Great Places to Work

brucelynn — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:47:47 GMT

Microsoft has just won the #1 spot in the 2009 Europe’s Great Places to Work survey. President Jean Philippe Courtois called out a number of New World of Work initiatives that really showcased Microsoft’s exploitation of technology to enable dramatically new approaches to business...

“Our new office in the Netherlands is a flagship example of how we are creating a New World of Work with employees. The Amsterdam office is no longer a 9am-5pm destination – rather it is a ‘meeting place’ for when people need to come together. Underpinning the roll out of new working practices is Microsoft’s own Unified Communications technology. Equipped with a mobile phone, laptop and UC software, employees have the freedom to work anywhere and anytime that suits them. In addition, with UC Microsoft is saving more than $212 million annually in reduced travel and better productivity.”

The commendation cited a Belgian staffer’s commented on the impact of Microsoft’s ‘New World of Work’ vision...

“The New World of Work gives us complete flexibility to determine in a creative way how to do our projects and when we want to work. This gives me energy every day. It allows me to treat my family the way I want. It gives me the opportunity to do a number of things regarding my health and sporting activities. The way things are delegated allows me to work in a flexible way and to combine my job at Microsoft with my tasks as a mother.”

N=1 and R=G

brucelynn — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:10:00 GMT

I had the chance to listen to business management gurus C.K. Prahalad at the recent London Benchmark for Business event (thanks again Katie). C.K.’s presentation on ‘Realising the Opportunity’ talked about embracing the positive potential of the economic turmoil as being a catalyst for changes that have long been brewing and are primed for embracing all of which echo the core themes of Dynamic Work

1. Fundamentally Change Industry Structures
2. Require New Approaches to Managing
3. Provide Exciting New Opportunities
4. Put a New Premium on Innovation
5. Demand New Organisational Capabilities

He talked about the need for a change in ‘Organisational Capabilities’ from...

1. Hierarchies to Networks
2. Investment Capacity to Collaborative Capacity
3. Organisation Structures to Velcro Organisation

Prahalad concluded that the ‘New Game’ boils down to

“N-=1”: Co creation of Personalised Experiences
“R=G”: Multi-institutional and Multi-Geograohic Access to Resources

‘N=1’ or ‘Co-Creation’ is ‘dynamic work’ to the extreme. Making your customers your workers to the benefit of both. In the SOA context, ‘co-creation’ is akin to Microsoft’s “Software Plus Services” (S+S) vision. Combining the power of software (the organisation’s workforce) with tapping into the ‘cloud’ of value add content and services (the customer base).

“R=G” is practically the very definition of Dynamic Work. He describes it as the “Emergence of Nodal Firms and Supply Webs”.

Dynamic Work : innovation

Great Places to Work

N=1 and R=G