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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about outsourcing, innovation, quantitative methods, turnarounds, and middle managers.

From Workforce Management: Outsourcing Back-Office Operations Cuts Expenses—but Also Innovation
"Less than half of the companies that have begun moving general and administrative work to offshore offices said they were satisfied with the new unit’s ability to innovate, a new Hackett Group survey finds."

Wally's Comment: This is an interesting piece. Read it more for insight into what to look for and how to work with an outsourcing firm than for a definitive judgment about the value of outsourcing. Many outsourcing firms deliver value for their clients because of their concentration on specific processes and many of those firms are quite innovative. There is no more one kind or level of outsourcing firms than there is one kind or level of companies in your industry and most companies tend to get the outsourcing results they deserve.

From the New York Times: To Make a Stock Pop, Innovate
"There is a big temptation for companies to cut their R & D. spending, especially during bear markets. But such thinking is shortsighted, a study says."

Wally's Comment: Yep, here's that magic word again. But here the I word is equated with R & D. One more bit of proof that we need to define what it means before we bandy it about. Nevertheless, this is a good piece about the danger of cutting back on development efforts when things get tight.

From Business Week: The Numerati
"By building mathematical models of its own employees, IBM aims to improve productivity and automate management."

Wally's Comment: This is an insightful excerpt from Stephen Baker's new book. It's been a century since Frederick Taylor gave us the term "Scientific Management." Since then there has been an increasing sophistication in the ways we've used quantitative methods to analyze the way that human beings work and to identify the best ways to deploy them. All of them have been helpful. All of them are dangerous if you imagine that they can work without the judgment and experience of human beings. They're especially dangerous if you let the programs make the decisions for you.

From the Economist: The sage of Quiznos
"A FEW years ago Greg Brenneman was asked to give some advice to MBA students thinking about the next step in their careers. “If you have a chance of working for a healthy company or a sick one,” he wrote, “choose the sick one. The sickest ones need the best doctors and it’s a lot easier to stand out in a company that needs help.” He should know. Throughout his career, Mr. Brenneman has gone looking for trouble—first as head of the corporate-turnaround practice at Bain, a consulting firm, and then in a succession of senior roles, including stints at Continental Airlines, Burger King and Quiznos, two American fast-food chains. "

Wally's Comment: Turnaround management is one of the most difficult assignments there is, but it's also one of the most straightforward. It starts with analysis of what's wrong, stopping the bleeding, and then moving on to strategy development and execution. The reason most turnarounds fail is that most turnaround managers are great at strategy development, less great at stopping the bleeding, and awful at staying with a single strategy long enough to make it work.

From INSEAD Knowledge: Middle managers linchpin to dynamic team leadership
"It’s not that there’s anything wrong with (generic) theories, but they simply provide a ‘one size fits all’ solution to leadership. And my view on leadership is that, particularly if you want to understand it in more complicated or intense situations, you really need to understand how leadership needs to change in order to fit the requirements of the situation."

Wally's Comment: This is a perfect piece for a Labor Day read. Top management gets the glory and credit for strategy. Front line workers get praised for making things work. But middle managers are necessary to harness strategy to execution and they usually get only grief.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.