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I knew that OOPs! was going to be controversial when an executive who was asked to review the manuscript said, "I found myself getting angry as I read it." Of the 13 management practices that...

When I saw an article reported in the New York Times about Citigroup’s plan to increase employees' base salaries by a much as 50% to offset the reduction in bonuses I was reminded of Sigmund Freud’s...

In a May 19th article in the WSJ, Scott Morrison wrote, Google Searches for Staffing Answers. The article is about the fact that Google has recently lost a number of top executives and other midlevel...

The 3rd Management Practice That Wastes Time & Money: Performance Appraisals.

On hearing of the North Korea test of a nuclear bomb, Obama said, "The U.S. will take action." I hope he will. However, I am afraid that he meant that he will get other people (U. N. and China) to...

I read an article from the New Zealand Herald by Simon Caulkin (3.16.09) that caused me to alternate between depression and excitement. The title of the article is: Bonuses boost performance? Sorry,...

In an article in Fortune Magazine (May 11, 2009) called, How Business Can Stand Tall Again, David Gergen quotes Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic as saying that the cause of today’s economic...

Ask Aubrey Question: I am working on implementation of Performanace Matrices. I'm struggling with establishing the correct "behaviors". In some cases the catagories I'm picking truly seem like...

 In a USA article about GM’s decision to close 15 plants for 9 weeks, Stephen Spivey, a senior auto analyst for the research company of Frost & Sullivan is quoted as saying, "Production has...

A blogger up for a new postition recently posed this question to Aubrey:   "How would you advise approaching and managing a new staff that could possibly be older than you?"...

AIG is in the news again. They are being beat over the head because someone has found that they have 374 bonus plans. While most people are upset seeing the word attached to AIG in any way, the fact...

Where do you fall on the management spectrum; kick butt and take names or boss-of-the-year?  Understand what makes for a good leader and how IQ and GPA do not equate to being a good boss. ...

Is it possible to have 374 different bonus and compensation plans?!  This recent article from Politico uncovers the half-truths and realities of how AIG compensated its employees (AIG Bonuses...

I wrote earlier on this blog about the fact that AIG gave the word "bonus" a bad name but the issue of bonuses keeps popping up. I have read lately in several business articles that some businesses...

I was recently reading a paper on "grade inflation" published by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.  It states that "In the face of acknowledged grade inflation, the Princeton...

  The 2nd Management Practice That Wastes Time & Money: Stretch Goals.

Everybody is talking about AIG again. The conversation is about how they continue to throw tax-payer money away. Over the weekend new details of AIG’s bonus plans were made public. In a nutshell the...

In OOPS! , mergers and acquisitions is one of the 13 management practices that waste time and money. In a Business Week article, Drug Mergers: Killers for Research by Catherine Arnst she quotes Dr....