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A No-Layoffs Policy Can Work, Even in an Unpredictable Economy

Harvard Business Review

Hundreds if not thousands of hospitals have responded to trends such as shorter average hospital stays, fewer surgeries, a shift to outpatient and home care, and reduced reimbursements by consolidating or overhauling their operations and laying off staff. We’ve certainly had to change too. Serious accountability.

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True North Groups: A Conversation With Bill George

Harvard Business Review

The idea for these groups grew out of the growing movement to form small affinity groups to deal with everything from chemical dependency, religious study, and personal grief to book and cooking groups. The original four members of the group attended a three-day retreat; it built some strong bonds that we wanted to continue.

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Stress Can Be a Good Thing If You Know How to Use It

Harvard Business Review

. “In Navy SEAL training,” former SEAL Commander Curt Cronin recently told us, “the leadership cadre designs situations that are exponentially more stressful, chaotic, and dynamic than any combat operation so that the teams learn to center [themselves] in the most arduous circumstances. ” Step Three: Use It.

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Case Study: Should an Emerging-Market Incubator Help U.S. Businesses?

Harvard Business Review

They’d bonded over their Miami roots and their desire to make a difference in the world, and soon they began developing Helena’s idea into a fully fledged organization. He’d found a receptive chemical-company owner who was providing lab space and even some financial support. operations.

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Is Your Business Biased Against Innovation?

Strategy Driven

Companies that will eventually be wrecked by others’ innovations are operating on autopilot. In bond trading, there is no relationship, bond prices today have little to do with bond prices tomorrow, and I could completely change my positions overnight. It is among the most transactional of all businesses.

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The 10 Most Important Sustainable Business Stories from 2014

Harvard Business Review

Both in response and pre-emptively, the world’s leading companies continued to aggressively pivot their businesses toward more sustainable and innovative ways of operating. And investors are noticing: in May, Barclays bank downgraded the bonds of the entire U.S. utility sector. Seeing the writing on the wall, German utility E.On