunities that are rapidly emerging. File size: 107KB
December 2006	Toward a Framework for Supply Chain Leadership With no management framework to effectively guide the implementation of Supply Chain Leadership programs, it has largely been a learn-as-you-go endeavor, with many companies learning the same lessons, over and over again. File size: 134 KB
October 2006	Stopping the Profit Drain from Higher Energy Costs Corporate America can expect little respite from soaring — and volatile — energy prices. Smaller companies can protect profits by strengthening the ways they manage energy use. File size: 143KB
October 2006	Carbon Footprint a Growing Management Concern Companies are increasingly focusing on greenhouse gases and their implications for business. Based on 2006 survey results from the research project "Managing for a Carbon-Concerned Future: Obligation or Opportunity?" File size: 2.82KB
September 2006	Pandemic Preparedness: Frequently Asked Questions The Conference Board has presented a number of programs to help businesses better prepare for and understand the challenges posed by an avian flu or other human influenza pandemic. Here we address the recurring questions elicited by these programs. File size: 142KB
July 2006	Are Businesses Doing Enough To Prepare for a Pandemic? As the effectiveness of a world response to any pandemic depends upon the quality of advance preparations, this research seeks to clarify the role business plays. File size: 269.75KB
June 2006	The Nuts and Bolts of Execution: Putting Ideas to Work How do mid-market companies take great vision and make it a reality? File size: 147.48KB
June 2006	Threat, Vulnerability, and Consequence: A Framework for Managing Security This Executive Action report examines the specification of risk and its application to a commonly employed analytic tool, the Security Risk Equation. File size: 101.8KB
June 2006	Making the Business Case for Security A survey of corporate decision-makers by The Conference Board and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finds that executives give most weight to security concerns on issues of operational risk, such as compliance and certification. File size: 258.5KB
June 2006	On the Record With.... Dr. Gerhard Cromme An exclusive in-depth interview with Dr. Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, ThyssenKrupp AG, Düsseldorf, Germany. File size: 227.36KB
May 2006	Safety, Health and Environmental Management Excellence Yields Business Benefit This report highlights the Environmental Health & Safety programs of two recent winners of The Robert W. Campbell Award. File size: 93.3KB
May 2006	On the Record With.... Bertrand Collomb An in-depth interview with Bertrand Collomb, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lafarge, France, on current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends he expects to face in the future. File size: 232.1KB
May 2006	Management’s Great Addiction Corporations are obsessed with numbers. Isn't it time we recognize that we can’t measure everything? File size: 108.1KB
May 2006	The Irresolute American The bold face Americans put on in the marketplace is quite different than the one they have in the workplace. Are Americans working in fear? File size: 109.88KB
May 2006	On the Record With.... Lim Chee-Onn An in-depth interview with Lim Chee-Onn, Executive Chairman, Keppel Corporation, Ltd., Singapore, on current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends he expects to face in the future. File size: 218.45KB
May 2006	Is Avian Flu the Next Y2K? Can We Afford To Think So? Coping with a potential pandemic requires a different approach to continuity planning. Is your company preparing properly? File size: 98.7KB
May 2006	Age and Opportunity: Plan Strategically to Get the Most Out of a Maturing Workforce If baby boomers retire as expected, there won't be enough people to do the work. Is it time for your company to panic? File size: 224.03KB
March 2006	The Challenge of Meeting Public Expectations on Sustainable Development Industries that are perceived to be a risk to health, safety, and the environment are adopting new approaches to relieve public concerns regarding their new developments and products. File size: 98.85KB
February 2006	A Strategic Approach to Security: Compliance, Certification, and Competitive Advantage Should companies be viewing security as a strategic tool for anticipating and managing risk? File size: 141.70KB
February 2006	Strengthening Corporate Governance: A New Age of Entrepreneurship in India How is India benefiting from coming late to the game of developing globally accepted corporate governance standards? By reaping the results of years of experimentation and trial and error by others. File size: 136.86KB
February 2006	Preparing for the Worst: A Guide to Business Continuity Planning for Mid-Markets Why are smaller companies creating disaster survival plans? Because regulators, investors, and customers are demanding they do so. File size: 106.08KB
December 2005	The Incredible Shrinking Corporation In trying to please Wall Street, companies have starved themselves nearly to death. File size: 94.3 KB
December 2005	Globalization: Will Your Company Be Left Standing? New market realities may compel mid-market companies to adopt a business model that powers growth through product innovation, as well as improved operational effectiveness. File size: 151.8 KB
December 2005	Making It in Manufacturing: Becoming Lean to Compete Globally What are some steps companies in higher-wage countries can take to remain competitive globally? File size: 105.2 KB
October 2005	Keep It Simple: Getting Your Arms Around Enterprise Risk Management The savviest companies approach to Enterprise Risk Management is to focus on the fundamentals. Is your company one of them? File size: 123.54KB
October 2005	Gaining Momentum in Mainstream Investing . . . or Not? The potential for ESG integration is at a critical point. Has the importance of ESG factors in mainstream investment analysis been set? File size: 192.2KB
September 2005	Navigating Energy Management: A Roadmap for Business Businesses today are more focused on “managing” energy than at any other time in recent decades. However, are business opportunities being missed because many companies are approaching energy management in an unsystematic fashion, or not at all? File size: 177.5KB
September 2005	HR’s Role in Building a Culture of Innovation Encouraging innovation is a high priority among CEOs. How can HR professionals gain a place at the strategy table by overcoming obstacles and fostering an innovation framework? File size: 209.02KB
July 2005	Managing Corporate Citizenship Implications of Offshoring How can companies handle operational downsizing/offshoring while treating its departing employees with respect and maintaining its reputation in the community? File size: 126.15KB
July 2005	Corporate Social Responsibility In China: Can Voluntary Codes Succeed? Is there an alternative to laws that are unevenly administered and enforced? A question well worth asking about business practice in all developing economies -- including China. File size: 114.3KB
July 2005	China: Creating An Unlikely Edge In The Global Market Share Battle In the quest for market dominance, is the ability to exploit the mass market more important than cutting edge innovation? File size: 112.6KB
June 2005	Going Global: Challenges for Indian Business At The Conference Board 2005 Global Leadership Development Conference a number of top Indian CEOs shared their experiences as emerging global leaders in the business marketplace. This piece highlights some of the key discussion points from said meeting. File size: 179.0KB
June 2005	Using Ethical Analysis to Guide Offshoring When considering offshoring, how can companies significantly reduce their exposure to risk? File size: 184.9KB
June 2005	Can U.S. Corporations Change the Way People Think About America? There has been a gradual global erosion of faith in the United States and its government, and in turn consumers worldwide are losing trust in American corporations. Is it time for U.S. corporations to help change the way the U.S. is viewed? File size: 136.2KB
May 2005	Business Is Evolving - Just Not In The Ways You Might Think Is there anyone out there who hasn't heard the warnings that business is evolving? Modern business is perhaps the most evolutionary environment to ever exist and natural evolution has much to offer in understanding the challenges faced by management. File size: 96.4KB
April 2005	How CFOs Carve Out Time for What Counts Most The job descriptions of CFOs in smaller and mid-sized organizations have been steadily expanding. When do they find time to work on tasks that will build shareholder value? File size: 88.7KB
March 2005	Minimizing Risk and Maintaining Ethics in Asia–Pacific In order to cope successfully when doing business in the Asia-Pacific world, one must take into consideration the region's unique culture and the higher incidence of certain kinds of risks. File size: 200.7KB
February 2005	Energy Management Goes Strategic—An Operations-Only Issue No More Now that energy is viewed as having an impact on so many critical areas, innovative companies are taking the issue out of the operational arena and giving it strategic focus. File size: 174.7KB
February 2005	Thinking Offshoring Through For a topic that has been so widely and so hotly debated, the answers to many questions about offshoring are still somewhat hazy. Why is that? File size: 113.4KB
February 2005	On the Record With...Julien De Wilde An interview with Julien De Wilde, CEO, N.V. Bekaert S.A., Kortrijk (Belgium), regarding current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends expected to be faced in the future. File size: 572.4KB
January 2005	Beyond Compliance: The Future of Risk Management According to recent interviews with business managers, Enterprise Risk Management is gaining ground as a comprehensive approach for evaluating activities and assessing a multitude of risks associated with conducting business. File size: 139.6KB
January 2005	The Future of Knowledge Management The revolution never came—but that doesn’t mean that Knowledge Management is dead. In the ’90s, there was a belief that knowledge was critical of business and the gateway to innovation. KM was going to make a difference. File size: 81.9KB
December 2004	Improving Project Results: Operating “Below-the-Line” to Produce Real Value Project teams and their sponsors rarely acknowledge the risk that their project’s outcomes will not translate into the intended benefits to the organization. How can you keep a project on track for real results? File size: 106KB
November 2004	Strategy Struggles in the Boardroom Corporate strategist Donald V. Potter finds board meetings do not do justice to strategy discussions. Are separate meetings with a set agenda the answer? File size: 87.0KB
November 2004	On the Record With...Stan Shih An interview with Stan Shih, Chairman, CEO, and Founder, The Acer Group, Taipei, Taiwan, regarding current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends expected to be faced in the future. File size: 563.9KB
November 2004	Security in Mid-Market Companies: Tackling the Challenge Will the most important incentive for smaller companies to upgrade their security operations come from standards imposed by major corporations rather than those imposed by the government? File size: 110.9KB
October 2004	On the Record With...Alain J.P. Belda An interview with Alain J.P. Belda, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa, Inc., regarding current forces in management and the marketplace and the trends expected to be faced in the future File size: 582.0KB
September 2004	Cops, Geeks, and Bean Counters: The Clashing Cultures of Corporate Security Bridging the clash of cultures and creating a common frame of reference is essential if companies are to manage their total security needs in an effective manner. File size: 91KB
August 2004	Climate Change: Clear Trajectory—Haze in the Details Climate change is a fact of life for business in the 21st century, and those that ignore the potential implications do so at their own peril. File size: 115.3KB
July 2004	Adding Value in Shared Services . . . Insourcing, Outsourcing, and Offshoring Companies are closely examining insourcing, outsourcing, and offshoring to decide which approach delivers the best support services at the lowest cost. What is the best solution? File size: 112.8KB
July 2004	Security Practices ... Security in Mid-Market Companies: The View From the Top Is corporate security an expense that should be minimized or an investment that increases business value? File size: 153.6KB
May 2004	Strategic Planning for the Time-challenged For many smaller and mid-sized companies, whose management resources tend to be stretched thin, a simplified approach to planning works best. File size: 110.2KB
May 2004	New Ways to Innovate... Creating a Corporate Advisory Board Advisory Boards can offer companies a less expensive way to obtain the expertise they lack and fresh ideas on how to go about their business. File size: 94.4KB
April 2004	Redesigning HR for Mid-Sized Firms Human Resources departments - of both large and mid-sized firms - choosing to outsource routine administrative tasks, are going through the same transitional pangs. File size: 87.8KB
March 2004	Can Manufacturing Survive in Advanced Countries? Job losses remain high in the manufacturing industry in the U.S. and in other developed nations, and are not being made up by greater job creation in expansions. What is the long-term impact of such job losses on a country’s ability to compete globally? File size: 337.6KB
March 2004	International Business Cultures . . . Corporate Governance: An Asian Perspective Corporate Governance initiatives in the U.S. are causing many countries around the world to review their best practices. Hong Kong is no exception, but their business leaders believe they should be implemented with characteristics unique to the region. File size: 85.7KB
February 2004	New EU Directive Means Greater Corporate Environmental Liability Exposure Once a new controversial law is passed, companies already operating in the EU will see their environmental liability exposure increase. File size: 71.3KB
February 2004	On the Record With....Sir Martin Sorrell An interview with Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, WPP, London, UK, regarding current trends in management and the marketplace and how they expect these to change by 2008. File size: 628.3KB
February 2004	Taking Global Brands to Japan: A Luxury Goods Market that is as Profitable as it is Unique This report delves into how the profound social changes in Japan - brought about by a decade long recession - have allowed global luxury brands to blossom there. File size: 87.6KB
January 2004	On the Record With....S. Dhanabalan An interview with S. Dhanabalan, Chairman, Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd., Singapore regarding management and market challenges. File size: 585.7KB
January 2004	Consumer Trends...Why People Shop Online Online retail appears to be mostly about the price with nearly half of all online shoppers claiming bargain hunting as their motive. File size: 75.5KB
December 2003	Aggressive Energy Productivity Management Pays Big Dividends Many companies have recognized that energy productivity is not a “nice to do” activity, but an important part of their business operations that can yield quantifiable cost savings and less directly-measurable general productivity improvements. File size: 92.8KB
November 2003	Guanxi – In Chinese Business, the Relationship is Everything Failing to understand and abide by the concept of guanxi, a set of relationships which links millions of Chinese firms into a social and business network, can mean the difference between success and failure for companies seeking to do business in China. File size: 75.3KB
September 2003	Is "Crisis Mode" The New Energy Management Norm? In the United States, the traditional assumption about energy—abundant supplies at low cost—is being challenged by frequent "crises". File size: 85.5KB
September 2003	Managing Corporate Security in Mid-Markets Compared to large companies, security spending is more of a burden for smaller companies when expressed as a percentage of annual sales and they are less likely to feel that their security spending is adequate. File size: 161KB
July 2003	Managing Corporate Security: Patterns of Organization Despite raised expectations and heightened visibility, corporate America is undergoing an evolution rather than a revolution in the management of security concerns. File size: 103.2KB
July 2003	Managing Corporate Security: Patterns of Spending Except for risk management and insurance, corporate spending on security has increased only moderately since 9/11. File size: 98.4KB
June 2003	Mixing Politics and Business ... Conflict Everlasting? Just how deep an impact the current atmosphere of distrust that pervades international political relations will have on global commerce depends on from which side of the Atlantic you view events. File size: 127.3KB
May 2003	The New Dynamic of First Reports: Executive Lessons from the Iraq War In the war with Iraq, first reports from the battlefield were handled in a new way, creating a different dynamic that until now has only been hinted at. File size: 86.7KB
May 2003	Getting the Best of Volatility: Managing Risk and Creating Opportunity While there is great risk in these volatile times, there is also great opportunity for those businesses that know what to do. File size: 194.8KB
April 2003	Managing Supply Chain Risks "Just-in-time" supply chain management, while providing the needed speed and visibility to operate in today's complex supply chain environment, also exposes companies to large-scale disruptions, especially in times of conflict. File size: 111.0
April 2003	Traveling Green: Linking Executive Travel to Corporate, Community, and Environmental Values Executive travel provides the next opportunity for organizations to demonstrate to their employees, suppliers, customers, and communities that they "walk the talk" on corporate citizenship. File size: 120.7KB
April 2003	Emergency Response and Planning in Reaction to the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System Corporations responding to a Conference Board survey consider a terrorist attack unlikely, but say such an event would have a major impact on their businesses. Are companies doing enough to mitigate the potential impact of a disaster? File size: 277.8KB
February 2003	Emerging Trends... Europe Shifts Burden of Waste Disposal to Product Producers What companies can do now to prepare for the expanded financial and physical burden of disposal at the end of a product's useful life? File size: 129.8KB
January 2003	Security Today: The New Global Context The most difficult aspect of the global security challenge is in understanding how to bring prosperity to poor countries. Government and international programs need to rethink their approaches to the incentive and market structures that drive prosperity. File size: 96.6KB
January 2003	Crisis Management... Negligent Failure to Plan: The Next Liability Frontier? How well has your organization planned for crisis? The answers you are able to give could have enormous consequences for your company, its bottom line, and its future. File size: 109.2KB
December 2002	Getting Started... Building a Culture of Innovation For businesses today, there are two roads to profitability. One is a short-term fix—reducing operating costs. The other road, the one less traveled, is a more sustainable option—creating profitable new business growth. File size: 183.6KB
December 2002	Planning for Energy-Based Business Risks It is one of the true ironies of our times: growing concern over the future of energy at a time of abundant and generally inexpensive supplies of traditional energy forms. How should a company respond? File size: 77.0KB
October 2002	Mission Critical: Controlling Costs—Setting Executive Travel Policies This menu of tactics and options provides useful tools for cost-conscious companies to stay flexible in this period of ongoing volatility in executive travel. File size: 120.9KB
July 2002	Mission Critical: Controlling Costs ... Overview: Cut the Costs, But Not the Trust When it comes to costs, crash dieting does not make companies stronger in the long run—developing a "cost-conscious culture" does. File size: 92.1KB
July 2002	Mission Critical: Controlling Costs ... Marketing Costs: The Efficiencies Provided by Targeted Approaches One danger in attempting to contain marketing costs: If a company's value proposition is compromised then cost-cutting becomes counterproductive. File size: 58.8KB
July 2002	Mission Critical: Controlling Costs ... Compassionate Downsizing: Making the Business Case for Education and Training for Transitioned Employees Few organizations consider (or have the ability to quantify) the longer-term hidden costs of downsizing to their corporate reputation, customer loyalty, and employee morale, incentive, and productivity. File size: 67.8KB
June 2002	Global Climate Change: Fact or Fiction? It Doesn't Matter--The Issue is Here to Stay This report argues that while science is unlikely to provide unequivocal answers to the debate, governments and markets are likely to act on their perception of the science--actions which will have an impact on global business. File size: 75.7KB
May 2002	Don't Underestimate China: Why Chinese Businesses Can Grow Into Serious International Competitors Businesses that follow conventional wisdom and assume that Chinese-owned enterprises will be weak competitors on the international business stage may be unpleasantly surprised. File size: 53.9KB
April 2002	Morality and the Bottom Line: The Growth of Anti-Corruption Programs in the Private Sector Addresses global progress being made against corruption, the components of an effective corporate anti-corruption program, the effectiveness of ethics programs, and spreading the anti-corruption word. File size: 51.9KB
March 2002	The World Summit on Sustainable Development: Why Business Should Care Explains why businesses need to care about the World Summit on Sustainable Development and what they can expect from it. File size: 55.5KB
February 2002	The Role of Business in Zones of Crisis Discusses what businesses can do in zones of conflict, the role of business in failing states, and how companies can contribute to a country's redevelopment. File size: 38.2KB
January 2002	Business Conduct Codes: Why Corporations Hesitate A survey of companies looks at how sensitive the issue of code and guideline endorsement is for corporations and why. File size: 54.8KB
November 2001	When Disaster Strikes: Ensuring an Intact Supply Chain Addresses the factors in place that lessened the damage to the U.S. global supply chain post-September 11th and those areas of supply chain function that were affected by the tragedy, the anthrax mail incidents, and the war against terrorism. File size: 33.0KB
November 2001	Corporate Security in a Time of Crisis: Management Challenges Assists senior executives in becoming conversant with current security issues, including how to integrate it in the management process, the question of cost, protection procedures and contingency plans, and supply chain and product security. File size: 42.0KB
November 2001	Corporate Security in a Time of Crisis: Bioterrorism Deals with mailroom procedures and the risk of bioterrism. File size: 46.6KB
November 2001	Corporate Security in a Time of Crisis: Protecting IT Discusses ensuring IT security, and IT recovery and response procedures. File size: 33.0KB
November 2001	Corporate Security in a Time of Crisis: Concerns for International Business Travelers Addresses current security issues in business travel and emergency evacuation from overseas locations. File size: 46.6KB
November 2001	Corporate Security in a Time of Crisis: Online Security Resources Lists Web resources for current security issues, including management challenges, bioterrorism, protecting IT, and concerns for international business travelers. File size: 55.7KB
October 2001	Management Challenges in a Changed World Based on key issues identified by members of the executive Council program. File size: 30.6KB

Research Reports