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We compare the development over fifty years of two family chemical companies, leaders in their market niches: Zobele Chemical Industries (Italy) and Chemical Group of Sinon Corporation (Taiwan). We follow the evolution of the two companies from serving the domestic market through product and market expansion and finally to globalization. We conclude that their parallel but finally divergent evolutionary patterns are strongly influenced by the cultural dimensions of their countries and, to a lesser degree, by other environmental and structural factors. The insights provided by this dual case study may be of value to owners and managers of family companies, to outside investors, to global business scholars, and to national economic development officials.

Qualitative information‐gathering techniques are focused on to determine whether they can be adapted or adopted to support strategic goal‐setting. Much of the literature suggests that if planning is based on information gathered and presented in a manner which managers can understand they are more likely to act on it, and, for this reason, qualitative rather than quantitative techniques are stressed here. Factors which are not amenable to numerate analysis but which are useful to the strategic planner, such as experience, judgement and intuition, are also isolated and analysed. An attempt is made to facilitate the use of qualitative data‐gathering methods and suggestions are made as to where particular techniques may prove beneficial, together with their limitations. Research, from a small (n = 20), in‐depth survey of small business owners/ managers in Canada, is included which shows that they do not use quantitative planning processes but that judgemental techniques were most widely used; in general, the less sophisticated the planning process the higher it would be ranked among the survey participants. The research from other surveys also shows that scientific mathematically based models often do not fit with small business organisational reality and that methodologies should be developed that integrate research into the decision‐making process.

Implicit in models of the planning process is the notion of a data base perceived by the decision‐maker. Decisions are taken on the basis of the decision‐maker's perception of the data and his subsequent interpretation of these data. The planner's utility for the situation will determine the strategies he selects to achieve his objectives.

During the past decade the North American Society for Corporate Planning has matured from a small New York‐based group into a vigorous organization with eleven chapters in major American and Canadian cities. The Society, employing generously donated supplies of energy and labor, and carefully budgeting its modest capital resources, has demonstrated the ability to design and control its own evolution. But our report card as corporate sages is not so starred. This tenth anniversary is a good time to consider ways we can become more effective.

Corporate mergers and acquisitions are pervasive. Much of the attention has focused on the dollars involved and the financial packages put together to effect them. Little attention has been given to the human resource management implications of such corporate restructuring. Attention here is focused on the impact of these restructurings on individual employee stress and on various human resource management functions such as human resource planning, recruitment, training and organisational development, and employee benefits and compensation.

The article offers an answer to the question, “When companies are caught between recessionary financial constraints and epic market discontinuity, what approaches actually deliver innovation efficiently and effectively?”

The article offers guidelines for enterprises seeking to implement a form of open innovation with external product development firms that offers the prospect of being more nimble than internally-managed R&D and less expensive, risky and complex than outright merger and acquisition activity.

Pick the right challenges to “outsource collaboratively” to external innovation partners. One rule of thumb: partner externally when the defined challenge is something your team cannot effectively tackle–for example, new spaces, channels, materials, processes or supply chain. Outsourcing to experienced innovators can reduce internal competition, accelerate organizational learning and counteract internal turf battles. 10;

Experienced innovators seek authorization to manage their initiative as a portfolio of projects: instead of isolated stabs at innovation, they create a diversified array of programs, with different risk/reward ratios and different foci.

The author has extensive experience working as a a corporate sponsor of open innovation projects and as a contract R&D innovation manager and his teams have had to deal with programs that meander and drift because corporate politics shift, decisions are opaque and strategic communication breaks down. The guidelines offered are designed to prevent such breakdowns.

Family businesses are a powerhouse of the US economy. Some of the largest businesses in and outside the US are family controlled. Family businesses significantly out perform non‐family businesses. So how to learn from their strengths? Paradoxically, many of their outstanding strengths are also their profound weaknesses. This article examines the virtues and vices of family businesses, explains how to leverage their strengths and diminish the vices, and offers recommendations for a strategic approach for management.

As institutions continue to place value on developing leaders, it becomes increasingly important to effectively assess students’ leadership skills. The development and subsequent use of a formative competency based leader assessment was used with (N=124) sophomore students at a small military college in the Northeast United States with a mission toward leadership. Results highlight the effectiveness of a formative assessment to develop leader skills with an undergraduate population. Relevant application for institutions of higher learning will be discussed

A slowed rate of market growth, industrial over‐capacity, increased competition: these are just three “trend drivers” towards relationship marketing. Philip Kotler, one of the world’s leading marketing thinkers, has brought the philosophy of relationship marketing to bear on a key issue for marketing strategies, that of customer retention.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

We all know what it takes to make a good leader. Or, to put it another way, we all think we know what it takes to make a good leader. But in all honesty do we really have a clue? Maybe it's too difficult a question to answer and those who think they can identify the necessary qualities and skills and instill them in others are just fooling themselves.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.